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diff --git a/38173.txt b/38173.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bce2fb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/38173.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17988 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Indian as Slaveholder and +Seccessionist, by Annie Heloise Abel + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The American Indian as Slaveholder and Seccessionist + An Omitted Chapter in the Diplomatic History of the Southern Confederacy + +Author: Annie Heloise Abel + +Release Date: November 30, 2011 [EBook #38173] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN INDIAN AS SLAVEHOLDER *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + +The Slaveholding Indians + + (1) As Slaveholder and Secessionist + (2) As Participants in the Civil War + (3) Under Reconstruction + +Vol. I + + + + +[Illustration: INDIAN TERRITORY, 1861 [_From General Land Office_]] + + + + + The American Indian as + Slaveholder and Secessionist + + AN OMITTED CHAPTER IN + THE DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE + SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY + + + BY ANNIE HELOISE ABEL, PH.D. + + + THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY + CLEVELAND: 1915 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY + ANNIE HELOISE ABEL + + + + +TO MY FATHER AND MOTHER + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PREFACE 13 + + I GENERAL SITUATION IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY, 1830-1860 17 + + II INDIAN TERRITORY IN ITS RELATIONS WITH TEXAS AND ARKANSAS 63 + + III THE CONFEDERACY IN NEGOTIATION WITH THE INDIAN TRIBES 127 + + IV THE INDIAN NATIONS IN ALLIANCE WITH THE CONFEDERACY 207 + + APPENDIX A--FORT SMITH PAPERS 285 + + APPENDIX B--THE LEEPER OR WICHITA AGENCY PAPERS 329 + + SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 359 + + INDEX 369 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + INDIAN TERRITORY, 1861 _Frontispiece_ + + MAP SHOWING FREE NEGRO SETTLEMENTS IN THE CREEK COUNTRY 25 + + PORTRAIT OF COLONEL DOWNING, CHEROKEE 65 + + PORTRAIT OF JOHN ROSS, PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE CHEROKEES 112 + + PORTRAIT OF COLONEL ADAIR, CHEROKEE 221 + + MAP SHOWING THE RETREAT OF THE LOYAL INDIANS 263 + + FORT MCCULLOCH 281 + + + + +PREFACE + + +This volume is the first of a series of three dealing with the +slaveholding Indians as secessionists, as participants in the Civil War, +and as victims under reconstruction. The series deals with a phase of +American Civil War history which has heretofore been almost entirely +neglected or, where dealt with, either misunderstood or misinterpreted. +Perhaps the third and last volume will to many people be the most +interesting because it will show, in great detail, the enormous price that +the unfortunate Indian had to pay for having allowed himself to become a +secessionist and a soldier. Yet the suggestiveness of this first volume is +considerably larger than would appear at first glance. It has been +purposely given a sub-title, in order that the peculiar position of the +Indian, in 1861, may be brought out in strong relief. He was enough inside +the American Union to have something to say about secession and enough +outside of it to be approached diplomatically. It is well to note, indeed, +that Albert Pike negotiated the several Indian treaties that bound the +Indian nations in an alliance with the seceded states, under the authority +of the Confederate State Department, which was a decided advance upon +United States practice--an innovation, in fact, that marked the tremendous +importance that the Confederate government attached to the Indian +friendship. It was something that stood out in marked contrast to the +indifference manifested at the moment by the authorities at Washington; +for, while they were neglecting the Indian even to an extent that +amounted to actual dishonor, the Confederacy was offering him political +integrity and political equality and was establishing over his country, +not simply an empty wardship, but a bona fide protectorate. + +Granting then that the negotiations of 1861 with the Indian nations +constitute a phase of southern diplomatic history, it may be well to +consider to what Indian participation in the Civil War amounted. It was a +circumstance that was interesting rather than significant; and the +majority will have to admit that it was a circumstance that could not +possibly have materially affected the ultimate situation. It was the +Indian country, rather than the Indian owner, that the Confederacy wanted +to be sure of possessing; for Indian Territory occupied a position of +strategic importance, from both the economic and the military point of +view. The possession of it was absolutely necessary for the political and +the institutional consolidation of the South. Texas might well think of +going her own way and of forming an independent republic once again, when +between her and Arkansas lay the immense reservations of the great tribes. +They were slaveholding tribes, too, yet were supposed by the United States +government to have no interest whatsoever in a sectional conflict that +involved the very existence of the "peculiar institution." Thus the +federal government left them to themselves at the critical moment and left +them, moreover, at the mercy of the South, and then was indignant that +they betrayed a sectional affiliation. + +The author deems it of no slight advantage, in undertaking a work of this +sort, that she is of British birth and antecedents and that her +educational training, so largely American as it is, has been gained +without respect to a particular locality. She belongs to no section of +the Union, has lived, for longer or shorter periods in all sections, and +has developed no local bias. It is her sincere wish that no charge of +prejudice can, in ever so small a degree, be substantiated by the +evidence, presented here or elsewhere. + + ANNIE HELOISE ABEL. + Baltimore, September, 1914 + + + + +I. THE GENERAL SITUATION IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY, 1830-1860 + + +Veterans of the Confederate service who saw action along the +Missouri-Arkansas frontier have frequently complained, in recent years, +that military operations in and around Virginia during the War between the +States receive historically so much attention that, as a consequence, the +steady, stubborn fighting west of the Mississippi River is either totally +ignored or, at best, cast into dim obscurity. There is much of truth in +the criticism but it applies in fullest measure only when the Indians are +taken into account; for no accredited history of the American Civil War +that has yet appeared has adequately recognized certain rather interesting +facts connected with that period of frontier development; viz., that +Indians fought on both sides in the great sectional struggle, that they +were moved to fight, not by instincts of savagery, but by identically the +same motives and impulses as the white men, and that, in the final +outcome, they suffered even more terribly than did the whites. Moreover, +the Indians fought as solicited allies, some as nations, diplomatically +approached. Treaties were made with them as with foreign powers and not in +the farcical, fraudulent way that had been customary in times past. They +promised alliance and were given in return political position--a fair +exchange. The southern white man, embarrassed, conceded much, far more +than he really believed in, more than he ever could or would have +conceded, had he not himself been so fearfully hard pressed. His own +predicament, the exigencies of the moment, made him give to the Indian a +justice, the like of which neither one of them had dared even to dream. It +was quite otherwise with the northern white man, however; for he, +self-confident and self-reliant, negotiated with the Indian in the +traditional way, took base advantage of the straits in which he found him, +asked him to help him fight his battles, and, in the selfsame moment, +plotted to dispossess him of his lands, the very lands that had, less than +five and twenty years before, been pledged as an Indian possession "as +long as the grass should grow and the waters run." + +From what has just been said, it can be easily inferred that two distinct +groups of Indians will have to be dealt with, a northern and a southern; +but, for the present, it will be best to take them all together. +Collectively, they occupied a vast extent of country in the so-called +great American desert. Their situation was peculiar. Their participation +in the war, in some capacity, was absolutely inevitable; but, preparatory +to any right understanding of the reasons, geographical, institutional, +political, financial, and military, that made it so, a rapid survey of +conditions ante-dating the war must be considered. + +It will be remembered that for some time prior to 1860 the policy[1] of +the United States government had been to relieve the eastern states of +their Indian inhabitants and that this it had done, since the first years +of Andrew Jackson's presidency, by a more or less compulsory removal to +the country lying immediately west of Arkansas and Missouri. As a result, +the situation there created was as follows: In the territory comprehended +in the present state of Kansas, alongside of indigenous tribes, like the +Kansa and the Osage,[2] had been placed various tribes or portions of +tribes from the old Northwest[3]--the Shawnees and Munsees from Ohio,[4] +the Delawares, Kickapoos, Potawatomies, and Miamies from Indiana, the +Ottawas and Chippewas from Michigan, the Wyandots from Ohio and Michigan, +the Weas, Peorias, Kaskaskias, and Piankashaws from Illinois, and a few +New York Indians from Wisconsin. To the southward of all of those northern +tribal immigrants and chiefly beyond the later Kansas boundary, or in the +present state of Oklahoma, had been similarly placed the great[5] tribes +from the South[6]--the Creeks from Georgia and Alabama, the Cherokees +from Tennessee and Georgia, the Seminoles from Florida, and the Choctaws +and Chickasaws from Alabama and Mississippi.[7] The population of the +whole country thus colonized and, in a sense, reduced to the reservation +system, amounted approximately to seventy-four thousand souls, less than +seven thousand of whom were north of the Missouri-Compromise line. The +others were all south of it and, therefore, within a possible slave belt. + +This circumstance is not without significance; for it is the colonized, or +reservation, Indians[8] exclusively that are to figure in these pages and, +since this story is a chapter in the struggle between the North and the +South, the proportion of southerners to northerners among the Indian +immigrants must, in the very nature of things, have weight. The relative +location of northern and southern tribes seems to have been determined +with a very careful regard to the restrictions of the Missouri Compromise +and the interdicted line of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes was +pretty nearly the boundary between them.[9] That it was so by accident may +or may not be subject for conjecture. Fortunately for the disinterested +motives of politicians but most unfortunately for the defenceless Indians, +the Cherokee land obtruded itself just a little above the thirty-seventh +parallel and formed a "Cherokee Strip" eagerly coveted by Kansans in later +days. One objection, be it remembered, that had been offered to the +original plan of removal was that, unless the slaveholding southern +Indians were moved directly westward along parallel lines of latitude, +northern rights under the Missouri Compromise would be encroached upon. +Yet slavery was not conscientiously excluded from Kansas in the days +antecedent to its organization as a territory. Within the Indian country, +and it was all Indian country then, slavery was allowed, at least on +sufferance, both north and south of the interdicted line. It was even +encouraged by many white men who made their homes or their living there, +by interlopers, licensed traders, and missionaries;[10] but it flourished +as a legitimate institution only among the great tribes planted south of +the line. With them it had been a familiar institution long before the +time of their exile. In their native haunts they had had negro slaves as +had had the whites and removal had made no difference to them in that +particular. Since the beginning of the century refuge to fugitives and +confusion of ownership had been occasions for frequent quarrel between +them and the citizens of the Southern States. Later, when questions came +up touching the status of slavery on strictly federal soil, the Indian +country and the District of Columbia often found themselves listed +together.[11] Moreover, after 1850, it became a matter of serious import +whether or no the Fugitive Slave Law was operative within the Indian +country; and, when influenced apparently by Jefferson Davis, +Attorney-general Cushing gave as his opinion that it was, new +controversies arose. Slaves belonging to the Indians were often enticed +away by the abolitionists[12] and still more often were seized by southern +men under pretense of their being fugitives.[13] In cases of the latter +sort, the Indian owners had little or no redress in the federal courts of +law.[14] + +In point of fact, during all the years between the various dates of Indian +removal and the breaking out of the Civil War, the Indian country was +constantly beset by difficulties. Some of the difficulties were +incident to removal or to disturbances within the tribes but most of them +were incident to changes and to political complications in the white man's +country. Scarcely had the removal project been fairly launched and the +first Indian emigrants started upon their journey westward than events +were in train for the overthrow of the whole scheme. + + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING FREE NEGRO SETTLEMENTS IN THE CREEK COUNTRY +[_From Office of Indian Affairs_]] + + +When Calhoun mapped out the Indian country in his elaborate report of +1825, the selection of the trans-Missouri region might well have been +regarded as judicious. Had the plan of general removal been adopted then, +before sectional interests had wholly vitiated it, the United States +government might have gained and, in a measure, would have richly deserved +the credit of doing at least one thing for the protection and preservation +of the aborigines from motives, not self-interested, but purely +humanitarian. The moment was opportune. The territory of the United States +was then limited by the confines of the Louisiana Purchase and its +settlements by the great American desert. Traders only had penetrated to +any considerable extent to the base of the Rockies; but experience already +gained might have taught that their presence was portentous and +significant of the need of haste; that is, if Calhoun's selection were to +continue judicious; for traders, as has been amply proved in both British +and American history, have ever been but the advance agents of settlers. + +Unfortunately for the cause of pure philanthropy, the United States +government was exceedingly slow in adopting the plan of Indian removal; +but its citizens were by no means equally slow in developing the spirit of +territorial expansion. Their successful seizure of West Florida had fired +their ambition and their cupidity. With Texas annexed and lower Oregon +occupied, the selection of the trans-Missouri region had ceased to be +judicious. How could the Indians expect to be secure in a country that was +the natural highway to a magnificent country beyond, invitingly open to +settlement! But this very pertinent and patent fact the officials at +Washington singularly failed to realize and they went on calmly assuring +the Indians that they should never be disturbed again, that the federal +government would protect them in their rights and against all enemies, +that no white man should be allowed to intrude upon them, that they should +hold their lands undiminished forever, and that no state or territorial +lines should ever again circumscribe them. Such promises were decidedly +fatuous, dead letters long before the ink that recorded them had had time +to dry. The Mexican War followed the annexation of Texas and its conquests +necessitated a further use of the Indian highway. Soldiers that fought in +that war saw the Indian land and straightway coveted it. Forty-niners saw +it and coveted it also. Prospectors and adventurers of all sorts laid +plans for exploiting it. It entered as a determining factor into Benton's +great scheme for building a national road that should connect the Atlantic +and Pacific shores and with the inception of that came a very sudden and a +very real danger; for the same great scheme precipitated, although in an +indirect sort of way, the agitation for the opening up of Kansas and +Nebraska to white settlement, which, of course, meant that the recent +Indian colonists, in spite of all the solemn governmental guaranties that +had been given to them, would have to be ousted, for would not the +"sovereign" people of America demand it? Then, too, the Dred Scott +decision, the result of a dishonorable political collusion as it was,[15] +militated indirectly against Indian interests. It is true that it was only +in its extra-legal aspect that it did this but it did it none the less; +for, if the authority of the federal government was not supreme in the +territories and not supreme in any part of the country not yet organized +into states, then the Indian landed property rights in the West that +rested exclusively upon federal grant, under the Removal Act of 1830, were +virtually nil. It is rather interesting to observe, in this connection, +how inconsistent human nature is when political expediency is the thing at +stake; for it happened that the same people and the same party, +identically, that, in the second and third decades of the nineteenth +century, had tried to convince the Indians, and against their better +judgment too, that the red man would be forever unmolested in the western +country because the federal government owned it absolutely and could give +a title in perpetuity, argued, in the fourth and fifth decades, that the +states were the sole proprietors, that they were, in fact, the joint +owners of everything heretofore considered as national. Inferentially, +therefore, Indians, like negroes, had no rights that white men were bound +to respect. + +The crucial point has now been reached in this discussion. From the date +of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the sectional affiliation of the Indian +country became a thing of more than passing moment. Whatever may have been +John C. Calhoun's ulterior and real motive in urging that the +trans-Missouri region be closed to white settlement forever, whether he +did, as some of his abolitionist enemies have charged, plan thus to block +free-state expansion and so frustrate the natural operations of the +Missouri Compromise, certain it is, that southern politicians, after his +time, became the chief advocates of Indian territorial integrity, the ones +that pleaded most often and most noisily that guaranties to Indians be +faithfully respected. They had in mind the northern part of the Indian +country and that alone; but, no doubt, the circumstance was purely +accidental, since at that time, the early fifties, the northern[16] was +the only part likely to be encroached upon.[17] Their interest in the +southern part took an entirely different direction and that also may have +been accidental or occasioned by conditions quite local and present. For +this southern part, by the way, they recommended American citizenship and +the creation of American states[18] in the Union, also a territorial +organization immediately that should look towards that end. Such advice +came as early as 1853, at least, and was more natural than would at first +glance appear; for the southern tribes were huge in population, in land, +and in resources. They were civilized, had governments and laws modelled +upon the American, and more than all else, they were southern in origin, +in characteristics, and in institutions. + +The project for organizing[19] the territories of Kansas and Nebraska +caused much excitement, as well it might, among the Indian immigrants, +even though the Wyandots, in 1852, had, in a measure, anticipated it by +initiating a somewhat similar movement in their own restricted +locality.[20] Most of the tribes comprehended to the full the ominous +import of territorial organization; for, obviously, it could not be +undertaken except at a sacrifice of Indian guaranties. At the moment some +of the tribes, notably the Choctaw and Chickasaw,[21] were having domestic +troubles that threatened a neighborhood war and the new fear of the white +man's further aggrandizement threw them into despair. The southern +Indians, generally, were much more exercised and much more alarmed than +were the northern.[22] Being more highly civilized, they were better able +to comprehend the drift of events. Experience had made them unduly +sagacious where their territorial and treaty rights were concerned, and +well they knew that, although the Douglas measure did not in itself +directly affect them or their country, it might easily become the +forerunner of one that would. + +The border strife, following upon the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska +Bill, disturbed in no slight degree the Indians on the Kansas +reservations, which, by-the-by, had been very greatly reduced in area by +the Manypenny treaties of 1853-1854. Some of the reserves lay right in the +heart of the contested territory, free-state men intrenching themselves +among the Delawares and pro-slavery men among the Shawnees,[23] the former +north and the latter south of the Kansas River. But even remoteness of +situation constituted no safeguard against encroachment. All along the +Missouri line the squatters took possession. The distant Cherokee Neutral +Lands[24] and the Osage and New York Indian reservations[25] were all +invaded.[26] The Territorial Act had expressly excluded Indian land from +local governmental control; but the Kansas authorities of both parties +utterly ignored, in their administration of affairs, this provision. The +first districting of the territory for election purposes comprehended, for +instance, the Indian lands, yet little criticism has ever been passed +upon that grossly illegal act. Needless to say, the controversy between +slavocracy and freedom obscured and obliterated, in those years, all other +considerations. + +As the year 1860 approached, appearances assumed an even more serious +aspect. Kansas settlers and would-be settlers demanded that the Indians, +so recently the only legal occupants of the territory, vacate it +altogether. So soon had the policy of granting them peace and undisturbed +repose on diminished reserves proved futile. The only place for the Indian +to go, were he indeed to be driven out of Kansas, was present Oklahoma; +but his going there would, perforce, mean an invasion of the property +rights of the southern tribes, a matter of great moment to them but +seemingly of no moment whatsoever to the white man. Some of the Kansas +Indians saw in removal southward a temporary refuge--they surely could not +have supposed it would be other than temporary--and were glad to go, +making their arrangements accordingly.[27] Some, however, had to be +cajoled into promising to go and some had to be forced. A few held out +determinedly against all thought of going. Among the especially obstinate +ones were the Osages,[28] natives of the soil. The Buchanan government +failed utterly to convince them of the wisdom of going and was, thereupon, +charged by the free-state Kansans with bad faith, with not being sincere +and sufficiently persistent in its endeavors to treat, its secret purpose +being to keep the free-state line as far north as possible. The breaking +out of the Civil War prevented the immediate removal of any of the tribes +but did not put a stop to negotiations looking towards that end. + +All this time there was another influence within the Indian country, north +and south, that boded good or ill as the case might be. This influence +emanated from the religious denominations represented on the various +reserves. Nowhere in the United States, perhaps, was the rivalry among +churches that had divided along sectional lines in the forties and fifties +stronger than within the Indian country. There the churches contended with +each other at close range. The Indian country was free and open to all +faiths, while, in the states, the different churches kept strictly to +their own sections, the southern contingent of each denomination staying +close to the institution it supported. Of course the United States +government, through its civilization fund, was in a position to show very +pointedly its sectional predilections. It will probably never be known, +because so difficult of determination, just how much the churches aided or +retarded the spread of slavery.[29] + +Among the tribes of Kansas, denominational strength was distributed as +follows: The Kickapoos[30] and Wyandots[31] were Methodists; but, while +the former were a unit in their adherence to the Methodist Episcopal +Church South, the latter were divided and among them the older church +continued strong. The American Baptist Missionary Union had a school on +the Delaware reservation and, previous to 1855, had had one also on the +Shawnee, which the political uproar in Kansas had obliged to close its +doors. These same Northern Baptists were established also among the +Ottawas, as the Moravians were among the Munsees and the Roman +Catholics[32] among the Osages and the Potawatomies. The Southern Baptists +were likewise to be found among the Potawatomies[33] and the Southern +Methodists among the Shawnees. The Shawnee Manual Labor School, under the +Southern Methodists, was, however, only very grudgingly patronized by the +Indians. Its situation near the Missouri border was partly accountable for +this as it was for the selection of the school as the meeting-place of the +pro-slavery legislature in 1855. The management of the institution was +from time to time severely criticized and the superintendent, the +Reverend Thomas Johnson, an intense pro-slavery agitator,[34] was strongly +suspected of malfeasance,[35] of enriching himself, forsooth, at the +expense of the Indians. The school found a formidable rival, from this and +many another cause, in a Quaker establishment, which likewise existed on +the Shawnee Reserve but independently of either tribal or governmental +aid. + +If church influences and church quarrels were discernible among the +northern tribes, they were certainly very much more so among the southern. +The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Congregational) +that had labored so zealously for the Cherokees, when they were east of +the Mississippi, extended its interest to them undiminished in the west; +and, in the period just before the Civil War,[36] was the strongest +religious force in their country. There it had no less than four mission +stations[37] and a flourishing school in connection with each. The same +organization was similarly influential among the Choctaws[38] or, in the +light of what eventually happened, it might better be said its +missionaries were. Both Southern and Northern Baptists and Southern +Methodists likewise were to be found among the Cherokees;[39] +Presbyterians[40] and Southern Methodists among the Chickasaws and +Choctaws; and Presbyterians only among the Creeks and Seminoles. In every +Indian nation south, except the Creek and Seminole,[41] the work of +denominational schools was supplemented, or maybe neutralized, by that of +public and neighborhood schools. + +True to the traditions and to the practices of the old Puritans and of the +Plymouth church, the missionaries of the American Board,[42] so strongly +installed among the Choctaws and the Cherokees, took an active interest in +passing political affairs, particularly in connection with the slavery +agitation. On that question, they early divided themselves into two camps; +those among the Choctaws, led by the Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury,[43] +supporting slavery; and those among the Cherokees, led by the Reverend S. +A. Worcester,[44] opposing it. The actions of the former led to a +controversy with the American Board and, in 1855, the malcontents, or +pro-slavery sympathizers, expressed a desire to separate themselves and +their charges from its patronage.[45] When, eventually, this separation +did occur, 1859-1860, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions (Old +School) stepped into the breach.[46] + +The rebellious conduct of the Congregational missionaries met with the +undisguised approval of the Choctaw agent, Douglas H. Cooper,[47] formerly +of Mississippi. It was he who had already voiced a nervous apprehension, +as exhibited in the following document,[48] that the Indian country was in +grave danger of being abolitionized: + + If things go on as they are now doing, in 5 years slavery will be + abolished in the whole of your superintendency. + + (_Private_) I am convinced that something must be done speedily to + arrest the systematic efforts of the Missionaries to abolitionize the + Indian Country. + + Otherwise we shall have a great run-away harbor, a sort of + Canada--with "underground rail-roads" leading to & through + it--adjoining Arkansas and Texas. + + It is of no use to look to the General Government--its arm is + paralized by the abolition strength of the North. + + I see no way except secretly to induce the Choctaws & Cherokees & + Creeks to allow slave-holders to settle among their people & control + the movement now going on to abolish slavery among them. + + C-- + +Cooper sent this note, in 1854, as a private memorandum to the southern +superintendent, who at the time was Charles W. Dean. In 1859, it was +possible for him to write to Dean's successor, Elias Rector, in a very +different tone. The missionaries had then taken the stand he himself +advocated and there was reason for congratulation. Under such +circumstances, Cooper wrote, + + I cannot close this report without calling your attention to the + admirable tone and feeling pervading the reports of superintendents of + schools and missionaries among the Choctaws, and particularly to that + of the Rev. Ebenezer Hotchkin, one of the oldest missionaries among + the Choctaws, who, in referring to past political disturbances, says: + "We have looked upon our rulers as the 'powers that be, are ordained + of God,' and have respected them for this reason. 'Whomsoever, + therefore, resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God' + (Romans, xiii, 2). This has been our rule of action during the + political excitement. We believe that the Bible is the best guide for + us to follow. Our best citizens are those most influenced by Bible + truth." + + I rejoice to believe the above sentiments are entertained by most, if + not all, the missionaries now among the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and + that they entirely repudiate the higher-law doctrine[49] of northern + and religious fanatics. It is but lately, as I learn, that the Choctaw + mission, for many years under the control of the American Board of + Commissioners for Foreign Missions (whose headquarters are at Boston) + has been cut off, because they preferred to follow the teachings of + the Bible, as understood by them, rather than obey the dogmas + contained in Dr. Treat's letter and the edicts of the parent board. + + It is a matter of congratulation among the friends of the old Choctaw + missionaries, who have labored for thirty years among them, and intend + to die with armor on, that all connection with the Boston board has + been dissolved. If it had been done years ago, when their freedom of + conscience and of missionary action was attempted to be controlled by + the parent board, much of suspicion, of ill-feeling, and diminished + usefulness, which attached to the Choctaw missionaries in consequence + of their connection with and sustenance by a board avowedly and openly + hostile to southern institutions, would have been prevented.[50] + +In the next year, 1860, Cooper was still sanguine as to affairs among the +Indians of his agency and he could report to Rector, unhesitatingly, as +if confident of official endorsement both at Forth Smith and at +Washington,[51] + + Great excitement has prevailed along the Texas border, in consequence + of the incendiary course pursued in that State by horse thieves and + religious fanatics; but I am glad to say, as yet, so far as I am + informed, no necessity has existed in this agency for the organization + of "vigilance committees" ... No doubt we have among us + _free-soilers_; perhaps abolitionists in sentiment; but, so far as I + am informed, persons from the North, residing among the Choctaws and + Chickasaws, who entertain opinions unfriendly to our system of + domestic slavery, keep their opinions to themselves and attend to + their legitimate business.[52] + +George Butler, the United States agent for the Cherokees, seems to have +been, no less than Cooper, an adherent of the State Rights Party and an +upholder of the institution of slavery. In 1859, he ascribed the very +great material progress of the Cherokees to the fact that they were +slaveholders.[53] Slavery, in Butler's opinion, had operated as an +incentive to all industrial pursuits. To an extent this may have been +true, since all Indians, no matter how high their type, have an aversion +for work. As Professor Shaler once said, they are the truest aristocrats +the world has ever known. But the slaveholders among the great tribes of +the South were, for the most part, the half-breeds, the cleverest and +often, much as we may regret to have to admit it, the most unscrupulous +men of the community. + +Butler's commission as Indian agent expired in March, 1860, and he was not +reappointed, Robert J. Cowart of Georgia[54] being preferred. This man, +illiterate and unprincipled, immediately set to work to perform a task to +which his predecessor had proved unequal. The task was the removal of +white intruders from the Cherokee country. For some time past, the +southern superintendent and the agents under him, to say nothing of +Commissioner Greenwood and Secretary Thompson, the one a citizen of +Arkansas and the other of Mississippi, had resented most bitterly the +invasion of the Cherokee Neutral Lands by Kansas free-soilers and the +division of it into counties by the unlawfully assumed authority of the +Kansas legislature. The resentment was thoroughly justifiable; for the +whole proceeding of the legislature was contrary to the express enactment +of Congress; but no doubt, enthusiasm for the strict enforcement of the +federal law came largely from political predilections, precisely as the +Kansan's outrageous defiance of it came from a deep-rooted distrust of +the Buchanan administration. + +There were, however, other intruders that Cowart and Rector and Greenwood +designed to remove and they wanted to remove them on the ground that they +were making mischief within the tribe and interfering with its +institutions, or, more specifically, with slavery. The intruders meant +were principally the missionaries against whom Greenwood had even the +audacity to lay the charge of inciting to murder. Newspapers of bordering +slave states were full of criticism,[55] just before the war, of these +same men and, notably, of the Reverend Evan[56] and John Jones, the +reputed ringleaders. The official excuse for removing them is rather +interesting because it is so similar to that given, some thirty years +earlier, in connection with the removal from Georgia. Ulterior motives can +so easily be hidden under cold official phrase. + +That the cause of slavery within the Cherokee country was in jeopardy in +the spring and summer of 1860 can not well be denied. To the men of the +time the evidence was easily obtainable. Almost as if by magic, a "search +organization" started up among the full-bloods, an organization profoundly +secret in its membership and in its purposes, but believed to be for no +other object than the overthrow of the "peculiar institution." Its +existence was promptly reported to the United States government and, as +was to be expected, the missionaries were held responsible for both its +inception and its continuance. It was then that Greenwood made[57] his +most serious charge against these men and prepared, under color of law, to +have them removed. Later, in this same year of 1860, Quantrill, the +Hagerstown, Maryland man of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, who afterwards +became such a notorious frontier guerrilla in the interests of the +Confederate cause, leagued himself with some abolitionists for the sake +of making an expedition to the Cherokee country and rescuing negroes, +there held in bondage.[58] The timely distrust of Quantrill, however, +caused the enterprise to be abandoned even before its preliminaries had +been thoroughly well arranged; yet, had the rescue been carried to +completion, it would not have been entirely without precedent[59] and its +very contrivance indicated an uncertainty and a precariousness of +situation south of the Kansas line. + +Ever since their compulsory removal from Georgia under circumstances truly +tragic, the Cherokees had been much given to factional strife. This was +largely in consequence of the underhand means taken by the state and +federal authorities to accomplish removal. The Cherokees had, under the +necessities of the situation, divided themselves into the Ross, or +Anti-removal Party, and the Ridge, or Treaty Party.[60] Removal took place +in spite of the steady opposition of the Rossites and the Cherokees went +west, piloted by the United States army. Once in the west a new division +arose in their ranks; for, as newcomers, they came into jealous contact +with members of their tribe who had emigrated many years previously and +who came to figure, in subsequent Cherokee history, as the Old Settlers' +Party.[61] In 1846, the United States government attempted to assume the +role of mediator in a settlement of Cherokee tribal differences but +without much success.[62] The old wrongs were unredressed, so the old +divisions remained and formed nuclei for new disintegrating issues. Thus, +in 1857, there were no less than three factions created in consequence of +a project for selling the Cherokee Neutral Lands[63]. Each faction had its +own opinion how best to dispose of the proceeds, should a sale take place. +In 1860, there were two factions, the selling and the non-selling[64]. +This tendency of the Cherokees perpetually to quarrel among themselves and +to bear long-standing grudges against each other is most important; +inasmuch as that marked peculiarity of internal politics very largely +determined the unique position of the tribe with reference to the Civil +War. + +The other great tribes had also occasions for quarrel in these same +critical years. The disgraceful circumstances of their removal had widened +the gulf, once simply geographical, between the Upper and the Lower +Creeks. They were now almost two distinct political entities, in each of +which there were a principal and a second chief. In 1833, provision had +been made for the accommodation of the Seminoles within a certain definite +part of the Creek country[65]--just such an arrangement, forsooth, as +worked so ill when applied to the Choctaws and Chickasaws; but it took +several years for the Seminoles to be suited. At length, when their +numbers had been considerably augmented by the coming of the new +immigrants from Florida, they took up their position, for good and all, +in the southwestern corner of the Creek Reserve, a politically distinct +community. By that time, the Creeks seem to have repented of their +generosity,[66] so, perhaps, it was well that the United States government +had not yielded to their importunity and consented to a like settlement of +the southern Comanches.[67] It had taken the Chickasaws a long time to +reconstruct their government after the political separation from the +Choctaws; but now they had a constitution,[68] all their own, a +legislature, and a governor. The Choctaws had attempted a constitution, +likewise, first the Scullyville, then the Doaksville, set up by a minority +party; but they had retained some semblance of the old order of things in +the persons of their chiefs.[69] + +There were other Indians within the southern division of the Indian +country that were to have their part in the Civil War and in events +leading up to it or resulting from it. In the extreme northeastern corner, +were the Quapaws, the Senecas, and the confederated Senecas and Shawnees, +all members, with the Osages and the New York Indians of Kansas, of the +Neosho River Agency which was under the care of Andrew J. Dorn. In the far +western part, at the base of the Wichita Mountains, were the Indians of +the Leased District, Wichitas, Tonkawas,[70] Euchees, and others, +collectively called the "Reserve Indians." Most of them had been brought +from Texas,[71] because of Texan intolerance of their presence, and placed +within the Leased District, a tract of land west of the ninety-eighth +meridian, which, under the treaty of 1855, the United States had rented +from the Choctaws and Chickasaws. It was a part of the old Chickasaw +District of the Choctaw Nation. Outside of the Wichita Reserve and still +wandering at large over the plains were the hostile Kiowas and Comanches, +against whom and the inoffensive Reserve Indians, the Texans nourished a +bitter, undying hatred. They charged them with crimes that were never +committed and with some crimes that white men, disguised as Indians, had +committed. They were also suspected of manufacturing evidence that would +incriminate the red men and of plotting, in regularly-organized meetings, +their overthrow.[72] + +Although the plan for colonizing some of the Texas Indians had been +completed in 1855, the Indian Office found it impossible to execute it +until the summer of 1859. This was principally because the War Department +could not be induced to make the necessary military arrangements.[73] In +point of fact, the southern Indian country was, at the time, practically +without a force of United States troops, quite regardless of the promise +that had been made to all the tribes upon the occasion of their removal +that they should _always be protected_ in their new quarters and, +inferentially, by the regular army. Even Fort Gibson had been virtually +abandoned as a military post on the plea that its site was unhealthful; +and all of Superintendent Rector's recommendations that Frozen Rock, on +the south side of the Arkansas a few miles away, be substituted[74] had +been ignored, not so much by the Interior Department, as by the War. +Secretary Thompson thought that enough troops should be at his disposal to +enable him to carry out the United States Indian policy, but Secretary +Floyd demurred. He was rather disposed to dismantle such forts as there +were and to withdraw all troops from the Indian frontier,[75] a course of +action that would leave it exposed, so the dissenting Thompson +prognosticated, to "the most unhappy results."[76] + +It happened thus that, when the United States surveyors started in 1858 to +establish the line of the ninety-eighth meridian west longitude and to run +other boundary lines under the treaty of 1855,[77] they found the country +entirely unpatrolled. Troops had been ordered from Texas to protect the +surveyors; but, pending their arrival, Agent Cooper, who had gone out to +witness the determination of the initial point on the line between his +agency and the Leased District, himself took post at Fort Arbuckle and +called upon the Indians for patrol and garrison duty.[78] It would seem +that Secretary Thompson had verbally authorized[79] Cooper to make this +use of the Indians; but they proved in the sequel very inefficient as +garrison troops. On the thirtieth of June, Lieutenant Powell, commanding +Company E, First United States Infantry, arrived at Fort Arbuckle from +Texas and relieved Cooper of his self-imposed task. The day following, +Cooper set out upon a sixteen day scout of the Washita country, taking +with him his Indian volunteers, Chickasaws[80] and a few Cherokees;[81] +and for this act of using Indian after the arrival of white troops, he was +severely criticized by the department. One thing he accomplished: he +selected a site for the prospective Wichita Agency with the recommendation +that it be also made the site[82] of the much-needed military post on the +Leased District. The site had originally been occupied by a Kechie village +and was admirably well adapted for the double purpose Cooper intended. It +lay near the center of the Leased District and near the sources of Cache +and Beaver Creeks. It was also, so reported Cooper, "not very distant from +the Washita, & Canadian" (and commanded) "the Mountain passes through the +Wichita Mountains to the Antelope Hills--to the North branch of Red River +and also the road on the South side of the Wichita Mountains up Red +River." + +The colonization of the Wichitas and other Indians took place in the +summer of 1859 under the excitement of new disputes with Texas, largely +growing out of an unwarranted and brutal attack[83] by white men upon +Indians of the Brazos Agency. That event following so closely upon the +heels of Van Dorn's[84] equally brutal attack upon a defenceless Comanche +camp brought matters to a crisis and the government was forced to be +expeditious where it had previously been dilatory. The Comanches had come +in, under a flag of truce, to confer in a friendly way with the Wichitas. +Van Dorn, ignorant of their purpose but supposing it hostile, made a +forced march, surprised them, and mercilessly took summary vengeance for +all the Comanches had been charged with, whether justly or unjustly, for +some time past. After it was all over, the Comanches, with about sixty of +their number slain, accused the Wichitas of having betrayed them. +Frightened, yet innocent, the Wichitas begged that there be no further +delay in their removal, so the order was given and arrangements made. +Unfortunately, by the time everything was ready, the season was pretty far +advanced and the Indians reached their new home to find it too late to put +in crops for that year's harvest. Subsistence rations had, therefore, to +be doled out to them, the occasion affording, as always, a rare +opportunity for graft. Instead of calling for bids, as was customary, +Superintendent Rector entered into a private contract[85] with a friend +and relative of his own, the consequence being that the government was +charged an exorbitant price for the rations. Soon other troubles[86] came. +The Leased District proved to be already occupied by some northern Indian +refugees[87] and became, as time went on, a handy rendezvous for free +negroes; but, as soon as Matthew Leeper[88] of Texas became agent, the +stay of such was extremely short.[89] + +Such were the conditions obtaining among the Indians west of Missouri and +Arkansas in the years immediately antedating the American Civil War; and, +from such conditions, it may readily be inferred that the Indians were +anything but satisfied with the treatment that had been and was being +accorded them. They owed no great debt of gratitude to anybody. They were +restless and unhappy among themselves. Their old way of living had been +completely disorganized. They had nothing to go upon, so far as their +relations with the white men were concerned, to make them hopeful of +anything better in the future, rather the reverse. Indeed at the very +opening of the year 1860, a year so full of distress to them because of +the great drouth[90] that ravaged Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, the +worst that had been known in thirty years, there came occasion for a new +distrust. Proposals were made to the Creeks,[91] to the Choctaws,[92] and +to the Chickasaws to allot their lands in severalty, notwithstanding the +fact that one of the inducements offered by President Jackson to get them +originally to remove had been, that they should be permitted to hold their +land, as they had always held it, in common, forever. The Creeks now +replied to the proposals of the Indian Office that they had had experience +with individual reservations in their old eastern homes and had good +reason to be prejudiced against them. The Indians, one and all, met the +proposals with a downright refusal but they did not forget that they had +been made, particularly when there came additional cause for apprehension. + +The cause for apprehension came with the presidential campaign of 1860 and +from a passage in Seward's Chicago speech,[93] "The National Idea; Its +Perils and Triumphs," expressive of opinions, false to the national trust +but favorable to expansion in the direction of the Indian territory, most +inopportune, to say the least, and foolish. Seward probably spoke in the +enthusiasm of a heated moment; for the obnoxious sentiment, "The Indian +territory, also, south of Kansas, must be vacated by the Indians," was +very different in its tenor from equally strong expressions in his great +Senate speech[94] on the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, February 17, 1854. It soon +proved, however, easy of quotation by the secessionists in their arguments +with the Indians, it being offered by them as incontestable proof that the +designs of the incoming administration were, in the highest degree, +inimical to Indian treaty rights. At the time of its utterance, the +Indians were intensely excited. The poor things had had so many and such +bitter experiences with the bad faith of the white people that it took +very little to arouse their suspicion. They had been told to contract +their domain or to move on so often that they had become quite +super-sensitive on the subject of land cessions and removals. Seward's +speech was but another instance of idle words proving exceedingly fateful. + +Two facts thus far omitted from the general survey and reserved for +special emphasis may now be remarked upon. They will show conclusively +that there were personal and economic reasons why the Indians, some of +them at least, were drawn irresistibly towards the South. The patronage of +the Indian Office has always been more or less of a local thing. +Communities adjoining Indian reservations usually consider, and with just +cause because of long-established practice, that all positions in the +field service, as for example, agencies and traderships, are the +perquisites, so to speak, of the locality. It was certainly true before +the war that Texas and Arkansas had some such understanding as to Indian +Territory, for only southerners held office there and, from among the +southerners, Texans and Arkansans received the preference always. It +happened too that the higher officials in Washington were almost +invariably southern men. + +The granting of licenses to traders rested with the superintendent and +everything goes to show that, in the fifties and sixties, applications for +license were scrutinized very closely by the southern superintendents with +a view to letting no objectionable person, from the standpoint of southern +rights, get into the territory. The Holy See itself could never have been +more vigilant in protecting colonial domains against the introduction of +heresy. The same vigilance was exercised in the hiring of agency +employees, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and the like. Having full +discretionary power in the premises, the superintendents could easily +interpret the law to suit themselves. They could also evade it in their +own interests and frequently did so. One notorious case[95] of this sort +came up in connection with Superintendent Drew, who gave permits to his +friends to "peddle" in the Indian country without requiring of them the +necessary preliminary of a bond. Traders once in the country had +tremendous influence with the Indians, especially with those of a certain +class whom ordinarily the missionaries could not reach. Then, as before +and since, Indian traders were not men of the highest moral character by +any means. Too often, on the contrary, they were of degraded character, +thoroughly unscrupulous, proverbial for their defiance of the law, general +illiteracy, and corrupt business practices. It stands to reason that such +men, if they had themselves been selected with an eye single to the cause +of a particular section and knew that solicitude in its interests would +mean great latitude to themselves and favorable reports of themselves to +the department at Washington, would spare no efforts and hesitate at no +means to make it their first concern, provided, of course, that it did not +interfere with their own monetary schemes. + +To cap the climax, the last and greatest circumstance to be noted, if only +because of the great weight it carried with the Indians when it was +brought into the argument by the secessionists, is that practically all of +the Indian money held in trust for the individual tribes by the United +States government was invested in southern stocks;[96] in Florida 7's, in +Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, Missouri, +Virginia, and Tennessee 6's, in North Carolina and Tennessee 5's, and the +like. To tell the truth, only the merest minimum of it was secured by +northern bonds. The southerners asserted for the Indians' benefit, that +all these securities would be forfeited[97] by the war. Sufficient is the +fact, that the position of the Indians[98] was unquestionably difficult. +With so much to draw them southward, our only wonder is, that so many of +them stayed with the North. + + + + +II. INDIAN TERRITORY IN ITS RELATIONS WITH TEXAS AND ARKANSAS + + +For the participation of the southern Indians in the American Civil War, +the states of Texas and Arkansas were more than measurably responsible. +Indian Territory, or that part of the Indian country that was historically +known as such, lay between them. Its southern frontage was along the Red +River; and that stream, flowing with only slight sinuosity downward to its +junction with the Mississippi, gave to Indian Territory a long diagonal, +controlled, as far as situation went, entirely by Texas. Texas lay on the +other side of the river and she lay also on almost the whole western +border of Indian Territory.[99] She was, consequently, in possession of a +rare opportunity, geographically, for exercising influence, should need +for such ever arise. Running parallel with the Red River and northward +about one hundred miles, was the Canadian. Between the two rivers were +three huge Indian reservations, the most western was the Leased District +of the Wichitas and allied bands, the middle one was the Chickasaw, and +the eastern, the Choctaw.[100] The Indian occupants of these three +reservations were, therefore, and sometimes to their sorrow, be it said, +the very next door neighbors of the Texans. The Choctaws were, likewise, +the next door neighbors of the Arkansans who joined them on the east; but +the relations between Arkansans and Choctaws seem not to have been so +close or so constant during the period before the war as were the +relations between the Choctaws and the Texans on the one hand and the +Cherokees and the Arkansans on the other. + +The Cherokees dwelt, like the Choctaws, over against Arkansas but north of +the Canadian River and in close proximity to Fort Smith, the headquarters +of the Southern Superintendency.[101] Their territory was not so compactly +placed as was the territory of the other tribes; and, in its various +parts, it passes, necessarily, under various designations. There was the +"Cherokee Outlet," a narrow tract south of Kansas that had no definite +western limit. It was supposed to be a passage way to the hunting grounds +of the great plains beyond. Then there was the "Cherokee Strip," the +Kansas extension of the outlet, and for most of its extent originally and +legally a part of it. The territorial organization of Kansas had made the +two distinct. Finally, as respects the more insignificant portions of the +Cherokee domain, there were the "Cherokee Neutral Lands," already +sufficiently well commented upon. They were insignificant, not in point of +acreage but of tribal authority operating within them. They lay in the +southeastern corner of Kansas and constituted, against their will and +against the law, her southeastern counties. They were separated, to their +own discomfiture and disadvantage, from the Cherokee Nation proper by the +reservation of the Quapaws, of the Senecas, and of the confederated +Senecas and Shawnees. This Cherokee Nation lay, as has already been +indicated, over against Arkansas and north of the northeastern section of +the Choctaw country. The Arkansas River formed part of the boundary +between the two tribal domains. So much then for the location of the +really great tribes, but where were the lesser? + + +[Illustration: COLONEL DOWNING, CHEROKEE [_From Smithsonian Institution, +Bureau of American Ethnology_]] + + +The Quapaws, the Senecas, and the confederated Senecas and Shawnees, the +most insignificant of the lesser, occupied the extreme northeastern corner +of Indian Territory and, therefore, bordered upon the southwestern corner +of Missouri. The Creeks lived between the Arkansas River, inclusive of its +Red Fork, and the Canadian River, having the Cherokees to the east and +north of them, the Choctaws and Chickasaws to the south, and the Seminoles +to the southwest, between the Canadian and its North Fork. The Indians of +the Leased District have already been located. + +In the years preceding the Civil War, the interest of Texas and of +Arkansas in Indian Territory manifested itself, not in a covetous desire +to dispossess the Indians of their lands, as was, unfortunately for +national honor, the case in Kansas, but in an effort to keep the actual +country true to the South, settled by slaveholders, Indian or white, as +occasion required or opportunity offered. When sectional affairs became +really tense after the formation of the Republican Party, they redoubled +their energies in that direction, working always through the rich, +influential, and intelligent half-breeds, some of whom had property +interests and family connections in the states operating upon them.[102] +The half-breeds were essentially a planter class, institutionally more +truly so than were the inhabitants of the border slave states. It is +therefore not surprising that, during the excitement following Abraham +Lincoln's nomination and election, identically the same political agencies +worked among them as among their white neighbors and events in Indian +Territory kept perfect pace with events in adjoining states. + +The first of these that showed strong sectional tendencies came in +January, 1861, when the Chickasaws, quite on their own initiative +apparently, met in a called session of their legislature to consider how +best the great tribes might conduct themselves with reference to the +serious political situation then shaping itself in the United States. +There is some evidence that the Knights of the Golden Circle had been +active among the Indians as they had been in Arkansas[103] during the +course of the late presidential campaign. At all events, the red men knew +full well of passing occurrences among their neighbors and they certainly +knew how matters were progressing in Texas. There the State Rights Party +was asserting itself in no doubtful terms. For the time being, however, +the Chickasaws contented themselves with simply passing an act,[104] +January 5, suggesting an inter-tribal conference and arranging for the +executive appointment of a Chickasaw delegation to it. The authorities of +the other tribes were duly notified[105] and to the Creek was given the +privilege of naming time and place. + +The Inter-tribal Council assembled at the Creek Agency,[106] February 17, +but comparatively few delegates were in attendance. William P. Ross, a +graduate[107] of Princeton and a nephew of John Ross, the principal chief +of the Cherokees, went as the head of the Cherokee delegation. It was he +who reported the scanty attendance,[108] saying that there were no +Chickasaws present, no Choctaws, but only Creeks, Seminoles, and +Cherokees. Why it happened so can not now be exactly determined but to it +may undoubtedly be ascribed the outcome; for the council did nothing that +was not perfectly compatible with existing friendly relations between the +great tribes and the United States government. John Ross, in instructing +his delegates, had strictly enjoined caution and discretion[109]. William +P. Ross and his associates seem to have managed to secure the observance +of both. Perchance it was Chief Ross's[110] known aversion to an +interference in matters that did not concern the Indians, except very +indirectly, and the consciousness that his influence in the council would +be immense, probably all-powerful, that caused the Chickasaws to draw back +from a thing they had themselves so ill-advisedly planned. It is, however, +just possible that, between the time of issuing the call and of assembling +the council, they crossed on their own responsibility the boundary of +indecision and resolved, as most certainly had the Choctaws, that their +sympathies and their interests were with the South. It might well be +supposed that in this perilous hour their thoughts would have travelled +back some thirty years and they would have remembered what havoc the same +state-rights doctrine, now presented so earnestly for their acceptance, +although it scarcely fitted their case, had then wrought in their +concerns. Strangely enough none of the tribes seems to have charged the +gross injustice of the thirties exclusively to the account of the South. +On the contrary, they one and all charged it against the federal +government, against the states as a whole, and so, rightly or wrongly, the +nation had to pay for the inconsistency of Jackson's procedure, a +procedure that could so illogically recognize the supremacy of federal law +in one matter and the supremacy of state law in another matter that was +precisely its parallel. + +The decision of the Choctaws had found expression in a series of +resolutions under date of February 7. They are worthy of being quoted +entire. + + February 7, 1861. + + RESOLUTIONS _expressing the feelings and sentiments of the General + Council of the Choctaw Nation in reference to the political + disagreement existing between the Northern and Southern States of the + American Union._ + + _Resolved by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation assembled_, + 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 existing 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 Government, and the + many and friendly social ties existing with their people, continue for + the enlightenment in moral and good government and prosperity in the + material concerns of life to our whole population. + + _Resolved further_, That in the 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 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 neighbors, + the people of Arkansas and Texas, of our determination to observe the + amicable relations in every way so long existing between us, and the + firm reliance we have, amid any disturbance with other States, the + rights and feelings so sacred to us will remain respected by them and + be protected from the encroachments of others. + + _Resolved further_, That his excellency the principal chief be + requested to inclose, with an appropriate communication from himself, + a copy of these resolutions to the governors of the Southern States, + with the request that they be laid before the State convention 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. + + _Resolved_, That these resolutions take effect and be in force from + and after their passage. + + Approved February 7, 1861.[111] + +These resolutions of the Choctaw Council are in the highest degree +interesting in the matter both of their substance and of their time of +issue. The information is not forthcoming as to how the Choctaws received +the invitation of the Chickasaw legislature to attend an inter-tribal +council; but, later on, in April, 1861, the Choctaw delegation in +Washington, made up of P. P. Pitchlynn, Samuel Garland, Israel Folsom, and +Peter Folsom, assured the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the Choctaw +Nation intended to remain neutral,[112] which assurance was interpreted +to mean simply that the Choctaws would be inactive spectators of events, +expressing no opinion, in word or deed, one way or the other. The +Chickasaw delegation gave the same assurance and at about the same time +and place. Now what is to be concluded? Is it to be supposed that the Act +of January 5, 1861 in no wise reflected the sentiments of a tribe as a +whole and similarly the Resolutions of February 7, 1861, or that the +tribal delegations were, in April, utterly ignorant of the real attitude +of their respective constituents? The answer is to be found in the +following most interesting and instructive letter, written by S. Orlando +Lee to Commissioner Dole from Huntingdon, Long Island, March 15, +1862:[113] + + Thinking you and the government would like to hear something about the + state of affairs among the Choctaws last summer and the influences + which induced them to take their present position I will write you + what I know. I was a missionary teacher at Spencer Academy for two + years and refer you to Hon. Walter Lowrie Gen. Sec. of the Pres. Board + of Foreign Missions for information as to my character &c. I left + Spencer June 13th & the nation June 24th but have heard directly from + there twice since, the last time as late as Sept 6th. So that I can + speak of occurrences as late as that. + + After South Carolina passed her secession ordinance in Dec. 1860 there + was a public attempt to excite the Choctaws and Chickasaws as a + beginning hoping to bring in the other tribes afterwards. Many of the + larger slaveholders (who are nearly all half breeds) had been gained + before and Capt. R. M. Jones was the leader of the secessionists. The + country was full of lies about the intentions of the new + administration. The border papers in Arkansas & Texas republished from + the New York & St. Louis papers a part of a sentence from Hon. W. H. + Seward's speech at Chicago during the election campaign of 1860 to + this effect "And Indian Territory south of Kansas must be vacated by + the Indian" (These words do occur in the report of Mr. Seward's + Chicago speech as published in New York Evening Post Weekly for I + read it myself). This produced intense excitement of course and to add + to the effect the Secessionist Journals charged that another prominent + republican had proposed to drive the indians out of Indian Ter. in a + speech in congress. "This" they were told "is the policy of the new + administration. The abolitionists want your lands--we will protect + you. Your only safety is to join the South." Again they were told + "that the South must succeed in gaining their independence and the + money of the indians being invested in the stocks of Southern states + the stocks would be cancelled & the indians would lose their money + unless they joined the south, if they did that the stocks would be + reissued to the Confederate States for them." Their special + commissioners Peter Folsom &c, who came to Washington to get the half + million of dollars for claims, reported that they got along very well + until they were asked if they had slaves after that they said they + could do nothing. Sampson Folsom said however that he thought they + would have succeeded had it not been for the attack on Sumpter--He + said President Lincoln then told them "He would not give them a dollar + until the close of the war." An interesting fact in relation to these + commissioners is that they came to Washington by way of _Montgomery_ & + were when they reached Washington probably all, except Judge Garland, + secessionists. Thus all influences were in favor of the rebels--Where + could the indians go for light--The former indian agent Cooper was a + Col. in the rebel service. The oldest missionary who has undoubtedly + more influence with the Choctaws than any other white man is an ardent + secessionist believing firmly both in the right & in the final success + of the rebel cause--He (Dr. Kingsbury) prays as earnestly & fervently + for the success of the rebels as any one among us does for the success + of the Union cause. The son of another, Mr. Hodgkin, is a captain in + the rebel service--another Mr. Stark actively assisted in organizing a + company acted as sec. of secessionist meetings &c. Even Mr. Reid + superintendant of Spencer was confident the rebels could never be + subdued and thought when the treaty should be made they ought in + justice to have Ind. Territory. Again when Fort Smith was evacuated + the rebel forces were on the way up the Ark. river to attack it & the + garrison evacuated it in the night which looked to the Indians (if + not to the white men) as if the northerners were afraid. The same was + true of Fort Washitaw where our forces left in the night and were + actually pursued for several days by the Texans. Thus matters stood + when Col. Pitchlynn the resident Com. of the Choctaws at Washington + returned home. He gave all his influence to have the Choctaws take a + neutral position. The chief had called the council to meet June 1st. & + Col. P. so far succeeded as to induce him to prepare a message + recommending neutrality. Col. P. was promptly reported as an + _abolitionist_ and _visited_ & _threatened_ by a Texas Vigilance + committee. + + The Council met at Doaksville seven miles from Red River & of course + from Texas. It was largely attended by white men from Texas our + Choctaw neighbors who attended said the place was full of white men. + + The Council did not organize until June 4th or 5th (I forget which). + In the meanwhile the white men & half bloods had a secession meeting + when it leaked out through Col. Cooper that the Chief Hudson had + prepared a message recommending neutrality at which Robert M. Jones + was so indignant that he made a furious speech in which he declared + that "any one who opposed secession ought to be hung" "and any + suspicious persons ought to be hung." Hudson was frightened and when + the Council was organized sent in a message recommending that + commissioners be appointed to negotiate a treaty with the Confederates + and that in the meantime a regiment be organized under Col. Cooper for + the Confed. army. + + This was finally done but not for a week for the Choctaws were + reluctant. They feared that their action would result in the + destruction of the nation. Said Joseph P. Folsom, a member of the + council & a graduate of Dartmouth College New Hampshire, "We are + choosing in what way we shall die." Judge Wade said to me, "We expect + that the Choctaws will be buried. That is what we think will be the + end of this." Judge W. is a member of the Senate (for the Choctaw + Council is composed of a Senate & lower house chosen by the people in + districts & the constitution is modeled very much after those of the + states.) & he has been a chief. Others said to me "If the north was + here so we could be protected we would stand up for the north but now + if we do not go in for the south the Texans will come over here and + kill us." Mr. Reid told me a day or two before we left that he had + become convinced during a trip for two or three days through the + country that the _full bloods_ were strongly for the north. I am sure + it _was so then_ & it was the opinion of the missionaries that if we + had all taken the position, that we would not leave, some of us had + been warned to do so by Texan vigilance committees, we could have + raised a thousand men who would have armed in our defence--Our older + brethren told us that this would hasten the destruction of the indians + as they would be crushed before any help could come.--We thought this + would probably be the case and the missionaries who were most strongly + union in sentiment left. + + One of the number Rev. John Edwards had been hiding for his life from + Texan & half blood ruffians for two weeks & we at Spencer had had the + _honor_ to be visited by a Texas committee searching for arms. + + I continue my narrative from a letter from one of our teachers who was + detained when we left by the illness of his wife & who left Spencer + Sept. 5th & the Nation Sept. 9th. He says Col. Coopers regiment was + filled up with Texans "The half breeds after involving the full bloods + in the war have rather drawn back themselves and but few of them have + enlisted & gone to the war." This indicates that the full bloods have + at last yielded to the pressure and joined the rebels. The + missionaries who remained would generally advise them to do this. + + The Choctaw commissioners met Albert Pike rebel commissioner & made a + treaty with him, with reference to this he says "The Choctaws rec'd + quite a bundle of promises from the rebel government. Their treaty + gives their representative a seat in the rebel congress, acknowledges + the right of the Choctaws to give testimony in all courts in the C. + S., exempts them from the expences of the war, their soldiers are to + be paid 20$ a month by the C. S. during the war, the C. S. assume the + debts due the Choctaws by the U. S., they have the privilege of coming + in as a state into the Confederacy with equal rights if they wish it, + or remain as they are, the C. S. to sustain their schools _after the + war_, they guarantee them against all intrusion on their lands by + white men, allow them to garrison the forts in their territory with + their own troops if they wish it said troops to be paid by the C. + S."--Here is a list of promises and when I think of these, of the + belief of their oldest missionaries in the final success of the + rebels, of the fact that all the old Officers of the U. S. government + were in the service of the rebels, of the occupation of the forts + there by rebels, of the activity of a knot of bitter disunionists led + by Capt. Jones, who has long been a very influential man, of the Texas + mob law which considered it a crime for a young man to refuse to + volunteer, of the fact that there was no way for them to hear the + truth as to the designs of the U. S. government concerning them, + except through Col. Pitchlyn who was soon silenced & of the falsehoods + told them as to the designs of the Government, I do not wonder that + they have joined the rebels. + + I saw strong men completely unmanned even to floods of tears by the + leaving of Dr. Hobbs and the thoughts of what was before them. I heard + men say they did not want to fight but expected to be forced to do it. + + I trust the government will consider the circumstances of the case & + deal gently, considerately with the indians. I do not like to write + such things of my brother missionaries but they are I believe facts & + though I love some of them very much I still must say that, except + Rev. Mr. Byington who was doubtful & Rev. Mr. Balantine a missionary + to the Chickasaws who was union, all the ordained missionaries + belonging to the Choctaw & Chickasaw Mission of the Presbyterian Board + who remain there were victims of the madness which swept over the + South, were secessionists--One or two of the three Laymen who remained + were union men--Cyrus Kingsbury son of Rev. Dr. K. being one.... + +The failure of the United States government to give the Indians, in +season, the necessary assurance that they would be protected, no matter +what might happen, can not be too severely criticized. It indicated a very +short-sighted policy and was due either to a tendency to ignore the +Indians as people of no importance or to a lack of harmony and cooperation +among the departments at Washington. Such an assurance of continued +protection was not even framed until the second week in May and then the +Indian country was already threatened by the secessionists. Moreover, it +was framed and intended to be given by one department, the Interior, and +its fulfilment left to another, the War. It went out from the Indian +Office in the form of a circular letter,[114] addressed by Commissioner +William P. Dole to the chief executive[115] in each of the five great +tribes. It assured the Indians that President Lincoln had no intention of +interfering with their domestic institutions or of allowing government +agents or employees to interfere and that the War Department had been +appealed to to furnish all needed defense according to treaty guaranties. +The new southern superintendent, William G. Coffin of Indiana, was made +the bearer of the missive; but, unfortunately, quite a little time +elapsed[116] before the military situation[117] in the West would allow +him to assume his full duties or to reach his official headquarters,[118] +and, in the interval, he was detailed for other work. The Indians, +meanwhile, were left to their own devices and were obliged to look out for +their own defense as best they could. + +To all appearances neither the legislative action of the Chickasaws and of +the Choctaws nor the work of the inter-tribal council was, at the time of +occurrence, reported officially to the United States government or, if +reported officially, then not pointedly so as to reveal its real bearings +upon the case in hand. All the agents within Indian Territory were as +usual southern men;[119] but may not have been directly responsible or +even cognizant of this particular action of their charges. The records +show that practically all of them, Cooper, Garrett, Cowart, Leeper, and +Dorn, were absent[120] from their posts, with or without leave, the first +part of the new year and that every one of them became or was already an +active secessionist.[121] + +It has been authenticated and is well understood today that, as the +Southern States, one by one, declared themselves out of the Union or were +getting themselves into line for so doing, they prepared to further the +cause of secession among their neighbors and, for the purpose, sent agents +or commissioners to them, who organized the movement very much as the +Committees of Correspondence did a similar movement prior to the American +Revolution. In short, in the spring of 1861, the seceding states entered +upon active proselytism and at least two of them extended their labors to +and among the Indians. Those two were Texas and Arkansas. Missouri also +worked with the same end in view, so did Colorado, but apparently not so +much with the great tribes of Oklahoma as with the politically less +important of Kansas. Colorado, it is true, did operate to some extent upon +the Cherokees of the Outlet and upon the Wichitas, but mostly upon the +Indians of the western plains. No one can deny that, in the interests of +the Confederate cause, the project of sending emissaries even to the +Indians was a wise measure or refuse to admit that the contrasting +inactivity and positive indifference of the North was foolhardy in the +extreme. It indicated a self-complacency for which there was no +justification. More than that can with truth be said; for, from the +standpoint of political wisdom and foresight, the inactivity where the +Indians were concerned was conduct most reprehensible. + +While Chickasaws and Choctaws, unsolicited,[122] were expressing +themselves, the secessionist sentiment was developing rapidly in Texas. +By the middle of February, conditions were such that steps might be taken +to order the evacuation of the state by Federal troops. This was finally +done under authority of the Committee of Public Safety[123] and the +general in command, D. E. Twiggs of Georgia, compliantly yielded. His +small show of resistance seemed, under the circumstances, a mere pretense, +although he had his reasons, and good ones too, perfectly satisfactory to +himself, for doing what he did. Two main conditions were attached to the +agreement of surrender;[124] one, exacted by General Twiggs, to the effect +that his men be allowed to retain their arms, commissary stores, camp and +garrison equipage, and the means of transportation; the other, exacted by +the Texan commissioners, that the troops depart by way of the coast and +not overland, as the United States War Department had designed when, a +short time before, it had ordered a similar removal.[125] The precaution +of forcing a coastwise journey[126] was taken by the Texan commissioners +to consume time and to prevent the troops being retained in states or +territories through which transit lay for possible future use against +Texas. The easy compliance of General Twiggs[127] undoubtedly merits some +censure and yet was perfectly well justified to his own conscience by the +exigencies of the situation and by the fact that he had repeatedly asked +for orders as to what he should do in the event of an emergency and had +received none. The circumstance of his surrender and the resulting triumph +of the secessionist element could not fail to have its effect upon the +watchful Indians to whom the exhibition of present power was everything. + +That the Texan secessionists fully appreciated the strategic position of +the Indian nations and the absolute necessity of making some sort of terms +with them was brought out by the action of the convention at its first +session. An ordinance was passed "to secure the friendship and +co-operation of the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole +Nations of Indians;" and three men, James E. Harrison, James Bourland, and +Charles A. Hamilton, were appointed as commissioners[128] "to proceed to +said nations and invite their prompt co-operation in the formation of a +Southern Confederacy."[129] + +Now before following these men in the execution of their mission, it may +be advisable, for breadth of view, to illustrate how Texas still further +made Indian relations an issue most prominent in all the earlier stages of +her secession movement; but at the very outset it must be admitted that, +in so doing, she differentiated carefully between the civilized and the +uncivilized tribes. With the one group she was ready to seek an alliance, +offensive and defensive, but with the other to wage a relentless, +exterminating war. The failure of the United States central government to +protect her against the aggressions and the atrocities so-called of the +wild tribes was cited by her as one principal justification for withdrawal +from the Union,[130] her obvious purpose being to gain thereby the +adherence of the northern counties, non-slaveholding but frontier. Almost +conversely, on the other hand, Governor Houston gave as one good and +sufficient reason for not withdrawing from the Union, the fear that should +the Union be dissolved the wild tribes, who were now, in a measure, +restrained from committing depredations and enormities by the very nature +of their treaty guaranties, would be literally let loose upon Texas.[131] +As far as the civilized tribes were concerned, however, all were of one +mind and that took the form of the conviction that so great was the +necessity of gaining and holding the confidence of the Indians, that Texas +must not procrastinate in joining her fortunes with those of her sister +states in the Confederacy.[132] + +James E. Harrison and his colleagues started out upon the performance of +the duties assigned them, February 27, 1861. Their report[133] of +operations and of observations being somewhat difficult of access and its +contents not easily summarized, is herewith appended. Its fullness of +detail is especially to be commended. + + We ... crossed Red River and entered the Chickasaw Nation about thirty + miles southwest of Fort Washita; visited and held a private conference + with His Excellency Governor C. Harris and other distinguished men of + that nation, who fully appreciated our views and the object of our + mission. They informed us that a convention of the Chickasaws and + Choctaws was in a few days to convene at Boggy Depot, in the Choctaw + Nation, to attend to some municipal arrangements. We, in company with + Governor Harris and others, made our way to Boggy Depot, conferring + privately with the principal men on our route. We arrived at Boggy + Depot on the 10th day of March. Their convention or council convened + on the 11th. Elected a president of the convention (Ex-Governor + Walker, of the Choctaw Nation); adopted rules of decorum. On the 12th + we were waited on by a committee of the convention. Introduced as + commissioners from Texas, we presented our credentials and were + invited to seats. The convention then asked to hear us, when Mr. James + E. Harrison addressed them and a crowded auditory upon the subject of + our mission, setting forth the grounds of our complaint against the + Government of the United States, the wrongs we had suffered until our + patience had become exhausted, endurance had ceased to be a virtue, + our duty to ourselves and children demanded of us a disruption of the + Government that had ceased to protect us or to regard our rights; + announced the severance of the old and the organization of a new + Government of Confederate Sovereign States of the South, with a + common kindred, common hopes, common interest, and a common destiny; + discussed the power of the new Government, its influence, and wealth; + the interest the civilized red man had in this new organization; + tendering them our warmest sympathy and regard, all of which met the + cordial approbation of the convention. + + The Choctaws and Chickasaws are entirely Southern and are determined + to adhere to the fortunes of the South. They were embarrassed in their + action by the absence of their agents and commissioners at Washington, + the seat of Government of the Northern Confederacy, seeking a final + settlement with that Government. They have passed resolutions + authorizing the raising of a minute company in each county in the two + nations, to be drilled for actual service when necessary. Their + convention was highly respectable in numbers and intelligence, and the + business of the convention was dispatched with such admirable decorum + and promptness as is rarely met with in similar deliberative bodies + within the States. + + On the morning of the 13th, hearing that the Creeks (or Maskokys) and + Cherokees were in council at the Creek agency, on the Arkansas River, + 140 miles distant, we immediately set out for that point, hoping to + reach them before their adjournment. In this we were disappointed. + They had adjourned two days before our arrival. We reached that point + on Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, hearing that there was a + religious meeting five miles north of the Arkansas River, in the Creek + Nation, Mr. James E. Harrison attended, which proved to be of the + utmost importance to our mission. The Reverend Mr. H. S. Buckner was + present, with Chilly McIntosh, D. N. McIntosh, Judge Marshall, and + others, examining a translation of a portion of the Scriptures, hymn + book, and Greek grammar by Mr. Buckner into the Creek language. Mr. + Buckner showed us great kindness, and did us eminent service, as did + also Elder Vandiven, at whose house we spent the night and portion of + the next day with these gentlemen of the Creek Nation, and through + them succeeded in having a convention of the five nations called by + Governor Motey Kinnaird, of the Creeks, to meet at North Fork (Creek + Nation) on the 8th of April. + + In the intermediate time we visited the Cherokee Nation, calling on + their principal men and citizens, conversing with them freely until + we reached Tahlequah, the seat of government. Near this place Mr. John + Ross resides, the Governor of the nation. We called on him officially. + We were not unexpected, and were received with courtesy, but not with + cordiality. A long conference was had with him, conducted by Mr. + Harrison on the part of the commissioners, without, we fear, any good + result. He was very diplomatic and cautious. His position is the same + as that held by Mr. Lincoln in his inaugural; declares the Union not + dissolved; ignores the Southern Government. The intelligence of the + nation is not with him. Four-fifths, at least, are against his views, + as we learned from observation and good authorities. He, as we + learned, had been urged by his people to call a council of the nation + (he having the only constitutional authority to do so), to take into + consideration the embarrassed condition of political affairs in the + States, and to give some expression of their sentiments and + sympathies. This he has persistently refused to do. His position in + this is that of Sam. Houston in Texas, and in all probability will + share the same fate, if not a worse one. His people are already + oppressed by a Northern population letting a portion of territory + purchased by them from the United States, to the exclusion of natives, + and we are creditably informed that the Governors of some two or more + of the Western free-soil States have recommended their people + emigrating to settle the Cherokee country. It is due Mr. John Ross, in + this connection, to say that during our conference with him he + frequently avowed his sympathy for the South, and that, if Virginia + and the other Border States seceded from the Government of the United + States, his people would declare for the Southern Government that + might be formed. The fact is not to be denied or disguised that among + the common Indians of the Cherokees there exists a considerable + abolition influence, created and sustained by one Jones, a Northern + missionary of education and ability, who has been among them for many + years, and who is said to exert no small influence with John Ross + himself. + + From Tahlequah we returned to the Creek Nation, and had great + satisfaction in visiting their principal men--the McIntoshes, + Stidhams, Smiths, Vanns, Rosses, Marshalls, and others too numerous to + mention. Heavy falls of rain occurred about the time the convention + was to meet at North Fork, which prevented the Chickasaws and Choctaws + from attending the council, the rivers and creeks being all full and + impassable. The Creeks, Cherokees, Seminoles, Quapa, and Socks (the + three latter dependencies of the Creeks) met on the 8th of April. + After they had organized by calling Motey Kinnaird, the Governor of + the Creeks, to the chair, a committee was appointed to wait on the + commissioners present, James E. Harrison and Capt. C. A. Hamilton, and + invite them to appear in the convention, when, by invitation, Mr. + Harrison addressed the convention in a speech of two hours. Our views + were cordially received by the convention. The Creeks are Southern and + sound to a man, and when desired will show their devotion to our cause + by acts. They meet in council on the 1st of May, when they will + probably send delegates to Montgomery to arrange with the Southern + Government. + + These nations are in a rapid state of improvement. The chase is no + longer resorted to as means of subsistence, only as an occasional + recreation. They are pursuing with good success agriculture and stock + raising. Their houses are well built and comfortable, some of them + costly. Their farms are well planned and some of them extensive and + all well cultivated. They are well supplied with schools of learning, + extensively patronized. They have many churches and a large membership + of moral, pious deportment. They feel themselves to be in an exposed, + embarrassed condition. They are occupying a country well suited to + them, well watered, and fertile, with extensive fields of the very + best mineral coal, fine salt springs and wells, with plenty of good + timber, water powers which they are using to an advantage. Pure slate, + granite, sandstone, blue limestone, and marble are found in abundance. + All this they regard as inviting Northern aggression, and they are + without arms, to any extent, or munitions of war. They declare + themselves Southerners by geographical position, by a common interest, + by their social system, and by blood, for they are rapidly becoming a + nation of whites. They have written constitutions, laws, etc., modeled + after those of the Southern States. We recommend them to the fostering + care of the South, and that treaty arrangements be entered into with + them as soon as possible. They can raise 20,000 good fighting men, + leaving enough at home to attend to domestic affairs, and under the + direction of an officer from the Southern Government would deal + destruction to an approaching army from that direction, and in the + language of one of their principal men: + + "Lincoln may haul his big guns about our prairies in the daytime, but + we will swoop down upon him at night from our mountains and forests, + dealing death and destruction to his army." + + No delay should be permitted in this direction. They cannot declare + themselves until they are placed in a defensible position. The + Administration of the North is concentrating his forces at Fort + Washita, about twenty-four miles from the Texas line, and within the + limits of the Chickasaw Nation. This fort could easily be taken by a + force of 200 or 300 good men, and it is submitted as to whether in the + present state of affairs a foreign government should be permitted to + accumulate a large force on the borders of our country, especially a + portion containing a large number of disaffected citizens who + repudiate the action of the State. + + In this connection it may not be improper to state that from North + Fork to Red River we met over 120 wagons, movers from Texas to Kansas + and other free States. These people are from Grayton, Collin, Johnson, + and Denton, a country beautiful in appearance, rich in soil, genial in + climate, and inferior to none in its capacity for the production of + the cereals and stock. In disguise, we conversed with them freely. + They had proposed by the ballot box to abolitionize at least that + portion of the State. Failing in this, we suppose at least 500 voters + have returned whence they came. + + All of which is respectfully submitted this April 23, 1861.... + +Presumably, the suggestions, contained in the closing paragraphs of the +commissioners' report, in so far as they concerned Texas, were immediately +acted upon by her. It was very true, as the commissioners had reported, +that a change was taking place in the disposition of Federal troops within +the Indian country. About the middle of February, a complaint[134] had +been filed at the Indian Office by the Wichita agent, Matthew Leeper, to +the effect that men, claiming to be Choctaws and Chickasaws, were +trespassing upon the Leased District. The Reserve Indians asked for relief +and protection at the hands of their guardian, the United States +government. Shortly afterwards, perhaps in a measure in response to the +appeal or more likely, to a hint that everything was not quite as it +should be on the Texan border, Colonel William H. Emory, First United +States Cavalry, was ordered, March 13,[135] to take post at Fort Cobb. He +was then in Washington and, immediately upon his departure thence, was +ordered, March 18,[136] to form his regiment at Fort Washita instead, word +having come from the commander at that post,[137] in a report of the third +instant, of a threatened attack by Texans. In explanation of a policy so +vacillating, Emory was given to understand that the change of destination +was really made at the solicitation of the agent and delegation of the +Chickasaws. Those men were in Washington, out of reach of and apparently +out of sympathy with, the events transpiring at home. Agent Cooper, +secessionist though he was, probably did not altogether approve of the +interference of the Texans. At any rate, he shared the representations of +the Chickasaw delegation that Fort Washita stood in need of +reenforcement,[138] and the War Department acceded to their request on the +ground that, "The interests of the United States are paramount to those +of the friendly Indians on the reservation near Fort Cobb."[139] + +Emory's orders further comprehended a concentration of all the troops at +Fort Washita that were then at that place and at Forts Cobb and +Arbuckle;[140] but the orders were discretionary in their nature and +permitted his leaving a small force at the more northern posts should +circumstances warrant or demand it. On the nineteenth, General Scott had +had a conference with Senator Charles B. Mitchell of Arkansas and, in +deference to Mitchell's opinion, still further modified his orders to +Emory so that, while leaving him the bulk of his discretionary power, he +recommended that, if advisable, Emory retain one company at Fort +Cobb.[141] In any event, one company of infantry was to move in advance +from Fort Arbuckle to Fort Washita.[142] + +Up to the twenty-fourth of March, at which time he left Memphis, Colonel +Emory made pretty good time in his attempt to reach his destination; but +from Memphis on his movements were unavoidably and considerably hampered. +Low water in the Arkansas detained him for several days so that he deemed +it prudent to send his orders on ahead to the commanding officer at Fort +Arbuckle "to commence the movement upon Fort Washita, and, in the event of +the latter place being threatened, to march to its support with his whole +force."[143] On reaching Fort Smith, Emory found that matters had come to +a crisis in Arkansas and, touching the disposition of his force and the +objects of his mission, allowed himself to be unduly influenced in his +judgment by men of local predilections.[144] It was upon their advice and +upon the urgent pleadings of Matthew Leeper,[145] Indian agent on the +Leased District, that he exercised his discretionary power as to the +disposal of troops, without listening to his military subordinates[146] or +having viewed the locality for himself. In the interests of these local +petitioners,[147] he even enlarged upon Mitchell's recommendation and +concluded to leave two companies at Fort Cobb as one was deemed altogether +inadequate to the protection of so isolated a post. It never seems to +have occurred to him that the attack would have to come from the south, +from the direction of Fort Washita, and that a force large enough to be +efficient at either Fort Washita or Fort Arbuckle would necessarily +protect Fort Cobb and the Indians of the Leased District. + +The position of the Indians in the Leased District was serious in the +extreme. They lived in mortal terror of the Texans and their agent, the +man placed over them by the United States government, was now an avowed +secessionist. He was a Texan and declared, as so many another southerner +did from General Lee down, that honor and loyalty compelled him to go with +his state. In February, he had been in Washington City, settling his +accounts with the government and estimating for the next two quarters in +accordance with the rulings and established usage of the Indian Office. On +his way west and back to his agency, he was waylaid by a man of the name +of "Burrow," very probably Colonel N. B. Burrow, acting under authority +from the state of Arkansas, who despoiled him of part of his travelling +equipment and then suffered him to go on his way.[148] Leeper reached his +agency to find the Indians greatly excited. He endeavored to allay their +fears, assuring them that the Texans would do them no harm. Soon, however, +came his own defection and he thenceforward made use of every means, +either to make the way easy for the Texans or to induce the Indians to +side with them against the United States. + +While Emory was dilly-dallying at Fort Smith, the Texans made their +preparations[149] for invading the Indian country and a regiment of +volunteers under William C. Young, once a planter of Braganza County and +now state regimental colonel, moved towards the Red River. There is +something to show that they came at the veiled invitation[150] of the +Indians. At any rate they seem to have felt pretty sure of a welcome[151] +and were close at hand when Colonel Emory reached Fort Washita. He reached +Fort Washita to find that the concentration of troops, even of such as his +ill-advised orders would permit, had not yet fully taken place, that his +supplies had been seized by the Texans, and that a general attack by them +upon the poorly fortified posts was to be hourly expected. Emory, +thereupon, resolved to withdraw from Fort Washita towards Arbuckle and +Cobb. The day after he did so, April 16, Young's troops entered in force. +Emory hurried forward to strengthen Fort Cobb and, indeed, to relieve it, +taking, in his progress, the open prairie road that his cavalry might be +more available. On the way,[152] he was joined by United States troops +from Fort Arbuckle, the Texans in close pursuit. Fort Arbuckle was +occupied by them in turn and then Fort Cobb, Emory never so much as +attempting to enter the place; for he found its garrison in flight to the +northeast. Fugitives all together, the Federal troops, piloted by a +Delaware Indian, Black Beaver,[153] hurried onwards towards Fort +Leavenworth. They seem to have made no lengthy stop until they were safe +across the Arkansas River[154] and their flight may well be said to have +been a precipitous one. Behind them, at Fort Arbuckle, Colonel Young took +possession of abandoned property and placed it in the care of the +Chickasaw Indians,[155] who had materially aided him in his attack. His +next move was to negotiate,[156] unauthoritatively, a treaty with the +Reserve Indians, gaining the promise of their alliance upon the +understanding that the Confederacy, in return, would feed and protect +them. Fort Cobb was rifled and the Indians made rich, in their own +estimation, with booty.[157] Colonel Young seems then to have drawn back +towards the Red River; but for several months he continued to occupy with +his forces,[158] under the authority of Texas and with the consent of the +Chickasaw Indians, the three frontier posts that Emory had been instructed +to guard; viz., Forts Washita, Arbuckle, and Cobb. + +If Texas took time by the forelock in her anxiety to secure the Indian +country and its inhabitants, Arkansas most certainly did the same; and, in +the undertaking, various things told to her advantage, among which, not +the least important was the close family relationship existing between her +secessionist governor, Henry M. Rector, and the southern superintendent. +They were cousins and, to all appearances, the best of friends. It is +doubtful if in any state the executive authority thereof worked more +energetically for secession or with greater consistency and promptitude +than in Arkansas. Governor Rector had been elected, in the autumn of 1860, +by the Democrats and old-line Whigs. He belonged to a numerous and most +influential family, land-surveyors most of them, seemingly by inheritance, +and, although from northern or border states originally, strongly +committed to the doctrine of state sovereignty. The family connections +were also powerful socially and politically. The gubernatorial +inauguration came in November, 1860, and from that moment Henry M. Rector +and his host of relations and friends worked for secession. + +At the outset, Governor Rector identified the Indian interests with those +of Arkansas. Even in his message[159] of December 11, 1860 he gave it as +his opinion that the two communities must together take measures to +prevent anti-slavery migration. It was rather late in the day, however, to +intimate that men of abolitionist sentiments must not be allowed to cross +the line, and a man of the political acumen of Henry M. Rector must have +known it. Immediately after the general election there were evidences of +great excitement in Arkansas and, when news[160] came that the disused +arsenal at Little Rock was to be occupied by artillery under Captain James +Totten from Fort Leavenworth, it broke out into expressions of public +dissent. Little Rock was scarcely less radical and secessionist in its +views than was Fort Smith and Fort Smith was regarded as a regular hot-bed +of sectionalism. The legislature, too, was filled with state-rights +advocates and some of the actions taken there were almost revolutionary in +their trend. With the new year came new alarms and false reports of what +was to be. Harrell records[161] that the first message over the newly +completed telegraph line between Memphis and Little Rock was a repetition +of the rumor, quite without foundation, that Major Emory had been ordered +from Fort Gibson to reinforce Totten at Little Rock, and that the effect +upon Helena was electrical. It is no wonder that the newspapers and +personal communications[162] of the time showed great intensity of +feeling and a tendency to ring the changes on a single theme. + +The public indignation following the receipt of the unsubstantiated rumor +that Totten was to be reenforced seems to have compelled the action of +Governor Rector in taking possession,[163] on February eighth, in the name +of the state of Arkansas, of the United States arsenal at Little Rock; +but, as a matter of fact, Rector needed only an excuse, and a very slight +one at that, for doing more than he had already done to prove his +sectional bias. Nor had he forgotten or neglected the Indians. Indeed, +never at any time did he leave a single stone unturned in his search for +inside and outside support; and, notwithstanding the fact that the +Arkansas Ordinance of Secession was not passed until the sixth of May, +Governor Rector conducted himself, for months before that, as though the +state were a bona fide member of the Confederacy. In all his audacious +venturings, proposals, and acts, he had the full and unquestioning +support, not only of his cousin, Elias Rector,[164] in whose honor Albert +Pike had written the well-known parody[165] on "The Old Scottish +Gentlemen;"[166] but of the leading citizens of Fort Smith and Little +Rock, particularly of those whose previous occupations, residence, +inclinations, or interests had made them conversant with Indian affairs +and, therefore, unusually appreciative of the strategic value of the +Indian country. Under such circumstances, it is not at all surprising that +Governor Rector seized, as he did, the earliest[167] opportunity to +approach the Cherokees. Fort Smith at the junction of the Arkansas and +Poteau Rivers was only eighty miles from Fort Gibson. + +Before taking up for special comment Governor Rector's negotiations with +the Cherokees through their principal chief, John Ross, it might be well +to retrace our steps a little in order to show how, in yet other ways, +Arkansas interested herself more than was natural in the concerns of the +Indians and made some of her citizens, in the long run, more than +ordinarily responsible for the development of secessionist sentiment among +the southern tribes. + +When David Hubbard, journeying westward as special secessionist +commissioner[168] from Alabama to Arkansas, reached Little Rock--and that +was in the early winter of 1861--he soon discovered that many Arkansans +were not willing for their state to go out of the Union unless she could +take Indian Territory with her. Hubbard's letter,[169] descriptive of the +situation, is very elucidating. It is addressed to Andrew B. Moore,[170] +governor of Alabama, and bears date Kinloch, Alabama, January third. + + MY DEAR SIR: On receipt of your letter and appointment as commissioner + from Alabama to Arkansas, I repaired to Little Rock and presented my + credentials to the two houses, and also your letter to Governor + Rector, by all of whom I was politely received. The Governor of + Arkansas was every way disposed to further our views, and so were many + leading and influential members of each house of the Legislature, but + neither are yet ready for action, because they fear the people have + not yet made up their minds to go out. The counties bordering on the + Indian nations--Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws--would + hesitate greatly to vote for secession, and leave those tribes still + under the influence of the Government at Washington, from which they + receive such large stipends and annuities. These Indians are at a spot + very important, in my opinion, in this great sectional controversy, + and must be assured that the South will do as well as the North before + they could be induced to change their alliances and dependence. I have + much on this subject to say when I get to Montgomery, which cannot + well be written. The two houses passed resolutions inviting me to meet + them in representative hall and consult together as to what had best + be done in this matter. When I appeared men were anxious to know what + the seceding States intended to do in certain contingencies. My + appointment gave me no authority to speak as to what any State would + do, but I spoke freely of what, in my opinion, we ought to do. I took + the ground that no State which had seceded would ever go back without + full power being given to protect themselves by vote against + anti-slavery projects and schemes of every kind. I took the position + that the Northern people were honest and did fear the divine + displeasure, both in this world and the world to come, by reason of + what they considered the national sin of slavery, and that all who + agreed with me in a belief of their sincerity must see that we could + not remain quietly in the same Government with them. Secondly, if they + were dishonest hypocrites, and only lied to impose on others and make + them hate us, and used anti-slavery arguments as mere pretexts for the + purpose of uniting Northern sentiment against us, with a view to + obtain political power and sectional dominion, in that event we ought + not to live with them. I desired any Unionist present to controvert + either of these positions, which seemed to cover the whole ground. No + one attempted either, and I said but little more. I am satisfied, from + free conversations with members of all parties and with Governor + Rector, that Arkansas, when compelled to choose, will side with the + Southern States, but at present a majority would vote the Union + ticket. Public sentiment is but being formed, but must take that + direction.... + +What, in addition to that just cited, Hubbard had to say about the Indians +or about the profit accruing from close contact with them, we have no way +of knowing; but we have a right to be suspicious of the things that have +to be communicated by word of mouth only, especially in this instance, +when we remember that white men have always made the Indians subjects of +exploitation and that Hubbard was the man whom the southern Confederacy +chose for its first commissioner of Indian affairs, also that Hubbard's +first outline of work, as commissioner, in truth, his only outline, +comprehended an extended visit to the Indians before whom he proposed to +expatiate on the financial advantages of an adherence to the Confederacy +and the inevitable financial ruin that must come from continued loyalty to +the Union. All things considered, it would surely seem that in Hubbard's +mind the money question was always uppermost. + +But there were others to whom the Indian income was a thing of interest. +At the earlier meeting of the Arkansas convention, a resolution[171] had +been passed, March 9, 1861, authorizing an inquiry to be made into the +annual cost to the United States government of the Indian service west of +Arkansas. The state administration had already seized[172] the Indian +funds on hand, an opportunity to do so having offered itself upon the +occasion of the death[173] of the United States disbursing officer, Major +P. T. Crutchfield. But, later, for fear that this might work prejudice +with the Indians a resolution[174] was passed providing that the money +should not be diverted from its proper uses. Because of such actions and +others of like direction, it is certainly safe to assume that pecuniary +considerations made the frontiersmen of 1861 vitally interested in Indian +affairs. The same influences that moved Hubbard to write his letter to +Governor Moore with special mention of the Indians unquestionably moved +the citizens of Boonsboro to try,[175] without much further ado, the +temper of the Cherokees. + +Returning now to Governor Rector and to a recital of his endeavors with +the same Indian people, it is seen that his approach to the Cherokees was +made, as has been already intimated, through their principal chief, John +Ross, and by means of the following most excellently worded letter: + + THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, + Little Rock, January 29, 1861. + + TO HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN ROSS, + Principal Chief Cherokee Nation: + + SIR: It may now be regarded as almost certain that the States having + slave property within their borders will, in consequence of repeated + Northern aggressions, separate themselves and withdraw from the + Federal Government. + + South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana + have already, by action of the people, assumed this attitude. + Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and + Maryland will probably pursue the same course by the 4th of March + next. Your people, in their institutions, productions, latitude, and + natural sympathies, are allied to the common brotherhood of the + slaveholding States. Our people and yours are natural allies in war + and friends in peace. Your country is salubrious and fertile, and + possesses the highest capacity for future progress and development by + the application of slave labor. Besides this, the contiguity of our + territory with yours induces relations of so intimate a character as + to preclude the idea of discordant or separate action. + + +[Illustration: JOHN ROSS, PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE CHEROKEES [_From +Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology_]] + + + It is well established that the Indian country west of Arkansas is + looked to by the incoming administration of Mr. Lincoln as fruitful + fields, ripe for the harvest of abolitionism, free-soilers, and + Northern mountebanks. + + We hope to find in your people friends willing to co-operate with the + South in defense of her institutions, her honor, and her firesides, + and with whom the slaveholding States are willing to share a common + future, and to afford protection commensurate with your exposed + condition and your subsisting monetary interests with the General + Government. + + As a direct means of expressing to you these sentiments, I have + dispatched my aide-de-camp, Lieut. Col. J. J. Gaines, to confer with + you confidentially upon these subjects, and to report to me any + expressions of kindness and confidence that you may see proper to + communicate to the governor of Arkansas, who is your friend and the + friend of your people. Respectfully, your obedient servant, + + HENRY M. RECTOR, Governor of Arkansas.[176] + +Lieutenant Gaines duly started out upon his mission and upon reaching Fort +Smith interviewed Superintendent Rector and received from him a letter of +introduction[177] to John Ross, which was, in effect, a hearty endorsement +of the governor's project. An inkling of what Gaines was about soon came +to the ears of A. B. Greenwood, an Arkansan, a state-rights man, and +United States commissioner of Indian affairs. At the moment he was the +official, intent upon doing his duty, nothing more. It was then in his +official capacity that he straightway demanded of Agent Cowart an +explanation of Gaines's movements; but Cowart was privy to Governor +Rector's plans undoubtedly, a Georgian, a secessionist, and one of those +illiterate, disreputable, untrustworthy characters that frontier or +garrison towns seem always to produce or to attract, the kind, +unfortunately for its own reputation and for the Indian welfare, that the +United States government has so often seen fit to select for its Indian +agents. More than that, Cowart was a man of such base principles that he +could commercialize with impunity a great cause and calmly continue to +hold office under and to draw pay from one government while secretly +plotting against it in the interests of another. On this occasion he +attempted a denial[178] of the presence of Rector's commissioner at Fort +Smith; but the Indian Office had soon good proof[179] that a commissioner +had been there and that he had proceeded thence to the Cherokee country. +It was no other than Gaines, of course, who, when once he had delivered +the Rector letters to Ross, saw fit, in the further interests of his +mission, to attend the inter-tribal council at the Creek Agency. + +John Ross did not reply to Governor Rector's communication until the +anniversary of George Washington's birthday and he then expressed the same +ideas of concern, of sympathy, but also those of positive neutrality that +had characterized his advice to the Indian conferees. He scouted, though, +the very idea of the incoming administration's planning to abolitionize +the Indian country while at the same time he manifested his utter +disapproval of it. This is what he said: + + TAHLEQUAH, CHEROKEE NATION, February 22, 1861. + + HIS EXCELLENCY HENRY M. RECTOR, Governor of Arkansas: + + Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's + communication of the 29th ultimo, per your aide-de-camp, Lieut. Col. + J. J. Gaines. + + The Cherokees cannot but feel a deep regret and solicitude for the + unhappy differences which at present disturb the peace and quietude of + the several States, especially when it is understood that some of the + slave States have already separated themselves and withdrawn from the + Federal Government and that it is probable others will also pursue the + same course. + + But may we not yet hope and trust in the dispensation of Divine power + to overrule the discordant elements for good, and that, by the counsel + of the wisdom, virtue, and patriotism of the land, measures may + happily be adopted for the restoration of peace and harmony among the + brotherhood of States within the Federal Union. + + The relations which the Cherokee people sustain toward their white + brethren have been established by subsisting treaties with the United + States Government, and by them they have placed themselves under the + "protection of the United States and of no other sovereign whatever." + They are bound to hold no treaty with any foreign power, or with any + individual State, nor with the citizens of any State. On the other + hand, the faith of the United States is solemnly pledged to the + Cherokee Nation for the protection of the right and title in the + lands, conveyed to them by patent, within their territorial + boundaries, as also for the protection of all other of their national + and individual rights and interests of persons and property. Thus the + Cherokee people are inviolably allied with their white brethren of + the United States in war and friends in peace. Their institutions, + locality, and natural sympathies are unequivocally with the + slave-holding States. And the contiguity of our territory to your + State, in connection with the daily, social, and commercial + intercourse between our respective citizens, forbids the idea that + they should ever be otherwise than steadfast friends. + + I am surprised to be informed by Your Excellency that "it is well + established that the Indian country west of Arkansas is looked to by + the incoming administration of Mr. Lincoln as fruitful fields ripe for + the harvest of abolitionism, free-soilers, and Northern mountebanks." + As I am sure that the laborers will be greatly disappointed if they + shall expect in the Cherokee country "fruitful fields ripe for the + harvest of abolitionism," &c., you may rest assured that the Cherokee + people will never tolerate the propagation of any obnoxious fruit upon + their soil. + + And in conclusion I have the honor to reciprocate the salutation of + friendship. + + I am, sir, very respectfully, Your Excellency's obedient servant, + + JNO. ROSS, Principal Chief Cherokee Nation.[180] + +The Arkansas state convention, sanctioned by popular vote, met, by +authority of the governor's proclamation, March fourth. Its members were +inclined to temporize, however; for, as Harrell says, they were +cooperationists[181] rather than secessionists and their policy of +temporizing they carried out even in the provision made for reassembling +after adjournment. David Walker, the president of the convention, was out +of sympathy with this; and, at the first news of the attack upon Fort +Sumter and while passion and excitement were still at fever heat, +called[182] an extra session for the sixth of May. The regular session was +not to come until the nineteenth of August. Coincidently Governor Rector +again showed where his sympathies lay by refusing[183] President Lincoln's +call for troops. + +The Arkansas Ordinance of Secession was passed on the sixth of May. S. R. +Cockrell had proved himself a good prophet; for, writing jubilantly to L. +P. Walker, on the twenty-first of April, on the progress of secession, he +had said,[184] "Arkansas will go out 6th of May before breakfast. The +Indians come next." His closing remark had some foundation for its +utterance. Intelligent and prominent Indians were to be found in the very +ranks of the Arkansas secessionists. E. C. Boudinot, a Cherokee, an enemy +and rival of John Ross, and later Cherokee delegate in the Confederate +Congress, was secretary[185] of the convention. M. Kennard, a leading and +a principal Creek chief, seems also to have been influential. The alliance +of the Indians was yet being sought.[186] + +The secession ordinance once safely launched, the Arkansas convention +turned its attention without equivocation to Indian concerns. On the tenth +of May, for instance, it followed the example set by Texas and passed a +resolution,[187] authorizing the president of the convention to appoint +three delegates to visit Indian Territory. The men appointed were, S. L. +Griffith of Sebastian County (the same man, interestingly enough to whom +the United States government had recently offered[188] the Southern +Superintendency), J. Murphy of Madison County, and G. W. Laughinghouse of +St. Francis County. Two of these counties were on or near the border. +Sebastian was on the border and Madison not far inland, so Griffith and +Murphy very probably realized the full significance of their mission. On +the eleventh of May, the convention tried to pass another resolution,[189] +indicative of a community of interests between Arkansas and the Indian +country. This resolution failed, but, had it passed, it would have prayed +the president of the Confederate States to erect a military department or +division out of Arkansas and Indian Territory. As it was, the convention +contented itself, on this occasion, with empowering[190] Brigadier-general +Pearce[191] to cooperate with Brigadier-general McCulloch.[192] It took +this action on the twenty-first of May and on the twenty-eighth it +received a communication[193] from Elias Rector concerning the Choctaws +and Chickasaws. + +Almost simultaneously with this legislative activity, solicitation of the +Indians came from yet other directions. On the eighth of May, +Brigadier-general B. Burroughs of the Arkansas militia took it upon +himself to make an appeal to the Chickasaws, which he did in this wise: + + HEADQUARTERS EIGHTH BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, ARKANSAS MILITIA, + Fort Smith, Ark., May 8, 1861. + + GOV. C. HARRIS: To-day we have information that Arkansas, in + Convention, has seceded, by a vote 69 to 1. Tennessee has also + seceded, and made large appropriations and ordered an army of 50,000 + men. + + Arkansas has for several days past been in arms on this frontier for + the protection (of) citizens, and the neighboring Indian nations whose + interests are identical with her own. + + I have news through my scouts that the U. S. troops have abandoned the + forts in the Chickasaw country. + + Under my orders from the commander-in-chief and governor of Arkansas, + I feel authorized to extend to you such military aid as will be + required in the present juncture of affairs to occupy and hold the + forts. + + I have appointed Col. A. H. Word, one of the State senators, and + Captain Sparks, attached to this command, commissioners to treat and + confer with you on this subject. These gentlemen are fully apprised of + the nature of the powers intrusted to myself by the governor of this + State, and are authorized to express to you my views of the subject + under consideration. I ask, therefore, that you express to them your + own wishes in the premises, and believe, my dear sir, that Arkansas + cherishes the kindest regards for your people. + + I have the honor to subscribe myself, with sentiments of regard, your + excellency's friend and servant, + + B. BURROUGHS, Brigadier-General, Commanding.[194] + +The impudence and calm effrontery of this has its humorous side and would +seem even ridiculous were it not for the fact that we are bound to +remember that the Indians took it all so very seriously. It was true +enough, as Burroughs said, that the Federal troops had abandoned the +Indian country; but against whom were the forts to be held? Surely not +against the Federals. Furthermore, what need was there for Arkansas to +interest herself in the Chickasaw forts, since the Texan troops were +already in possession? Is it possible to suppose that Burroughs's scouts, +who had found out so much about the withdrawal of the Federal forces, had +not discovered the work of the Texans in contributing thereto? The +Chickasaws were particularly friendly to the secessionists and, in this +same month of May, passed, by means of their legislature, those eight +resolutions[195] in which they gave such strong expression to their +views, at the same time, however, giving the Southern States clearly to +understand that they knew the extent of their own rights and were +determined to hold fast to them. They also declared that they wished to +hold their forts themselves. + +On the ninth of May, the Indians were still further addressed and this +time by the citizens of Boonsboro, Arkansas, whose appeal has already been +referred to and quoted.[196] The appeal was made through the medium of a +letter to John Ross and of him the citizens of Boonsboro inquired where he +intended to stand; inasmuch as they much preferred "an open enemy to a +doubtful friend." They earnestly hoped, they said, to find in him and his +people "true allies and active friends." On the fifteenth of May, J. R. +Kannady, lieutenant-colonel, commanding at Fort Smith, also +communicated[197] with Ross and on the same subject, his immediate +provocation being the report that Senator James H. Lane was busy raising +troops in Kansas to be used against Missouri and Arkansas. Of the Kannady +letter, John B. Luce was the bearer and, to it, Ross replied[198] on the +seventeenth, the very day that he published his great proclamation[199] of +neutrality; for the otherwise most sensible John Ross labored under the +delusion that the Indians would be allowed to figure as silent witnesses +of events. In this respect, he was, however, on slightly firmer ground +than were the citizens of such a state as Kentucky; but, none the less, he +labored under a delusion as he soon found out to his sorrow. His +proclamation of neutrality was intended as a final and conclusive +answer[200] to all interrogatories like that from Boonsboro. + + + + +III. THE CONFEDERACY IN NEGOTIATION WITH THE INDIAN TRIBES + + +The provisional government of the Confederate States showed itself no less +anxious and no less prompt than the individual states in its endeavor to +secure the Indian country and the Indian alliance. On the twenty-first of +February, 1861, the very same day that the law was passed for the +establishment of a War Department of which Leroy P. Walker of Alabama took +immediate charge, William P. Chilton, member[201] of the Provisional +Congress from Alabama, offered in that body a resolution to the effect, +that the Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to inquire into the +expediency of opening up negotiations with the Indian tribes of the West +in relation to all matters concerning the mutual welfare of said tribes +and the people of the Confederate States.[202] The resolution was adopted. +Four days later, Edward Sparrow of Louisiana asked that the same committee +be instructed to consider the advisability of appointing agents to those +same Indian tribes.[203] The Indian committee, at the time, was composed +of Jackson Morton of Florida, Lawrence M. Keitt of South Carolina, and +Thomas N. Waul of Texas. Robert W. Johnson became a member after Arkansas +had seceded and had been admitted to the Confederacy. + +Preliminary steps such as these led naturally to a comprehension of the +need for a Bureau of Indian Affairs[204] and, on the twelfth of March, +President Davis recommended[205] that one be organized and a commissioner +of Indian affairs appointed. His recommendations were acted upon without +delay and a law[206] in conformity with them passed. This happened on the +fifteenth of March and on the day following, the last of the session, +Davis nominated David Hubbard,[207] ex-commissioner[208] from Alabama to +Arkansas, for the Indian portfolio. For some time, however, Hubbard had +little to do.[209] It is wise therefore to leave him for a while and +resume the examination of congressional work. + +The journal entries through February and March show that the Provisional +Congress had, not infrequently, Indian matters placed before it and, at +times presumably, communications direct from the tribes. On the fourth of +March, Robert Toombs, himself on the Finance Committee and at the same +time Secretary of State,[210] offered the following resolution:[211] + + _Resolved_, That the President be, and he is hereby authorized to send + a suitable person as special agent of this Government to the Indian + tribes west of the State of Arkansas. + +Whether this was called forth by the investigations of the Committee on +Indian Affairs under the Chilton resolution of the twenty-first of +February or whether it grew out of a correspondence between Toombs and +Albert Pike does not appear. Toombs and Pike were friends, brother +Masons[212] in fact, and then or soon afterwards in intimate +correspondence on the subject of Indian relations. The resolution passed, +but there the matter seems to have rested for a time. On the tenth of May, +William B. Ochiltree proposed[213] that the Committee on Indian Affairs +consider the condition of Reserve Indians in Texas; and, on the fifteenth, +a most important measure was introduced[214] in the shape of a bill, +reported by Keitt from the Committee on Indian Affairs, "for the +protection of certain Indian tribes." This opened up the whole subject of +prospective relations with the great tribes of Indian Territory and, +taken in connection with the provision for a special commissioner, was +fruitful of great results. + +On the seventh of May, Thomas A. Harris of Missouri had made the +Provisional Congress acquainted with some Choctaw and Chickasaw +resolutions,[215] which, in themselves, seemed indicative of a friendly +disposition towards the South. This fact lent to the bill for the +assumption of a protectorate a large significance. Congress considered it, +for the most part, in secret session. The text of the act as finally +passed does not appear in any of the published[216] statutes of the +Confederate States; but, under the act, Albert Pike, special commissioner +for the purpose appointed by President Davis, negotiated all his +remarkable treaties with the western tribes. Three sections of the law, +those added to the original bill by way of amendment, appear in the +Provisional Congress _Journal_.[217] They are strictly financial in their +nature and are as follows: + + _Sec. 6._ And be it further enacted, That the Confederate States do + hereby assume the duty and obligation of collecting and paying over as + trustees to the several Indian tribes now located in the Indian + Territory south of Kansas, all sums of money accruing, whether from + interest or capital of the bonds of the several States of this + Confederacy now held by the Government of the United States as + trustees for said Indians or any of them; and the said interest and + capital as collected shall be paid over to said Indians or invested + for their account, as the case may be, in accordance with the several + treaties and contracts now existing between said Indians and the + Government of the United States. + + _Sec. 7._ That the several States of this Confederacy be requested to + provide by legislation or otherwise that the capital and interest of + the bonds issued by them respectively, and held by the Government of + the United States in trust for said Indians, or any of them, shall not + be paid to said Government of the United States, but shall be paid to + this Government in trust for said Indians. + + _Sec. 8._ That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Indian + Affairs to obtain and publish, at as early a period as practicable, a + list of all the bonds of the several States of this Confederacy now + held in trust by the Government of the United States as aforesaid, and + to give notice in said publication that the capital and interest of + said bonds are to be paid to this Government and to no other holder + thereof whatever. + +Before this bill for the protection of the Indians had come up for +discussion or had even emerged from the rooms of the Committee on Indian +Affairs, Albert Pike, in letters to Toombs and R. W. Johnson, had pointed +out most emphatically the military necessity of securing[218] the Indian +country. His conviction was strong that the United States had no idea of +permanently abandoning the same but would soon replace the regular troops, +it had withdrawn from thence, by volunteers. Pike discussed the matter +with N. Bart Pearce and the two agreed[219] that there was no time to lose +and that something must be done forthwith to prevent the possibility of +Federal emissaries gaining a foothold among the great tribes; for, if they +did gain such a foothold, their influence was likely to be very great, +especially among the Cherokees who might be regarded as predisposed to +favor them, they having many abolitionists on their tribal rolls. Whether, +at so early a date, Pike thought formal negotiation, as had been +customary, the preferable method of procedure, we are not prepared to say, +positively. Formal negotiation was scarcely consistent with the southern +argument of Jackson's time or consonant with present state-rights +doctrine. When writing[220] to Johnson on the eleventh of May, Pike seems +to have been thinking simply of Indian enlistment and of the use of white +and red troops in the defense of the Indian country. At that date his own +appointment[221] as diplomatic agent for the negotiation of treaties of +amity and alliance was certainly not prominently before him. He expressed +himself to Johnson in such a way, indeed, as would lead us to suppose that +the position he half expected to get, and did not altogether want, was +that of commander of an Indian Department which he hoped would be created. + +For such a position Pike was not entirely unfitted. He had served in the +Mexican War and had attained the rank of captain; but his tastes were +certainly not what one would call military. He was a poet[222] of +acknowledged reputation and a lawyer of eminence. Arkansas had recognized +him as one of her foremost citizens by sending him as her one and only +delegate to the Commercial Convention[223] of Southern and Western +States, held at Charleston, South Carolina, April, 1854. Just recently, at +the time when the question of secession was before the people of Arkansas, +he had issued a pamphlet, entitled, _State or Province, Bond or Free_, +described by a contemporary as, "a most specious argument for secession, +but a re-production of the political heresies, that thirty years ago +called down on John C. Calhoun, the anathema maranatha of Andrew +Jackson."[224] To the men of his time, it seemed all the more astonishing +that Albert Pike should take such a pronounced stand on the subject of +state rights, not because he was a New Englander by birth, for there were +many such in Arkansas and in the ranks of the secessionists, but because +he was the author of that stirring poem against the idea of national +disintegration, published some time before under the title of, +"Disunion."[225] + +On the twentieth of May, Pike wrote[226] again to Toombs and by that time +he certainly knew[227] of his commission to treat with the Indian tribes, +but had apparently not received any very definite instructions as to the +scope of his authority. One little passage in the letter brings out very +clearly the essential fair-mindedness of the man, a marked characteristic +in all[228] his dealings with the Indians, but at once his strength and +his weakness. He succeeded with the red man for the very same reason that +he failed with the white, because he gave to the Indians the +consideration and the justice which were their due. This is the +significant passage from his letter to Toombs:[229] + + I very much regret that I have not received distinct authority to give + the Indians guarantees of all their legal and just rights under + treaties. It cannot be expected they will join us without them, and it + would be very ungenerous, as well as unwise and useless, in me to ask + them to do it. Why should they, if we will not bind ourselves to give + them what they hazard in giving us their rights under treaties? + + As you have told me to act at my discretion, and as I am not directed + not to give the guarantees, I shall give them, formal, full, and + ample, by treaty, if the Indians will accept them and make treaties. + General McCulloch will join me in this, and so, I hope and suppose, + will Mr. Hubbard, and when we shall have done so we shall, I am sure, + not look in vain to you, at least, to affirm these guarantees and + insist they shall be carried out in good faith. + +There was an implied doubt of Hubbard in Pike's reference to him and a +single future declaration almost justified the doubt, notwithstanding the +fact that Hubbard was supposed to have been chosen as commissioner of +Indian affairs because of his "well known sympathy for the Indian tribes +and the deep concern" he had ever "manifested in their welfare." +Hubbard's official position was that of Commissioner of Indian Affairs; +but the unorganized character of the Confederate administration in early +1861 is well attested by the way Secretary Walker confounded the name and +functions of that office with those of an ordinary superintendent. On the +fourteenth of May, he addressed Hubbard as "Superintendent of Indian +Affairs" and instructed him + + To proceed to the Creek Nation, and to make known to them, as well as + to the rest of the tribes west of Arkansas and south of Kansas ... the + earnest desire of the Confederate States to defend and protect them + against the rapacious and avaricious designs of their and our enemies + at the North.... You will, in an especial manner, impress upon the + Creek Nation and surrounding Indian tribes the imperious fact that + they will doubtless recognize, that the real design of the North and + the Government at Washington in regard to them has been and still is + the same entertained and sought to be enforced against ourselves, and + if suffered to be consummated, will terminate in the emancipation of + their slaves and the robbery of their lands. To these nefarious ends + all the schemes of the North have tended for many years past, as the + Indian nations and tribes well know from the character and conduct of + those emissaries who have been in their midst, preaching up abolition + sentiments under the disguise of the holy religion of Christ, and + denouncing slaveholders as abandoned by God and unfit associates for + humanity on earth. + + You will be diligent to explain to them, under these circumstances, + how their cause has become our cause, and themselves and ourselves + stand inseparably associated in respect to national existence and + property interests; and in view of this identification of cause and + interests between them and ourselves, entailing a common destiny, give + to them profound assurances that the Government of the Confederate + States of America, now powerfully constituted through an immense + league of sovereign political societies, great forces in the field, + and abundant resources, will assume all the expense and responsibility + of protecting them against all adversaries.... + + Give them to understand, in this connection, that a brigadier-general + of character and experience has been assigned to the military district + embracing the Indian Territories south of Kansas, with three regiments + under his command, while in Texas another military district has been + formed.... + + In addition to these things, regarded of primary importance, you will, + without committing the Government to any especial conduct, express our + serious anxiety to establish and enforce the debts and annuities due + to them from the Government at Washington, which otherwise they will + never obtain, as that Government would, undoubtedly, sooner rob them + of their lands, emancipate their slaves, and utterly exterminate them, + than render to them justice. Finally, communicate to them the abiding + solicitude of the Confederate States of America to advance their + condition in the direction of a proud political society, with a + distinctive civilization, and holding lands in severalty under + well-defined laws, by forming them into a Territorial government; but + you will give no assurance of State organization and independence, as + they still require the strong arm of protecting power, and may + probably always need our fostering care; and, so far as the agents of + the late Government of the United States may be concerned, you will + converse with them, and such of them as are willing to act with you in + the policy herein set forth you are authorized to substantiate in the + employment of this Government at their present compensation....[230] + +Hubbard's mission to the west was quite independent[231] of Pike's, +although both missions were undoubtedly part of the one general plan of +securing as quickly, as surely, and as easily as possible the friendly +cooperation of the Indians. At about the same moment that they were +devised, the Confederacy took yet another means of accomplishing the same +object and one referred to in the letter of Secretary Walker just quoted. +On the thirteenth of this same month of May, 1861, it assigned +Brigadier-general Ben McCulloch "to the command of the district embracing +the Indian Territory lying west of Arkansas and south of Kansas." +McCulloch's orders[232] were "to guard that Territory against invasion +from Kansas or elsewhere," and, for the purpose, in addition to three +regiments of white troops, "to engage, if possible, the service of any of +the Indian tribes occupying the Territory referred to in numbers equal to +two regiments." + +Hubbard's part in the prosecution of this great endeavor may as well be +disposed of first. It was of short duration and seemingly barren of direct +results. Hubbard was long in reaching the western boundary of Arkansas. On +the way out he was seized with pneumonia and otherwise delayed by wind and +weather. On the second of June he was still in Little Rock, apparently +much more interested[233] in the local situation in Arkansas than in the +real object of his mission. His intention was to "go up the river to Fort +Smith," June third. From that point, on the twelfth, he addressed the +Cherokee chief, John Ross, and the Confederate general, Ben McCulloch. The +letter was more particularly meant for the former. + + 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 consideration, and + therefore I have determined to write, and make what I think 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 gaining friends among the + powers of Europe, and our people are arming 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 succeeds 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 will allow your people small reserves--they give chiefs + pretty large 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 liberty 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 land, and their nationality. + + Another consideration is your debts, annuities, &c., school funds due + you. Nearly all are in bonds of Southern States and held by the + Government at Washington, and these debts are nearly all forfeited + already by the act of war made upon the States by that Government. + These we will secure you beyond question if you join us. If you join + the North they are forever forfeited, and you will have no right to + believe that the Northern people would vote to pay you this forfeited + debt. Admit that there may be some danger take which side you may, I + think the danger tenfold greater to the Cherokee people if they take + sides against us than for us. Neutrality will scarcely be possible. As + long as your people retain their national character your country + cannot be abolitionized, and it is our interest therefore that you + should hold your possessions in perpetuity.[234] + +The effect that such a communication as the foregoing might well have had +upon the Indians can scarcely be overestimated. Time out of number they +had been over-reached in dealings financial. Only the year before, bonds +in which Indian trust funds were invested had been abstracted[235] from +the vaults of the Interior Department; and, for this cause and other +causes, Indian money had not been readily forthcoming for the much needed +relief of Indian sufferers from the fearful drought that devastated Indian +Territory, Kansas, and other parts of the great American desert in 1860. + +Comment upon Hubbard's letter from the standpoint of historical inaccuracy +seems hardly necessary here. Suffice it to say that the distortion of +facts and the shifting of responsibility for previous Indian wrongs from +the shoulders of Southern States to those of a federal government made up +entirely of northern states must have seemed preposterous in the extreme +to the Indians. One can not help wondering how Hubbard dared to say such +things to the Indian exiles from Southern States and particularly to John +Ross who like all of his tribe and of associated tribes was the victim of +southern aggression and not in any sense whatsoever of northern. + +To Hubbard's gross amplification and even defiance of his instructions, +also to his extravagant utterances touching the repudiation of debts and +southern versus northern justice and generosity, Chief Ross replied,[236] +by way of strong contrast, in terms dignified and convincing: + + It is not the province of the Cherokees to determine the character of + the conflict going on in the States. It is their duty to keep + themselves, if possible, disentangled, and afford no grounds to either + party to interfere with their rights. The obligations of every + character, pecuniary and otherwise, which existed prior to the present + state of affairs between the Cherokee Nation and the Government are + equally valid now as then. If the Government owe us, I do not believe + it will repudiate its debts. If States embraced in the Confederacy owe + us, I do not believe they will repudiate their debts. I consider our + annuity safe in any contingency. + + A comparison of Northern and Southern philanthropy, as illustrated in + their dealings toward the Indians within their respective limits, + would not affect the merits of the question now under consideration, + which is simply one of duty under existing circumstances. I therefore + pass it over, merely remarking that the "settled policy" of former + years was a favorite policy with both sections when extended to the + acquisition of Indian lands, and that but few Indians now press their + feet upon the banks of either the Ohio or the Tennessee.... + +Judging from all the instructions that Secretary Walker sent out on Indian +matters in May of 1861, it would seem that he had very much at heart the +enlistment of the Indians and their actual participation in the war. +Mention has already been made of how General McCulloch was told by +Adjutant-general Cooper to add, if possible, two Indian regiments to his +brigade and of how Walker had written Hubbard urging him to persuade the +Indians to join forces and raising the number of Indian regiments desired +from two to three. In a similar strain Walker wrote[237] to Douglas H. +Cooper on the occasion of definitely asking him to give his services to +the South. In all these letters no special stress was laid upon an +intention to use the Indians as home guards exclusively. On the contrary, +one might easily draw, from the letters, a quite opposite inference and +conclude that the Indian troops, if raised, were to be used very generally +and exactly as any other volunteers might be used. This is important in +view of the stand, and a very positive one it was, that Albert Pike took +some time afterwards. In his own letter[238] to Johnson of May 11, 1861, +he does not specifically say that the Indian soldiers, whose mustering he +has in contemplation, are not to be used outside of the Indian country; +but he does insist that that country be occupied by them and by a certain +number of white regiments--another important point as subsequent events +will divulge. + +General McCulloch took up his part of the task of securing the Indians in +his own characteristic way. He had great energy and great enthusiasm and +both qualities were displayed to the fullest extent on the present +occasion. He first laid his plans for taking possession forthwith of the +Indian country, it having come to his knowledge that Colonel Emory with +the Federal forces had abandoned it.[239] Apparently, it had never +occurred to McCulloch that the Indians themselves might be averse to such +a proceeding on his part but he was soon made aware of it; for when he +consulted[240] with John Ross, he found, to his discomfiture and deep +chagrin, that the desire and the determination of this greatest of all the +Indians was to remain strictly neutral. On the twelfth of June, McCulloch +still further communicated[241] with Ross and informed him that he would +respect his wishes in so far as expediency justified but that he would +have to insist upon the inherent right of the individual Cherokees to +organize themselves into a force of Home Guards should they feel so +inclined. Then he closed his letter by this note of warning: + + Should a body of men march into your Territory from the North, or if I + have an intimation that a body is in line of march for the Territory + from that quarter, I must assure you that I will at once advance into + your country, if I deem it advisable. + +Once again the forbearance of Chief Ross had been put to a severe test, +but he none the less replied to McCulloch with his customary dignity. Ross +was then at Park Hill, McCulloch at Fort Smith, where he had halted hoping +that the permission would be forthcoming for him to cross the line. Ross's +reply[242] came by return mail, so to speak, and was dated the +seventeenth. It was largely a reiteration of the reasons he had already +given for preserving neutrality, but it was also a positive refusal to +allow the individual Cherokees to organize a Home Guard. The concluding +paragraph gives the lie direct to those intriguing and self-interested +politicians who, in later years, endeavored to impugn Ross's sincerity: + + Your demand that those people of the nation who are in favor of + joining the Confederacy be allowed to organize into military companies + as Home Guards, for the purpose of defending themselves in case of + invasion from the North, is most respectfully declined. I cannot give + my consent to any such organization for very obvious reasons: First, + it would be a palpable violation of my position as a neutral; second, + it would place in our midst organized companies not authorized by our + laws but in violation of treaty, and who would soon become efficient + instruments in stirring up domestic strife and creating internal + difficulties among the Cherokee people. As in this connection you have + misapprehended a remark made in conversation at our interview some + eight or ten days ago, I hope you will allow me to repeat what I did + say. I informed you that I had taken a neutral position, and would + maintain it honestly, but that in case of a foreign invasion, old as I + am, I would assist in repelling it.... + +It will develop later how Ross's wishes with respect to the enrollment of +Home Guards were successfully and adroitly circumvented, with the +connivance of General McCulloch, by men of the Ridge faction in Cherokee +politics. From the beginning, McCulloch seemed determined not to take Ross +seriously, yet he duly informed Secretary Walker of the turn events were +taking. On the twelfth of June, for instance, he wrote[243] to him and +gave an account of his recent interview with the Cherokee chief. It was +rather a misleading account, however; for it conveyed to Walker the idea +that Ross was only waiting for provocation from the North to throw in his +lot with the Confederacy. On the twenty-second of June, McCulloch +wrote[244] to Walker again and to the same effect as far as his belief +that Ross was not sincere in his professions of neutrality was concerned, +even though, in the interval between the two letters, he had been +carefully corrected by Ross himself and even though he was, at the very +time, sending on to Richmond, the correspondence that denied the truth of +his own statement. He did, however, add that his belief now was that Ross +was awaiting a favorable moment to join forces with the North. + +Albert Pike, special commissioner from the State Department of the +Confederate States to the Indian tribes west of Arkansas, had accompanied +General McCulloch on his visit to Ross, the latter part of May, and had +been present at the resulting interview. He had told[245] Toombs that he +would leave Little Rock for Fort Smith the twenty-second and go at +once[246] to the Cherokee country. At Fort Smith, Pike met McCulloch and +the two, seeking the same object, agreed to go forward together,[247] +having already been approached by an anti-Ross element of the Cherokee +Nation.[248] Ross, as has been shown, insisted upon maintaining an +attitude of strict neutrality, which probably did not surprise his +interviewers, since, according to Pike's own testimony, he and McCulloch +had not gone to Park Hill expecting to be able to effect any arrangement +with Chief Ross.[249] Ross, however, did go so far as to promise[250] +that within a short while he would call a meeting of the Cherokee +Executive Council and confer with it further on the policy to be pursued. +Ross doubtless felt that it was a part of political wisdom to do this. His +was an exceedingly difficult position; for, within the nation, there was a +large element in favor of secession. It was a minority party, it is true; +but, none the less, it represented for the most part, the intelligence and +the property and the influence of the tribe. Opposed to it and in favor of +neutrality, was the large majority, not nearly so influential because made +up of the full-bloods and of those otherwise poverty-stricken and obscure. +In the light of previous tribal discords, the minority party was the old +Ridge, or Treaty, Party, now headed by Stand Watie and E. C. Boudinot, +while the majority party was the Ross, or Non-treaty Party. Ross himself, +his nephew, William P. Ross, and a few others were the great exceptions to +the foregoing characterization of their following. Of sturdy Scotch +extraction and honest to the core, they personally stood out in strong +contrast to the rank and file of the non-secessionists and it was they who +so guided public sentiment that John Ross had the nation back of him when, +on May 17, 1861, he issued his memorable Proclamation of Neutrality:[251] + + _Proclamation to the Cherokee people_ + + Owing to the momentous state of affairs pending among the people of + the several States, I, John Ross, Principal Chief, hereby issue this + my proclamation to the people of the Cherokee Nation, reminding them + of the obligations arising under their treaties with the United + States, and urging them to the faithful observance of said treaties + by the maintenance of peace and friendship toward the people of all + the States. + + The better to obtain these important ends, I earnestly impress upon + all my fellow-citizens the propriety of attending to their ordinary + avocations and abstaining from unprofitable discussions of events + transpiring in the States and from partisan demonstrations in regard + to the same. + + They should not be alarmed by false reports thrown into circulation by + designing men, but cultivate harmony among themselves and observe in + good faith strict neutrality between the States threatening civil war. + By these means alone can the Cherokee people hope to maintain their + rights unimpaired and to have their own soil and firesides spared from + the baleful effects of a devastating war. There has been no + declaration of war between the opposing parties, and the conflict may + yet be averted by compromise or a peaceful separation. + + The peculiar circumstances of their condition admonish the Cherokees + to the exercise of prudence in regard to a state of affairs to the + existence of which they have in no way contributed; and they should + avoid the performance of any act or the adoption of any policy + calculated to destroy or endanger their territorial and civil rights. + By honest adherence to this course they can give no just cause for + aggression or invasion nor any pretext for making their country the + scene of military operations, and will be in a situation to claim and + retain all their rights in the final adjustment that will take place + between the several States. For these reasons I earnestly impress upon + the Cherokee people the importance of non-interference in the affairs + of the people of the States and the observance of unswerving + neutrality between them. + + Trusting that God will not only keep from our own borders the + desolations of war, but that He will in infinite mercy and power stay + its ravages among the brotherhood of States. + + Given under my hand at the executive office at Park Hill this 17th day + of May, 1861. + + JNO. ROSS, Principal Chief Cherokee Nation. + +The discretion of the Cherokees, their wily diplomacy if, under the +circumstances, you should please to call it such, was more than +counterbalanced by the indiscretion and the impetuosity of some of their +neighbors. It has already been noted how the Chickasaws expressed their +southern sympathies in the legislative resolves[252] of the twenty-fifth +of May, but not as yet how the Choctaws took an equally strong stand. Both +tribes were so very pronounced in their show of affection for the +Confederacy that they gave a secessionist color to the whole of the Indian +Territory, so much so, in fact, that Lieutenant-colonel Hyams could +report[253] to Governor Moore of Louisiana, on the twenty-eighth of May, +and upon information given him by some Indian agent. + + ... That the nations on the borders of this State (Arkansas) are + anxious and desirous to be armed; that they can and will muster into + the service 25,000 men; that they have immense supplies of beeves, + sufficient to supply the meat for the whole Confederate service. All + they ask is arms and enrollment. If within your power to forward their + views with the President, it would be a great step in the right + direction, and erect a more effectual barrier against the Kansas + marauders than any force that could be sent against them, and thereby + protect the northern boundary of both Arkansas and Louisiana. The + reasons why every effort should be made to arm these people (now heart + and soul with us) to defend themselves and us are so palpable, that I + do not attempt to urge them upon you, but do solicit your attention, + so far as is compatible with your high position, to this matter, to + impress its importance on the President, and use your well-known + influence to effect this much desirable result.... + +General McCulloch, in a letter[254] also of the twenty-eighth of May, more +particularly specified the tribes that were friendly to the South, but he +too mentioned some of them, the Choctaw and the Chickasaw, as "anxious to +join the Southern Confederacy." It should not be a matter of surprise then +to find that on the fourteenth of June, George Hudson, principal chief of +the Choctaw Nation, acting in accordance with the will of the General +Council, which had met four days before, publicly declared[255] the +Choctaw Nation, "free and _independent_." The chief's proclamation was, in +effect, a conscription act and provided for the enrollment, for military +service in the interests of the Confederacy, of all competent males +between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years. The General Council had +authorized this and had further arranged for the appointment of +commissioners "to negotiate a treaty of alliance and amity" with the +Confederate States. + +Under such conditions, the work of Albert Pike must have seemed all plain +sailing when once he was safely beyond the Cherokee limits; but his +efforts,[256] vain though they were, to persuade that tribe into an +alliance did not end[257] with the first recorded interview with Ross. He +kept up his intercourse with the Ridge faction; but finally decided that +as far as Ross and the nation as a whole were concerned it would be best +to await the issue of events. It was only too apparent to all the southern +agents and commissioners that Ross would never yield his opinion unless +compelled thereto by one of three things or a combination of any or all of +them. The three things were, pressure from within the tribe; some +extraordinary display of Confederate strength that would presage ultimate +success for southern arms; and encroachment by the Federals. It was the +combination that eventually won the day. Pike, meanwhile, had passed on +to the Creek country. + +At the North Fork Village, in the Creek country, the work of negotiating +Indian treaties in the interests of the Confederacy really began and it +did not end until a rather long series of them had been concluded. The +series consisted of nine main treaties[258] and the nine group themselves +into three distinct classes. The basis of classification is the relative +strength or power of the tribe, or better, the degree of concession which +the Confederacy, on account of that strength or that power or under stress +of its own dire needs, felt itself obliged to make. This is the list as +classified: + + FIRST CLASS + + 1. Creek, negotiated at North Fork, Creek Nation, July[259] 10, 1861 + + 2. Choctaw and Chickasaw, negotiated at North Fork, July 12, 1861 + + 3. Seminole, negotiated at the Seminole Council House, August 1, 1861 + + 4. Cherokee, negotiated at Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, October 7, 1861 + + + SECOND CLASS + + 1. Osage, negotiated at Park Hill, Cherokee Nation, October 2, 1861 + + 2. Seneca and Shawnee, negotiated at Park Hill, October 4, 1861 + + 3. Quapaw, negotiated at Park Hill, October 4, 1861 + + + THIRD CLASS + + 1. Wichita, etc., negotiated at the Wichita Agency near the False + Washita River, August 12, 1861 + + 2. Comanche, negotiated at the Wichita Agency, August 12, 1861 + +Although all the treaties, made in 1861 by Albert Pike, were negotiated +under authority[260] of the Act of the Provisional Congress of the +Confederate States, approved May 21, 1861, by which the Confederacy +offered and agreed to accept the protectorate of the Indian tribes west of +Arkansas and Missouri, only those made with the great tribes contained a +statement,[261] definitely showing that the protectorate had been formally +offered, formally accepted and formally assumed. Thus, in a very +unequivocal way, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and Cherokees, +all signified[262] their willingness to transfer their allegiance from the +United to the Confederate States. The smaller tribes seem not to have been +asked to make the same concession and their nationality was, in no sense, +recognized. They acted more or less under duress or compulsion, and the +very negotiation of treaties with them was taken as a full compliance with +the confederate scheme. + +The nationality of the great tribes, or more properly speaking, their +political importance, was still further recognized by clauses +guaranteeing territorial and political integrity,[263] representation by +delegates[264] in the Confederate Congress, and the prospect[265] of +ultimate statehood. The guarantee of territorial integrity was, of a +certainty, not new. It had been inserted into various removal treaties as +a safeguard against a repetition of the injustice that had been meted out +to the Indians by the Southern States in Jackson's day. It comprised, in +effect, a solemn promise that no state or territorial lines should ever +again circumscribe the particular domain of the Indian nation securing the +guarantee; and that state or territorial laws, as the case might be, +should have no operation within the Indian country. The idea of +congressional representation[266] was also not new, but where it had +previously been but a promise or a mere contingency, it was now an assured +fact, a thing definitely provided for. Ultimate statehood had, however, +attached to it the old time elements of uncertainty, which is not at all +surprising, considering that Walker, in his instructions[267] to Hubbard, +had positively spoken against it. + +All the treaties, without distinction of class, recognized the land rights +of the Indians and their existing territorial limits, but with the usual +restriction upon alienation to foreign powers. A sale or cession to a +foreign state, without the consent of the Confederate States, was to +result in forfeiture and reversion to the Confederate States. By the +Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty, the arrangement,[268] already satisfactorily +reached, for a Chickasaw country distinct from a Choctaw was continued, +the Indians of both tribes being given the privilege of having their +particular land surveyed and sectionized whenever they might so please, +provided it be done by regular legislative process.[269] The same treaty +transferred[270] the lease of the Wichita Reserve from the United to the +Confederate States and limited it to ninety-nine years. Practically the +same bands of Indians were to be accommodated in this Leased District as +before; namely, those whose permanent ranges were south of the Canadian or +between it and the Arkansas. The New Mexican Indians were still to be +absolutely excluded. The Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians reserved the right +to pass upon the accommodation of any other Indians than those +specifically mentioned in the treaty. The individual bands, so +accommodated in the Leased District, were to be settled upon reserves and +to hold the same in fee. Finally, the treaty placed,[271] for the time +being, the Wichitas and their fellow reservees exclusively under the +control of the Confederate States with a limited jurisdiction resting in +the Choctaw Nation and a full right of settlement in Choctaws and +Chickasaws. + +In regard to special features of the land rights of tribes other than +those already mentioned, it is well to observe, perhaps, that the title to +the reservation then occupied by the Seminoles was admitted to be +dependent upon Creek sufferance;[272] that the United States patent of +December 31, 1838, was recognized[273] as protecting the Cherokee; and +that the Osage lands in Kansas were inferentially covered by the +Confederate guarantee, given that tribe, of title in perpetuity.[274] The +Confederate States, moreover, agreed to indemnify[275] the Cherokees +should their Neutral Lands be lost to them through the misfortune of the +war. It is rather interesting to see that this new government, in +promising the insignificant tribes a permanent occupancy of their present +holdings, made use of the same high-flown, meaningless language that the +United States had so long used; but Albert Pike knew better than to assure +the truly powerful tribes that they should hold their lands themselves and +in common "as long as the grass should grow and the waters run." That +language could yet be made appealing and effective, though, in official +dealings with weak Wichitas,[276] Senecas, and Shawnees,[277] and, strange +as it may seem, even with Creeks.[278] In reciprocal fashion, the wild +Comanches could most naively promise[279] to hold the Confederate States +"by the hand, and have but one heart with them always." + +Speaking of indemnification, we are reminded of other very important +financial obligations assumed by the Confederacy when it made its famous +treaties with the Indians west of Arkansas. Those financial obligations +comprised the payment of annuities due the tribes from the United States +in return for land cessions of enormous extent. They also comprised the +interest on various funds, such as the Orphan Creek fund, education funds, +and the like. Albert Pike had been given no specific authority to do this +but he knew well that no treaties could possibly be made without it. It +was not very likely that the slaveholding tribes would surrender so much +wealth for nothing, and so Pike argued, when justifying himself and his +actions later on. In his capacity as commissioner with plenary powers, he +also promised the Indians that the Confederacy would see to it that their +trust funds, secured by southern bonds, should be rendered safe and +negotiable. Over and above all this, the government of the Confederate +States made itself responsible for claims for damages of various sorts +that the different tribes had brought or were to bring against the United +States. Three good instances of the same are the following: the claim of +the Cherokees for losses, personal and national, incident to the removal +from Georgia; the claim[280] of the Seminoles for losses sustained by +reason of General Thomas S. Jesup's emancipation[281] order during the +progress of the Second Seminole War; and the claim of the Wichitas against +the United States government for having granted to the Choctaws the land +that belonged by hereditary preemption to them and had so belonged from +time out of mind. It is exceedingly interesting to know that these +Wichitas had been colonized on the very land they claimed as indisputably +their own. + +In all the treaties, negotiated by Pike, except the two of the Third +Class,[282] the Wichita and the Comanche, the institution of slavery was +positively and particularly recognized, recognized as legal and as having +existed from time immemorial. Property rights in slaves were guaranteed. +Fugitive Slave Laws were declared operative within the Indian country, and +the mutual rendition of fugitives was promised throughout the length and +breadth of the Confederacy. The First Class of treaties differs from the +Second in this matter but only in a very slight degree. The latter +condenses in one clause[283] all that bears upon slavery in its various +aspects, the former separates the discussion of the legality of the +institution from that of the rendition of slaves. Of the First Class, the +Creek Treaty[284] constituted the model; of the Second, the Osage.[285] + +Aside from the things to which reference has already been made, the +Confederate Indian treaties were, in a variety of ways and to the same +extent that the Confederate constitution itself was, a reflection upon +past history. To avoid the friction that had always been present between +the red men and their neighbors, an attempt was now made to redefine and +to readjust the relations of Indians with each other both within and +without the tribe; their relations with white men considered apart from +any political organization; their relations, either as individuals or as +tribes, with the several states of the Confederacy; and their relations +with the central government. In general, their rights, civil, political, +and judicial, as men and as semi-independent communities were now +specified under such conditions as made for what in times past would have +been regarded as full recognition, and even for enlargement. Indian rights +were at a premium because Indian alliances were in demand. + +The relations of Indians with Indians need not be considered at length. +Suffice it to say that many clauses were devoted to the regulation of the +affairs of those tribes that were, either politically or ethnologically, +closely connected with each other; as, for example, the Choctaws and +Chickasaws on the one hand and the Creeks and Seminoles on the other. +Still other clauses assured the tribes of protection against hostile +invasion from red men and from white, and assured all the great tribes, +except the Cherokees,[286] of similar protection against domestic +violence.[287] The Cherokees, very possibly, were made an exception +because of the known intensity of their factional strife and hatred, +which, purely for its own selfish ends, the Confederacy had done so much +to augment. There may also have been some lingering doubt of John Ross's +sincerity in the matter of devotion to the Confederacy. The time had been +and might come again when the Confederacy would find it very expedient to +play off one faction against another. Injuries coming to the Indians from +a failure to protect were to be indemnified out of the Confederate +treasury. Could the United States, throughout the more than a hundred +years of its history have had just such a law, its national treasury would +have been saved millions and millions of dollars paid out in claims, just +and unjust, of white men against the Indians. + +As affecting their relations with white men, the Indians were conceded the +right to determine absolutely, by their own legislation, the conditions of +their own tribal citizenship. This would mean, of course, the free +continuance of the custom of adoption, a custom more pernicious in Indian +history than even the principle of equal apportionment in Frankish; +because it was the entering wedge to territorial encroachment. The white +man, once adopted into the tribe as a citizen, was to be protected against +unjust discrimination or against the forfeiture of his acquired status. +The provisions against intruders were legitimately severe, those of the +United States had never been severe enough. The executive power had always +been very weak and very lax but now it was to reside in the tribal Council +and would bid fair to be firm because interested, or, perhaps, we should +say disinterested. The Confederacy, on its part, promised that the aid of +the military should be forthcoming for the expulsion of intruders on +application by the agent, should the tribal authority prove inadequate. +The Indians might compel the removal of obnoxious men from agency and +military reserves. Unauthorized settlement within the Indian country by +citizens of the Confederate States was absolutely forbidden under pain of +punishment by the tribe encroached upon. + +With respect to Indian trade, there was considerable innovation and +considerable modification of existing laws. For years past, the Indians of +the great tribes had chafed under the restrictions which the United States +government had placed upon their trade and, unquestionably, no other +single thing had irritated them more than the very evident monopoly right +which the United States had given to a few white men over it. Indian +trade, under federal regulations, was nothing more nor less than an +extension of the protective policy, a policy that was destructive of all +competition and that put the Indian, often to the contempt of his +intelligence, at the mercy of the white sharper. Indian commissioner after +Indian commissioner had protested against it, but all in vain. George W. +Manypenny, particularly, had tried[288] to effect a change; for he was +himself convinced that, if the Indians were capable of self-government, +they were certainly capable of conducting their own trade. Needless to +say, Manypenny's efforts were entirely unavailing. The Indian trade in the +hands of the licensed white trader, although a pernicious thing for the +Indian, was an exceedingly lucrative business for enterprising American +citizens, white men who were, unfortunately, in possession of the elective +franchise but of little else that was honorable and the government, +controlled by constituents with local interests, dared not surrender it to +the unenfranchised Indians no matter how highly competent they might be. +Thus the Indian country, throughout its entire extent, was exploited for +the sake of the frontiersman. Moreover, the annuity money, a just tax upon +a government that had received so much real estate from the aborigines, +instead of being spent judiciously to meet the ends of civilization and in +such a way as to reflect credit upon the donor, who after all was a +self-constituted guardian, went right back into the pockets of United +States citizens but, of necessity, into those of only a very limited +number of them. + +Because it was a matter of expediency and not because it was a principle +that it believed in, otherwise it would have given it to the weak tribes +as well as to the strong, the Confederacy gave to the Indians of the great +tribes, but not to all in exactly the same measure,[289] the control of +their own trade. It did not do away with the post trader, as it ought to +have done in order to make its reform complete, but it did deprive him of +his monopoly privileges. It hedged his license about with +restrictions,[290] made it subject, on complaint of the Indian and in the +event of arrearages, to revocation; and, to all of the great tribes except +the Seminoles, it gave the power of taxing his goods, his stock in trade, +usually a rather paltry outfit. No better precaution could have possibly +been devised against exorbitant charging. An ad valorem tax would most +certainly have quite eliminated the fifty, the one hundred, and the two +hundred per cents of profit. As a matter of fact, the extravagantly high +prices of the ordinary Indian trader would be, for most persons, +positively prohibitive. The Confederacy further bound itself to pay to the +Indians an annual compensation for the land and timber used by the trader. + +The questions settled as between the several states and the Indian tribes +were chiefly[291] of property rights and of civil and criminal rights and +procedure. In addition to their property right in slaves, the Indians were +at last admitted to have a possible right in other things, in land, for +instance, that might lie within the limits of a state. This they were +henceforth to hold, dispose of as they pleased, and bequeath by will.[292] +Restrictions, likewise, upon their power freely to dispose of their +chattels,[293] were removed, a coordinate concession, but one that did not +so much affect their relations with a given individual state as their +relations with the central government. To such[294] of the Indians as were +not to be brought within the jurisdiction of the Confederate States +District Courts[295] that were to be created within the Indian country, +the right was given to sue and to implead in any of the courts of the +several states. To Indians generally of the great tribes was given the +right to be held competent as witnesses[296] in state courts, and, if +indicted there themselves, to subpoena witnesses and to employ +counsel.[297] The Cherokees, the Choctaws, and the Chickasaws were also +granted the right of recovery[298] as against citizens of the Confederate +States. Should recovery not be possible, the Confederacy was to stand the +loss. But more than anything else reciprocal right of extradition was +henceforth to be accorded. This was to exist as between tribe and +tribe[299] and, with some slight exceptions, as between tribe and state. +An examination of the various treaties reveals a steady development in the +matter of this concession. The Creek Treaty,[300] which was the first to +be negotiated, made extradition a rather one-sided[301] affair. The tribe +was to yield the criminal to the state, but, not reciprocally, the state +to the tribe. This verbal inequality would not have so much mattered had +there been a possibility that in the sequel it would have been +interpreted, as in the states, in terms of executive courtesy and +discretion; but the chances were that a state would have made it a matter +of absolute obligation with the tribe. Reciprocity[302] found its way into +the second treaty, however, and also into all the later ones of the First +Class. Finally, be it remarked, that as a climax to this series of +judicial concessions, full faith and credit[303] were to be given by the +one Indian nation or Confederate state, as the case might be, to all legal +processes, decisions, and acts of the other. + +There yet remain two provisions[304] of importance that were intended to +put the Indian nations on a basis of equality with the states. They are +provisions rather particular in their nature, however, and, in their full +operation, would have affected Texas and Arkansas much more nearly than +any other members of the Southern Confederacy. The first of these +provisions is to be found, as a grant of mutual rights, only in treaties +of the First Class and in two only of those, the Choctaw and Chickasaw and +the Cherokee. The omission from the Creek and Seminole treaties was due, +most likely, to geographical conditions; but the lack of reciprocity in +the Osage, the one treaty of the Second Class in which a suggestion of the +provision occurs, was just as surely due to the weakness of the tribe from +which the privilege was exacted. The provision comprehended the use of +navigable streams within the limits of the Confederacy and the Indians +specified were to have the same rights in the premises as the citizens of +the Confederate States. Osage[305] streams and water courses were, +however, to be open to white people but not conversely Confederate waters +to the Osages. The clauses in treaties of the First Class, embodying this +provision, comprehended all navigable streams whatsoever but had +particular application to the Red and Arkansas Rivers, the Choctaw[306] +and Chickasaw to the former and the Cherokee[307] to the latter. The +rights of ferrying on these streams were to be open alike to white and red +men living upon their banks. + +The second provision was couched in terms of general amnesty. The Indians +were to forgive wholesale the citizens of the individual Confederate +states for their past offences and, reciprocally, the states were to +forgive and pardon the Indians for theirs, or, rather, the government of +the Confederate States was to use its good offices to persuade and induce +them to do so.[308] The Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty contained, in +addition to this general clause, a particular one bringing out again the +close connection with Texas and Arkansas. It reads thus: + + ... And the Confederate States will especially request the States of + Arkansas and Texas to grant the like amnesty as to all offences + committed by Choctaw or Chickasaw against the laws of those States + respectively, and the Governor of each to reprieve or pardon the same, + if necessary.[309] + +Some evidence of the special interest Texas might have in the matter came +out rather prominently in the treaties of the Third Class, the amnesty in +them was particular while the amnesty in the treaties of the other two +classes was general. This is what the Wichita and Comanche say: + + It is distinctly understood by the said several tribes and bands, that + the State of Texas is one of the Confederate States, and joins this + Convention, and signs it when the Commissioner signs it, and is bound + by it; and all hostilities and enmities between it and them are now + ended and are to be forgotten and forgiven on both sides.[310] + +It soon developed that Texas was not pleased to find her consent so +thoroughly taken for granted and that the Reserve Indians were no better +satisfied. The enmity between the two continued as before. + +As regarded the relations between the Indian tribes and the Confederate +States proper, the Pike treaties were old law in so far as they duplicated +the earlier United States treaty arrangements and new law only in so far +as they met conditions incident to the war. United States laws and +treaties were specifically continued in force wherever possible, and, in +most cases, the name of the one government was simply substituted for that +of the other. Considerable emphasis was laid upon the right of eminent +domain. The Indians conceded to the Confederacy the power to establish +agency reserves,[311] military posts[312] and fortifications, to maintain +post and military roads,[313] and to grant the right of way,[314] upon +payment of an indemnity,[315] to certain corporations for purposes of +internal improvement, mainly railway and telegraph lines. Most of this +would have contributed very materially to the good of the southern cause +in guarding one of the approaches to Texas and in increasing the +convenience of communication. The Confederate States assumed the wardship +of the tribes, exacted a pledge of loyalty from the weaker and one of +alliance,[316] offensive and defensive, but without the entail of +pecuniary responsibility, from the stronger. In its turn, the Confederacy +promised to the Indians many things, deserving of serious mention and far +too important for mere enumeration. As a matter of fact, the South paid +pretty dearly, from the view-point of historical consistency, for its +Indian alliance. In the light of Indian political history, it yielded far +more than at first glance appears and, as a consequence, the great tribes +gained nearly everything that they had been contending for for half a +century. + +As has just been intimated, the concessions made by the Confederacy to the +Indians were somewhat significant. In addition to the things noted a few +paragraphs back, congressional delegates, control of trade, and others of +like import, Pike, the lawyer commissioner and the man of justice, +promised the establishment of Confederate States courts within the Indian +country. There were to be two of them, one in the Choctaw country[317] +and one in the Cherokee.[318] They were to be District Courts with a +limited Circuit Court jurisdiction. The importance of the concession +cannot well be over-estimated; for it struck at the root of one of the +chief Indian grievances. The territorial extent of the districts was left +a little vague and the jurisdiction was not fairly distributed. Here again +we have an illustration of might conditioning right. The Osages,[319] the +Senecas and Shawnees,[320] and the Quapaws[321] were all brought within +the limits of the Cha-lah-ki, or Cherokee district, but it is not clear +that, as far as they were concerned, any other offences than those against +the Fugitive Slave[322] laws, were to come within the purview of the +court. The Wichitas and Comanches were left entirely unassigned, although +naturally, they would have come within the Tush-ca-hom-ma, or Choctaw +district. + +The Confederacy reinstituted the agency system and continued it with +modifications. These modifications were in line with reiterated complaints +of the Indians. They restricted the government patronage to some extent +and, in certain instances, allowed a good deal of tribal control. As a +general thing, to each tribe was allowed one agent and to each language, +one interpreter. An exception to the first provision was to be found +wherever it had been found under the earlier regime. Thus there was a +single agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws, another for the fragmentary +tribes of the Leased District, and another for those of the Neosho River +country. In the minor treaties, it was stipulated, for very evident and +very sound reasons, most of them based upon experiences of past neglect, +that the agent should be faithful in the performance of his duties, that +he should reside at his agency continually, and never be absent for long +at a time or without good and sufficient cause. + +There were also certain things the Indians were forbidden to do, many of +them familiar to us in any ordinary Bill of Rights and having reference to +ex-post facto laws, laws impairing the obligation of contracts, due +process of law, and the like. The Confederacy, in turn, bound itself not +to allow farming on government reserves or settlement there except under +certain conditions and not to treat[323] with Cherokee factions. It +inserted into the treaties with the minor tribes the usual number of +civilization clauses, promising agricultural and industrial support; and +into the Cherokee some things that were entirely new, notably a provision +that the congressional delegation from each of the great tribes should +have the right to nominate a youth to membership in any military academy +that might be established.[324] It also promised to maintain a postal +system throughout the Indian country, one that should be, in every +particular, a part of the postal system of the Confederate States with the +same rates, stamps, and so on. To the Cherokees, it promised the +additional privilege[325] of having the postmasters selected and appointed +from among their own people. From the foregoing analysis of the treaties, +it is clearly seen that the characteristic feature of them all was +conciliation and conciliation written very, very large. Of the great +tribes, the Confederacy asked an alliance full and complete; of the middle +tribes, such as the Osage, it asked a limited alliance and peace; and of +the most insignificant tribes it asked simply peace but that it was +prepared, not only to ask, but, if need be, to demand. Between the +Cherokees and the Wichitas, there was a wide, wide gulf and one that could +be measured only in terms of political and military importance. + +So much for the contents of the treaties but what about the detailed +history of their negotiation? When Albert Pike first came within reach of +the Indian country, he communicated[326] officially or semi-officially +with the men belonging or recently belonging to the Indian field service, +agents and agency employees, or, at least, with those of them that were +known as Confederate sympathizers. A few very necessary changes had been +made in the service with the inauguration of President Lincoln but the +changes were not always such as could, in any wise, have strengthened the +Federal position. First, as regards the southern superintendency, an +attempt had been made to find a successor to Elias Rector[327] at about +the same time that Harrison B. Branch[328] of Missouri had been appointed +central superintendent in the stead of A. M. Robinson. The man chosen was +Samuel L. Griffith[329] of Fort Smith to whom the new Secretary of the +Interior, Caleb B. Smith, telegraphed on the fifth of April, tendering the +position. Similarly by wire, on the ninth, Griffith accepted; and, on the +tenth, explained[330] the delay in the following letter: + + Being a member of our State Convention on the Union side, I hesitated + a day or two, as to the propriety of accepting, fearing it might + affect the union cause, but on mature deliberation and counsel with + union friends, and on the receipt of a memorial signed by a large + number of names of men of all parties, I concluded to accept.... + + Col. W. H. Garret Agt. for the Creeks, passed through this place on + the 8th.... + + Col. S. Rutherford left here this morning for his agency (the + Seminole). I desired him to ascertain on his way through the Creek and + Choctaw Nations, the facts, as to the rumor that two men from Texas + were in the Creek Nation for the purpose of meeting the several + nations in Council &c. and to report to me immediately.... + +Dr. Griffith's solicitude for the Union interests apparently soon +vanished. On the twentieth of April, he wrote[331] that, "under the +circumstances," he could not hold office. Coffin of Indiana was then +selected[332] for the place of southern superintendent and, in a very +little while, Griffith was among the applicants[333] for the corresponding +position in the Confederate States. Between the dates of the two +activities, moreover, he had been appointed by the Arkansas Convention one +of the three special agents to interview the Indian tribes in the +interests of secession. That was on the tenth of May. + +The changes in the agency incumbents proved equally temporary and +unfortunate. Particularly was this the case with two determined[334] upon +on the sixth of April. Four days later, William Quesenbury[335] of +Fayetteville, Arkansas was notified that he had been appointed to succeed +William H. Garrett as agent for the Creeks, and John Crawford[336] of the +same place that he had been appointed to succeed Robert J. Cowart as agent +for the Cherokees. Both went over to the Confederacy. Nothing else could +well have been expected of Crawford, or of Quesenbury either for that +matter, and it is rather surprising that their past records were not more +thoroughly examined. Quesenbury, like Richard P. Pulliam, was a sort of +protege of Elias Rector. Pulliam had been Rector's clerk in the office +and Quesenbury his clerk in the field.[337] Crawford had been very +prominent[338] in the Arkansas legislature the preceding winter in the +expression of ideas and sentiments hostile to Abraham Lincoln. He accepted +the office of Cherokee agent under Lincoln, notwithstanding, and he +subsequently said[339] that he did so because the Indians would not have +liked a northern man to come among them. Before Crawford's commission +arrived, Cowart had departed[340] and Cherokee affairs were in dire +confusion.[341] John J. Humphreys[342] of Tennessee had meanwhile been +offered the Wichita Agency[343] and Peter P. Elder[344] of Kansas, the +Neosho River. The Choctaw and Chickasaw Agency seems to have been left +vacant. Truth to tell, there was no longer any such agency under United +States control. Cooper had thrown in his lot with the secessionists and +was already working actively in their cause. + +The defection of Douglas H. Cooper, United States agent for the Choctaws +and the Chickasaws, can not be passed by so very lightly; for it had such +far reaching effects. The time came during and after the war, when the +United States Indian Office came to have in its possession various +documents[345] that proved conclusively that Douglas H. Cooper had been +most instrumental in organizing the secession movement among the Indians +of at least his own agency. It was even reported[346] that material was +forthcoming to show how he "was engaged in raising troops for the Rebel +Army, during the months of April, May, and June, 1861, while holding the +office of U. S. Indian Agent." His successor had been appointed +considerably before the end of that time, however, and, when the war was +over, the Indians themselves exonerated him from all responsibility in the +matter of their own defection.[347] Notwithstanding, he most certainly did +manifest unusual activity in behalf of the slaveholding power. Even his +motives for manifesting activity are, in a sense, impugned as instanced by +the following most extraordinary letter, which, written by Cooper to +Rector privately and in confidence and later transmitted to Washington out +of the ordinary course of official business, has already been quoted once +for the purpose of forming a correct estimate of the recipient's +character. It is gratifying to know that such letters are very rare in +connection with the history of the American Civil War. + + _Private & Confidential_ + + [_Copy_] + + FORT SMITH May 1st 1861. + + MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR + + Dr. Sir: I have concluded to act upon the suggestion yours of the 28th + Ultimo contains. + + If we work this thing shrewdly we can make a fortune each, satisfy the + Indians, stand fair before the North, and revel in the unwavering + confidence of our Southern Confederacy. + + My share of the eighty thousand in gold[348] you can leave on deposite + with Meyer Bro. subject to my order. Write me soon. + + COOPER. + +When Captain Pike[349] reached the North Fork Village, very probably +still attended by the escort that the Military Board of Arkansas had +graciously--or perhaps officially since Pike, according to his own +confession, was acting as commissioner from Arkansas[350] as well as from +the Confederacy--furnished[351] him,[352] he found the Creeks awaiting his +approach with some anxiety. Among them were Motey Kennard,[353] principal +chief of the Lower Creeks, and Echo Harjo, principal chief of the Upper +Creeks, both of whom had been absent[354] in Washington at the time the +inter-tribal council of the spring had been planned. They had gone to +Washington, in company with John G. Smith, as a delegation, greatly +concerned about the prospect of Creek finances and the continuance of +Creek integrity should the quarrel between the North and the South +continue. Greenwood had tried to reassure them; but, when shortly +afterwards, all Indian allowances were suspended[355] by the United States +Indian Office for fear that remittances might fall, en route, into the +hands of the disaffected, the distrust and the dissatisfaction of the +Indians revived and increased, thus rendering them peculiarly susceptible +to the plausible secessionist arguments of men like Agent Garrett. +Sometime in May, therefore, a delegation was sent to Montgomery[356] to +confer with authorities of the Confederate States, who by the time of the +arrival of the Creeks had moved on to Richmond. + +At the North Fork Village, everything seemed to be working in Pike's +favor. There was scarcely a white man[357] around who was willing to say a +word for the North; and leading Indians, who were known to be +anti-secessionists, were away[358] treating with the Indians of the +Plains. Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, who was to become the stanch leader of the +opposition, was not with the absentees, it would seem; but then that, at +the time, did not so much signify because he was not a ranking chief and +so had little influence.[359] On the tenth of July, the treaty that Pike +and the Creek commissioners had been working on for days was finally +submitted for signature and the names of Motey Kennard, Echo Harjo, Chilly +McIntosh, Samuel Checote and many other less prominent Creeks were +attached to it. On the twentieth, the general council approved it and more +names were attached, that of Jacob Derrysaw being among them. On one or +the other occasion, several white men signed. William Quesenbury, who was +acting as Pike's secretary, Agent Garrett, Interpreter G. W. Stidham,[360] +and W. L. Pike. Soon came the return of the travellers and much subsequent +commotion. They expressed themselves as opposed to the whole proceeding, +yet three of them found that, in their absence, their names had been +forged[361] to the document that was passing as a treaty between the +Creeks and the Confederate States. The three whose names were forged were, +Ok-ta-ha-hassee Harjo (better known subsequently as "Sands" and who became +in reconstruction days the great rival of Samuel Checote for the office of +principal chief), Tallise Fixico, and Mikko Hutke. It is a matter of +dispute what course Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la had taken[362] in the treaty +conference but not what he did afterwards; for he became the intrepid +leader of the so-called "Loyal Creeks" and the foremost of the "Refugees." + +If the Creeks were disturbed about their national finances, the +Choctaws[363] were even more so. There were many suspicious circumstances +connected with a certain corn contract and with the expenditure generally +of the huge sum of money that the United States Congress had appropriated +in satisfaction of claims arising under the treaty of removal, payment on +which it had recently suspended to the displeasure of the Indians and the +discomfiture of the speculators. Wherever suspicion rested, Pike attempted +elaborate explanations and, wherever affairs could be turned to the +account of the Confederacy, he labored with redoubled zeal. His task was +an easy one comparatively-speaking, though, for the Choctaws were already +committed[364] to the southern cause. The two Folsoms, Peter and Sampson, +who were among the special commissioners sent to Washington to inquire +about the money and who had lingered at Montgomery, were his eager +coadjutors. Just how far George Hudson, principal chief, was readily +compliant, it is difficult to say. It is supposed that he issued his +proclamation[365] of June 14, announcing independence and calling for +troops, under compulsion and, in July, he may still have been secretly in +favor of neutrality. The joint treaty for the Choctaws and Chickasaws was +completed on the twelfth of July and again prominent men, the most +prominent in the tribes, no doubt, endorsed the action by affixing their +signatures. R. M. Jones, the chief[366] of the secessionists, W. B. +Pitchlynn, Winchester Colbert, and James Gamble,[367] who was soon +afterwards selected as the first delegate[368] to the Confederate +Congress, were among the signers; but Agent Cooper was not. Perchance, he +and Pike had already begun to dispute over the propriety of an Indian +agent's holding a colonelcy in the Confederate army. Cooper[369] wanted to +be both agent and colonel. + +Having disposed satisfactorily of the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, +Pike passed on, with his group of white and red friends, to the Seminoles +and met them in council[370] at their own agency. Rector was now[371] one +of his assistants. The poor Seminoles, according to their own story of +what happened, were taken completely unawares;[372] and, after some +skilful maneuvering, Pike succeeded in inducing about half[373] of them, +headed by one of their principal chiefs, John Jumper,[374] and a town +chief, Pas-co-fa, to agree to "perpetual peace and friendship" with the +Confederate States. There was nothing specifically said about an alliance, +offensive and defensive, but it was understood and was immediately +provided for.[375] The head chief, Billy Bowlegs,[376] and other chiefs of +present and future importance, like John Chup-co,[377] refused[378] to +sign the treaty and, before many days had elapsed, joined the party of the +"Loyal Creeks." Various ones of the "Southern" Creeks, notably Motey +Kennard, were present at the treaty-making and used their influence to +strengthen that of Pike, Rector, Agent Rutherford,[379] Contractor Charles +B. Johnson, and a host of minor enthusiasts, like J. J. Sturm and H. P. +Jones, all of whom had formerly been in the United States employ and were +now, or soon to be, in the Confederate.[380] + +Pike's military escort had surely left him by this time and had returned +to Arkansas and yet never had it been more needed; for the Confederate +commissioner and his party were about to go into the western country to +confer with the tribes of the Leased District whose friendship as yet +could scarcely be counted upon, notwithstanding the fact that their agent +had openly thrown in his fortunes with the South[381] and was using every +form of persuasive art to induce them to do the same. Fearing, perhaps, +some show of hostility from the Wichitas, Comanches, and Tonkawas, and +hoping that a show of force on his part would intimidate them, Pike +gathered together, before proceeding to the Leased District, a company of +fifty-six[382] mounted men, friendly Creeks and Seminoles, and with them +left the Seminole Council House. The Leased District once reached, some of +the hardest work of the whole negotiation began and two treaties[383] were +ultimately concluded, one with some of the legitimate residents of the +locality and one with wandering bands who came in for the purpose. It is +well to note at the outset, however, that the Wichitas proper refused to +be either cajoled or intimidated and that, in consequence, they who had +always, under United States control, been the most important of the +reservees, the ones to give the name to the entire group, were now reduced +to a subordinate position and some of the Comanches[384] elevated to the +first rank. The first treaty then, the one made with reservees, was thus +designated, "Treaty with Comanches and Other Tribes and Bands." The second +treaty, made with Indians belonging outside the Leased District was +designated, "Treaty with the Comanches of the Prairies and Staked Plain." + +The negotiation of the remaining treaties of the Pike series came as an +immediate effect of Confederate military successes and belongs, in its +description, to the next chapter. It is proper now to return to a +consideration of the work of the Confederate Congress, in so far, at +least, as that work had a bearing upon the alliance with the tribes. On +the twenty-eighth of August, Hugh F. Thomason of Arkansas, offered the +following resolution: + + _Resolved_, That the Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to + inquire whether any, and if so what, treaties have been made with any + of the Indian tribes, and if so, with which of them; and whether any, + and if so, what legislation is necessary in consequence thereof; and + that they have leave to report at such time and in such manner as to + them shall seem proper.[385] + +There the matter rested until after the whole series of treaties had been +completed which was in ample time for President Davis to submit[386] +Pike's report[387] and the tangible evidence of his successful work to the +Provisional Congress at its winter session. + +President Davis's message of December 12, 1861, transmitting the Pike +treaties to the Provisional Congress, summarized their merits and their +defects and gave direction to the consideration and discussion that ended +in their ratification. It called particular attention to the pecuniary +obligations[388] assumed and to the contemplated change of status. +Regarding the latter, Davis said, + + Important modifications are proposed in favor of the respective local + governments of these Indians, to which your special attention is + invited. That their advancement in civilization justified an + enlargement of their power in that regard will scarcely admit of a + doubt; but whether the proposed concessions in favor of their local + governments are within the bounds of a wise policy may well claim your + serious consideration. In this connection your attention is specially + invited to the clauses giving to certain tribes the unqualified right + of admission as a State into the compact of the Confederacy, and in + the meantime allowing each of these tribes to have a delegate in + Congress. These provisions are regarded not only as impolitic but + unconstitutional, it not being within the limits of the treaty-making + power to admit a State or to control the House of Representatives in + the matter of admission to its privileges. I recommend that the former + provision be rejected, and that the latter be so modified as to leave + the question to the future action of Congress; and also do recommend + the rejection of those articles in the treaties which confer upon + Indians the right to testify in the State courts, believing that the + States have the power to decide that question, each for itself, + independently of any action of the Confederate Government.[389] + +Again Arkansas was in the lead in the exhibition of interest and, on the +motion[390] of one of her delegation, Robert W. Johnson, the president's +message and the documents accompanying it were referred to the Committee +on Indian Affairs. This was on the thirteenth of December and Johnson was +the chairman of the committee. On the nineteenth, the treaties began to be +considered[391] in executive session. The first to be so considered was +the Choctaw and Chickasaw, and interest concentrated on its twenty-seventh +article,[392] the one giving to the two tribes jointly a delegate in the +Confederate Congress. This provision was finally amended[393] so as to +leave the delegate's status, his rights and his privileges, just as Davis +had recommended, to the House of Representatives. Then came the +consideration of the twenty-eighth article,[394] which promised ultimate +statehood, and that also was amended in such a way as to leave the final +determination to Congress, + + By whose act alone, under the Constitution, new States can be + admitted and whose consent it is not in the power of the President or + the present Congress to guarantee in advance....[395] + +In the afternoon of December twenty-first, the Provisional Congress +resumed[396] its consideration of the Indian treaties. The day previous, +it had decided upon this order of procedure and had agreed[397] that the +Comanche treaties, being of the least importance, should be left to the +last. The work of the twenty-first was on the judicial clauses and, on the +question of the qualification of the Indians to be competent witnesses in +civil and criminal suits. Article XXXVI[398] of the Osage Treaty, dealing +with the right to subpoena witnesses and to have counsel, seemed likely to +create prejudice.[399] At length Waul of Texas suggested[400] that +Commissioner Pike be invited to be present at future sessions in order +that some very necessary explanations of scope, of motives, and of reasons +might be forthcoming. In the end, the only changes made in the grant of +judicial privileges were along the line of safe-guarding the existing +rights of the individual states. In illustration of this, take the Choctaw +and Chickasaw Treaty as typical of all of the treaties of the First Class. +Articles XLIII and XLIV were amended. To the former was added, + + And the Confederate States will request the several States of the + Confederacy to adopt and enact the provisions of this article, in + respect to suits and proceedings in their several courts.[401] + +From the latter, the phrase, "or of a State," was stricken out and this +substitution made; "or of a State, subject to the laws of the State."[402] + +On the whole, the Indian treaties took up a very large share of the +attention of the Confederate Congress throughout the month of December; +and, after debate, President Davis's advice in every particular was +followed, even to the assumption of the pecuniary obligations. On the +twenty-third of December, Johnson reported[403] back the treaty with the +Cherokees and some of its clauses were then considered. On the same day, +Johnson offered[404] a resolution of ratification for the Seminole Treaty +and it was unanimously adopted, the same changes identically having been +made in the treaty as had been made in the Choctaw and Chickasaw in so far +as the two treaties corresponded originally with each other. Congress also +ratified a supplementary article to the Seminole Treaty. The last of the +month, the Comanche treaties were reached[405] and soon pushed through +with only very slight modifications. Then came the final consideration of +the treaty with the Creek Indians. It was ratified[406] with the customary +amendments the same day. The Quapaw Treaty came[407] next and with its +congressional ratification, the work of diplomatically securing the +Indians was practically done. The later Indian ratification was more or +less perfunctory. + + + + +IV. THE INDIAN NATIONS IN ALLIANCE WITH THE CONFEDERACY + + +The work of soliciting the military support of the Indians and, to a large +extent, that of securing it, antedated very considerably the formal +negotiation of treaties with their constituted authorities. Whether it be +true or not, that Douglas H. Cooper, United States agent for the Choctaws +and the Chickasaws, did, as early as April, 1861, begin to enroll his +Indians for the service of the Confederate States, it is indisputable +that, immediately upon receiving Secretary Walker's communication[408] of +May thirteenth, he began to do it in real earnest and, from that time +forward, gained his recruits with astonishing ease. There were many[409] +to recommend the employment of the Indians and some to oppose it. A +certain F. J. Marshall, writing[410] to Jefferson Davis from Marysville, +Kansas, on the twentieth of May, mapped out a tremendous programme of +activities in which Indians were to play their part and to help secure +everything of value between the Missouri line and the Pacific coast. Henry +McCulloch thought[411] they might be used advantageously in Texas and on +her borders. Pike believed[412] not more than thirty-five hundred could be +counted upon, maybe five thousand, but whatever the number, he would +engage them quickly and provide them with the necessary equipment. He +wanted also to employ[413] a battalion of those Indians that more strictly +belonged to Kansas. Presumably, then, he would not have confined +Confederate interest to the slaveholding tribes. Others besides Pike were +doubtless of the same mind. Marshall was, for instance, and southern +emissaries were frequently heard of, north of the Neosho River. Henry C. +Whitney, one of two United States special agents (Thomas C. Slaughter was +the other), sent[414] out to Kansas to investigate and with a view to +relieve under congressional appropriation[415] the distress among the +Indians, caused by the fearful and widespread drouth of 1860, met[416] +with many traces of secessionist influence.[417] + +The efforts of Cooper, coupled with those of Pike and McCulloch, in this +matter of the enlistment of Indian troops, were soon rewarded. Chief +Hudson's proclamation of June fourteenth, besides being a declaration of +independence, was a call for troops and a call that was responded to by +the Choctaws with alacrity. A little more than a month later, the +enlistment of Indians had so far advanced that McCulloch was able to +speak[418] positively as to his intended disposition of them. It was to +keep them, both the Choctaw-Chickasaw regiment, which was then well under +way towards organization, and the Creek, which was then forming, at +Scullyville, situated fifteen miles, or thereabouts, from Fort Smith, as a +check upon the Cherokees. Evidently the peace-loving element among the +Cherokees was yet the dominant one. On the twenty-fifth of July, Cooper +furnished further information, + + The organization of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Regiment of Mounted + Rifles will be completed this week, but as yet no arms[419] have been + furnished at Fort Smith for them. I hope speedy and effectual measures + will be taken to arm the people of this (Indian) Territory--the + Creeks, Seminoles, Cherokees.... The Choctaws and Chickasaws can + furnish 10,000 warriors[420] if needed. The Choctaws and Chickasaws + are extremely anxious to form another regiment. + + There seems to be a disposition to keep the Indians at home. This + seems to me bad policy. They are unfit for garrison duty, and would be + a terror to the Yankees.[421] + +All this time, of course, Pike had been making progress with his treaties +and undoubtedly simplifying Cooper's task by embodying in those treaties +the principles of an active alliance. These clauses from the Creek Treaty +will illustrate the point: + + ARTICLE I. There shall be perpetual peace and friendship, and an + alliance offensive and defensive, between the Confederate States of + America, and all of their States and people, and the Creek Nation of + Indians, and all its towns and individuals.[422] + + ARTICLE XXXVI. In consideration of the common interests of the Creek + Nation and the Confederate States, and of the protection and rights + guaranteed to the said nation by this treaty, the Creek Nation, hereby + agrees that it will, either by itself or in conjunction with the + Seminole Nation, raise and furnish a regiment of ten companies of + mounted men to serve in the armies of the Confederate States for + twelve months, the company officers whereof shall be elected by the + members of the company, and the field officers by a majority of the + votes of the members of the regiment. 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.[423] + + ARTICLE XXXVII. The Creek Nation hereby agrees and binds itself at any + future time to raise and furnish, upon the requisition of the + President, such number of troops for the defence of the Indian + country, and of the frontier of the Confederate States as he may fix, + not out of fair proportion to the number of its population, to be + employed for such terms of service as the President may fix; and such + troops shall always receive the same pay and allowances as other + troops of the same class in the service of the Confederate + States.[424] + + ARTICLE XXXVIII. It is further agreed by the said Confederate States + that the said Creek Nation shall never be required or called upon to + pay, in land or otherwise, any part of the expenses of the present + war, or of any war waged by or against the Confederate States.[425] + + ARTICLE XXXIX. It is further agreed that, after the restoration of + peace, the Government of the Confederate States will defend the + frontiers of the Indian country, of which the Creek country is a part, + and hold the forts and posts therein, with native troops, recruited + among the several Indian Nations included therein, under the command + of officers of the army of the Confederate States, in preference to + other troops.[426] + +Although John Ross had positively forbidden the recruiting of any force +within the limits of the Cherokee country, that while nominally for home +defense, should be in reality a reserve force for the Confederacy, he was +unable to prevent individuals from going over, on their own responsibility +entirely, to McCulloch; and many did go and are believed to have +fought[427] with his brigade at the Battle of Oak Hills, or Wilson's +Creek. That battle proved the determining point in this period of Cherokee +history. It was a Confederate victory, and a victory gained under such +circumstances[428] that the watchful Indians had every reason to think +that the southern cause would be triumphant in the end. + +The dissensions[429] among the Cherokee and the constant endeavors of the +Ridge Party to develop public sentiment in favor of the Confederacy, to +undermine the popularity of John Ross, and to destroy his influence over +the full-bloods were, and there is no gainsaying it, the real causes of +the ultimate Cherokee defection. The Battle of Wilson's Creek was only the +occasion, only the immediate cause, the excuse, if you please, and of +itself could never have brought about a decision. Yet its effect[430] upon +Cherokee opinion was unquestionably great and immediate, and that effect +was noticeably strengthened and intensified by the memory of other +Federal reverses along the Atlantic seaboard, especially the more recent +and more serious one of Manassas Junction, on the twenty-first of July. + +Up to about that time, the neutral policy of John Ross seems to have +received the endorsement of a majority of the Cherokee people. In the last +days of June, the Executive Council had been called together and had, +after a session of several days, publicly and officially approved[431] of +the stand the principal chief had taken to date. But events were already +under way that were to make this executive action in no sense a true index +to popular feeling. The secessionists were secretly organizing themselves, +ready to seize the first opportunity that might appear. The full-bloods, +or non-secessionists, were also organized and, under the name of "Pins," +were holding meetings of mutual encouragement among the hills. Encounters +between the two factions were not infrequent and the half-breeds resorted +to all sorts of expedients for persuading, or that failing, of frightening +the full-bloods into a compliance with their wishes. They told them that +the Kansas people had designs upon their lands (which was not altogether +untrue), and that the Federal government would free their slaves and +otherwise dispossess, degrade, and humiliate them. Such arguments had +their effect and there was little at hand to counteract it, none in the +memory of the past, none in the neglect and embarrassment of the present, +none in the prospect of the future. There were no Federal troops, no new +Federal assurances of protection. Agent Crawford, who was the only agent +within reach, added his threats and his Confederate promises to those of +the half-breeds. Then came the Battle of Wilson's Creek with its +disastrous Federal showing, and the exhausted resisting power of the Pins +went down before the renewed secessionist ardor. + +A meeting of the Cherokee Executive Council had been called for August +first, and John Ross, Joseph Vann, James Brown, John Drew, and William P. +Ross, all prominent non-secessionists, had attended it. On this occasion, +a general, or mass, meeting of the Cherokee people was arranged for, in +response to a public appeal, and the date for it was fixed for the +twentieth of August.[432] In the interval came the news from Springfield +and another communication from Albert Pike.[433] + +The convention which met at Tahlequah in August of 1861 ended in the +secession of the Cherokee Nation. While it was in progress, the events of +the last few months were gone over in thorough review and emphasis placed +upon those of recent occurrence. The attendance at the convention was +large.[434] Both political factions were well represented and there seems +to have been only a slight show of force, if any, from the secessionists. +The Reverend Evan Jones is our authority for thinking that some "seventy +or eighty of them appeared there in arms with the intention to break up +the meeting;" but that only two of them succeeded in making any +disturbance.[435] In the course of the meeting, Agent Crawford put in an +appearance and again asserted himself in behalf of the Confederacy. He +"appeared on the platform," says an eyewitness, + + And stated that although for some time past he had been among the + Cherokees acting as U. S. Agent, it had been by the advice and consent + of the Confederate authorities, and with the understanding that when + the proper time arrived he should declare himself the Agent of the C. + S. A. That time had now come making this the proudest day of his + life.[436]. + +Such a confession of baseness seems hardly credible. The secessionist was +entitled to his opinions touching the doctrine of state rights, for which +a difference of view found its justification both in fact and in theory. +He might even conscientiously believe in the righteousness of negro +enslavement, inasmuch as it really did offer an easy solution of a labor +problem; and moreover, would work under a benign paternalism, for the +thorough, because so gradual, development of an inferior race; but by no +standard of personal honor, or of moral rectitude could conduct such as +Crawford's be condoned. + +John Ross had opened the meeting with an address in which he had defined +its purposes and his own good intentions, both past and present. +Personally, he seemed still inclined to maintain a neutral attitude but +designing persons had made his position most difficult.[437] + + ... Our soil has not been invaded, our peace has not been molested, + nor our rights interfered with by either Government. On the contrary, + the people have remained at home, cultivated their farms in security, + and are reaping fruitful returns for their labors. But for false + fabrications, we should have pursued our ordinary vocations without + any excitement at home, or misrepresentations and consequent + misapprehensions abroad, as to the real sentiments and purposes of the + Cherokee people. Alarming reports, however, have been pertinaciously + circulated at home and unjust imputations among the people of the + States. The object seems to have been to create strife and conflict, + instead of harmony and good-will, among the people themselves, and to + engender prejudice and distrust, instead of kindness and confidence, + towards them by the officers and citizens of the Confederate + States.... + + ... The great object with me has been to have the Cherokee people + harmonious and united in the full and free exercise and enjoyment of + all their rights of person and property. Union is strength; dissension + is weakness, misery, ruin. In time of peace, enjoy peace together; in + time of war, if war must come, fight together. As brothers live, as + brothers die. While ready and willing to defend our firesides from the + robber and murderer, let us not make war wantonly against the + authority of the United or Confederate States, but avoid conflict with + either, and remain strictly on our own soil. We have homes endeared to + us by every consideration, laws adapted to our condition of our own + choice, and rights and privileges of the highest character. Here they + must be enjoyed or nowhere else. When your nationality ceases here, it + will live nowhere else. When these homes are lost, you will find no + others like them. Then, my countrymen, as you regard your own rights, + as you regard the welfare of your posterity, be prudent how you act. + The permanent disruption of the United States is now probable. The + State on our border and the Indian nations about us have severed their + connection from the United States and joined the Confederate States. + Our general interests are inseparable from theirs, and it is not + desirable that we should stand alone. The preservation of our rights + and of our existence are above every other consideration. And in view + of all the circumstances of our situation I do say to you frankly that + in my opinion the time has now come when you should signify your + consent for the authorities of the nation to adopt preliminary steps + for an alliance with the Confederate States upon terms honorable and + advantageous to the Cherokee Nation.[438] + + +[Illustration: COLONEL ADAIR, CHEROKEE [_From Smithsonian Institution, +Bureau of American Ethnology_]] + + +After having received this most solemn of warnings, "and a few pertinent +and forcible remarks from Colonel Crawford," the meeting organized with +Joseph Vann as president and William P. Ross as secretary. To effect a +reconciliation between the contending factions and to decide upon some +national policy that should be acceptable to the majority of the people, +were, undoubtedly, the objects sought and so, after much discussion, a +series of resolutions was adopted in which these ideas were given +prominence as well as some of kindred importance. The resolutions asserted +the legal and constitutional right of property in slaves and, in no +doubtful terms, a friendship for the Confederacy. Yet the convention +itself took no definite action towards consummating an alliance but left +everything to the discretion of the constituted authorities of the nation, +in whom it announced an unwavering confidence. + + Whereas we, the Cherokee people, have been invited by the executive of + the Cherokee Nation, in compliance with the request of many citizens, + to meet in general meeting, for the purpose of drawing more closely + the bonds of friendship and sympathy which should characterize our + conduct and mark our feelings towards each other in view of the + difficulties and dangers which have arisen from the fearful condition + of affairs among the people of the several States, and for the purpose + of giving a free and frank expression of the real sentiments we + cherish towards each other, and of our true position in regard to + questions which affect the general welfare, and particularly on that + of the subject of slavery: Therefore be it hereby + + _Resolved_, That we fully approve the neutrality recommended by the + principal chief in the war pending between the United and the + Confederate States, and tender to General McCulloch our thanks for the + respect he has shown to our position. + + _Resolved_, That we renew the pledges given by the executive of this + nation of the friendship of the Cherokees towards the people of all + the States, and particularly towards those on our immediate border, + with whom our relations have been harmonious and cordial, and from + whom they should not be separated. + + _Resolved_, That we also take occasion to renew to the Creeks, + Choctaws, Seminoles, Chickasaws, and Osages, and others, assurances of + continued friendship and brotherly feeling. + + _Resolved_, That we hereby disavow any wish or purpose to create or + perpetuate any distinctions between the citizens of our country as to + the full and mixed blood, but regard each and all as our brothers, and + entitled to equal rights and privileges according to the constitution + and laws of the nation. + + _Resolved_, That we proclaim unwavering attachment to the constitution + and laws of the Cherokee Nation, and solemnly pledge ourselves to + defend and support the same, and as far as in us lies to secure to + the citizens of the nation all the rights and privileges which they + guarantee to them. + + _Resolved_, That among the rights guaranteed by the constitution and + laws we distinctly recognize that of property in negro slaves, and + hereby publicly denounce as calumniators those who represent us to be + abolitionists, and as a consequence hostile to the South, which is + both the land of our birth and the land of our homes. + + _Resolved_, That the great consideration with the Cherokee people + should be a united and harmonious support and defense of their common + rights, and we hereby pledge ourselves to mutually sustain our + nationality, and to defend our lives and the integrity of our homes + and soil whenever the same shall be wantonly assailed by lawless + marauders. + + _Resolved_, That, reposing full confidence in the constituted + authorities of the Cherokee Nation, we submit to their wisdom the + management of all questions which affect our interests growing out of + the exigencies of the relations between the United and Confederate + States of America, and which may render an alliance on our part with + the latter States expedient and desirable. + + And which resolutions, upon the question of their passage being put, + were carried by acclamation. JOSEPH VANN, President. + + Wm. P. Ross, Secretary. + Tahlequah, C. N., August 21, 1861.[439] + +In making his plans, prior to the Battle of Wilson's Creek, for effecting +a junction with Price and cooperating with him and others in southwest +Missouri, McCulloch acted, not under direct orders from Richmond, but from +his own desire to take such a position opposite the Cherokee Neutral +Lands, once so outrageously intruded upon by Kansas settlers and now being +made the highway of marauders entering Missouri, as would make it appear +to the Cherokees that he was there as their friend and as the protector of +their interests. After the battle, he refused, and rightly in view of his +own special commission, to accompany Price in his forward march towards +the Missouri River. Instead he drew back into the neighborhood of the +Cherokee boundary and there developed his plans for attacking Kansas, +should such a course be deemed necessary in order to protect Indian +Territory. + +It was at this juncture that the Cherokees as a nation expressed their +preference for the South and for the southern cause, moved thereto, +however, by the peculiarities and the difficulties of their situation. The +Executive Council lost no time in communicating[440] to McCulloch the +decision of the Tahlequah mass-meeting and their own determination to +carry out its wishes by effecting an alliance with the Confederacy "as +early as practicable." They realized very clearly that this might "give +rise to movements against the Cherokee people upon their northern border" +and were resolved to be prepared for such an emergency. They, therefore, +authorized the raising of a regiment of mounted men, home guards they were +to be and to be so designated, officered by appointment of the principal +chief, Colonel John Drew being made the colonel. It would appear that the +nucleus of this regiment, and with a strong southern bias, had made[441] +its appearance prior to the Tahlequah meeting and the circumstance gave +rise to the suspicion that the Cherokees had not been acting in good +faith. After the war, the suspicion concentrated, very unjustly, upon John +Ross and was made the most of by Commissioner Cooley at the Fort Smith +conference; in order to accomplish, for reasons dishonorable to the United +States government, the aged chief's deposition. + +Drew's regiment of home guards was tendered to McCulloch and he agreed to +accept it[442] but not until after a treaty of alliance should have been +actually consummated between the Cherokees and the Confederate States. +Pending the accomplishment of that highly desirable object, McCulloch +promised to protect the Cherokee borders with his own troops and +confessed[443] that he had already authorized the enlistment of another +force of Cherokees under the command of Stand Watie, which had been +designed to protect that same northern border but "not to interfere with +the neutrality of the Nation by occupying a position within its limits." + +It is not easy to decide just when or by whom the use of Indians by the +Federals in the border warfare[444] was first suggested. As late as May +twenty-second, Governor Charles Robinson of Kansas, in a letter[445] to +Superintendent Branch, protested against even so much as arming them, +which would certainly indicate that a general use of their services had +not yet been thought of or resorted to; but, in August, when Senator James +H. Lane was busy organizing his brigade of volunteers for the defense of +Kansas, he resolved,[446] rather officiously, one might think, upon using +some of the Kansas River tribes in establishing "a strong Indian camp near +the neutral lands to prevent forage into Kansas" and arranged for a +conference with the Indians at Fort Lincoln, his headquarters. Soon, +however, a stay of execution was ordered[447] until the matter could be +discussed, in its larger aspects, with Commissioner Dole, to whom +courtesy,[448] at least, would have demanded that the whole affair should +have been first submitted. + +Dole was then in Kansas[449] and before long became aware[450] that +General Fremont was also favoring the enlistment of Indians, or, at all +events, their employment by the army in some capacity. He had approached +Agent Johnson on the subject, his immediate purpose being to request Fall +Leaf, a Delaware, "to organize a party of 50 men for the service of" his +department. Agent Johnson called the tribe together and discovered that +the chiefs were much averse to having their young men enlist. Dole +inquired into the matter and assured[451] the chiefs that a few braves +only were needed and those simply for special service and that there was +no intention of asking the tribe, as a tribe, to give its services. The +chiefs refused consent, notwithstanding; but Fall Leaf and a few others +like him did enlist.[452] They were probably among the fifty-three +Delawares, subsequently reported[453] as having been employed by Fremont +to act as scouts and guides. Fall Leaf attained the rank of captain.[454] +Superintendent Branch,[455] be it said, and also Commissioner Dole,[456] +at this stage of the war, were strongly opposed to a general use of the +Indians for purposes of active warfare. They knew only too well what it +was likely to lead to. Indeed, the most that Dole had, up to date, +agreed[457] to, was the supplying the Indians with the means of their own +defense when United States troops had shown themselves quite unavailable. + +Dole's opinion being such, it is scarcely to be supposed that he could +have considered favorably Senator Lane's idea of an Indian camp in the +Cherokee Neutral Lands or the one, developed later, of an Indian patrol +along the southern boundary of Kansas. Lane's troubles, quite apart from +his Indian projects, were daily increasing; and, considering the method of +warfare indulged in by him and encouraged in his white troops, the same +one that pro-slavery and free-state men had equally experimented with in +squatter-sovereignty days, it would have been simply deplorable to have +permitted him the free use of Indian warriors. Complaints[458] of Lane and +of his brigade, of their jayhawking and of their marauding were being made +on every hand. Governor Robinson[459] reported these complaints and +endorsed them. Secretary Cameron, while making his western tour of +investigation, heard[460] them and reported them also. Lane +attributed[461] them to personal dislike of him, to envy, to everything, +in fact, except their true cause; but we know now that they were all +well-grounded. Yet, remarkable to relate, Lane's influence with Lincoln +and with the War Department suffered no appreciable decline. His +suggestions[462] were acted upon; and, as we shall presently see, he was +even permitted to organize a huge jayhawking expedition at the beginning +of the next year. + +The mention of Lane's jayhawking expedition calls to mind the conditions +that made it seem, at the time, an acceptable thing and takes us back in +retrospect to Indian Territory and to the events occurring there after the +Tahlequah mass-meeting of the twenty-first of August. As soon as the +meeting had broken up, John Ross despatched[463] a messenger to Albert +Pike to inform him of all that had happened and of the Cherokee +willingness, at last, to negotiate with the Confederacy. It was arranged +that Pike should come to the Cherokee country, taking up his quarters +temporarily at Park Hill, the home of Ross near Tahlequah, and that a +general Indian council should be called. A special effort was made to have +the fragmentary bands of the northeast represented and Pike sent out +various agents[464] to urge an attendance. John Ross was also active in +the same interest. He, personally, communicated with the Osages[465] and +with the Creeks[466] by letter; but the Creeks,[467] like Evan +Jones,[468] seem to have been incredulous as to Cherokee defection. They +seem to have doubted the genuineness of the letter sent to them and made +inquiries about it, only to be assured[469] again and again by Ross that +all was well and that he wished the Indians en masse to join the Southern +States. + +The council at Tahlequah, viewed in the light of its immediate object, was +unusually successful. Four treaties were negotiated, one[470] at Tahlequah +itself, October seventh, with the Cherokees and three at Park Hill. Of +these three, one[471] was with four bands of the Great Osages, Clermont's, +White Hair's, Black Dog's, and the Big Hill, October second; another[472] +with the Quapaws, October fourth; and the third,[473] on the same day, +with the Senecas[474] (once of Sandusky) and the Shawnees (once of +Lewistown and now of the mixed band of Senecas and Shawnees). +Hereditary[475] chiefs alone signed for the Great Osages, the merit chief, +Big Chief, being, apparently, not present. The notorious ex-United States +agent, J. W. Washbourne,[476] was very much in evidence as would most +likely also have been the equally notorious and disreputable Indian +trader, John Mathews,[477] had he not recently received his deserts at +the hands of Senator Lane's brigade. + +An accurate and connected account of the occurrences at the Tahlequah +council, it is well nigh impossible to obtain. Some intimidation[478] +seems to have been used, and there was a report of a collision[479] +between the Ross and Ridge factions some days previous to the meeting. +Drew's regiment, which, when organized, had been placed as a guard[480] on +the northern border, escorted[481] Commissioner Pike to Park Hill and +later took up its station on the treaty ground. Some of Stand Watie's +Confederate forces were also in the neighborhood.[482] In 1865, at the +Fort Smith Council, held for the readjustment of political relations with +the United States government, the Indians of the Neosho Agency gave[483] a +rather picturesque description of the way they had been prevailed upon to +sign the treaty with the Confederate States. The real object of the +Tahlequah meeting was evidently not revealed to them until they had +actually reached the treaty ground. Agent Dorn had told them that they had +to go to the meeting. They went and were there taken in hand by Pike who +said, + + If you don't do what we lay before you, we can't say you shall live + happy. + +The Indians + + feeling badly, just looked on, and the white man went to work, got up + a paper and said I want you to sign that. The Indian did not want to, + but he compelled him. You know yourself that, under such + circumstances, he would do anything to save his life.... + +Now that the history of the diplomatic relations between the Indian tribes +and the Confederacy has been brought thus far, nothing seems more fitting +than to return to the consideration of the Federal government and its +representatives, its purposes, and its plans, beginning the account with +the Indian Office and Commissioner Dole. Dole's early attempt to prevail +upon the War Department to resume its occupation of Indian Territory was +followed up by the convincing letter of the thirtieth of May in which he +likened the Indians to the Union element in some of the border states and +ended by throwing the full responsibility for any disloyalty that might +appear among them upon the Federal authorities; inasmuch as they had +neglected and were still neglecting to give the support and protection +that any ordinary guardian is bound in honor to give to his wards. Dole +said in writing to Secretary Smith, + + ... Experience has shown that the presence of even a small force of + federal troops located in the disaffected States has had the effect to + preserve the peace, encourage the friends of the Union, and induce the + people to return to their allegiance. + + That this same result would be produced in the Indian country I cannot + doubt, as they can have no inducement to unite with the enemies of the + United States unless we fail as a nation to give them that protection + guaranteed by our treaty stipulations, and which is necessary to + prevent designing and evil-disposed persons from having free + intercourse with them, to work out their evil purposes....[484] + +Nothing came of Dole's application and thus was exemplified, as often +before and often since, a very serious defect in the American +administrative system by which the duty of doing a certain thing rests +upon one department and the means for doing it with quite another. It is +surely no exaggeration to say that hundreds and hundreds of times the +Indians have been the innocent victims of friction between the War and +Interior Departments. + +But if the authorities at Washington were indifferent to the Indian's +welfare, Senator Lane was neither indifferent to nor ignorant of the +strategical importance of Indian Territory. With him the defence of Kansas +and the means of procuring that defence were everything. Indian Territory +and the Indian tribes came within the scope of the means. And so it +happened that, while he was organizing his Kansas brigade, he +commissioned[485] a man, E. H. Carruth, who had formerly posed as an +educator[486] among the Seminoles, to communicate with the various tribes +for the purpose of determining their real feelings towards the United +States government and of obtaining, if possible, an interview between Lane +and some of their accredited representatives. The interview was to take +place "at Fort Lincoln on the Osage or some point convenient +thereto."[487] + +Now a considerable portion of the Creek tribe was in just the right mood +and in just the right situation to receive such overtures in the right +spirit. That portion consisted of those who, after the treaty of July +tenth had been negotiated in the manner already described, had rallied +around Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la; and who, in a Creek convention that had been +called for August fifth had declared that the chiefs, who had signed a +treaty outside the National Council, had violated a fundamental law of the +tribe and had thereby forfeited their administrative rank. The criticism +applied to Motey Kennard and to Echo Harjo, the principal and the second +chief respectively. Kennard, as we have seen, was the leader of the Lower +Creeks and Harjo of the Upper. A further division in Creek ranks was now +inevitable and it came forthwith, the Non-treaty Party, made up mostly of +Upper Creeks, proceeding to recognize[488] Ok-ta-ha-hassee Harjo (better +known as "Sands") as the acting principal chief of the tribe. It also +betook itself westward so as to be as much as possible out of the reach of +the secessionists. When once in a position of at least temporary security, +it despatched Mik-ko Hut-kee (White Chief), Bob Deer, Jo Ellis, and +perhaps others to Washington to confer with the "Great Father."[489] + +The Creek delegates, Mik-ko Hut-kee and his companions, went, on their way +to Washington, northward through Kansas, saw Superintendent Coffin[490] +and, later, Lane's agent, E. H. Carruth. This was about the second week of +September and Carruth was at Barnesville, Lane's headquarters. Carruth +received the Creeks kindly, read sympathetically the letter[491] that +they brought from their distressed chiefs, Sands and Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, +assured the equally distressed delegates of the continued fatherly +interest of the United States government, and sent them on their way, +greatly comforted. It was while these Creek delegates were lingering at +Barnesville that Carruth made a special effort to induce the southern +Indians generally to send representatives for an interview with Lane. He +wrote personally to Ross,[492] to the two Creek chiefs,[493] and to the +Wichita chief, Tusaquach,[494] and, in addition, wrote to the Seminole +chiefs and headmen[495] and to the "loyal" Choctaws and Chickasaws.[496] + +Presumably, Superintendent Coffin did not altogether approve of Senator +Lane's taking it upon himself to confer with the Indians who, after all, +were officially Coffin's charges; for, in October, we find him, likewise, +planning for an intertribal conference to be held at Humboldt.[497] It is +rather interesting to look back upon all this and to realize, as perforce +we must, that every plan for conferring with the southern tribes in the +interests of the United States government, at this critical time, +contemplated a meeting at some place outside of Indian Territory. Here +were agents of the Indian's "Great Father" offering protection to the red +men and yet giving incontestable proof in the very details of the offer +that they did not themselves dare to venture[498] beyond the Kansas +boundary. As a matter of fact, all such plans for a general conference +came to nothing, although, as late as November, Lane had still the idea of +one in mind. He was, at the time, hoping to meet the Indians at Leroy[499] +in Coffey County, Kansas, on the twenty-fourth. Lane also continued to +advocate the use of the friendly Indians as soldiers. A little earlier, +Agent Johnson had endorsed[500] Lane's plan in a letter to Commissioner +Dole; but the coming of General Hunter upon the scene considerably +affected the sphere of influence. + +Dissatisfaction with Fremont on account of his extravagance, his haphazard +way of issuing commissions, his tardiness, and, above all, his general +military incompetence had crystallized in September; and, by orders[501] +of General Scott on the twenty-fourth of October, Hunter was directed to +relieve him. Hunter reached his post in early November and almost +immediately thereafter, either upon his own initiative or after +consultation with someone like Coffin (it could hardly have been with +Lane; for Lane had gone[502] to Washington, or with Branch; for Branch was +strongly opposed to the project intended), he telegraphed[503] to the War +Department "for permission to muster a Brigade of Kansas Indians into the +service of the United States, to assist the friendly Creek Indians in +maintaining their loyalty." Evidently, the request was not granted,[504] +but duties akin to it were, by arrangement of President Lincoln, conferred +upon Hunter which involved his assuming the responsibility of holding, if +such a plan were feasible, an intertribal council so as to renew the +confidence of the southern Indians in the United States government. A +letter[505] from Dole, outlining the plan, reveals an astonishing +ignorance of just how far those selfsame Indians had gone in their +defection, because of the loss of the confidence. + +In the giving of these new duties to General Hunter, there was not the +slightest intention of ignoring Senator Lane. In fact, Dole expressly +mentioned that Lane had called for just such an Indian conference[506] and +suggested that, if Hunter's military duties prevented his meeting the +Indians in person, Lane might take his place, "provided he can be spared +from his post." The whole affair was incident to the reorganization that +had recently, under general orders[507] of the ninth of November, taken +place in the Western Department, from which had resulted a Department of +Kansas, separate and distinct from the Department of Missouri. The +Department of Kansas included "the State of Kansas, the Indian Territory +west of Arkansas, and the Territories of Nebraska, Colorado, and Dakota" +and was to be under the command of Major-general David Hunter[508] with +headquarters at Fort Leavenworth. The idea governing this division of the +old western department was, ostensibly, as Nicolay and Hay express[509] +it, that Kansas might be protected, Indian Territory repossessed, and +Texas reached. As we shall presently see, a similar reorganization took +place, about the same time, in the Confederate western service and for +very much the same reason, the condition of the Indian country being a +very large proportion of that reason. It is barely possible that, as far +as the United States was concerned, Senator Lane's recommendation[510] of +the ninth of October was almost wholly accountable for the change. + +It was, undoubtedly, high time that something vigorous was being done to +stay Confederate progress in Indian Territory. Indeed, events were +happening there at this very moment that made all plans for an +inter-tribal conference exceedingly out of date. The Confederate +government had now a large Indian force[511] in the field and expectations +of an increase, provided the necessary arms[512] were obtainable. On the +twenty-second[513] of November, by special orders[514] from Richmond, +Indian Territory had been erected into a separate military department and +Albert Pike, now a brigadier-general, assigned to the command of it. For +the present, however, things seem to have remained much as they were with +McCulloch nominally in command and Cooper in actual charge. Moreover, long +before Pike reappeared upon the scene, matters had come to an issue +between the secessionist and unionist Creeks. + +Determined not to allow themselves to be over-persuaded or intimidated by +the secessionist element in their nation, the unionist Creeks, under +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, had withdrawn from active intercourse with the rival +faction and, resisting all attempts of Cooper and others to inveigle them +into an interview that might result in compromise, they had encamped at or +near the junction of the Deep and North Forks of the Canadian River. +Cooper resolved to attack them there and, for the purpose, gathered[515] +together an effective fighting force of about fourteen hundred men, all +Indians except for a detachment of Texas cavalry. On the fifth of +November, Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la broke camp and took up the line of march for +Kansas, hoping that, in Kansas, he and his followers would receive either +succor or refuge. It has been estimated that Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la's force, +at this time, was less than two thousand men and that it comprised, +besides Creeks and Seminoles, some two or three hundred negroes. His +traveling cortege was, however, very much larger; for it included women +and children, the sick and the aged. Approximately half of the Creeks were +on the move for pastures new. For many of them it was a second exodus. + +Colonel D. H. Cooper reached the deserted camp of Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la on +the fifteenth of November and, finding his enemy gone and locating his +trail, moved himself in a slightly northeasterly direction towards the Red +Fork of the Arkansas. He came up with the unionist Creeks at Round +Mountain on the night of the nineteenth and an indecisive engagement[516] +followed, both sides claiming the victory. Under cover of darkness, +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la managed to slip away and crossed into the Cherokee +country where there were plenty of disaffected full-bloods to give him +sympathy. It is more than likely that they had invited him there and had +prepared for his coming. Cooper did not attempt to pursue the Creek +refugees, having been called back to the Arkansas line, there to wait in +readiness to reenforce McCulloch should the Federals make a forward march +southward from Springfield, as then seemed probable. But that danger soon +passed, passed even before Cooper had had time to take the post indicated +or to leave his own camp at Concharta, after a brief recuperation. He was +now free to follow up the meagre advantage of the nineteenth. + +The next opportunity to crush Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la came in the Battle of +Bird Creek [Chusto-Talasah, Little High Shoals, or the Caving Banks],[517] +fought December 9, 1861. On the twenty-ninth of the preceding month, a +part of Cooper's force had set out for Tulsey Town and an advance guard +had been sent up the Verdigris in the direction of a place, called +"Coody's Settlement," where Colonel John Drew with a detachment of his +regiment of Cherokee full-bloods was posted. The orders were that Drew +should effect a junction with Cooper's main force and, on December eighth +they were all encamped on Bird Creek in the southwestern corner of the +Cherokee Nation. At this juncture, word came that Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la +wished to treat for peace and Major Pegg, a Cherokee, with three +companions was sent forward to confer with him. They found the Creek +chief, surrounded by his warriors and ready for battle. It was evening and +Colonel Cooper had scarcely heard the news of the Creek determination to +fight when a message came that four companies of Drew's regiment, +horrified at the thought of fighting with their neighbors, had dispersed +and gone over to Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la. The incident did not promise well for +success on the morrow and the Battle of Bird Creek was another indecisive +engagement, although the Creeks, eager and resplendent with their yellow +corn-shuck badges, seem to have had all the advantage of position. Again +they made their escape and again Colonel Cooper was prevented from +following them, this time because he was exceedingly fearful lest the +Cherokee desertion might have a lasting and disastrous effect upon the +remaining Indian forces, particularly upon the small group that was all +that was left of the original First Cherokee Mounted Rifles. Cooper's +personal opinion was, that the defection was widespread among the +Cherokees and that it would be sheer folly to start out after +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la until more white troops had been added to the pursuing +force, by way both of reenforcement and of encouragement. + +Instead, therefore, of continuing northward, Colonel Cooper drew off in +the direction of Fort Gibson and, from that point, sent for aid to Colonel +James McIntosh at Van Buren. He then occupied himself with his own troops +and prevailed upon John Ross to rally[518] the Cherokees. It was now the +nineteenth of December and the aged chief did his best to keep his people +true to the faith that the nation had pledged in the treaty of the seventh +of October. He recalled to their minds the fact that it was, by all odds, +the best treaty that the Cherokees had ever secured, the one that gave +them the fullest recognition of their rights as a semi-independent people, +and he might have added with sad, sad truth that it was the best that they +could ever hope to get. He made no such pessimistic reflection, however, +but concluded, + + It is, therefore, our duty and interest to respect it, and we must, as + the interest of our common country demands it. According to the + stipulations of the treaty we must meet enemies of our allies whenever + the south requires it, as they are our enemies as well as the enemies + of the south; and I feel sure that no such occurrence as the one we + deplore would have taken place if all things were understood as I have + endeavored to explain them. Indeed the true meaning of our treaty is, + that we must know no line in the presence of our invader, be he who he + may....[519] + +Colonel Cooper then addressed[520] the Indians and, after him, Major +Pegg;[521] but they were not convinced and many of them went home, +positively refusing to march farther with the army. + +Meanwhile Cooper's call for reenforcements had reached McIntosh[522] and, +as the need seemed so urgent, McIntosh resolved to supply it and notified +Cooper to that effect. Subsequently, he decided[523] to take the field in +person and to head a column, separate from Cooper's. What induced him to +do this, nobody can well say. Cooper always felt that the incompleteness +of the victory over Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la, which was soon to come, was mainly +attributable to the divided effort of the attacking force. In the two +former engagements, Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la's force, such as it was, untrained +and miscellaneous, had greatly outnumbered the Confederate; but now the +two were more equally matched in point of numbers and the chances of +success were all on the southern side because of superior training and +equipment, so Cooper was probably correct in his conjecture. McIntosh's +excuse[524] for advancing precipitately and alone was, notwithstanding, +very reasonable. The scarcity of forage made it expedient to march +compactly; and the two generals had agreed, so McIntosh declared, when in +conference at Fort Gibson, "that either force should attack the enemy on +sight." + +The privilege of attacking Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la fell, under this +arrangement, supposing it was made, to McIntosh, who had been able to push +on in advance of Cooper. The Battle of Chustenahlah was fought in the +early afternoon of December 26, 1861, and ended in what seemed the +complete defeat of the Creeks. McIntosh reported that, although their +position was strong, they were forced to retreat + + To the rocky gorges amid the deep recesses of the mountains, where + they were pursued by our victorious troops and routed in every + instance with great loss. They endeavored to make a stand at their + encampment, but their efforts were ineffectual, and we were soon in + the midst of it. The battle lasted until 4 o'clock, when the firing + gradually ceased....[525] + +And then the Creeks fled, leaving practically everything in the shape of +property behind them. Cooper came up and detachments of his troops pursued +them almost to the Kansas line. The weather was bitterly cold, provisions +scarce, the country rough and bleak. The pursuit took the form of a seven +day scout; but the Creeks, no matter how great their dispersion, were +headed straight for Walnut Creek, Kansas. + +Their coming was anticipated. Hearing of their approach, Superintendent +Coffin had directed[526] all the agents[527] under his charge to report to +him for duty at a place on the Verdigris River called Fort Roe[528] "about +thirty-five or forty miles from Leroy and Burlington." It was Coffin's +intention to meet the refugees upon their first arrival; but, as +Commissioner Dole was expected soon to be at Fort Leavenworth, he thought +it best to wait[529] and consult with him. It does not seem to have been +recorded on just what date the first of the Indian refugees crossed the +Kansas line, but they were very soon crossing in great numbers and, by the +time Coffin finally reached them, their condition was truly pitiable. They +took up their station on the bare prairies between the Verdigris and the +Arkansas Rivers and stretched themselves in almost hopeless confusion +over about two hundred miles of country. Fortunately the land upon which +they camped was Indian land, New York Indian land, and the few white men +thereon were legally intruders and could not consistently object to the +presence of the refugees. The numbers of the refugees were variously +estimated. Starting with about forty-five hundred,[530] they increased +daily and at an astonishing rate; for the exodus of the Creeks was but the +signal for the flight of other tribesmen from Indian Territory, of all +those, in fact, who were either tired of their alliance with the +Confederacy or had never been in sympathy with it and were only too eager +to take the first chance to escape from it. + +The suffering of the refugees, due to destitution and exposure, was +something horrible to think upon. Superintendent Coffin had little to give +them. He appealed to General Hunter for an allowance from the army +supplies and Hunter sent down his chief commissary of subsistence, Captain +J. W. Turner, to do what he could to relieve the distress. Hunter also +sent Brigade-surgeon A. B. Campbell; for it was not simply food and +clothing, that were needed and roof shelter, but medical attendance. As +soon as possible, cheap blankets[531] were furnished and some condemned +army tents. The journey northward had been undertaken in the bitterest of +cold weather. With a raw northwest wind beating in their faces, + + And over the snow-covered roads, they travelled all night and the next + day, without halting to rest. Many of them were on foot, without + shoes, and very thinly clad.... In this condition they had + accomplished a journey of about three hundred miles; but quite a + number froze to death on the route, and their bodies with a shroud of + snow, were left where they fell to feed the hungry wolves.... + + Families who in their country had been wealthy, and who could count + their cattle by the thousands and horses by hundreds, and owned large + numbers of slaves, and who at home had lived at ease and comfort, were + without the necessaries of life.[532] + +When, sometime in early December, Commissioner Dole heard of the +resistance that the unionist Creeks were making to Colonel Cooper, he +immediately applied once more, through the Secretary of the Interior, +to the War Department for troops sufficient to assert Federal supremacy +south of the Kansas line, his immediate object being, the strengthening of +the force then opposed to Cooper. At the moment, Lane's expedition was +under consideration, Lane having managed to convince the Washington +authorities, both congressional and administrative, that an expedition +southward was absolutely necessary[533] for the protection of the +frontier. + + +[Illustration: Retreat of the Loyal Indians from the Indian Country under +A-poth-yo-ho-lo in the winter of 1861 [_From Office of Indian Affairs_]] + + +Somewhat earlier, in fact in the late autumn, the non-secession Indians of +various tribes had made their own appeal for help. They had made it to the +United States government and also, a little later on, to the Indian tribes +of Kansas. Along about the first of November, a mixed delegation[534] of +Creeks, Seminoles, and Chickasaws had made its appearance[535] at Leroy +and, finding there the United States Creek agent, George A. Cutler, had +consulted with him "in reference to the intentions of the Federal +government regarding the protection due them under treaty stipulations." +Cutler advised the Indians to talk the matter over with Senator Lane and +accompanied them to Fort Scott, Lane's headquarters, for the purpose. +Arriving there, they learned that Lane had gone to Washington and had left +his command in charge of Colonel James Montgomery. Colonel Montgomery +counselled with the Indians as Cutler had done and helped them to reach +the decision that it would be best to proceed to Washington and lay their +complaints before the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. At the same time, +Montgomery notified[536] President Lincoln of their intention. + +Still accompanied by Agent Cutler, the delegation resumed its journey, +going by way of Fort Leavenworth. There they conferred[537] with General +Hunter and left greatly strengthened in their resolution of proceeding to +Washington; for Hunter, too, thought that such a trip might compel the +government to realize the Indian's very real distress and its own +obligation to relieve it. We are fain to believe that General Hunter +personally believed in the military necessity of securing Indian Territory +even though he did do all he could to oppose the project of Senator Lane +in the early months of 1862 and even though he did disapprove of the +formation of the department of Kansas and his own assignment to it +instead of to that of Missouri, which would have been his preference. If +he at any time to date had wavered[538] in his opinion as to the needs of +the Indians and their legitimate claim upon the United States government +for protection, Carruth's letter of November twenty-sixth ought to have +settled the matter, unless, indeed, its rather savage tone had created +prejudice instead of working conviction as was intended. + + ... I have from the first believed it would be good policy to let + loose the northern Indians, under the employ of government; it + certainly would be better for the border States to have the Indian + country for a battle ground than to have it remain a shelter for rebel + hordes the coming winter....[539] + +The visit of the Indians to Washington proved very opportune. By the +twenty-seventh of December, they were back at Fort Leavenworth and +considerably reassured. Superintendent Coffin had a council with them on +the twenty-eighth "at the Fort to good satisfaction." He says of his +interview, + + I gave them Presents of Pipes, tobacco, and Sugar, and they went on + their way to Fort Scott rejoicing they seem to be in fine + Spirits,[540] but are at a Loss what to do for a living til Lanes Army + goes down there into the Indian Territory they want very much to get + Some of the Funds now due the Creeks....[541] + +A more pathetic appeal, and one more immediately telling in its effects, +was that made to the brother Indians of Kansas. It came direct from +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la and when it reached the Delawares found in them a ready +response. It invited their cooperation[542] in the war and asked for men +and ammunition.[543] This is the Delaware reply:[544] + + We are much rejoiced to receive your letter by James McDaniel[545] and + David Balon. Our Agent has sent it to our great Father, the + President, "at Washington," and to Gen. Hunter at "Fort Leavenworth." + It gives us great pleasure to hear that you are good and true friends + to the President, and to the Government of the United States. We hope + you will continue to be their friend. If bad men of the South ask you + to go to war against the President, stop your ears, don't listen to + them, they are your worst enemies, they are trying to destroy you and + the Country. + + Grand Children it does our hearts good, we rejoice to hear of the + victories you have gained over your enemies of the Government under + your brave leader Oputh-la-yar-ho-la. + + Grand Children we are ready and willing to help you. Our brave + Warriors are ready to spill their Blood for you, and are only waiting + to hear from our great Father at Washington, we have asked of him the + privaledge of going to your assistance, and hope that our request will + be granted, we don't wish to go to War against the wishes of our great + Father the President. We have heard that the President will soon have + a large Army in the Indian Country to protect you, that he has + ordered Gen. Lane to march to your relief. We are confident that our + great Father is able and will protect his red children--Grand Children + we pray to the "great spirit" to protect you and keep you out of the + hands of the bad men of the South, who are trying to destroy you and + the Government--We have no fears as to the result of this war--the + President has large Armies in the field that will conquer and punish + the Rebels--We are proud of our Muscogee Children. + +The United States government had already determined upon an expedition to +the Indian country and, yielding to the importunities of Senator Lane, who +represented General Hunter as in full accord with himself in the matter, +had decided to use the Kansas Indians in the making up of the attacking +force. It was well that the Indians had manifested a readiness to fight +and that the Delawares, particularly, had overcome their previous +aversion. The first official record of the fact that the decision to use +the Kansas Indians had been reached appears to be a communication[546] +from Assistant Adjutant-general E. D. Townsend to Surgeon-general C. A. +Finley, under date of December 31, 1861, notifying him that medical +supplies would soon be needed for a force of about twenty-seven thousand +men, about four thousand of whom were to be Indians, which was to be +concentrated at an early day near Fort Leavenworth. On the third of +January, Lane wrote[547] to Hunter, informing him, as if at first hand +and semi-officially, of the new plan. It is not to be wondered at that +General Hunter took offence at the officiousness and presumption Lane +displayed. In point of fact, it was a clear case of executive +interference. + +Now that it had, to all appearances, gained a long-desired object, the +Indian Office lost no time in lending the War Department its hearty +cooperation. Commissioner Dole was especially enthusiastic and, under +instructions from Secretary Smith, prepared to go out to Kansas himself to +help organize the Indians for army service. He also sent particulars[548] +of the new movement to Superintendent Branch and a circular letter[549] to +the agents of the central superintendency, detailing the advantages that +would accrue to individual Indians should they enlist. Dole wrote these +letters on the sixth of January and was then expecting to be in +Leavenworth City for the making of final arrangements eight or ten days +"hence." He did not manage to get away, however, quite so soon; but the +agents went to work immediately and, even before Dole arrived in Kansas, +Agent Farnsworth, who had always been rather too eager for Indian +enlistment, was able to report[550] the initial steps taken. By the +twenty-first of January,[551] Dole was well on his way west. He reached +Kansas in due season and there learned[552] for the first time, that +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la had been completely overwhelmed, that the refugees were +on the Verdigris, and that General Hunter was subsisting them. This was +doleful news, indeed, and made the project of a southern expedition seem +more and more expedient. + +General Hunter had done the best he could to relieve the awful sufferings +of the refugees; but, on the sixth of February, he was obliged to +inform[553] Dole that he could do no more, that he had practically reached +the end of his resources, and that, after the fifteenth of February, the +whole responsibility of subsisting the destitute Indians would have to +fall upon the Interior Department. Dole was almost at his wits' end. He +had no funds that he could use legitimately for the need that had arisen. +It was a case of emergency, however, and something certainly had to be +done. Before the fifteenth of December arrived, additional reports[554] +came in from Superintendent Coffin, detailing distress. Under the +circumstances it was necessary to act quickly and without congressional +authorization. Dole telegraphed[555] to Secretary Smith, + + Six thousand Indians driven out of Indian territory, naked and + starving. General Hunter will only feed them until 15th. Shall I take + care of them on the faith of an appropriation? + +He received a reply[556] that should have been dictated, not so much in +the spirit of generosity, as of simple justice: + + Go on and supply the destitute Indians, Congress will supply the + means. War Department will not organize them. + +With this approbation in hand, Dole went to work, purchased sufficient +supplies on credit, and appointed[557] a special agent, Dr. William Kile +of Illinois, who had been commissioned[558] by President Lincoln to act on +Lane's staff and was then in Kansas as Lane's brigade quartermaster, to +attend to their distribution. Meanwhile, the attention of Congress had +been called to the matter and a particularly strong letter of Dole's, +describing the utter misery of the exiles, was read in the Senate February +14, in support of a joint resolution for their relief.[559] It was +intended originally to apply only to the loyal Creeks, Seminoles, and +Chickasaws but had its title changed later so as to make it include the +Choctaws. On the third of March, Congress passed[560] an act providing +that the annuities of the "hostiles," Creeks, Chickasaws, Seminoles, +Wichitas, and Cherokees, should be applied, as might be necessary, to the +relief of refugees from Indian Territory. It was expressly stipulated in +this enactment[561] that the money should not be used for other than +Indian Territory tribes. + +Secretary Smith's telegram, as the reader has probably already observed, +had given to Dole a small piece of information that was not of slight +significance, signifying as it did a change of front by the War +Department. The War Department had rescinded its former action and had now +refused to organize the Indians for service. The objections to Lane's +enterprise must have been cumulative. Before the idea of it had embraced +the Indians and before it had become so closely identified with Lane's +name and personality, in fact, while it was more or less a scheme of +McClellan's, Hunter had interposed[562] objections, but purely on military +grounds. His force was scarcely equal to a movement southward. +Subsequently, Halleck interposed objections likewise and his reasons,[563] +whatever his motives may have been, were perfectly sound, indeed, rather +alarmingly so, since they broadly hinted at the miserably local interests +involved in the war in the west and the gross subordination of military +policies to political. Then came Lane with energy like the whirlwind, a +local politician through and through. He had absolutely no respect for +official proprieties and the military men, opposed to him, were men of +small calibre. He reached Kansas, joyfully intent upon putting into +immediate effect the power that Lincoln had conferred upon him, only to +find that there stood Hunter, fully prepared to contest authority with +him. The Adjutant-general had written[564] Hunter that Lane had not been +given a command independent of his own and that, if he so desired, he +might conduct the expedition southward in person. In the evening of the +twenty-sixth, Lane reached Leavenworth, and the very next day, Hunter +issued general orders[565] that he would command in person. Taken aback +and excusably indignant, Lane communicated[566] at once with John Covode +and requested him to impart the news to the President, to Stanton[567] and +the new Secretary of War, and to General McClellan. + +Official sensitiveness was unquestionably at the bottom of the whole +trouble, yet Lincoln was very largely to blame for having yielded to +Lane's importunities. He frankly said that he had wished to keep the +affair out of McClellan's hands as far as possible.[568] He hoped to +profit by the services of both Hunter and Lane; but, if they could not +agree, then Lane must yield the precedence to Hunter. He must report for +orders or decline the service.[569] Military men, stationed in the west, +and civil officers of Kansas were all prejudiced against the "Lane +Expedition."[570] They expected it to be nothing but jayhawking and +marauding of the worst description. The Indians, however, were deeply +disappointed[571] when a halt came in the preparations. +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la personally addressed a communication[572] to Lincoln. +He wanted nobody but Lane to command the expedition. Pending a settlement, +Dole ordered[573] Coffin[574] to desist from further enrollment. +Secretary Stanton was declared opposed to the use of Indians in civilized +warfare.[575] Soon the orders for the expedition were countermanded with +the understanding, explicit or implied, that it should later proceed under +the personal direction of General Hunter. + +The military situation in the middle west and the great desire on the part +of the Confederacy to gain Missouri and to complete her secession from the +old Union necessitated, at the opening of 1862, a thorough-going +reoerganization of forces concentrated in that part of the country. +Experience had shown that separate and independent commands had a tendency +to become too much localized, individual commanders too much inclined to +keep within the narrow margin, each of his instructions, for the good of +the service as a whole to be promoted. It was thought best, therefore, to +establish the Trans-Mississippi District of Department No. 2[576] and to +place in command of it, Major-general Earl Van Dorn. The district was to +comprise all of Louisiana north of the Red River, all of Indian Territory +proper, all of Arkansas, and all of Missouri west of the St. Francis. Wise +in the main, as the scheme for consolidation unquestionably was, it had +its weak points. The unrestricted inclusion of Indian Territory was +decidedly a violation of the spirit of the Pike treaties, if not of the +actual letter. Under the conditions of their alliance with the +Confederacy, the Indian nations were not obliged to render service outside +of the limits of their own country; but the Confederacy was obliged, +independent of any departmental reoerganization or regulations, to furnish +them protection. + +Almost the first thing that Van Dorn did, after assuming command of the +new military district, was to write,[577] from his headquarters at +Jacksonport in eastern Arkansas, to Price, advising him that Pike would +shortly be ordered to take position in southwestern Missouri, say in +Lawrence County near Mt. Vernon, "with instructions to cooperate with you +in any emergency." Van Dorn was then laboring under the impression that +Pike's force consisted of a majority of white troops, three regiments, he +thought, out of a brigade of eight or nine thousand men, whereas there was +only one white regiment in the whole Indian department. Colonel Cooper +complained[578] that this latter condition was the fact and insisted that +it was contrary to the express promises made, by authority,[579] to the +Choctaws and Chickasaws when he had begun his recruiting work among them +the previous summer. Had Van Dorn only taken a little trouble to inquire +into the real state of affairs among the Indians, he would, instead of +ordering Pike to bring the Indian regiments out of Indian Territory, have +seen to it that they stayed at home and that danger of civil strife among +the Cherokees was prevented by the presence of three white regiments, as +originally promised. At this particular time as it happened, Pike was not +called upon to move his force; for the order so to move did not reach him +until after the Federals, "pursuing General Price, had invaded +Arkansas."[580] + + +[Illustration: FORT McCULLOGH [_From Office of Indian Affairs_]] + + +It proved, however, to be but a brief stay of execution; for, as soon as +Van Dorn learned that Price had fallen back from Springfield, he +resolved[581] to form a junction with McCulloch's division in the Boston +Mountains and himself take command of all the forces in the field. He +estimated[582] that, should Pike be able to join him, with Price's and +McCulloch's troops already combined, he would have an army of fully +twenty-six thousand men to oppose a Federal force of between thirty-five +and forty thousand. Pike was duly informed[583] of the new arrangement and +ordered[584] to "hasten up with all possible dispatch and in person direct +the march of" his "command, including Stand Watie's, McIntosh's, and +Drew's regiments." His men were to "march light, ready for immediate +action."[585] The outcome of all these preparations was the Battle of Pea +Ridge[586] and that battle was the consummation, the culminating point, in +fact, of the Indian alliance with the Southern Confederacy. It was the +beginning of the end. It happened just at the time when the Richmond +legislators were organizing[587] the great Arkansas and Red River +superintendency,[588] which was intended to embrace all the tribes with +whom Albert Pike had made his treaties. Albert Pike retired from Pea Ridge +to his defences at Fort McCulloch, angry and indignant that the Indians +had been taken out of their own country to fight the white man's battles. +His displeasure was serious; for the Indian confidence in the Confederacy +depended almost wholly upon the promises and the assurances of the +Arkansas poet. + + + + +APPENDIX A--FORT SMITH PAPERS + + +_Copy_ + +TAHLEQUAH, January 9th 1857. + +SIR:--Some time since I received a letter from you calling for information +in reference to the white intruders who were settling upon the Cherokee +Neutral Land. I have been creditably (credibly) informed that there are +several white families living upon the Neutral Land, some of them are +making improvements, others are in the employment of Cherokee Citizens, +living on the Neutral Land, from the best information that I can get, most +of the intruders are good citizens of the U-States. I have notified them +to leave, with the understanding that if they do not leave by spring, they +will be removed by the Military. My reason for not removing them at an +earlier date is, the weather is so cold and disagreeable that it would be +improper to turn women and children out of doors, therefore I will not +remove them til the winter breaks it maybe that the Military will have to +be employed in their removal: yet I shall make the effort to remove them +peacefully and without the military if possible. Very Respectfully, Your +ob't, Svt. + + (Signed). GEO. BUTLER, Cherokee Agent. + +Doct. C. W. Dean, Sup't. of Ind. Affs. + + +_Copy_ + +FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, February 19th, 1859. + +SIR: I deem it my duty as an independant citizen to apprize you, as the +head of the Indian Bureau, of a recent transaction of the Superintendent +of Indian Affairs at this place, and demand of you the proper action the +facts may impose. + +A contract has been given to an intimate friend and relation of the +Superintendent, to feed the Witchita and other Indians inhabiting the +country between the 98th and 100th degrees, West Longitude, at a sum pr +ration, of one third, perhaps one half, more than other persons would have +fed these Indians for; which persons were denied the privilege of +contending for the contract, as no puplic notice inviting proposals was +made, and the contract was given privately. + +I assert this postively, as to the notice for proposals, and enclose you a +letter of Capt. J. H. Strain, confirmatory of the fact, that he was +willing to feed the Witchitas, for a sum far less than the records of your +Office must show the government has been pledged to pay another. The +character of this gentleman, who has been for years Sutler at Fort +Arbuckle, if unknown to you, can be avouched by the U. S. Senators from +this State. + +The Seminoles are now fed under a contract given in the usual regular mode +of publishing invitations for proposals and awarding the contract to the +lowest bidder, at the sum of about seven cents pr ration. The Witchitas +are encamped only forty or fifty miles from the Seminoles and near the +Texas and Chickasaw lines, where corn and beef are much cheaper and more +abundant. In proof of this I refer you to late contracts for these +articles given at Fort Washita and Fort Arbuckle--the first being near the +Witchitas, and the other near the Seminoles. Captain Strain says he would +have fed the Witchitas for ten cents per ration, and if proposals had been +invited, the Contract would have been taken for a less sum. + +There are some seven hundred Indians now fed, and thirteen cents pr ration +is the sum stated as allowed--I believe it is more, but the Indian Office +contains the proof of the exact sum. If the Contract had been given at +nine cents pr ration, it would have been a saving of twenty eight dollars +pr day, over the price said to be now paid, which would amount to eight +hundred and forty dollars pr month, and ten thousand and eighty dollars a +year. This is surprisingly large, for a small Indian contract, and at a +time too when the duty of government Officers to retrench expenses is so +imperiously demanded. + +I am opposed to such favoriteism under any circumstances, and particularly +so, when the recipient can lay no claim to Democratic support. + +I am credibly informed that the number of the Indians fed under this +contract, is rapidly increasing, and that efforts are all the time made to +induce the Texas Reserve Indians to claim relationship with the Wichitas, +and come into their camp and draw rations. One of the employees under this +Contract makes this statement, and says quite a number have already been +induced so to come. If the number is swelled to two thousand, as +conjectured here, the large price now paid will roll up the sum thus +disbursed to the Superintendents favorite so much that other notice will +be taken of it, unless you find it in your power to interfere. + +I am tired of such conduct and such unfairness towards the government, +and now make the charge distinctly and demand of you that it be stopped. + +Of course I have no desire to withhold my name, and can refer you to +Senators Sebastian and Johnson for an endorsement of my character. + +Please acknowledge receipt of this. I am most respectfully, Your Obt. +Servant, + + A. G. MAYERS. + + + Hon. J. W. Denver, Comr. Ind. Affairs, + Washington City, D. C. + +P.S. I may add that I am not, nor have I ever been interested in these +sort of Contracts, and have no desire to be interested in this one. + + A.G.M. + + +FORT SMITH 16th Feby. /59. + +DEAR SIR: I am in receipt of yours of the 15th inst. You were correct in +understanding me to say, that I was willing to feed the Witchita Indians, +near Fort Arbuckle, at ten cents per ration. + +Was the contract to be let to the lowest bidder, it would go below what I +said I was willing to take it at. Very Respectfully, Your Obt. Servant + + J. H. STRAIN. + +Gen. A. G. Mayers, Ft. Smith, Ark. + + + DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, + May 12th 1859. + +SIR, For your information and such action as you may deem necessary, I +transmit a copy of a letter, and its enclosures, addressed to this Office +by A. G. Mayers on the 21st ultimo, and of my reply of the 11th instant. +Very respectfully, Your Obt. Servant, + + CHARLES E. MIX, Commissioner, ad interim. + + E. Rector Esq, Superintendent &c, + Fort Smith, Arkansas. + + +_Copy_ + +FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS April 21st 1859 + + CHAS. E. MIX, Esq, Acting Comr. of Indian Affairs + Washington City D. C. + +SIR:--Allow me to ask of you the favor to inform, officially whether the +funds provided by the Government for the subsistence of the Wichita +Indians has been turned over to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs at +this place or any other disbursing offices of the department, to carry out +the Contract made by the Supt. with C. B. Johnson for subsisting those +Indians after the facts reported by me in regard to the matter, in a +letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of date the 19th Feby 59--. + +It has been stated to me that such monies have been so turned over to the +Superintendent, and statement has been contracted, I therefore wish to +know of you the truth of the matter, and am assured such information will +be readily afforded me. + +I may add, to strengthen the report of facts formerly made by me in regard +to the Wichita Contracts, that the Seminoles, who are subsisted at a sum +less than seven cents per ration, under contract given after publication +for proposals, are near Fort Arbuckle, and the Wichitas, who are subsisted +under private contract at over thirteen cents per ration, are near Fort +Washita and within the Chickasaw Nation (much of course to the annoyance +of the Chickasaws). Now I ask a reference to the Comparative Contracts to +feed the two tribes on file in your office, with the Contract for corn and +beef given at the two posts mentioned to supply the Soldiers, on file in +the War Office, to convince you that the Witchitas are fed at an +exhorbitant cost to the Government. + +I also herewith enclose a letter from Mr. Dennis Trammel, who was the +Contractor to feed the Seminoles; stating that he was willing, and had so +stated it to the Supt, to feed the Wichitas for seven cents pr ration. For +Mr Trammel's veracity I can avouch and full endorsement can be given of it +from others, if required; as can be done for my own character and standing +in this community.-- + +I intend to follow up this matter to a conclusion, and in so declairing +must state that I do it without motive of personal malice and simply as an +impartial Citizen and a supporter of the administration--impelled to the +duty in view of the universal acclaim throughout the Country for economy +in Govt. expenses on account of the depleted state of the Treasury, +Otherwise I might have left the unpleasant affair to the proper officers +of the Government to find out and determine as they might see proper, + +Let me ask;--Is it true that the Supt. has received the Two hundred +thousand dollars due the Creeks under the treaty of 1851, without an order +from that tribe to the government to send out the money and upon the +Supt's own responsibility?--An early reply will greatly oblige me, Very +Respectfully Your obt. Svt. + + A. G. MAYERS. + + +_Copy_ + +GREENWOOD ARKANSAS April 18th 1859. + +DEAR SIR: I have understood that you was willing to feed the Wichataw +Indians at the same price that you received from the Government for +feeding the Seminole Indians. + +Please state if I am correct in so understanding your propositions Very +respectfully Your Obt. Servt. + + A. G. MAYERS + +Mr Dennis Trammell, at Greenwood Arks. + + +_Copy_ + +BACKBARN Aprial 19. 1859. + +DEAR SIR: I recd your note of the 18 instant and state that you are +correct, I have stated that I was willing to feed them at the same price 7 +cents. I am Yours, &c. + + DENNIS TRAMMELL + +Genl, A. G. Myers Esq. + + +_Copy_ + + DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS + 11th May 1859. + +SIR: In reply to your letter of the 21st Ultimo I have the honor to state +that a portion of the funds appropriated by Congress towards defraying the +expenses of Colonizing the Wichita and other Indians in the western part +of the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, including their temporary +subsistence, has all along been in the hands of Superintendent Rector, to +meet any necessary current expenses connected with said measure. + +In regard to the contract made with Mr. C. B. Johnson by Superintendent +Rector, for feeding the Witchitas, it was but a temporary measure to meet +an emergency, and was fully approved by the late Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, under subsequent instructions Supt. Rector, will it is expected, +at an early day, make a different arrangement, for furnishing said Indians +with such subsistence as must necessarily be supplied to them by +advertising for proposals therefor, or by causing it to be purchased and +issued to them direct by an agent of the Government, as may be best and +most economical. + +The money due the Creeks under the Treaty of 1856, to which you refer, was +placed in Superintendent Rectors hands to be paid to them, in compliance +with the formal and urgent demand of the Council of the tribe. Very +respectfully Your Obt Servant + + Signed. CHAS. E. MIX, Commissioner ad interim. + +A. G. Mayers Esq., Fort Smith Arks. + + + DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, + March 14, 1860. + +SIR: Robert J. Cowart, Esq. of Georgia, has been appointed by the +President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, Agent of the +Cherokee Indians in place of George Butler, Esq. whose commission has +expired. + +He has been directed to report himself to you at Fort Smith for +instructions, when you will assign him to duty. His compensation will be +at the rate of $1500 per annum, and the time of its commencement will be +fixed upon when he arrives in this City, which he has been directed to +take in his route to Fort Smith. The sufficiency of his bond will also be +made the subject of examination at this Office upon his arrival. + +A letter has been written to M{r} Butler notifying him of the appointment, +and directing him to make up and forward his accounts immediately, and to +turn over to Mr. Cowart all moneys, papers, and other property in his +hands upon application. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, + + A. B. GREENWOOD, Commissioner. + +Elias Rector, Esq., Superintendent, &c., Present. + + + DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, + April 21, 1860. + +SIR: From information that has been received at this Office in regard to +certain persons, who are residing within the limits of the Cherokee +nation, it is found necessary to call your attention to the propriety of +seeing that the provisions of the Intercourse law are observed with +respect to them. By reference to the law, you will find that no person can +reside within the limits of the country of any Indian nation or tribe +without permission, and such must be obtained under certain prescribed +rules; and even after permission is given, if the party is found abusing +the privilege by acting in violation of any of the provisions of law, or +is found unfit to reside in the country whether from example, from the +want of moral character, from his interference with the institutions of +the tribe, from seditious language and teachings, or from any cause +tending to disturb the peace and quiet of the tribe, or tending to +alienate their attachment to the Government of the United States, the +Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and Indian Agents have authority to +remove him; and the President is authorized to direct the Military force +to be employed in such removal. + +The necessity for such power, and for greater facility in carrying the +same into execution, was so apparent, that at the first session of the +35th Congress it was found advisable to legislate further in the matter; +and the 3rd Section of the Indian appropriation bill was accordingly +passed, which is, "That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs be, and he is +hereby, authorized and required, with the approval of the Secretary of the +Interior, to remove from any tribal reservation any person found therein +without authority of law, or whose presence within the limits of the +reservation may, in his judgment, be detrimental to the peace and welfare +of the Indians, and to employ for the purpose such force as may be +necessary to enable the agent to effect the removal of such person or +persons." + +As I remarked before, I am induced to believe that the Cherokees have just +cause of complaint from the presence of some such persons within their +limits,--and it is my desire that you call the attention of the newly +appointed Agent particularly to the subject. He should look not only to +those cases which are there originally without authority of law, but also +to those who, with ostensibly worthy purposes, have received permission, +and falsified their pretensions. This is a delicate trust, and should be +executed with great caution and discretion, and you cannot enjoin upon the +agent too much care and circumspection for although I shall examine +carefully the grounds of his charges, yet I must be guided in a great +measure by his opinion, and am determined that the law shall be enforced. + +You will therefore, so soon as Mr. Cowart shall report to you for duty, +communicate to him the contents of this letter, and require him to +investigate, as quietly as possible, the cases of all white persons found +within the limits of his agency, and report to me, through you, such as +are there without the authority of law, and such as may be unworthy longer +to remain although they may have originally had permission to enter the +country. Very respectfully, Your Obt, Sevt. + + A. B. GREENWOOD, Commissioner. + +Elias Rector, Esq.; Fort Smith, Arkansas. + + + DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, + June 4th 1860. + +SIR: The attention of this office has been called to an article which +appeared in the Fort Smith Times (which is herewith enclosed) in which it +will be seen that a secret organization has been formed in the Cherokee +Nation, which is rapidly increasing. The existence of such an +organization, the objects of which cannot be misunderstood, has caused in +my mind the greatest apprehension as to the future peace and quiet of that +country; and, if permitted to mature its plans, will be productive of the +worst results. The article alluded to points to the Jones' as being the +leaders in this movement, and who have been permitted for a long time to +enjoy the privileges of that Nation. It is believed that the ultimate +object of this organization is to interfere with the institutions of that +people, and that its influences will extend to other tribes upon the +Western border of Arkansas. + +This scheme must be broken up: for if it is permitted to ripen, that +country will, sooner or later, be drenched in blood. You are aware that +there is a large slave property in the Cherokee country, and if any steps +are taken by which such property will be rendered unsafe, internal war +will be the inevitable result, in which the people of the bordering state +will be involved. The relations which the Editor of the Times bears to the +Cherokees enables him to procure reliable information from that section +which is not accessible to all and hence the greater credit is due to his +published statements in relation to the affairs of that people. This +office is also in possession of private advices from that country, which +fully corroborates the statements in the article referred to. This +organization and its purposes are no longer left to mere conjecture. In +view of these facts I have to direct that in addition to the instructions +contained in a letter from this office, of the 21st of April last, the +contents of which you were instructed to communicate to Agent Cowart, you +will direct him immediately on his arrival at his Agency to cautiously, +institute inquiry as to the existence of this secret organization, its +objects and purposes; who are the counsellors and advisers of this +movement, and proceed at once to break it up; and, if in his investigation +he should be satisfied that any white persons residing in the Nation are +in any way connected with this organization he will notify such person or +persons forthwith to leave the Nation. You will inform Agent Cowart that +the Secretary of War will be requested to place such force at his disposal +as may be necessary to enforce any order he may deem it his duty to make. +You will direct him also to spare neither time or trouble in carrying out +these instructions, and that he report direct to this office, advising you +in the meantime of his action. + +A copy of this letter has been sent direct to Agent Cowart. Yours +Respectfully, + + A. B. GREENWOOD, Commissioner. + + Elias Rector, Esq., Supt: Ind. Affairs: + Fort Smith, Arkansas + + +TROUBLE BREWING AMONG THE CHEROKEES WHAT DOES IT MEAN? + +The Fort Smith (Ark.) _Times_ says: We noticed a week or two ago that +there was a secret organization going on in the Cherokee Nation, and that +it was among the full-blood Indians alone. We are informed by good +authority that the organization is growing and extending daily, and that +no half or mixed blood Indian is taken into this secret organization. The +strictest secrecy is observed, and it is death, by the order, to divulge +the object of the Society. They hold meetings in the thickets, and in +every secret place, to initiate members. We are told that the mixed-bloods +are becoming alarmed, and every attempt to find out the object of this +secret cabal has thus far proved abortive. The Joneses are said to be the +leaders in the work, and what these things are tending to, no one can +predict. We fear that something horrible is to be enacted on the frontier, +and that this secret work will not stop among the Cherokees, but will +extend to other tribes on this frontier. The Government should examine +into this matter, before it becomes too formidable. + + +CHEROKEE AGENCY. Near Tahleguah C. N. + + HON. ELIAS RECTOR, Supt. Ind. Affairs + Fort Smith, Ark. + +Sir: Yours of the 15th Inst, is before me, contents closely noted. + +In reply I have to state, that I am in receipt of the Instructions of +which you write, from the Indian Ag{t} + +And I now hasten to Lay before you the result of my investigations, thus +far in this nation, + +Soon after I entered the nation before I had proceeded say half days +travel, I was met with complaints against certain persons (white men) who +it was said had been enterfearing with the Institution of Slavery--to +which I invariably replied to the complainants, bring me the charges--or +the witnesses--by whome I can substantiate them, and my duty, will be as +pleasent, as promptly fulfilled--_none came_, + +In Tahlequah in time of Circuit Court, I made a short speach to the +Citizens, in which I told them, that if they, or any of them, knew any +thing on the subject--to report forthwith to me,--_and none have reported_ +and while I have heard much said on the subject--I have not as yet been +able to get any thing that would do for proof--that would be reliable. And +while I make the above statement I do not entertain a doubt, of the truth +of the charges--And being satisfied of the truth of those charges--I shall +use evry effort to establish them, + +As regards those Secret Societies, I firmly believe, that they are gotten +up with a view to aid in coveying those abolition plans of operation, to a +successful termination Allow me to say--that I shall continue to travel in +and through the Nation (unless differently instructed) until I establish +those charges if it can possible be done, + +Mean while, I shall be pleased to recive Instructions and advice from you +on the subject, and will keep you advised of my movements, I am Sir with +much respect, your obt Servt, + + ROBT. J. COWART, U. S. Cherokee Agent + + +_Private_ + +The Second Chief is about to call the Council together to take into +consideration the conduct of those white men who are interfearing with the +institutions of Slavery--and to devise means by which those Secret +Societies may be put down, and when the Council meets, I think we can +remidy all those evials-- + +I find there are many white men in the nation without permits--and one or +two English men, these I shall order to leave the nation Instanter, + + R. J. COWART + + +TAHLEQUAH C. N. July 9th 1860 + +DEAR MAJ RECTOR, When I reached home I found that Hon. A. B. Greenwood had +been here, stayed two days, and a half & left. I am told that he expressed +a verry strong desire to see me but had not time to remain here or go to +Fort Smith. + +He has brought his family home to Ark. to remain as he writes me-- + +I wish now verry much to see you and Col. Pulliam, of which I have written +him, I would go forthwith to see Greenwood but suppose from what he wroat +me that he had left, or will have done so before I could get there. I am +with much respect, your friend + + R. J. COWART + Tahlequah C. N. + +Hon. Elias Rector Fort Smith, Ark + + +CHEROKEE AGENCY. TAHLEQUAH C. N. August 15th 1860 + +HON. ELIAS RECTOR, Sup{t} Ind Affairs Fort Smith, Arks. + +Dear Sir: Tomorrow morning I set out, to the Neutral Lands--and am +advised to take a few men with me which I propos doing, + +It may be truely said, that, this Nation is in the midest of a crises. + +I shall be compelled to call for Military aid--which I expect to do +forthwith-- + +Immediatly upon my return from the Neutral Lands--I expect to go to Fort +Smith-- + +Please Remember me kindly to my friend Col Pulliam-- + +I am very kindly your obt Servt. + + R. J. COWART + Tahlequah C. N. + + + OFFICE U. S. NEOSHO AGENCY, QUAPAW NATION + Augt 24th 1860 + +SIR: By refference to my letter of July 11th you will find that I +according to your instructions, gave all the intruders upon the Osage +reservation notice to leave forthwith, or that they would be removed by +Military force. That notice was dated May 22nd 1860, & the intruders are +still there, and I have most respectfully now to suggest, that in view of +the situation of the Neutral land of the Cherokees and the reserve of the +Osages, they, laying adjoining each other, and the great number of +squatters therein, I would advise that at least two companies of U. S. +Dragoons or Cavalry be called for, both to act together in the removal of +the intruders from the Osage and Neutral lands-- + +I learn that Major Cowart expects to be at your office in a few days, in +order to make a Requisition upon the Commanding Officer of Fort Caleb for +Troops to remove the intruders from the Neutral land, and enclosed you +will find one from me, which if approved by you, please forward by the +same express, in order that the Troops may march together, as their +destination is about the same-- + +I would also say that in my opinion, that in order that the removal should +avail anything that all their improvements should be destroyed by the +Troops as they progress-- + +Your instructions are requested in all this matter. Very Respectfully Your +Obt Svt + + ANDREW J. DORN, U. S. Neosho Agnt + + Major Elias Rector, Supt Indian Affairs + Fort Smith Arkansas. + +N.B. Please forward the enclosed letter directed to Capt W. L. Cabell U. +S. A. and much oblige yours truly + + A.J.D. + + +EVANSVILLE, ARKS Sept 6th/60 + +FRIEND, THAD ... I wish you woold come up in this part of the country. I +am going to start to Campmeeting next Saturday at Cane Hill there was a +big Camp meeting a going on when I came here in the nation it was about +five miles west of this place. I did not go as I was busy fixing up to +work tho if I dont have any bad luck I think I will have a good time at +Cane Hill + +I think business will be pretty good here from the prospects I think I +will spend a couple months at Tahlequah this fall. I want to attend the +next council there which will begin in Oct. ... etc. + +Remain your Friend + + JNO. C. DICKENSON + +Mark,, T,, Tatum, Greenwood, Arks + + +TAHLEQUAH CHEROKEE NATION, September 8th, 1860. + +HON. ELIAS RECTOR, Supt. Indian Affairs, Fort Smith, Arks. + +Dear Sir, Enclosed please find Copy of letter from the Secretary of War, +to Hon. A. B. Greenwood-- + +Unofficial + +WAR DEPARTMENT June 14th 1860, + +DEAR SIR--In answer to your note of the 11th Inst in regard to trouble +among the Cherokees, I have to inform you that orders have been given to +the Commander of Fort-Cobb, as suggested, Yours &c, + + Signed JOHN B. FLOYD. + + +HON. A. B. GREENWOOD, Commr.--It seems from the above that orders have +been given the Commander at Fort Cobb to furnish me Troops to remove +intruders from this Nation. I have not heard any thing from Washington +since I left Fort Smith. + +I would be glad to have the Troops as early as convenient, as I feel that +I can do but little more without them. + +I this day sent a Notice to John, B. Jones to leave the Nation by the 25th +Inst.--which I trust he will do. I am writing to the Department today and +giving the facts in refference to this Nation--I have asked for contingent +funds, as the requirements of the Department, are, that money appropriated +for one purpose, should not be used for another. + +Please give me the benefit of any information, you have or may get on the +subject of Troops. I am as ever your friend And obedient Servt. + + R. J. COWART + Tahlequah C, N, + + +TAHLEQUAH CHEROKEE NATION, Oct 29th 1860 + +COL. PULLIAM, + +My Dear friend, Will you be so kind as to forward the enclosed Dispatch to +Hon A. B. Greenwood Washington D. C. Please Consult Capt. Sturgeons, you +may, find it necessary, to change it, if so, please make any alteration, +you and the Capt may, think best. + +I expect to visit Fort Smith in a few days--when I hope to settle up my +accounts, and spend some time with you--I [illegible] say pleasantly. + +I Learned from Capt ----, your Recent affliction. Please allow me to +tender to you and Especially to Mrs. Pulliam my heart felt Simpathy. + +Write me by the barer all the News, I send written to Maj. Rector for two +hundred Dollars, please see that the matter is arranged. I am very kindly +yours, + + R. J. COWART + Tahlequah C. N. + +Col R. P. Pulliam, Fort Smith Ark. + + +FORT SMITH A.R.K. Oct 31st 1860. + +HON. A. B. GREENWOOD Com. Ind. Affairs, Washington D. C. + +Intruders Removed from Neutral land--much desire to confer with you and +[illegible] in person with Capt Sturgeons who commanded Troops. + + R. J. COWART, U. S. Cherokee Agent + + +SIR: I have received reliable information that Forts Washita, Arbuckle, +and Cobb, all in the Choctaw & Chickasaw Nations, and recently abandoned +by Federal troops, are now in possession of Texas State troops, and that +Texas is now urging at Montgomery, that the Wichita Indians and bands +affiliated with them, occupying the district of Country between the 98 and +100 degrees west longitude & between Red River & Canadian leased by the +United States from the Choctaws & Chickasaws, for the purpose of Locating +said Indians are within the Jurisdiction of this, the Southern +Superintendency, and by an examination of the treaty of 1855 made between +the U. S. and the Choctaws & Chickasaws, you cannot fail to see the +impropriety of the Indians occupying said district being attached to the +Jurisdiction of Texas. unless she also extends her Jurisdiction over the +Choctaws and Chickasaws.--Texas has tried on several occasions heretofore +to have those Indians in the Leased district placed under her +jurisdiction, but the Indians regard her as their ancient, and present +enemy, and will never consent to such arrangement, + +I have thought it my duty to call your attention to the subject that you +may, if you think it expedient, lay it before your Honorable body for such +action as it may think proper in the premises. Very Respectfully Your obt +Servt + + ELIAS RECTOR, Supt. Ind. Affairs. + +Hon. David Walker, President Arks. State Convention. + + +CHEROKEE AGENCY, May the 15th 1861 + + To the Superintendent of Indian Affairs + Fort Smith Arks. + +SIR: I have the honor of making the following report have this day taken +into my possession as Agent for the Cherokee Indians, the following +property as left by late Agent R. J. Corvort (gone) Dwelling house Kitchen +and other out houses one office, houses all in bad repair one farm +belonging to the Agency, in bad repair one table three desks and papers +all in very bad condition one box containing old papers almost destroyed +by rats one letter press and Books one Rule one Inkstand and letter Stamp +one chair one Iron Safe. I also have in my possession 14 Bounty Land +Warrants received by me from you at office of Superintendency left by R. +J. Corvort late Agent and receipted for by me to Superintendant the Book +on Treaties as reported to of been, left by R. J. Corvort in office not +found by me. Yours Respectfully + + JOHN CRAWFORD, U. S. Agent for Cherokees + +Elias Rector, Superintendant Indian Affairs. + + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D., June 30-1861 + +SIR, Enclosed herewith I have the honor to transmit my quarterly return, +for the second quarter of the current year, and with it my operations as a +Federal Officer will cease. + +The seizure of the mules, wagon etc. by Gen{l} Burrow, rendered it +necessary in my judgment, to issue at once to the Indians all the public +property, moneys and effects in my hands, intended for their use and +benefit by the original U. S. Government; believing as I do, that the +moneys and other means which I have held in trust for them, would be as +liable to seizure as the mules and wagon were, and result in a loss: the +losses sustained by them on the Arkansas River and at Fort Smith by fire +of very many of their goods, cause them to be in much need of the goods +which I have issued, more particularly as there appears to be no +arrangements by which they may expect supplies during the present year. +The sudden withdrawal of the troops spread alarm and disquiet through the +different settlements or encampments, many of them fled from the L. D. +with a hope elsewhere to find security and protection, the remainder would +have followed, but for the issue of goods which I made them, and +assurances that they would not be molested. + +With these remarks submitted, I have the honor to be, sir, Very +Respectfully Your Ob't Srv't, + + M. LEEPER, Ind. Agt. + + Major Elias Rector, Supt. Ind. Affairs + Fort Smith, Arks. + + +ESTIMATE OF FUNDS REQUIRED IN THE OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS +ARKANSAS SUPURENTENDENCY. + + For Salary of Superintendent. for 1/2 year of 1861. which + includes 3 & 4th qrs. at $2.000--per Anum $1000.00 + + Pay of Clerk 1/2 year 3 & 4th qrs. at $1.500-- 750.00 + + " " Interpreter " " " 400-- 200.00 + + " " Traveling expences. Contingences of office &c 500.00 + ---------- + $2.450.00 + + " Office rent for 1/2 year 200.00 + ---------- + $2.650 00 + + +ESTIMATE OF FUNDS NECESSARY FOR DISBURSMENT TO SEMINOLE INDIANS UP TO 30TH +DECEMBER 1861 AS PROVIDED FOR BY TREATY OF 7TH AUGUST 1856 + + To provide for the Support of Schools for ten years the + sum of $3000--per Annun. from 7th August, 1856 + to 30th December 1861 $16.000.00 + + For agricultural assistance. from 30th December 1859 + to 30th December 1861. at $2000--per Annm 4.000 00 + + For the Support of Smiths & Smith Shops from 30th + December 1859. to 30th Decr. 1861. at $2.200 per + Annum 4.400.00 + + Interest on $500.000--invested at 5 per Centum from + 30th Decr 1860 to 30th Decr 1861 25.000.00 + ---------- + $49.400 00 + + + Pay of Agent for year 1861 1.500.00 + + " " Interpreter for year 1861 400.00 + + Contingent expenses of Office 300.00 + + Provisions for Indians attending payments of + annuities & visiting Agency on business 300 00 + -------- + $2.500 00 + +Amount invested by Old U S government for Seminoles as per treaty 7th +August 1856 at 5 per centum. $500.000--This amount has never been invested +in State bonds but held by the Government. + + +ESTIMATE OF FUNDS NECESSARY FOR DISBURSMENT TO CREEK INDIANS FROM 30TH +JUNE TO 31ST DECEMBER 1861. AND BALANCES DUE THEM BY THE OLD U. S. +GOVERNMENT. UP TO 30TH JUNE 1861. + + Permanent provisions for Blacksmiths for 1/2 year 1861 1.680.00 + + " " " Iron & Steel " " " 540.00 + + " " " Wheelwrights " " " 300.00 + + " " " Wagon Makers " " " 300.00 + + " " " Agricultural assistance for 1/2 year 1.000.00 + + Interest on $200.000--at 5 per Centum. for purposes of + Education. from 30th June 1860 to 30th June 1861. 10.000.00 + + Interest on same from 30th June to 30th December " 5 000.00 + + Unexpended balances Interest due on same. up to 30th + June 1860 which has never been paid 15.000 00 + ----------- + $33.820 00 + + Pay of Agent for 3 & 4 qrs 1861 750.00 + + " " Interpreter 3 & 4 qrs 1861 200.00 + + Contingent Expences " " " " 150.00 + + Provisions for Indians at payment of Annuities 150.00 + ---------- + $35.070.00 + + +AMOUNT OF MONEY DUE CREEK INDIANS ANNUALLY UNDER TREATY 7TH AUGUST 1856 + + Permanent Annuity $24 500.00 + + Permanent provisions for Blacksmiths 3.360 00 + + " " " Iron & Steel 540.00 + + " " " Wheelwrights 600 00 + + " " " Wagonmakers 600 00 + + Assistance in Agriculture 2.000.00 + + Interest on $200.00. at 5 per centum for purposes + of Education 10.000.00 + ---------- + $41.600.00 + + Amounts due Creek Indians for amounts invested by + Treaty 7th August 1856. + + For purposes of Education $200 000 + Creek Orphan fund 200 741 + --------- + $400.741 + + +CREEK ORPHAN FUND INVESTED AS FOLLOWS + + In Bonds of State of Kentucky at 5pr Cent, $1.000 00 + + " " " " " Missouri " 5-1/2 " 28.000 00 + + " " " " " " " 6 " 28.000.00 + + " " " " " Tennessee " 5 " 20.000.00 + + " " " " " Virginia " 6 " 73 800 00 + + United States " 6 " 49 941 00 + ----------- + $200.741.00 + + +NORTH FORK OF CANADIAN RIVER, 5th July 1861 + +SIR: On receipt of this you will please effect a continuance, on behalf of +the Confederate States of America, with Mr. Charles B. Johnson of Fort +Smith, of the contract existing up to 30th June last between the United +States of America and himself, for feeding the Wichitas, Caddoes, and +other kindred and other bands of Indians now settled in the country leased +from the Choctaws and Chickasaws. + +If no more favorable terms can be effected, you are authorized to adopt +those of the former contract, with its conditions and stipulations in all +respects. + +You will provide that the contract shall end, at the pleasure of the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, on the 31st day of December 1861, and not +sooner; and that it shall be at his option to continue it for such further +term as he may please, upon the same terms in all respects. + +You will provide that the contract shall relate to, and take effect as of +the first day of July 1861: and you will receive bond, in form used by the +United States, but to the Confederate States, with sufficient sureties, +and in such sum as you may consider sufficient to ensure faithful +performance. I have the honor to be, Sir + + ALBERT PIKE, Commissioner of the Conf. + States to Indian Tribes West of Arkansas. + + Elias Rector Esq, Superintendent Ind. Affairs, + Arkansas Superintendency. + + +Agreement made and entered into, this 14th day of August 1861, at the +Wichita Agency, between Albert Pike, Commissioner of the Confederate +States of America to the Indians west of Arkansas, of the one part, and +Charles B. Johnson of the County of Sebastian and State of Arkansas, of +the other part. + +This agreement witnesseth, that the said Albert Pike, Commissioner as +aforesaid, for and on behalf of the Confederate States of America and the +said Charles B. Johnson, his heirs executors and administrators, have +covenanted and agreed, and by these presents do covenant mutually and +agree to and with each other as follows to wit: + +That the said Charles B. Johnson, his heirs, executors and administrators, +shall and will supply and issue or cause to be issued and supplied at such +times and places in the Leased District west of the 98th degree of west +longitude as the Wichita Agent may direct, daily rations to the several +Tribes and Bands of Comanches, Wichitas and other Indians that now are or +may hereafter during the continuance of the present contract be settled in +the said Leased District, for and during the term of one full year, +commencing with the sixteenth day of August instant, at the price of +sixteen cents for each complete ration issued as aforesaid: which rations +shall be issued, one for each individual in all of said Tribes and Bands +and shall consist of one pound of fresh beef or fresh pork, and three +quarters of a quart of corn or corn meal or one pound of flour to every +ration, with four quarts of salt, three pounds of coffee, six pounds of +sugar, two quarts of vinegar, one and a half pounds of tallow and three +pounds of soap to every hundred rations. + +Payment shall be made quarterly for the rations furnished under this +contract, but in the event of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs being +without funds for such purposes, the payment to be made as soon thereafter +as funds are provided for such purposes. + +This contract may be terminated in whole or in any part at any time by the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, upon equitable terms and conditions +whenever it shall be deemed expedient to do so upon giving thirty days' +notice of such intention. + +Witness our hands and seals the day and year first above written. Signed +and Sealed in triplicate + + ALBERT PIKE, Commissioner of the Confederate States + + Signed and Sealed in our presence. + WM QUESENBURY CHARLES. B. JOHNSON. + W WARREN JOHNSON + + +NORTH FORK OF THE CANADIAN RIVER, 5th July 1861 + +SIR: I have sent a Special Messenger to the Wichita and other Indians on +the Reserve in the Country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, +requesting Black Beaver, and other Captains and Chiefs to meet me at the +Seminole Agency on the 22nd instant, in order to hear a talk from me and +enter into a Treaty. If they should not do so, I shall go from the +Seminole Agency to the Reserve for that purpose. + +As it was through your instrumentality these Bands were settled on the +Reserve, and the promises made them were made through you, and as you are +favorably known to them for these reasons, and as the Head of the +Superintendency of Indian Affairs in which they are included, your +presence and cooperation with me, in negotiating with them, will, I am +very sure, be of great service. + +I therefore request, that, if your health and other duties permit, you +will be present with me at the Seminole Agency on the 22nd, and accompany +me, if necessary, to the Reserve. + +I shall leave this place about the 9th, and at furtherst by the 10th, and +go round by Forts Washita and Arbuckle. I shall be gratified if you can so +time your movements as to overtake me on the way. + +I wish also to suggest that the presence of the Agent, Mr. Leeper, will be +indispensable, and to desire you to direct him to accompany you, that he +may as soon as possible repair to his Agency. I have the honor to be With +deep regards your obt Svt + + ALBERT PIKE, Commissioner of the Confederate + States to Indian Tribes west of Arkansas. + +Elias Rector, Esq, Superintendent Ind. Aff. Arkansas Superintendency. + + Confederate + THE =U=N=I=T=E=D= STATES, + + TO Elias Rector DR. + ================================================================ + Date. | |Dolls. | Cts. + ----------+---------------------------------------+-------+--- + 1861 | | | + August 24 |For Services rendered assisting Comr. | | + |Pike in making treaties with Seminole, | | + |Wichita And Commanche Indians under | | + |orders so to do, by Comr. Pike, | | + |from 10th July to 24th August 1861 | | + |inclusive 45 days at $5.00 pr day | 225|00 + | | | + |For hire of Bugg. horses & driver for | | + |same length of time at $5-- per day | 225|00 + | | | + |For hire of wagon team & driver for | | + |same service & same time, to Transport | | + |tent Baggage provisions &c. at | | + |$5 per day | 225|00 + | | | + |Forrage for 4 horses for same length of| | + |time and for same service 50 cents per | | + |day each horse | 90|00 + | +-------+-- + | | $765|00 + |Paid ferrage Crossing streams | 8|00 + | +-------+-- + | | $773|00 + ----------+---------------------------------------+-------+-- + Received at _________________________ 185__, of ELIAS RECTOR, + + Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Superintendency, + __________________________________ Dollars in full of this account + + $ + + (Triplicate.) + + I CERTIFY, on honor, that the above account is correct and just, + and that I have actually, this ______ day of ____________ 185__, + paid the amount thereof. Sup't Indian Affairs. + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D. Sept. 15th 1861 + +SIR; A considerable amount of intermittent fever has made its appearance +at this place, supposed to be occasioned by an unusual degree of dampness +produced by the most luxuriant growth of vegetation I ever knew, and the +recent heavy rains which have been almost incessant for many days past, +it gives us just cause of alarm as we are entirely out of medicines of +almost every kind and placed at so remote a distance from the settlements, +that none can be procured short of a visit to Fort Smith; I had a slight +attack of fever myself and luckily for me, Dr. Shirley discovered a small +portion of Quinine which I partly consumed, and which had escaped the +vigilant search of the so called Texas Troops at the time they took from +him his medicines and medical books, and transferred them to parts +unknown. These causes in addition to some information in reference to +Indians which I will impart, I hope will be considered an ample apology +for incuring the expenses of an Express, I have employed a man at $3.00 +per day, he bears his own expense, and runs the risk of meeting with wild +Indians and land Sharks by the way. + +The renowned Indian warrior and Chief Buffalo Hump has made his appearance +with fifteen or sixteen followers, the remainder of the Indians and the +principal part of his own party, he says are encamped on the Canadian and +head waters of the Washita, he called on me the second day after his +arrival, and told me that he was now old and desirous of abandoning the +war path, and spending his latter days in quietness and peace with all +men, but said the winter would soon be at hand, and that he would require +a much better house than any he saw at the Comanche Camp, that he thought +if he had a house, such as the Agency building, that he would be warm in +cold weather, and that he would be content to live in it, and pursue the +walks of white men, I replied to him that I knew he was a great man and +had an immense amount of influence with the wild tribes, and that the +Confederate States had also heard of him, and that if he thought proper to +bring in his people and settle down in good faith on the Reserve, quit +stealing and depredating upon the country, that they would give him all +that had been promised, and that he might calculate, that if houses were +built for him, that they would not be as good as those at the Comanche +Camp, that several of those houses were more extensive and expensive, than +would be deemed necessary in future, that he might only look for small +cabins, and perhaps only receive assistance in their erection, that it was +the object of the Confederate States to learn the Indians to work and +support themselves, not to work for them and support them; that upon those +terms if he were disposed to settle I would be glad to receive him, if +not, it mattered but little, that he was at liberty to pursue just such +course as suited him best. The next day he called again his tone and +bearing was altogether changed, professed to be satisfied and said at the +falling of the leaves, the time appointed for settlement and consumating +the Treaty with Capt. Pike, he would be here with his people. He gave it +as his opinion that the others who had a conference with Capt. Pike would +not come in or settle; but I learn from Py-oh who went out with those +Chiefs and returned with Buffalo Hump that their respective bands are +divided in sentiment, that about half of each band will come in and +settle, and that the others will probably remain on the prairies, they +have large bands of stolen horses and mules, and he thinks they are afraid +to bring them in, lest they should be taken away from them. + +Jim Ned and the other Delawares with the exception of one family left the +Reserve without any cause, he returned from his first encampment and +attempted to persuade Jim Pock Marked to leave with his people, by telling +him that he would be assailed by the Texans before long, and if not by +them, most certainly by the northern Troops, and that he had better leave +at once, and save the lives of his women and children. Jim Ned is a most +unmitigated scoundrel, and I have no doubt that most if not all the +disquiet heretofore produced among the Reserve Indians might be traced to +him, and I think it very fortunate that he has abandoned the Reserve, by +doing so, he has forfeited his right of citizenship upon it, and the +protection which the Confederate States had guaranteed to him. + +I learn from an Indian Mexican and a half breed Delaware Indian who have +recently returned from Santa Fe, that all the northern Indians who visit +that part of the country are amply armed and equiped by the Federalists, +and sent in every direction over the plains as spy Companies, that +propositions of the like character, had been made to the Southern Indians, +but not accepted, they are now regarded as enemies, and have retracted +farther South, not being permitted to inhabit the country or travel as far +north as heretofore; Py-oh remarked that they were herded in by Texas and +Mr. Lincoln's government like a band of horses or cattle. + +Please forward by my Expressman, blank forms of every description, and ask +Mr. Johnson to forward blank forms for provision checks; you will also +oblige me by making an application for the Indian mules taken by Burrow, +and by aiding the bearer to procure the public wagon and my harness which +were loaned to Algernon Cabell. + +You are aware that I cannot close my returns without funds for the +purpose, when shall I look for them? Very Respectfully Your obt. Srvt. + + M. LEEPER, Ind. Agent + + Elias Rector Esqr., Supt. Ind. Affairs + Fort Smith Arks. + + +CREEK AGENCY, Sept 30th 1861 + +SIR: I have the honor to hand you herewith the Bond License, and Invoices +of John Barnwell of the Creek Nation + +Very Respectfully Your Obt Servant + + W. H. GARRETT, C. S. Agent for Creeks + + Maj Elias Rector, Superintendent C. A. + Fort Smith, Ar + + +TAHLEQUAH C. N. October the 10th 1861 + + MAJ ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendant of Indian Affairs, + Fort Smith, Ark. + +Dear Sir: I have the honor of transmitting through your office to the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Richmond a requisition for the Annuities +School and Orphan funds due the Cherokee Indian on Stock invested up to +July 1861. I send two copies. If it is not necessary to send but on[e] you +can arrange that in regard to the leave of Asence that I wished you to +grant me I will not ask for owing to the Governor declaring my seat vacant +in the Legislator and ordering an election though I am under many +obligations to you for your willingness to grant me leave the Treaty will +be ratified today. Every thing going on well the Texas Troops passed +through on Wednesday the Creek excitement turned out to be nothing I shall +be anxious to hear from you at any time on all subjects I have the honor +Sir to be your most obedient Servnt + + JOHN CRAWFORD Agent Cherokees, C. S. A. + + Hon. E. Rector, Superintendant Indian Affairs + + +TAHLEQUAH, C. N. October 10th, 1861 + +DAVID HUBBARD Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Richmond, Va. + +Dear Sir: I have the honor to make out and transmit to you a requisition +for the Annuities due the Cherokee Indians for the year 1860 and 1861 + +For the installments of interest on the permanent General fund as +estimated for July 1860 and January and July 1861 forty three Thousand and +three hundred and Seventy two dollars and thirty six Cents $43 372 36 + +For the installments of interest on the permanent Orphan fund as estimated +and uninvested for July 1860 and January and July 1861 four thousand and +five hundred dollars $4.500 + +For the installment of interest on the permanent School fund as estimated +for July 1860 and January and July 1861 Seventeen thousand Seven hundred +and Seventy two dollars $17.772. + +Total Amount due the Cherokees on Stock invested Sixty five Thousand Six +hundred and forty four dollars and thirty Six Cents $65.644.36 + + One half years pay of Agent 750 00 + Contingent expenses, 1/2 year 75 00 + pay of interpreter 1/2 year 200.00 + ---------- + $66.669.36 + +Sir the Statement as made out is correct to the best of my judgment I have +been acting as Agent for the Cherokee Indians Since the 22nd day of April +1861 Came by request of Hon R. W. Johnson of Arkansas. received a letter +from the Hon David Hubbard Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated 12 June +1861 requesting me to try and get along as Agent of the Cherokees the best +that I Could which I have done to the best advantage and evry thing here +is working well for the South I have not received any moneys from the +Lincoln government Since I have been acting as Agent for the Cherokee +Indians Your most obedient Servt + + JOHN CRAWFORD, + Agent for the Cherokee Indians West of Arkansas, C. S. A. + + David Hubbard, Commissioner of Indian Affairs + Richmond, Va + + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D. Oct. 21st 1861 + +SIR: Five weeks ago I despatched a messenger to Fort Smith with a report +to you, and for medicines for the Agency and Indians; since which time I +have heard nothing either from the report or messenger, sufficient time +has elapsed for the man to have made two trips. In the report of that date +I apprised you of the sickness which had and still prevails here to a +considerable extent, and that we are destitute of medicines: Dr. Shirley's +supplies having been forcibly taken from him by persons from Texas, +claiming to act as a military posse from that State. You are aware that we +are entirely cut off from mail facilities, and from an opportunity of +procuring medicines of any description short of Fort Smith, the want of +which has been excessively annoying, and perhaps the occasion of several +deaths; this report will be handed you by a second messenger, whom I hope +you will furnish with a supply of Quinine, Calomel and blue mass if +nothing more. + +On friday last a man was shot at by an Indian in company with six others +within a mile of the late Fort Cobb; on the next day two Indians arrived +as messengers on the part of the Kiowas and all the Southern bands of +Comanches, who are said to be encamped on the North Canadian within four +days ride of this place; they say that their intention is to be here at +the falling of the leaves, to conclude a treaty with Capt. Pike. The +Kiowas inform us that they received the white beads and tobacco from Capt. +Pike, and that they desire to be on terms of friendship with us, that it +is the wish of the whole band, with the exception of one bad man and +fifteen or twenty followers, whom they cannot control, and that they +desire us to kill them, that if it is not done, they will surely commit +serious depredations, and that they believe they are now in this vicinity. + +The Indians at present on the Canadian are supposed to number Seven or +eight thousand, and if they should come here as is anticipated, they will +require a large amount of provision, I would therefore respectfully +suggest the propriety of your notifying the Contractor of the fact, that +he may not be taken on Surprise: you will also perceive the necessity of +Capt. Pike or some other duly authorized person, to be here at the +appointed time to consummate treaties with them; they say that no further +depredations will be committed on Texas, provided the twenty men above +described are killed. + +It is impossible for me to keep you advised of the affairs of this reserve +without some kind of mail facilities, therefore, I hope you will +unhesitatingly employ some one to carry the mail once in two weeks at +least, until such time as the Government shall have made permanent +arrangements, it is not more strange than true, that I have not since my +arrival here on the Sixth of August, received a solitary news paper or any +other item of news, except such as can be gathered from an occasional +stragling teamster, and that is the most reliable information that I have +in reference to the battle at Springfield, the particulars of which I know +very little. + +When Capt. Pike left here it was his intention to have the place +garrisoned in the shortest time practicable, he left authority with Jno. +Jones to enlist thirty Indians to act as a protection to the Agency, and +as a spy company in its vicinity, Jno. Jones could only enlist Seventeen, +all Comanches, those and the few employees on the reserve are the only +protection we have, and I would not give a fig for the security the +Indians would afford me in a case of actual danger, they might be useful +however in giving information of the approach of an enemy: I shall feel +obliged if you will inform me of the time the troops may be expected, if +the day is far distant, I shall deem it my indispensable duty to select +some place of security and safety for my family, if it is the intention or +wish of the Confederate Government to leave this place ungarrisoned, I am +willing to risk the consequences myself, but I am unwilling to detain my +family, where they are in danger of being destroyed by savages: it is also +apparent that no Agent can exercise the control necessary to fill the +expectations of the Government, without the means placed within his reach +of doing so; without troops the most flagrant violations of the +Intercourse Laws might be practiced every day with impugnity; and without +funds to meet the expenses incident to the Agency, the employees cannot be +retained a great while. Those Indians who expect to treat with Capt. Pike +expect also supplies of blankets and clothing, and white men to instruct +them in the erection of houses for the winter. + +Please advise me by the return of my messenger, when troops may be +expected, at what time the Commissioner will be here, and funds to enable +me to forward my accounts. The Estimates submitted in August, in addition +to the more liberal allowances of Capt. Pike in his recent treaty with the +Indians, I hope will be all that is required on my part at present. + +One of the Articles in Capt. Pike's late treaty, appears to be an offense +to the people of Texas, and I think it very doubtful whether any +assistance could be derived from that quarter, if we were threatened with +the most iminent danger: with these remarks submitted, I have the honor to +be, Very Respectfully Your Obt. Servt. + + M. LEEPER, Indian Agent + + Elias Rector Esq, Supt. Ind. Affairs + Fort Smith Arks + + +FORT SMITH ARKANSAS, Nov. 7th 1861 + +MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendent of Indian affairs + +Sir: As you intemated to me a few days since you ware going to Richmond, +and would do me a favor if it Laid in your Power + +I ask you for the appointment of Forage Master at Fort Smith and The +Authority of Selling off all condemd Goverment Property belonging to the +confederate Stats at Fort Smith vanburen and Fayetteville, you can Sir do +me this favour, I am also a good judge of Stock capable of receiving and +receipting for any property belonging to the quarter masters department, +Such as horses mules oxen and Waggens + +I want this appointment for The Sole purpose of keeping yenkee Edwards, +from dying with a very common Disease in the Garrison cald the Big head I +am Sir with much Respect your Obt, Servent + + THOS. MCCARRON + +P.S. if you do me this favour I will discharge the duties with Honour to +you, and credit to Myself + + T.M.C. + + +RICHMOND 21" November 1861. + +SIR: The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has caused to be transmitted to +New Orleans the sum of twenty five thousand dollars, to be used in +purchasing the articles that are to be supplied to the Comanches and other +Reserve Indians. As soon as you arrive here the money will be placed at +your disposal. + +As soon as possible after receipt of this letter, you will please send a +proper person to the Wichita Agency, and let the Comanches who it is said +are encamped, waiting for the leaves to fall, that they may come in and +settle, that I have been delayed, by circumstances that I could not +control, so as not to be able to meet them as soon as I intended; but that +you will bring or send up their goods, and I will meet them during the +winter. It is important that this should be told them at once. It would be +better, if Col. Pulliam _can_ go there himself, that he should do so. I do +not know who else would answer. + +Orders go by the messenger who takes this, from the Acting Commissioner to +Agent Leeper, directing him to use all the government laborers in putting +up houses for the Comanches who are coming in, and not to use them for any +other purpose. If it is possible to send up additional laborers, it had +better be done. I am very respectfully yours + + ALBERT PIKE, + Commissioner of the Confederate States to the Indian tribes West + of Arkansas + + Major Elias Rector, Superintendent of Ind. Affairs. + + +FORT SMITH, Nov. 22d 1861. + +DR MAJOR. I send you the enclosed document from the Acting Comr. Ind +Affairs. recd here today. As I cannot respond to it for you as you are +there on the ground--I send it to you for you to make such reply as you +think proper, in the premises. + +We have just recd authentic information from the armies above, the +federals have left Springfield and are making their way towards St. Louis. +for what cause is not certainly known but it is thought that their army +have become demoralized by the displacing of Fremont and the appointment +of Hunter to the Command. Genl Price broke up his encampment at Pineville +at day light on Saturday last. and at last accounts was at Sarcoxie. +making his way towards the Mo. River it is thought he is pursuing Hunter. +you will see by an examination of the map that he will cut of a +considerable distance by that route. Coming into the road Hunter will have +to travel at Bolivar. or Warsaw. On the same day, (Saturday last) Genl +McColloch took four hundred picked men from each of his Mounted Regiments +making 2000 men with ten days provisions and started in the direction of +Prices army. his destination however is not known. it is supposed however +that he & Price are going to throw their Cavalry forward to attack & cut +off, or hold until their Infantry can be brought up., Hunters army. +Whether these conjectures are true or not time will tell. Cooper is on the +march after Opothleyohola. who it is said has taken Maj Emorys trail +through Kansas towards Leavenworth, + +Small Pox still raging Mrs Nowland lost a negro to day. I saw your boy +Henry to day he says your family are all well. + +My kind regards to Pike. Also to Mr Scott. Your friend &c + + R. P. PULLIAM + +The above war news is reliable. and you can give the information to the +papers if you wish. + + P + +I write this in Suttons Store, he says the above contains all the news we +have. all of which is confirmed by Messengers and private letters. +Consequently he will not write as he promised until something further +turns up + + P + + +TISHOMINGO C. N., Nov. 26, 1861 + +GEN. A. G. MAYERS + +Sir: Having appointed as a Delegate from this Nation to the Southern +Congress, am at a loss when the Congress does meet. I have all along +understood from newspaper accounts that it was to be on the 22d of +February but some seems to think it is sooner. Will you please inform me +at your earliest convenience at what time the S. Congress does meet. Your +attention to the above is respectfully requested I am yours very +Respectfully + + JAMES GAMBLE + +P.S. Please continue to send me the Parallel. I will make it all right +with you when on my way to Va. + + J.G. + + +OFFICE SUPT. IND. AFFAIRS FORT SMITH, Decr. 1861 + +MR. JESSE CHISHOLM + +Dear Sir: I have just returned from Richmond where I have been to see the +President on Indian business. I wish you to go out immediately and see the +bands of Comanches that are encamped above Fort Cobb and tell them that it +is the wish of their great father at Richmond that they come in at once +and settle on the reserve, that so soon as they do so they will be +furnished with Beef--Flour, Salt, Sugar & Coffee. And that the great +father says that all the goods & things that Commissioner Pike promised +them will be furnished and given to them. That the Arkansas River has now +too little water in it for Steam Boats to come up from the big Cities to +bring goods, but as soon as the big water comes in the River and Boats +come up their great father will send up to them many large wagons filled +with nice goods that I want them to send four or five of their Chiefs and +head men to Genl. Pikes head quarters, near Fort Gibson where he and +myself will meet them and talk with them and give them a great many +presents and satisfy them that the government will do all that +Commissioner Pike promised them. I wish Buffalo Hump and his band now on +the reserve to be told this, and for him and four or five of his principal +men to come also. I will direct the Contractor at the Wichita Agency to +furnish them with Rations to bring them over and I will furnish them with +Rations to return home, tell them to bring, in all about twenty pack +horses to carry back their presents. I want them to meet us at Genl Pikes +Camp or head quarters near Fort Gibson, on the first of February if +possible I have written a letter to T Caraway inviting him to come with +some three or four of his men and I wish you to urge him to come, +Commissioner Pike is now in Richmond with their great father making +arrangements to get their goods and to do much for them he would have been +up to see them at the falling of the leaves but he has been very sick and +could not travel he is now well and will be here soon and will go from +here to his head quarters. + + [ELIAS RECTOR] + + + CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT, + Office of Indian Affairs, Richmond, Dec 2d, 1861. + +MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. + +Sir: I am instructed by the Secretary of War to say that three +requisitions have been drawn by him on the Secretary of the Treasury in +your favor, as Superintendent of Indian Affairs &c.,--One for nine +thousand, six hundred and fifty dollars, dated Dec. 4th 1861, one for two +thousand, one hundred and four dollars and fifty cents, dated December 5th +1861, and the other for thirty thousand dollars, dated December 6th 1861. + +With the money received by you upon the first named requisition, you will +pay Charles B. Johnson, the amount of his account against the Confederate +States for Beef furnished certain Bands of Reserve Indians, from July 1st +to August 16th under a verbal contract made by him with Albert Pike, +Commissioner, &c., and also pay the mounted escort of Creeks and +Seminoles, engaged by General Pike to accompany him to the Comanche +Country, &c. In regard to this escort General Pike, in a letter to the War +Department, of the 14th October, says that he had muster rolls regularly +made out, and gave pay accounts to the officers, and slips showing the +amount due each of the men. + +With the money received by you upon the second named requisition you will +pay Charles B. Johnson the balance due him by the old United States +Government prior to the 30th June, 1861, and which General Pike, at the +time of making the verbal contract hereinbefore mentioned, agreed to pay +or have paid him. + +And with the money received by you upon the third named requisition, you +will pay such expenses of the Superintendency and different Agencies, as +may be necessary, proper and legitimate. The balance of this money can be +applied to the purchase of suitable clothing, if it can be bought at fair +prices, for the Reserve Indians, which Commissioner Pike, in the Treaty of +the 12th August, 1861, agreed should be speedily furnished them. + +You will forward a statement as to the disbursement of these several sums +of money with the proper voucher, &c. Very respectfully, + + S. S. SCOTT, Act'g Commr. of Indian Affairs. + + + TREASURY DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., SECOND AUDITOR'S OFFICE + Richmond, Va, Dec 7th--1861. + +SIR: The Treasurer of the Confederate States will remit to you the sum of +Thirty two thousand one hundred & four 50/100 dollars ---- ----, being the +amount of Requisition No. 1889 & 1890 issued in your favor on the 6th +Inst--, with which you are charged on the Books of this Office, on +account of the following Appropriation, to wit: + + "To meet the Incidental Expenses of the Public service within the + Indian Tribes," as per Act May 21, 1861, No. 232. + + Requisition No. 1889. ------ ------ $2,104.50 + Req. ---- " 1890, Same as above ---- 30.000. " + ---------- + $32.104.50 + +The Treasurer will advise you when the same will be remitted for which you +will please forward a Receipt to this Office, specifying therein the date, +number and amount of said Requisition. I am, very respectfully, Your Ob't +Serv't + + AUDITOR. + +To Elias Rector, Esq, Supt. Ind. Affairs, Present + + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D., Decr. 12th 1861. + +SIR: In all my official relations I have endeavored to be governed +strictly by the instructions of my superior officers, and in reference to +the alledged real or imaginary impropriety of my course towards Buffalo +Hump in your letter of the 12th Oct. last, I must plead my instructions in +mitigation which I followed strictly, not being in possession of any, +except the verbal instructions of Commissioner Hubbard, which was in +effect to exercise my best judgment in the management of the affairs of +the Reserve, but in all things to be governed by strict rules of economy. +In my report to you of the 12th Augst. I solicited written instructions, a +copy of the Intercourse Laws and of the Contract for furnishing supplies +for the Indians, but as yet, have not received even a reply to my +communication. There is no Indian with whose character and habits I am +more familiar than with Buffalo Humps; he is a fugitive from the Texas +Agency of which I was placed in charge; the late Superintendent of that +State worried with him for three years before he could induce him to +settle, he would come in and make promises to do so, and the +Superintendent would load him with presents, he would return to the +prairies depredate upon the country until his blankets were worn out, then +return with a plausible excuse for not coming in with his people, receive +other presents return again to the prairies and repeat the same thing over +again until the Superintendents patience became exhausted, and informed +Buffalo Hump that he would not submit to any further trifling on the +subject, that he had nothing more for him, but as he had come in peace, he +might return in peace, but that afterwards he would pursue and hunt him +down with the troops; Buffalo Hump then changed his tone, begged to be +permitted to have a certain length of time allowed him to bring in his +people without renumeration or presents, at that time it was granted, and +at the appointed time he brought in his people and settled on the Reserve, +where he remained until a feud took place between him and the Chief of the +band located previously, which caused him to abandon the Reserve and +pursue his former predatory habits. I induced him to come in this time, in +addition to the other wild chiefs, who met Commissioner Pike in Augst. +last, and entered into an informal treaty with them, it was the result of +a years negotiation, which was carried on by means of messengers from this +Reserve; it was attempted years ago by Judge Rollins, one of the ablest +Indian Agents perhaps the U. S. ever had, who spent eighteen months in +attempting to accomplish the object; Agent Stemm lost his life in efforts +of the kind; Major Neighbors a very ingenious and competent Agent exerted +his influence for six or seven years to no purpose:--Dr. Hill, a most +popular Indian Agent and influential man, labored four years without +effect, and Capt. Ross' influence was equally ineffectual, yet I am +informed in your letter of the 12th Oct. that both yourself and +Commissioner Pike regret much that I did not hold out all the inducements +which were in my power, and use all the forces and means at my command to +provide him with such houses as were contemplated and provided by +Commissioner Pike for the comfort of those Indians. In this matter I +appear to be peculiarly unfortunate. You are fully aware that I have not +received any means for the erection of houses or for any other purpose, +and that the few employees who were induced to engage in the work with a +hope of renumeration hereafter were all sick, which fact I made known in +my report of the 15th Septr. last, therefore it will be perceived that I +had no means in my power to build houses or any thing else, nor would I +have employed them in building houses for Buffalo Hump in advance of his +settlement, if I had possessed ever so much in the absence of positive +instructions to that effect. The course I pursued with him induced him to +come in with his people a week in advance of the time promised and settle, +he has given me no further trouble, tells me he intends to remain here for +life, that he does not wish houses built until such times as he can select +a suitable place on the Reserve for his future home, and has employed as +spies for me two of his sons who are with the wild tribes watching their +movements and those of the northern troops, to give immediate notice in +case of an advanced demonstration upon this part of the country. + +During a period of more than twenty years public service, I have received +two rebukes only from my superior officers on account of my official +conduct, yours in reference to Buffalo Hump and from the late +Superintendent in Texas for failing to insert at the close of one of my +official letters "your obt. Srvt." + +I infer from your letter of the 30th of Octr. that you conclude, I am +disposed to interfere with your appointment of Commissary, I can assure +you that such was not nor never has been my intention to disturb or meddle +in the slightest degree with the appointment of Commissary or any other +which it may be your pleasure to make; sending Sturm as messenger was a +matter of necessity not of choice, I apprised you by him that I was not +only sick myself, but that my family and almost every one on the Reserve +were sick and without medicine, Sturm although sick, was the only person I +could obtain as messenger who was willing to make the trip alone, and with +the confident hope that by sending him I would obtain medicines which +would afford my family relief; I was induced to do so with an +understanding that he was to receive pay not only as Commissary during the +time of his absence, but three dollars per day also for his services as +messenger and I procured the assistance gratuitously of M{r} Bickel one of +the interpreters to act as Commissary during his absence, whose name +appears on the prevision checks for that quarter merely to prevent +confusion of the accounts, but my most sanguine hopes were disappointed +for the messenger returned without medicines, and my son has not recovered +yet. Whilst upon this subject allow me most respectfully to direct your +attention to the fact, and through you the Department, that the office of +Commissary is a sinecure, and expense which is utterly useless to the +Government and an injury to the public Service, the duty of Commissary +simply being an impartial weigher and witness to the delivery of supplies +agreably to the terms of the Contract; I, hold it to be the duty of the +Agent where issues are made at the Agency to be present, and represent the +interest of the Indians, and the Interpreters who are required to be +present to witness the issues, such has been the case heretofore, no +Commissary has ever been employed at other Agencies, except where issues +were made at remote places or where it was impracticable for the Agent to +be present; the Commissary is employed perhaps half a day once a week, the +remainder of the time is spent in utter idleness, and in gossiping with +the employees and Indians on the Reserve. + +I received a recent visit from the Chiefs who met Comr. Pike in Augst. +last, after preparing to hold a Council or talk with them, their first +demand was whiskey, they said they could not talk without having whiskey +first, after a length of time however, I convinced them that I had no +whiskey, and that whiskey was not allowed on the Reserve, they then +informed me that they had approached this place at the appointed time "the +falling of the leaves" and ascertained that the Commissioner was not here +nor the presents agreably to promise, that now they were here long after +the time and still there are no presents or Commissioner, I explained to +them that the Comr. had delegated to me his authority for the time being, +and that he was now purchasing goods to issue in accordance with his +promise as soon as they would comply with their part of the agreement and +settle with their people on the Reserve, that they would have the +privilege of settling on any part of the Leased District that suited them +best, and that I would issue provisions to them until such time as the +goods would arrive, they informed me that they had been lied to a good +deal, and that they wanted some greater and further evidence now of the +sincerity of the Government, that as the goods were not here, which were +intended for them, that they would take a few that the trader had, and be +satisfied with those, until such time as the others would be forthcoming, +and probably settle at the time the grass rises in the Spring, I told them +that the traders goods did not belong to me or to the Government, and that +I was consequently unauthorized to issue them, they then instantly rose up +and told me they were going, I called back a Kioway Chief and told him as +it was his first visit, that I would make him a present of some blankets, +paint and tobacco, that I was glad to see him, that the Government desired +to be on friendly terms with him and his people, and that if he thought +proper to come here with his people and settle, that he could do so on the +same terms as the others, he informed me that that was the object of his +visit, that he would return and consult on the subject and at no distant +day would make me another visit, and apprise me of the result of their +deliberations; in the mean time the others returned in a better humor, and +I told them that upon my own responsibility, I would make them a few +little presents, of blankets, paints, &c. which appeared to satisfy them, +and when they finally left, declared their friendly intentions, and said +they would ultimately settle here in compliance with the treaty. + +In compliance with your letter of instructions of the 25th of Octr last, I +have rendered H. L. Rodgers all the assistance in my power in the way of +his building operations. Very Respectfully. Your obt. Servt. + + M. LEEPER, Ind. Agt. C. S. A. + + Elias Rector Esq., Supt. Indian Affairs. + Fort Smith, Arks. + + +FORT SMITH, ARK., Dec. 27th, 1861. + +SIR: Owing to the continued excitement in the Creek and Seminole Nations, +and the dangers necessarily to be encountered by persons either residing +in or travelling through the Indian Country, my return to the Agency has +been delayed longer than I expected. Taking into consideration all the +circumstances of the case I deemed it best and most prudent to await your +return from Richmond and submit a report of the case to you. When I left +the Agency early in November there seemed a unity of opinion and general +profession of Loyalty to the Southern Confederacy; but since then there +has been much disaffection and increase of excitement. The consequence has +been that some of the Traders residing among the upper Creeks have +left--narrowly escaping with their lives. Others are, as I learn, +preparing to leave. Since my departure from the Agency there has been two +engagements between the Confederate forces under command of Col. Cooper +and the followers of Hopothleyoholo, in both engagements Col. Cooper was +victorious. This, however, has only increased the vindictiveness of +Hopothleyoholos Party and, consequently, magnified the dangers attendent +on travelling through or residing in the Nation. My Agency is, as you are +aware, situated two hundred miles west of this place, and wholy +unprotected and exposed to depredation, it is very insecure. Parscofer and +others as stated in my report to the Department as heading the disaffected +party, were leaders, in the recent battles, on side of the enemy. But I am +pleased to be able to state that Jumper, Short Bird, Cloud and Holatut +Fixico were found with Col. Cooper doing their duty as faithful and Loyal +allies. It will, probably, not be a great while before the excitement may +subside, rendering travel and residence there more secure. When you deem +it necessary and safe for me to return I will be ready. I await your +orders on the subject. I am very Respectfully Your obt. Servt. + + SAM'L M. RUTHERFORD, C. S. Agent for Seminoles. + + Maj. E. Rector, Sup. Ind. Affairs, C. S. A., + Fort Smith, Ark. + + +RICHMOND, VA., 29th December, 1861. + +SIR: I send herewith, to your care, by a Special Messenger, packages for +the Principal Chiefs of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and +Chickasaw Nations, which please forward to each immediately by express. + +Also a talk for the Comanches and Caiawas, which, if they are still near +Fort Cobb, I wish sent to them by express. There is a letter to Chisholm, +and it would perhaps be well to send the talk to him and get him to go up +and see them. + +Also a letter for Major Dorn and one to his Indians. I want them to come +down to Head Quarters and receive what is to be given them. I do not know +how you will get his letter to him. + +The Treaties are all ratified, with two or three amendments that will cut +no great figure. As to the _money_ part, nothing has changed. Congress +appropriated $681,000 and over, under the Treaties, including Charley +Johnson's money up to middle of February, of the whole sum, $265,000 and +odd is to be paid in specie. I shall get the Treasury notes to-morrow, and +the Specie in New Orleans, and shall bring it all to you. The Secretary +agreed, indeed proposed, to send it out by me. + +Among them, they fixed my compensation at $3,750. + +I mean to be at Head Quarters by the 25th of January. I hope the different +Tribes will ratify the amendments, so that you can pay them pretty soon +after that time. + +I think you had better buy all the goods, of Cochran and others, for the +Comanches, that you can. I want them to meet me at Head Quarters, and it +will be necessary to have _some_ goods for them. Congress would not agree +to give them any arms. + +I hope when we pay the Indians their money, and I get some white troops in +the Country, we shall settle the difficulties there. God knows. + +Give my kind regards to Mrs. Rector and the children. Always yours. + + ALBERT PIKE. + +I send Dr. Duval's appointment, and Mr. Sandals', by the Messenger. + + + CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT + Office of Indian Affairs, Richmond, December 30th, 1861. + + MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, + Fort Smith, Arkansas. + +Sir: The first session of the Congress of the Confederate States will be +held on the 18th February next; and it is important that the Report, from +this Bureau, in regard to Indian Affairs, for the benefit of that Body, +should be as full as possible. That this may be so, it is essential that +information should be sent here, at least by the 15th of that month, of +the true condition of affairs, in each of the several Agencies under your +supervision. + +You will, therefore, write to all of the Agents, and state to them these +facts. Advise them also to give you _full reports_ of all matters +connected with their respective charges, and forward them, when received +to this office. Very respectfully, + + S. S. SCOTT, Act'g Commr. of Ind. Affairs. + + + CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT + Office of Indian Affairs, Richmond, Jany. 1st, 1862. + + MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, + Fort Smith, Arkansas. + +Sir: An Act was recently passed by the Congress of the Confederate States, +and approved December 26th, 1861, "making appropriations to comply, in +part, with Treaty stipulations made with certain Indian Tribes." The whole +amount appropriated by this Act was six hundred and eighty one thousand, +eight hundred and sixty nine dollars, and fifteen cents. + +By sundry requisitions of the Secretary of War upon the Secretary of the +Treasury, this sum has been placed in the hands of General Albert Pike, +for delivery to you, as Superintendent of Indian Affairs. + +Herewith you will receive Tabular Statements, marked Numbers (1) and (2) +for your information and guidance, as to the times manner, &c., that this +money is to be disbursed. + +You will perceive from these statements, that one hundred and nineteen +thousand, three hundred and forty dollars can be used, for the purposes +indicated immediately, or, whenever, it may be deemed essential by you; +while the residue, amounting to five hundred and sixty two thousand, five +hundred and twenty nine dollars and fifteen cents, is dependent, for its +dusbursement, upon the ratification of the Treaties, as amended by the +several Indian Tribes. Very respectfully, + + S. S. SCOTT, Act'g Commr. of Indian Affairs. + + + TREASURY DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., SECOND AUDITOR'S OFFICE, + Richmond, Va. Dec 31st 1861. + +SIR--The Treasurer of the Confederate States will remit to you the sum of +six hundred and eighty one thousand, eight hundred & sixty nine 15/100 +dollars--, being the amount of Requisitions Nos. +2175-76-77-78-79-80-81-82-83 & 84 issued in your favor on the 20th +Instant--, with which you are charged on the Books of this Office, on +account of the following Appropriation, to wit: + +"An Act making Appropriations to comply in part with Treaty Stipulations +made with certain Indian Tribes," as per Act + + Requisition No. 2175 For Contingencies of superintending & Agencies $ 3,500.00 + Do " 2176 " Sundry Appropriations for Cherokee Indians 237,944.36 + " " 2177 " Do Do " Seminole Indians 61,050.00 + " " 2178 " " " " Choctaw &Chickasaws 115,126.89 + " " 2179 " " " " Creek Indians 72,950.00 + " " 2180 " " " " Comanches 64,862.00 + " " 2181 " " " " Reserve Indians 82,905.00 + " " 2182 " " " " Seneca Indians 11,962.46 + " " 2183 " " " " Quapaw Indians 9,000.00 + " " 2184 " " " " Osage Indians 22,568.44 + ---------- + Total $681,869.15 + +The Treasurer will advise you when the same has been placed to your credit +on his Books, or hand you a Draft--for which you will please forward a +Receipt to this Office, specifying therein the date, number and amount of +said Requisition. I am, very respectfully, your ob't serv't, + + W. H. S. TAYLOR, Auditor. + +To Genl Albert Pike, Agent for the War Department for delivery of the +above funds to Elias Rector, Supt. Ind. Affairs, now in Richmond, Va. + + + CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, TREASURER'S OFFICE, + Richmond, Va., Jan{y} 23 + +ELIAS RECTOR, Fort Smith, Ark. + +Sir, I have this day placed to your credit 3,000 Dollars, amount of +Warrant No. 23 Issued in your favor by War Department. Your checks on the +Treasurer of the Confederate States will be honoured for that amount. +Please acknowledge the receipt of this Notification, and enclose your +official signature. Very Respectfully, + + E. C. ELMORE, Treasurer C. S. + + + CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT, + Office of Indian Affairs, Richmond Jany 23d 1862. + +MAJ. E. RECTOR, Superintendent &c, Fort Smith, Arkansas. + +SIR: General Pike of date Dec. 30th 1861, writes to this Bureau, as +follows: + + In order to obtain the ratification, by the several Indian Tribes, of + the amendments made by Congress to the Indian Treaties negotiated by + me, and to effect a Treaty with the Caiowas, I have sent messages to + the Creeks, Seminoles, Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, requesting + that their national Councils may be convened; and to the Chiefs of the + Osages, Quapaws, Senecas, Senecas and Shawnes, Comanches, Reserve + Indians and Caiowas, requesting them to meet me at my head Quarters. + + It will be necessary to furnish provisions to the Creek and Seminole + Councils, and to feed the more uncivilized Chiefs, while in Council, + and on their return, and also perhaps to make some presents; for which + purposes no funds are in the hands of the Superintendent or myself. + +In accordance with these suggestions and at the request of this Bureau a +requisition was drawn by the Secretary of War, a few days ago, for the sum +of three thousand dollars, which is to be placed to your credit in the +Treasury. + +You will please use this money, or so much of it, as may be necessary, for +the purposes, and in the manner, above indicated. Very respectfully, + + S. S. SCOTT, Act'g Commr. of Ind. Affairs. + + +LITTLE ROCK, ARK., 28th January, 1862. + +DEAR RECTOR: I will leave here on Friday morning. It will take me, I +suppose, six days to reach Fort Smith with the money. This will bring me +to the 5th, 6th or 7th of February. + +I have $265.927.50 in specie, all in gold except $65.000 in silver. Of +course I must stay with it. I think I can make the journey, though in six +days. + +I think you had better go up to my head Quarters immediately, and arrange +to feed the Comanches and others if they come there; and keep them there +until I reach the place. I can take the money there, and send by the same +messenger who takes this, to Colonel Cooper for an escort. + +The Treasurer of the Choctaws means to sell the coin his people get, buy +Confederate paper, and put the difference in his pocket. We must stop +that. I think the best way will be for you to notify the Chief, Hudson, +the amount to be paid in coin, and that you will pay it to the Treasurer +only in the presence of three Commissioners appointed by himself. + +If you _can_ pay the Choctaws and Chickasaws at my Head Quarters, it will +of course be much better. + +I have had to ask the _immediate_ removal of Leeper, and the appointment +of Col. Pulliam in his place. This I have done to-day, sending extracts +from your letter, Charley Johnson's and Quesenbury's. + +The Secretary is also advised, now, of Garrett's continual [illegible]. + +Why do you not demand his removal, and name a person for his place? + +I don't believe Col. Cooper will be removed. The President said in my +presence, "Now that the Choctaws have a Delegate in Congress, what need of +an Agent?" + +About 150 gamblers are here, following up the Indian moneys. I enclose an +order requiring passports, that will keep them out of the Nation. + +I have the $150.000 advance for the Cherokees, the $12.000 due the Nation, +and the $10.300 due the Treaty party or Stand Wade's,--all in paper. Also +the $50.000 advance for the Choctaws. In paper and specie, I have for you +$631.000 and over. + +Have you received the money, (some $3.000) that I asked should be sent you +to pay expenses of the new Indian Councils? + +If you cannot go to Head Quarters immediately, you will have to send some +one, and let him and Colonel Cooper keep the Indians contented. Always +yours, + + ALBERT PIKE. + +Maj. E. Rector. + + +OFFICE SUPT. IND. AFFAIRS, Fort Smith, Feby 1st, 1862. + +SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the Reports of Agents Leeper, +Cooper, Rutherford and Crawford. No report has been received from Agent +Dorn. + +Business of importance requires me to leave here to-day for Fort Gibson +and the Creek Agency, it is important for me to take charge of the public +property at the Creek Agency which I shall do on my arrival there and I +will turn the same over to R P Pulliam who I have appointed Agent to act +until the Department may make a permanent appointment and I hope Mr +Pulliam may be the person appointed. I have also appointed to meet a +delegation of Comanches and Kiawas at Fort Gibson where I expect Genl Pike +and myself will effect treaties with them. I have sent a lot of goods to +make some presents to them and to the wild bands with whom Genl Pike made +treaties last fall and to whom he promised some goods; after meeting these +delegation and ascertaining what can be effected with them I will make out +and forward to you a report of Indian matters generally in this +superintendency which I hope will reach you in time to be of some service +to the Department. I could not, until after I meet those Indians and +ascertain the condition of the Creek Agency, make a full and satisfactory +report. + +In regard to Agent Crawfords report I must here state, that from the best +information I can obtain of the condition of affairs among the Cherokees, +I cannot concur with him, but I will inform myself fully in this regard +during my present visit among them and will furnish my views fully in my +report, Very Respectfully Your Obt. Servt. + + E. RECTOR, Supt. Ind. Affairs + + S. S. SCOTT Esq Acting Comr. Ind. Affairs + Richmond, Va + + +OFFICE SUPT IND AFFAIR, Fort Smith Feby 1st 1862 + +SIR: Genl. Pike is here with $50.000 Dollars in Gold and Silver for the +Choctaws, and as I am compelled to accompany him on important business to +Fort Gibson, I have determined to take the above money with me to that +place and pay it out there, which will be as convenent for you as to pay +it here, and as Col Cooper will have to be present at the payment, it is +necessary to make the payment when he can attend. I will be ready to pay +over to your Treasurer the above money at Fort Gibson in ____ days from +this date, and I wish you to send with your Treasurer a delegation of +three responsible persons to be selected by you to witness the payment. +This I require, as it is a special case with our government to pay out +Coins to the Indian tribes at this time, and to insure the payment by the +Treasurer of the same funds to your people, that he receives from me. Our +government is determined to use all precautions to prevent speculations +out of the funds sent out to pay to Indian tribes. Very Respectfully Your +Obt Servt. + + E. RECTOR, Supt Ind Affrs + +Hon Hudson, Chief Choctaw Nation. + + + CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT + Office of Indian Affairs, Richmond, Feby 7th 1862. + + MAJOR E. RECTOR, Superintendent of Ind. Affairs. + Fort Smith, Arkansas. + +Sir: Your two letters, dated January 9th & 10th, have been received. The +former gave a brief statement of the facts, in relation to the arrest, by +Agent Leeper, of one Meyer, supposed to be a spy, with $6.455.70, in +Drafts and Specie upon his person, and enclosed copies of letters from +Messrs Leeper and Shirley, bearing upon same subject. The latter simply +covered the Affidavit of a Mr. Barnes, claiming the Drafts referred to, +followed by affidavits of Meyer and one Jacob Mariner intended to +substantiate it. + +The questions presented in this case should properly be investigated by +Brig. Genl. Pike, who has command of the Department of the Indian +Territory, where this person was arrested; and a letter has therefore been +written to him from this Bureau, for the purpose of calling his attention +to the fact. + +You will take the necessary steps to have the man Meyer turned over to +him. Very respectfully, + + S. S. SCOTT, Act'g Comr. of Ind. Affairs. + + +FORT SMITH, 16th Feby 1862 + +ELIAS RECTOR Esq, Superintendent of Ind. Affairs + +Sir: As to the case of Fredrick Meyer, arrested as a spy, there is nothing +beyond suspicion against him, except his possession of certain drafts +drawn by a U. S. Quartermaster on the Assistant Treasurer at New York, and +the Statements of Comanche Indians, who are not competent witnesses. + +I decline to place him in custody as a spy or to order a Miltary Court to +try him. I cannot order his discharge or the return of the drafts and +money taken from him, because the Military power is silent, within the +limits of Arkansas, in the presence of the Court power, as to reports that +may be asserted and remedies that may be pursued, in the Courts. If I had +the power, I should make the order. + +If you continue to hold the property in question, or to detain the party, +you will please consider that you do it on your own authority. I am very +respectfully yours, + + ALBERT PIKE, Brig. Genl. Commr. Ind. Dept. + + +MOUTH OF CANADIAN, 23d Febr. 1862. + +MAJOR: I reached this place last night, and leave this morning. The teams +furnished me at Fort Smith are hardly able to go further, and our progress +must be slow. I shall hardly reach Spaniard's Creek before tomorrow night, +and wish you to meet me there. I did think of sending the money, at least +the specie, direct from this point to North Fork, but have determined to +keep it with me until I meet you. If you will meet me at Spaniard's Creek, +we can then determine what disposition to make of it. + +Gen. Price is at Walnut Grove, eight miles south of Fayetteville; will +take position near Cane Hill, and means to attack as soon as he gets +5,000. men in addition to his present force. McCulloch is on the telegraph +road, to his right. _They are not acting in harmony_, Col. Gatewood says. + +Our forces in Kentucky and Tennesse have had to fall back before 70,000 of +the enemy. The new position, it is expected, will be at Stevenson and +Charleston road. When the enemy took Fort Donelson, both Bowling Green and +Columbus became of value to us. Each position was carried. But we have +only taken a new position, losing no battle. The fort surrendered. +Columbus is or will be evacuated and Nashville surrendered. + +There are no means of crossing the Arkansas here, except one boat, that +must have a bottom put in it. I must bring at least part of the Choctaws +to Gibson, to cross the river and move towards Cane Hill, and in order to +be able to do it as soon as possible I wish to turn over the money to you. +Truly yours + + ALBERT PIKE + +Major Elias Rector. + + +OFFICE SUPT IND. AFF'RS, Fort Smith, Feb'y 28th, 1862. + +SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 23d +ultimo notifying me that the sum of $3,000--had been placed to my credit +in the Treasury on Requisition No. 23 from the War Department subject to +my Draft and request my official signature which is hereto affixed. Very +Respectfully your Ob't Serv't. + + E. RECTOR, Sup't Ind. Aff'rs. + + E. C. Elmore Esq., Treasurer of the Confederate States + Richmond, Va. + + +OFFICE SUP'T IND. AFFAIRS, Fort Smith, Feb'y 28th, 1862. + +SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of Jany +1st accompanying Tabular Statements sent out by Gen'l Pike. On his arrival +here I was absent in the Indian Country where I had been ordered by him to +meet a Delegation of wild Comanches and Kiawas. Genl P-- did not leave the +money here to be paid over to me but tuck it in the Indian Country to his +head quarters, where he will I presume pay it out to the Indians himself. +Very Respectfully, your ob't Serv't. + + E. RECTOR, Sup't Ind Affairs. + +S. S. SCOTT Esq. Acting Com'r Ind. Affairs, Richmond, Va. + + +[_Rector to Scott_] + +OFFICE SUPT IND. AFFAIRS, March 4th, 1862. + +SIR: I deem it my duty, in justice to myself, as well as my duty to the +government to notify you that Gen'l Pike has been paying over certain of +the funds sent out by him to the Indians, one payment which he has made, I +wish here to enter my protest against as not meeting with my approbation, +it was in paying over to Agent A. J. Dorn the specie sent out for the +Indians in his Agency. My objections to said payment are these: Agent Dorn +has never executed a Bond to the Confederate government for the faithful +accounting for of funds placed in his hands, and I should certainly not +turn over large amounts of government funds to any Agent in my Department +until he first gave a good and sufficient Bond and next; the Agency which +Mr. Dorn fills is in the limits of the State of Kansas and has been in the +possession of the Federals for six or seven months, Dorn cannot even get +to it, he has no fixed locality for his Agency sometimes he is with the +army, at others in the State and is now here at this place and has with +him the money. + +I am clearly of the opinion that this money should have been kept in some +safe place in this State until after our present troubles are over. The +Federal army is now invading within fifty miles of this place and between +him and the Indians for whom Dorn is Agent, which makes it impossible for +him to pay it to them if he so intends. + +None of the Agents in this Superintendency have entered into Bond. Nor do +I know whether they intend to do so except Agent Rutherford he came here +from his Agency a few days since for the purpose of giving his Bond but is +now on a bead of sickness from which it is doubtful if he ever +recovers.... + + ELIAS RECTOR.[589] + + + + +APPENDIX B--THE LEEPER[590] OR WICHITA AGENCY PAPERS + + +OFFICE SUPT. INDIAN AFFAIRS, Fort Smith, Oct. 12th, 1861. + +SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 15th inst. by +Expressman Sturm[591] at Tahlequah C. N. while on public business at that +place on the 2nd inst and in answer must say. + +Your requisition for Medicine I cannot comply with. I have no Medicines on +hand for the Indian Service. Neither have I been instructed to furnish +either Medicines or Medical assistance to the Indians, and if I were +disposed to take the responsibility and advance the funds to purchase +Medicines they could not be procured at this place. + +I am pleased to learn that Buffalo Hump came in to see you, but both +myself & Com{r}. Pike regret that you did not hold out to him all the +inducements which were in your power, and use all the forces and means at +your command to provide him with such houses as were contemplated and +promised by Com{r}. Pike for the comfort of those Indians and to make them +satisfied and anxious to come in. + +The Com{r}. has issued an order prohibiting Jim Ned from returning to or +ever occupying any portion of the Leased District again, this order you +will see carried out. He has also ordered the Military to kill Ned should +they find him. + +No blanks have been furnished to the office as yet. Nor have even forms +been purchased for the vouchers, abstracts etc. You must rule and arrange +your papers as best you can for the present as I have to do myself. + +I have turned over to Mr. Sturm four mules turned over to me as mules +taken from you by Gen{l} Burrow. I obtained them with great difficulty in +bad condition, nearly on the lift. I have had them three or four weeks, +these were all I could find and do not know whether they are all that were +taken from you or not. + +As stated above I have received no funds for the Indian Service from the +Confederacy, in fact there has been no Indian Department organized +consequently no appropriation has been made nor will any Indian business +be done in the War Department until after the late Treaties are submitted +and approved. + +I shall leave here in a short time for Richmond for the purpose of +organizing the business of the Superintendency, procuring funds, goods +etc. for the Indians in compliance with the Stipulations of the late +Treaties. + +C. B. Johnson is absent at New Orleans and is expected back in a few days. + +Enclosed you will find Sutton & Springs receipt for $200. + +Owing to Creek difficulties I send Mr. Sturm back by direct route for his +safety and the safety of your property. Very Respectfully Your Ob't. +Servant + + E. RECTOR, Supt. Ind. Affairs. + +Col. M. Leeper, Ind. Agent, Wichita Agency, L. D. + + + OFFICE SUPT. IND. AFFAIRS, FORT SMITH, ARKS. + Oct. 30th, 1861. + +SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st inst. by +Expressman. + +On the 12th Inst, I wrote you by your expressman Mr. Sturm and as then, +state I have no funds in my hands for the purchase of Medicines or for any +other purpose for the Indian Service. Nor have I been authorized to +provide the Indians with Medicines or Medical assistance; there has been +no Indian Department regularly organized as yet, by our Government, nor +will there be until after the Treaties lately made by Com{r} Pike are laid +before the President and approved. + +I have purchased for you on your own account, all the medicines I can +purchase in this place that would be useful to the Indians. I send them by +your Expressman with the bills, you can charge the Government with them in +your account. + +I am pleased to learn that the Kiowa Indians are likely to come in and +make a treaty. Com{r} Pike cannot possibly be there to treat with them for +some months to come, the treaties made by him with the Comanches places +all of those Indians who may hereafter come in on the same footing with +those who entered into treaty stipulations, and I hereby authorize you, as +I have authority to do from Com{r} Pike, to make the same treaties and +hold out the same inducements to the Kiowas as were made by him with the +Comanches, do not, however, promise them blankets this winter as it would +be impossible to procure them, the Government cannot procure a sufficiency +of them for the Soldiers, not even at the most exorbitant prices. Agents +are traveling over the States purchasing second hand blankets from +families who take them off their beds to accomodate the Soldiers in the +field. + +H. L. Rogers is now on his way to your agency with hands to build houses +for the Indians, he is sent out by Com{r}. Pike on his responsibility. I +wrote you by him. + +Gen'l Pike will have command of the Military Department of the Indian +Country. He is now on his way to Richmond Va., when he will [return] I am +not advised, it will be with him to direct what military force will be +placed at Fort Cobb for the protection of your agency, when that +protection will be furnished I am unable to advise you, of the importance +of an efficient force being stationed there at an early day there can be +no doubt. + +In regard to the Mail or Express arrangements you speak of, I must say I +have neither power, authority, or means to establish mail or express +routes to your agency or elsewhere. Our State and other States are +suffering greatly for want of mail facilities, and I cannot involve myself +pecuniarily in the matter, this matter must be brought regularly before +the Department and its action had. + +In regard to the time when you may expect funds to close your accounts I +can only say that you need not expect funds until after the treaties +recently made are ratified and appropriations made in accordance with your +estimates furnished Com{r} Pike, the Government will not, of course, send +out funds for Indians until it is advised that it has some treaty +relations with them, I will leave here on the 7th day of next month for +Richmond for the purpose of assisting in the organization of our Indian +business, and for the procurement of funds, goods, etc, to carry out the +provisions of the late treaties, on my return you will be advised of the +result of my mission. + +I learn from Mr. C. B. Johnson that you had advised him that Mr. Beckle is +acting as Commissary, this is wrong and is calculated to produce confusion +in the accounts. Mr. Sturm is the recognized commissary regularly +appointed by me, he should not be sent away from his regular duties on any +other business and I so informed him while here and notified him that his +absence from his regular duties on another occasion would be sufficient +cause for me to remove him and appoint his successor, the appointment of +commissary belongs exclusively to me, and you are well aware of the +importance of his being constantly at his post, as he is the check on the +contractor in filling the requisitions of the agent. In future I hope he +will not be detailed for any other duties. Mr. Sturm is and will continue +to be Commissary until removed by me either upon charges or such cause as +I may think requires his removal. Very respectfully, Your Ob't. Serv't, + + E. RECTOR, Supt. Ind. Affairs. + +Col. M. Leeper, Indian Agent, Wichita Agency, L. D. + +The bearer of this letter, Capt. H. L. Rogers, has been employed and +empowered by Gen{l} Pike Commissioner with plenary powers, to proceed to +the Wichita Agency, with hands, to erect buildings necessary for the +Commissary and cabins for the Indians, Commissioner Pike becomes +responsible for the work....--RECTOR to Leeper, dated Fort Smith, October +25, 1861. + + +SUBPOENA[592] + +Confederate States vs. Matthew Leeper, Indian Agt, Comanche, et al. State +of Arkansas, The Confederate States of America. + +To J. J. Sturm--Greeting. You are hereby commanded, that laying all manner +of excuses aside, you be and appear before the undersigned, special +commissioner of C. S. A. at the Law Office of James P. Spring, in the City +of Fort Smith, in the County of Sebastian, and State of Arkansas, on the +10th day of January, 1862. Then and there to testify and the truth to +speak in a certain matter before said Commissioner pending, wherein The +Confederate States of America prefers certain charges against Matthew +Leeper, Indian Agent of Comanche and other reserved Indians west of the +State of Arkansas, and on behalf of the C. S. A. + +Herein fail not at your peril. + +In testimony whereof I, James P. Spring, Commissioner of Examination, +have hereunto set my hand and affixed my private seal [there being no +public seal for such purposes provided] in the City of Fort Smith, this +12th. day of November, 1861. + + JAMES P. SPRING, [Seal], Commissioner of Examination, C. S. A. + + +QUESENBURY[593] TO LEEPER + +Gen. Pike is now in Richmond. I am engaged in building winter-quarters for +his Brigade. The General will probably return about the 10th of December. + +I hope you will honour my requisitions for forage for the animals of the +expedition for the blankets at Mr. Shirley's. The trip will be a hard one, +and I fear a long one. + +There is no news of import from my quarter. There was something of an +occurrance in the Ho-poieth-le Yohola imbroglio the other day. Mr. +Scrimpsher can give you the current particulars.... + + +FORT SMITH, Dec 4, 1861. + +DR. SIR:--We have no late news of importance. The Federal troops 30000 +strong came as far as Springfield and fearing to advance further returned +to St. Louis & Kansas; the Kansas party took from the vicinity of +Springfield 600 negroes from Union men as well as Secessionists. + +A heavy battle was fought in Mo. opposite Columbus a few days since. +Pillow commanded the Confederate forces 2500 strong, the Federals came +down in their gun-boats 7000 strong & landed. The fight lasted 4 hours +with heavy losses on both sides. Pillow was then reinforced and drove the +Federals back to their boats making a perfect slaughter of the Yankees. +Our victory was complete and a very important one it was. Price has gone +back to the Mo. River, McCulloch is bringing his army down here to go into +winter quarters on the Arks. River. + +Hardin is marching on Louisville, Ky., with from 80 to 100,000 Confederate +troops. We are expecting to hear of his having possession of that city +soon. + +McClellan is said to be advancing slowly and continuously on Johnson and +Boregard. They are anxious for him to pay them a visit. + +Our legislature has elected Bob Johnson & Chas. Mitchell Senators, the +Washington County District elected Batson over Thomason to Congress. G. +D. Royston is elected in this District and Judge Hanley in the Helena +District. + +Can't think of anything else that would interest you. Your friend in +haste, + + R. P. PULLIAM. + +Col. M. Leeper. + + +OFFICE SUPT. IND. AFFAIRS, FORT SMITH, Dec. 4th, '61. + +SIR: I enclose herewith a Copy of a letter from Albert Pike Comr. etc. to +Elias Rector, Supt. Ind. Aff., of date 21st. ultimo also two official +letters. + +That portion of Comr. Pike's letter relating to inviting the Indians to +settle on the Reserve was anticipated by Supt. Rector's letter of +instructions to you of the 30th October last. + +The messages which Comr. Pike wishes given to the Indians you will, of +course, deliver to them. + +Maj. Rector left here for Richmond about ten days ago. When he will return +I am unable to say, as it seems from Pike's letter he has to purchase and +bring on the Indian goods. Very respectfully, + + R. P. PULLIAM, Clk. + +Col. M. Leeper, Wichita Agent. + + +WICHITAW FED [FEED] HOUSE, December 10th 1861 + +DEAR CONL. From what I can asertain the Dutchman supposed to be a spy is +one of the party who of ten, (five Mexicans & five whites) who prevented +the wild Comanchees from coming in by telling them that we were fixing a +_trap_ to destroy the last one of them. when we got them here, and as an +indusement to dispose of their Buffalo Robes this party told the Indians +that we would take the last Robe from them with our troops. + +The [above] I was informed of by the Comanche Cheves several days ago Very +truly + + J. SHIRLEY + +Col M. Leeper, Wichitaw Agency. + + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D., Decr 10th 1861 + +A memorandum of moneys and effects found on the person of a german who +says his name is Frederick Myer, arrested and detained here, he being +suspected of being a spy on the part of the United States in opposition to +the Confederate States of America. The individual together with the moneys +and property found upon his person is intended to be forwarded to the +Superintendent of Indian Affairs Fort Smith at as early a day as +practicable + +Four drafts on the U. S. Asst. Treasurer New York, dated at Santa Fe N. M. +Sept. 17th 1861 and drawn by Jno P. Hatch Capt. Rm R. Actg C. S. in favor +John Dold transferred to Frederick Myer, viz.-- + + No. 103. Twelve Hundred & fifty dollars + " 104. Twelve Hundred & fifty dollars + " 105. Four Hundred & Eighty four dollars + " 106. Two Hundred & nineteen 50/100 dollars. + +Also five other drafts as above described dated on the 19th Sept. 1861. +viz;-- + + No. 112. Six Hundred dollars + " 113. Five Hundred dollars + " 114. Four Hundred dollars + " 115. Three Hundred dollars + " 116. Two Hundred dollars. + +One draft dated Sept. 18th 1861 drawn by J L Donnevhen P. M. favor Stephen +Bryce or order transferred to Frederick Myer + + No 1669. Nine Hundred & eighty three 25/100 dollars. + Also in Gold One Hundred & fifty five dollars + Silver Seventy cents + One Colts Revolver, belt & Scabbard + One large Pocket Knife + Also found in his possission two ponies one gray and one sorrel + +Four letters addressed as follows, + + Mr. J. W. Gregory Santa Fe N. M. + Mr B Seligman " " + Mr. Geo. T. Madison " " + Mr W. W. Griffin " " + +Received Wichita Agency L. D. Decr. 15 1861, all the above articles moneys +&c. excepting the two ponies bridle and saddle and saddle bags, large +knife and ten dollars in gold which were forwarded by H. L. Rodgers +accompanying the prisioner, all of which balance in my possession to be +delivered to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs Fort Smith Arks. + + M. GRIMES + +Received Fort Smith Dec. 9th 1861 from M Grimes the above monies & Pistol +as per his Recpt to Col Leeper + + E. RECTOR, Supt. Indian Affrs + + +WICHITA AGENCY S. D., Decr. 12th 1861 + +SIR: I forward to your charge by H. L. Rodgers, a german by the name of +Frederick Myer, whom I arrested as a spy or smugler in behalf of the +United States, and upon whose person was found Six Thousand three hundred +dollars in drafts upon the Assistant Treasurer New York, one hundred and +fifty five dollars in gold and seventy cents in silver, four private +letters of unimportant import, two ponies and revolver pistol No 72,942 +belt and hoster, one riding saddle, one pack saddle and one pair saddle +bags, all of which will be forwarded to you by Mr Marshall Grimes, with +the exception of the two ponies bridle and saddle and saddle bags and ten +dollars in gold, which I have placed in charge of Mr H. L. Rodgers and +will accompany the prisoner. + +The principal evidence against Frederick Myer, was derived from the Trader +Mr. John Shirley, whose written statement is herewith enclosed. Very +Respectfully Your obt. sert. + + M. LEEPER, Ind. Agt. C. S. A. + + Elias Rector Esq, Supt. Ind. Affrs, + Fort Smith Arks. + + +WICHITA AGENCY, L. D. December 15th 1861 + +TO JOHN JUMPER, and our brothers in the Seminole Nation, + +We have nothing particular to write you, we are all well and doing well +here + +Since we had the talk we have _understood_ that you had some difficulty +among your people, but that does not have any bad effect upon us as we are +friends the same as at the time we made the treaties--Our brothers the +Comanches, and all the other tribes, are still friends with you, and are +all very sorry that you are fighting one against another, brothers against +brothers, and friends against friends. When Mode Cunard and you were here +and had the talk with Genl Pike--we still hold to the talk we made with +Genl Pike, and are keeping the treaty in good faith, and are looking for +him back again soon. + +We look to you and Mode Cunard and Genl Pike as brothers--General Pike +told us at the council that, there were but few of us here, and if +anything turned up to make it necessary he would protect them. We are just +as we were when Genl Pike was up here and keeping the treaty made with +him--Our brothers the wild Comanches have been in and are friendly with +us. + +All the Indians here have but one heart--our brothers, the Texans, and +the indians are away fighting the cold weather people we do not intend to +go North to fight them but if they come down here, we will all unite to +drive them away--Some of my people are one eyed and a little Crippled, but +if the enemy comes here they will all jump out to fight him--Also that +Pea-o-popicult has recently the principal Kiowa Chief has recently visited +the reserve, and has expressed friendly intentions, and has gone back to +consult the rest of his people and designs returning + + HOSEEA MARIA BUFFALO HUMP + KI-KAD-A-WAH + + Chiefs of the Comanches + + TE-NAH JIM POCKMARK. + GEO WASHINGTON + + +The Confederate States of America + + To M. GRIMES Dr. + 1861: Nov 30 For Services rendered of negro man + Guss as Laborer from 1st Oct. to + 30th Nov 1861, inclusive, 2 mos. + at $300.00 pr. an. $ 50.00 + +Received at Wichita Agency L. D. Decr 31st 1861, of M. Leeper Ind. Agt. C. +S. A. Fifty dollars in full of the above account. + + $50.00 M. GRIMES. + +I certify on honor that the above account is correct and just, and that I +have actually this 31st day of Decr. 1861, paid the amount thereof. + + [Triplicates] IND. AGT. C. S. A. + + +The Confederate States of America + + To A. OUTZEN Dr. + 1861: Decr 31 For Services rendered as Wheelwright + etc. at Wichita Agency, + L. D. from 1st Oct. to 31st Decr. + 1861 inclusive, 3 months at + $600.00 pr an $ 150.00 + +Received at Wichita Agency L. D. Decr 31st 1861 of M. Leeper, Indian +Agent, C. S. A. One Hundred & fifty 00/100 + + $150.00 A. OUTZEN Wheelwright. + +I certify on honor that the above account is correct and just, and that I +have actually this 31st day of Decr 1861, paid the amount thereof, + + [Triplicates] IND. AGT. C. S. A. + + +The Confederate States of America + + To J. B. BEVELL Dr. + 1861: Decr 31 For Services rendered as Laborer at + Wichita Agency L. D. June 1 + Oct. to 15th Nov 1861--inclusive + 1 mo & 15 days at $300.00 pr an $ 37.50 + + And as Farmer from 16 Nov to 31 + Decr 1861 inclusive 1 mo & 15 + days at $600.00 pr an 75.00 + --------- + $ 112.50 + +Received at Wichita Agency L. D. Decr 31st 1861 of M. Leeper Ind. Agt. C. +S. A. One Hundred & twelve 50/100 Dollars in full of the above account. + + $112.50. JOHN BEVELL Farmer + +I certify on honor that the above account is correct and just, and that I +have actually this 31st day of Decr 1861, paid the amount thereof, + + [Triplicates] IND. AGT., C. S. A. + + +The Confederate States of America + + To D. SEALS Dr. + 1861: Decr. 31 For Services rendered as Farmer at + Wichita Agency L. D. from 1st + Oct. to 31st Decr. 1861 inclusive, + 3 months at $600.00 per an $ 150.00 + +Received at Wichita Agency L. D. Decr. 31st 1861 of M Leeper Indian Agent +C. S. A. One Hundred & fifty 00/100 Dollars in full of the above account. + + $150.00 DAVID SEALS, Farmer + +I certify that the above account is correct and just, and that I have +actually this 31 day of Decr 1861, paid the amount thereof, + + [Triplicates] IND. AGT. C. S. A. + + +FORT SMITH, January 13th, 1862. + +SIR: In compliance with your letter of instruction of the 10th inst. I +have the honor to present in detail the condition of affairs connected +with the Wichita Agency. In thus presenting my report I shall attempt to +be governed by as much brevity as possible. + +In detailing the affairs of the people in my charge and of my action in +reference to them it will become necessary to refer not only to the +present but to their past history in Texas. There was a time in Texas when +these people were in a prosperous and happy condition, and they advanced +as rapidly in the arts of civilization during that time, perhaps, as any +people ever did. But evil disposed persons in their vicinity and those not +far distant on the frontiers of Texas became dissatisfied with their +locality and determined to disperse and break them up. They continued +their work of desolation until the indians were compelled to abandon their +homes and seek a refuge west of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations on the +Leased District. In doing so they suffered many and very severe losses and +privations. Numbers of their horses and cattle were driven off by their +enemies and many things useful to them, were necessarily abandoned. +Estimates were prepared of the amount of damage and submitted to the +original United States Government but before any action was taken, the +government dissolved and their just claims consequently failed. Therefore +permit me most respectfully to suggest the propriety of immediately +calling the attention of our Government and of the proper Department to +the fact, in order that these people may obtain adequate remuneration. In +reference to their habitations, they have nothing to claim. They have more +and better houses than they had in Texas. The Commanches have eight or ten +neatly hewn log cabins with good chimneys. Three double log hewn houses +with good chimneys, to each room for the chief's in addition to a number +of warm comfortable picket houses which they partly built themselves and +covered with grass. + +In Texas they had but one house which belonged to the Chief, in the +scramble for the spoils at the time of the abandonment of Fort Cobb by the +federal troops they were not altogether behind for I have observed among +them several new Sibley tents and a number of new common tents. The +Tonkahwas have warm comfortable houses made of poles and grass such as +they had in Texas. And for the chief I built a good double log house with +chimneys to each room and a hall or passage in the centre, in which he now +lives. + +The Anahdahkoes have quite a number of comfortable houses consisting of +four double houses with chimneys to each room, passages in the centre and +to some of them shed rooms attached. The remainder consist of hewn log +cabins and Picket houses such as they had in Texas covered with grass. The +Caddoes also have quite a number of houses consisting of various double +houses, single houses and picket houses. + +The Witchitas have no houses except such as they have built for themselves +consisting of a net work of sticks and grass but they are warm and +comfortable. They are not decided upon a permanent location and +consequently refuse to have houses built. The Tahwaccarroes, Wacoes, +Ionies and Kechies inhabit the same kind of houses as the Witchitas and +like them have not decided upon a permanent location. The Shawnees and +Delawares all have good comfortable cabins. + +In February last whilst at Washington I closed all my former accounts with +the department of the Interior of the United States Government and +estimated for the first and second quarter of 1861 which estimates +amounted to 13899 dollars and eighty-five cents. On my way to the Agency +in the Indian Country prepared to carry out the designs and expectations +of the government I was arrested by one Burrow who represented himself to +be a general on the part of the State of Arkansas, who examined my papers +and took from me one wagon four set of harness, one horse and seven mules, +property which had been purchased by the United States government for the +use and benefit of the Indians in my charge, all of which has been +subsequently returned with the exception of two of the mules. After the +wagon and mules were taken I hired transportation and proceeded to the +Agency where I found the Indians in a high state of excitement and alarm; +their fears having been excited by a Delaware Indian by the name of Jim +Ned and other evil disposed persons, tattlers and tale bearers who are apt +to be found loitering about Indian Reserves. + +In reference to the people of Texas, I succeeded in satisfying them that +their apprehensions were groundless, let several contracts for breaking +prairie and commenced to work generally in accordance with my estimates +and the wishes of the Department. But soon afterwards my state (Texas) +seceded from the Union and I determined no longer to act as a federal +officer, and having no authority to act for the Confederate States, I +delivered to the indians all the property in my possession which was held +in trust for their benefit with the exception of two wagons which were +used in my transportation, which together with one which had previously +been loaned to the Commissary are now reported on my property rolls. With +a hope to satisfy the indians until an agent should be appointed by the +Confederate States (which I assured them would soon take place) I expended +the remainder of the money's in my hands for blankets tobacco and clothing +for them, they being in a destitute condition, occasioned principally on +account of losses sustained by their goods being sunk in the Arkansas +River and by the fire at Fort Smith. The goods were intended to be +duplicated and money's had been promised for that purpose in advance of +their regular supply of goods of which the indians were apprised. + +Upon the withdrawal of Texas from the Union, they again became +apprehensive of danger from the people of that State. I reminded them that +I was a Texan, and in order that they might have a positive guaranty of +safety, that they should have Texas troops to defend them. I made the +application and Capt. Diamond's company arrived on the day of my +departure. + +During the whole course of my operations as Commanche Agent, and more +particularly the past year, my best efforts have been employed with a hope +to induce all the southern bands of Comanches to abandon their wandering +habits become colonized and settle, that being the most effectual means, +and by far the least expensive mode of checking their depredations on +Texas, and finally by means of messengers and messages I induced them to +come in on the first of August last and enter into treaty stipulations +with Commissioner Pike. A train of untoward circumstances prevented the +commissioner from complying strictly with his agreements with them which +have cast a shade of discontent upon their minds, and they say that it is +the cause of the non-compliance on their part, which was to settle on the +reserve last fall and abandon their roving habits. This however I do not +believe: if the commissioner had met them at the time appointed (the +falling of the leaves) with all the goods promised I am of opinion they +would have received the goods--made some excuse, and returned again to the +prairies. Such has been the case of the other Comanches who have settled +for several years and I think they would have done so too. Perhaps their +stealing operations would not have been so extensive; but they say that +that practice shall cease at any rate as long as they are friends with us. + +In November last I received a visit from a Kiowa chief by the name of +"Big-head" who made many fine promises and agreed to settle on the reserve +with his people, but in this I place but little reliance. The Kiowa's are +a very numerous band. They are northern indians and their principal range +is from the sources of the Arkansas River to Bents Fort. Their principal +chief originally contemptiously spoke of the United States government and +troops, notwithstanding he annually received a large amount of presents +from that government, consisting of blankets, clothing, tobacco, rifles, +powder and lead, etc. They now have a federal agent at Bent's Fort. + +During the past six months, but little has been done on the reserve--I +have had no means to accomplish much. The employees who have been engaged +have suffered considerably with sickness during the months of September +and October last. They have built a very comfortable double log house with +a gallery in front and a stable which is partly finished to which a room +is attached for the benefit of employees. Without such protection and +security there is no safety for the public animals necessary to carry on +the farming operations of the reserve. + +No troops being stationed on the Leased District I have been unable to +exercise the necessary control. The indians have been kept in a constant +state of turmoil by false representations both in reference to myself and +things affecting their individual interest. No indian reserve can be +conducted in a satisfactory manner either to the government or indians +without the cooperation of troops to enable the Agent to enforce the +intercourse laws and eject disorderly persons from amongst them. + +No funds as yet have been received to meet the current expenses of the +Agency, nor has any forage been furnished except twenty four bushels of +corn and twelve of oats, which were received from Commissioner Pike. The +remainder of the forage which was used in sustaining two government +animals and four private animals employed in the public service from the +first of August until the last of October and from that time till the 31st +of December four additional public animals, was gathered up at the +different corn houses which had been abandoned and were going to +destruction at Fort Cobb, and a small amount purchased on my own +responsibility from the contractor for supplying the indians. + +It is deemed useless to suggest additional plans of retrenchment and +economy to the government as I am not advised as to the extent and nature +of the design of its future operations in reference to the affairs of the +reserve. With these facts submitted I have the honor to be Sir very +respectfully Your obedient Servant + + [M. LEEPER.] + +E. Rector, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Southern Superintendency + + +WITCHITA AGENCY, Jan. 31st., 1862. + +BRIG. GEN'L A. PIKE, Com'd'y Indian Territory. + +Sir:--Enclosed please find muster roll of Reserve Indians enlisted in the +services of the Confederate Government under your authority of the 30th +Aug't, 1861 to M. Leeper, Indian Agent, to act as spies and for the +protection of the Agency until relieved by Confederate forces. + +You will perceive that I enlisted them on the 9th Sept. last and have made +up the roll to the 9th Feb'y, 1862, at which time I would respectfully +suggest the disbandment of them as they have already served three months +longer than they anticipated at the time of their enlistment and they are +anxious to be disbanded at the expiration of this month. + +As much doubt has been expressed by the other Indians not enlisted, of +these ever receiving pay for their services, I believe if they were paid +off [it] would at once convince them of the integrity and honor of the +Confederate Government and should any emergency hereafter arise they will +more readily flock to the standard of our country. + +Having received special instructions from M. Leeper, Indian Agent, to +remain at my post during his absence, I therefore forward these papers by +Mr. John Shirley and authorize him to act for me in this matter. + + +MUSTER ROLL OF RESERVE INDIANS MUSTERED INTO THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF +AMERICA UNDER COMMAND OF LIEUT. GEN'L H. P. JONES, SEPT. 9, 1861. + + HORSE BRIDLE&SADDLE RIFLE BOW, ETC. + 1. Pinahontsama, Sergt. $60. $5.00 $25. $5.00 + 2. Pive-ahope Corpl. $60.00 $5.00 do. 5.00 + 3. Chick-a-poo 30.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 4. Charley Chickapoo 30.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 5. Somo 40.00 5.00 10.00 5.00 + 6. Boo-y-wy-sis-ka 50.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 7. Cu-be-ra-wipo 50.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 8. Ca-na-with 40.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 9. A-ri-ka-pap 55.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 10. Pith-pa-wah 50.00 5.00 5.00 + 11. Pe-ah-ko-roh 35.00 5.00 35.00 5.00 + 12. Jim Chickapoo 65.00 5.00 six shooter 25.00 5.00 + 13. Na-na-quathteh 40.00 5.00 5.00 + 14. To-no-kah 80.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 15. Ath-pah 25.00 5.00 Pistol #5.00 5.00 + 16. Pe-ba-rah 30.00 5.00 25.00 5.00 + 17. Cur-su-ah 45.00 5.00 10.00 5.00 + 18. Cow-ah-dan Sept. 23d. $60. 5.00 15.00 5.00 + +Signed Sealed & delivered in the presence of David Seals & Dr. Bucket, +Sept. 9, 1861. + + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D. Feby the 9th 1862 + +I certify on honor that I have received from Messrs Johnson & Grimes +Seventeen hundred and fifty-four rations of Beef, Flour, Coffee, Sugar, +Soap, and Salt for the use of my Spy Company raised for the protection of +the Wichita Agency by authority of Commissioner A. Pike as per letter +dated Augt. 30th 1861 to M. Leeper Indian Agent + + H. P. JONES, Lt. Com'd'y. and Act'g C. of S. + + + HEAD QUARTERS DEP'T OF IND'N TERRITORY, + FORT MCCULLOCH, 23rd April 1862. + +SPECIAL ORDERS, NO.-- + +Lieut. Col. Harris, Commanding Chickasaw Battalion, will station four +companies instead of two, of his Battalion, at Camp McIntosh, and two only +at Fort Arbuckle. He will consult with the Agent for the Reserve Indians, +Col. Matthew Leeper, and do everything in his power to protect the Agency +and the _peaceful_ Indians on the Reserve, placing, if necessary his +troops at or near the Agency, and controlling the unruly Indians, by force +of arms, if it becomes necessary. By order of Brig. Gen'l Com'd'g + + FAYETTE HEWITT A. A. General + + +[Copy] + +May 7, 1862. + +Hon. Comr. Indian Affairs, enclosing copies from Gen'l Pike. + +WASHITA AGENCY, L. D. May 7, 1862. + +SIR: Enclosed herewith I have the honor to transmit for the information of +the Department the copy of a letter addressed to Gen'l Pike on the 13th +April last, and his reply thereto; the troops promised by the General have +not arrived nor have I any tidings from them. + +There can be no question, if the Confederate States desire to keep up this +Agency and to continue their friendly relations with the Indians adjacent +to the Reserve, that a strong garrison is necessary. The appearance of +friendship could be maintained perhaps without it, but to put an entire +stop to the depredations upon Texas, cannot be accomplished without the +restraining influence of a military force; a small force at all times here +is necessary to enable the Agent to enforce the Intercourse Laws, and to +expell from the Reserve, disorderly persons and idlers, hovering around +the Indian Camps without any legitimate business or employment. I would +further respectfully suggest with all due deference to the military skill +of Gen. Pike, that white troops would be infinitely better and far more +available in every particular than Indians. It is well known that the +people of Texas adjacent to the Reserve have no very kind feelings for +Indians generally, and if it should become necessary to exercise military +authority over a Texan no matter who he is or however worthless he might +be, if it was done by Indian soldiers, it would engender deep-rooted +malice in the minds of very many of the Texan people against the troops, +which, in all probability would militate largely against the interest of +the Government. White troops have a greater influence upon the Indians +than Indian troops would have, and understand more perfectly the +obligations of enlisted men. + +In my letter to Gen. Pike, I gave it as an opinion that it would be better +to either drive the Indians off, who are not located, or to require them +to settle on the Reserve. Various conversations had with them since that +time has been the means of changing my opinion; I think by continuing the +practice of giving them provisions and more supplies of presents when they +visit the Agency will perhaps induce them to remain quiet and not disturb +Texas, particularly if we present an array of troops sufficiently strong +to chastise them in the event of their forfeiting their promises and +acting a faithless part. To-day I held a Council with some of the wild +chiefs, they made fair promises, and promised to bring to the Agency on +the 20th of June next, the other wild chiefs who have never visited this +place, for the purpose of entering into a general treaty of peace, and +they say they will use all their influence with the Kioways to restore the +horses lately stolen from the Reserve Indians and cause those to treat +likewise. If it should be the desire of the Government for me to have them +sign the Treaty with such amendments or alterations as may be suggested, +there would not be the slightest difficulty in the way, it can be +accomplished without any further parade or expense, except the ordinary +supply of provision and a few small presents in the way of goods. + +Allow me to direct the attention of the Department to the fact that the +present Contract for furnishing rations to the Indians will expire, I am +told, on the 16th August next, (I have never been furnished with a copy) +and that it will be necessary in order to give satisfaction to the public +to give at least a month's notice of the time and place, a new one will be +let and having been informed that the next Contract would be let at this +agency, and that the local agent would be charged with the duty, I deem it +necessary immediately to repair to Fort Smith to await instructions and +other necessary papers in reference to my official station and to receive +funds for the present and to forward an estimate for the ensuing fiscal +year. + +May 8th. + +To-day I was visited by quite a number of chiefs belonging to the wild +Comanches who have never been here before. They say they are desirous of +making a perpetual and ever-lasting peace with the Southern people, the +fourth of July is appointed for a general gathering in Council of all the +Chiefs and principal men belonging to the Comanches for the purpose of +entering into a general and lasting peace upon the same terms and +conditions which are offered those already settled. I appointed the 4th of +July that I might have an opportunity in the mean time of consulting with +and ascertaining the pleasure of the Government in reference to them. I am +of the opinion that three or four thousand dollars worth of goods +furnished upon that occasion and distributed to them as presents would +have a beneficial effect. + +I learn from them that four white men and four Indians were recently +killed on the Llano, Texas that the Indians were returning from Mexico & +without knowing anything of the friendly relations which now exist between +our people and theirs, they stopped as usual, stole a parcel of horses, +were pursued and the killing aforementioned was the consequence, they +assert that they will control their people hereafter from depredating upon +Texas, and that if any of their bad men should cross Red River that they +will give immediate notice of the fact that they may be overtaken and +killed, and if they should escape notice steal horses and return they will +immediately take them from them, deliver them to the Agent with +information in reference to the place from which they were taken, so the +owners can recover them again. + +With these facts submitted, I have the honor to be very respectfully, Your +Obedient Servant + + (Sgd.) M. LEEPER, Indian Agent, C. S. A. + + +COPY TO BRIG. GEN'L A. PIKE, APR. 13, 1862. IN REFERENCE TO THE CONDUCTING +OF THE RESERVE COMANCHES AND WILD BANDS OF COMANCHES, ALSO REQUESTING A +MILITARY FORCE TO BE STATIONED ON THE RESERVE + +WASHITA AGENCY, L. D. April 13, 1862. + +BRIG. GEN'L A. PIKE, Com'd'g of Indian Terr'y + +Sir: It becomes my duty under official instructions to keep you advised of +the feelings and bearings of the Indians on the Reserve and more +particularly of the wild bands adjacent to it who profess friendship for +us. The recent friendly relations which have been professed on the part of +the Indians and attempted to be cultivated on our part have produced an +opposite result upon the Comanche Reserve Indians from that which was +anticipated, boys who have been partly reared upon the Reserve and who +hitherto have conducted themselves with the greatest propriety are now +unruly and are subject to the most unbridled passions and unheard of +improprieties, they have destroyed pretty much all the poultry belonging +to Dr. Shirley, have shot arrows into his milk cows, killed several of the +beeves belonging to the contractor. They are in the habit of shooting +beeves full of arrows in the beef pen before they are issued, killing some +of them and rendering others unable to be driven to the different Indian +encampments, this practice was repeated on yesterday in the presence of +the chiefs, when one of the interpreters, Mr. H. P. Jones, admonished +Buffalo Hump to check such outrages and reprove the boys for such +improprieties, but was fiercely turned upon by the old Indian and abused +in the most unmeasured terms, the boys then rode to the Agency, approached +the horse lot and one of them was just in the act of shooting a horse, I +succeeded in preventing him from doing so myself. + +Those wild fellows come in, hold war dances and scalp dances, speak of +their agility in stealing horses and of their prowress in taking scalps of +white men and Mexicans, and of the rapture with which they are received +and amorous embraces of the young damsels on their return until the young +men heretofore inclined to lead an idle but civil life on the Reserve are +driven mad with excitement, some of them have left, others are going today +with the wild Indians for the ostensible purpose I am told of depredating +upon Mexico, but really, in my opinion upon Texas, many depredations have +recently been committed upon that frontier, and lately an Anahdahko +Indian and a negro belonging to that band crossed Red River, stole five +horses, killed three of them and returned home on the other two, they +alledge that it would not have taken place, but for the want of the +restraining influence of the Chief who was absent at Fort Davis for +presents (this is a mere subterfuge of course). + +The wild Indians are principally located within two days ride of this +place and I suppose could muster two thousand warriors, when they come +here they are rather impudent and insolent in their demands and upon one +occasion threatened to force the doors of the Commissary and help +themselves. A few days since three of their young men forcibly opened one +of the doors of Dr. Shirley's house and attempted to enter his wife's bed +chamber. They were met by the doctor at the door who, after a scuffle and +slight altercation with one of them caused them to desist. + +Many horses have recently been stolen from the Reserve Indians, some of +which are known to have been taken by the bands professing friendship, who +promised to restore them. + +I am clearly of the opinion that this Reserve cannot be sustained without +a strong military force, and that it would be much better to require those +wild fellows either to settle on the Reserve or quit the country, at +present they appear to make it a place of convenience, to rest, feed and +recruit themselves, on their return from a stealing expedition, and to +procure provisions and a suitable outfit, the better to enable them to +prosecute their fiendish designs. Therefore permit me respectfully to +solicit you to furnish at the shortest practicable period a strong mounted +force, say one Regiment at least to be situated here to act in concert +with the Civil Authorities in holding those Indians in check, preventing +the forays in Texas and in regulating the affairs of the Reserve. I would +also with due deference suggest the name of Col. Alexander of Sherman, as +a gentleman eminently qualified for the service. Texas troops would be +more available here at present than any others, for the Indians have an +instinctive dread of them. + +In the event that it should become absolutely necessary in the absence of +suitable protection to abandon the Reserve, a suggestion from you in +reference to the proper course to be taken would be acceptable, my notion +is to fall back upon Red River or into Texas with all the Indians who are +true to the South and if overtaken by the way, defend to the last +extremity. + +All my official correspondence I report to the Department but before I +could get an expression of opinion from that source, it would probably be +too late to avail anything. I shall feel obliged for a reply by the +messenger. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant. + + [M. LEEPER] + + +JONES[594] TO PIKE + +I have the honor to inform you that the reserve Comanche indians enlisted +in the service of the Confederate States by your authority of the 30th +August 1861 were on the 9th April last disbanded with the consent and +knowledge of Col. M. Leeper indian agent The reason for so doing was that +latterly they would not remain at their encampment and their horses were +never at hand when wanted. + + +JONES[595] TO PIKE + +The indians placed in my charge by your order for the protection of this +agency finally proved uncontrollable and utterly useless, and were +therefore with the knowledge and consent of the Agent discharged on the +13th of April last.... + +[On the 11th of August, 1862, Agent S. G. Colley transmitted to Dole from +Fort Larned two documents,[596] one of which he thought reflected upon the +loyalty or honesty of Capt. Whittenhall, formerly commanding at Fort +Larned.] + +(A) I have this day received of Lone Wolf a chief Kiowas a paper from +Albert Pike of the so-called S. C. which I will give to him again and +another to the said Albert Pike after the Indian agent shall distribute +the goods to the Indians. + + D. S. WHITTENHALL, Capt. Com'd'g Post. + + July 22, 1862 + [Endorsement] A true copy. + J. H. LEAVENWORTH, Col. 2nd Reg't C.V. + +(B) + +WICHITA AGENCY L. D., May 31st, 1862. + +The bearer E-sa-sem-mus Kiowa Chief has visited and promised on the part +of their tribe to be friendly with the people of Texas and ourselves it +is hoped that so long as they carry out that promise they will be treated +kindly. + + M. LEEPER, Ind. Agt. C. S. A. + per C. A. ZICHEL + + [Endorsement] A true copy. + J. H. LEAVENWORTH Col. 2nd Reg't C.V. + + +LEEPER TO PIKE + +WASHITA AGENCY, L. D., June 26, 1862. + +BRIG. GEN'L. A. PIKE, Com'd'y Ind. Terr'y and Act'g Superintendent. + +Sir: Being desirous of keeping you advised of all my official operations, +enclosed herewith you will please find a copy of requests made by Capts. +Hart & James. I found those officers courteous and prompt, and manifesting +an unreserved degree of willingness to aid me in carrying out the designs +of the Confederate States of America in sustaining the Reserve and giving +satisfaction to the Indians located thereon. + +I learn that an annual festival or dance of the Kioways and the wild +Comanche bands is expected to be held about this time, which may detain +them beyond the 4th of July, and with a view to have reliable information +in reference to the matter and ascertain the precise time they may be +expected here, three or four days since I dispatched To-sha-hua and +Pinahontsama to visit their encampments for the purpose; they will return +in about six days. Upon the arrival of the Kioway Chiefs here, I shall +have your excellent address carefully interpreted to them and get them to +sign the Treaty. If it should be your pleasure they should do so, I +apprehend that I can take all the Comanche Chiefs and the Kioway Chiefs to +your Head Quarters, which I will cheerfully do, in that event however they +would naturally expect in addition to their daily supply of food a few +presents in the way of clothing and tobacco. + +The present fiscal year is now within a few days of being closed, the +employees on the Reserve and the trader from whom small presents have been +purchased for the Indians are unpaid, no funds have been furnished for the +purpose except fifteen hundred dollars which was handed me by the late +Superintendent and was in part used in liquidation of my own Salary and +the remainder, say six or seven hundred dollars, in the payment of +employees, for the want of funds I have been unable to close my account, +they will all be ready, however, on the first of July, and if you should +be in possession of funds for the purpose, after the anticipated meeting +of the Indians here, if it should meet your approbation, I will take the +accounts to your Head Quarters and submit them to your inspection in order +that they may be closed, provided it is inconvenient for you to transmit +the money to me. + +I desire to call your attention particularly to the fact that the present +Contract for supplying the Indians with rations on the Reserve will +terminate I am told (I have never been favored with a copy) on the 16th of +August next, and it therefore would seem proper that a new contract should +be let in time for the Contractor to have his supplies in readiness for +delivery at that time, and it is but justice to Mr. Chas. B. Johnson, the +present Contractor to say that he has complied with his Contract to the +entire satisfaction of all concerned, kept ample supplies at all times on +hand, and disposed to be pleasant and obliging not only to the Indians, +but to all other persons with whom he has had business to transact. + +When the Kioways arrive I apprehend they will have many horses and mules +in their possession which will be identified by the Texas people here as +the property of people living in Texas; the friendly relations and recent +social intercourse of these Indians with those of the wild bands has been +the cause of introducing here several horses and mules of that description +already. My original instructions under the United States Government was +to take possession of all such property and have them delivered to their +proper owners, but if a course of that kind was now pursued it would at +once defeat the Treaty with the wild bands and cause them to recommence +their depredations with increased violence and renewed vigor. The 10th +Article of the recent Treaty reads thus: + + It is distinctly understood by the said four bands of the Ne-um, the + State of Texas is one of the Confederate States, and joins in this + Convention, and signs it when the Commissioner signs it, and is bound + by it; and that all hostilities and enmities between it and them are + now ended, and are to be forgotten and forgiven forever on both sides. + +Also the 19th Article commencing at the 15th line reads thus: + + And the same things in all respects are also hereby offered to the + Kioways and agreed to be given them, if they will settle in said + Country, atone for the murders and robberies they have lately + committed and show a resolution to lead an honest life; to which end + the Confederate States send the Kioways with this talk, the wampum of + peace and the bullet of war, for them to take their choice, now and + for all time to come. + +But the Treaty is silent in reference to the manner in which the owners of +property lost in that manner are to be remunerated. + +In a consultation which I held with Capts Hart and James we determined to +take proof in reference to the ownership of the property, place a fair +valuation upon it and submit it to the Confederate Government for their +approbation, approval, and allowance, provided, however, that it should +meet your approbation in the first place. + +A short time since a delegation from all the tribes here except the +Tonkahwas and Comanches visited the Kioways to obtain from them their +horses which were stolen by the Kioways, one of the Waco Chiefs has +returned and says they delivered to him ten of the stolen horses, were +disposed to be friendly and said all of them should be given up, but after +he left a Wichita stole from the Kioways twenty-one horses and a Caddo +four and have brought them to the Reserve. I held a consultation with the +Chiefs in reference to the matter in which it was determined that the +horses should be taken from those who stole them and returned to the +Kioways immediately after the return of the Wichita Chief La-sa-di-wah, +who will report the facts as they are. + +In all my official relations I have avoided, as far as possible, incurring +useless or unnecessary expenses, and now the troubled condition of the +country would seem to render it doubly necessary, allow me therefore to +suggest that the office of Commissiary is a sinecure, a useless +expenditure of public money to the Government and an injury to the public +service, it has never been allowed before at an Agency where an agent +could be present and witness the issues himself, the Interpreters +necessarily have to be present, and heretofore have witnessed the issues, +the Commissary merely being an impartial weigher between the Contractor +and the Indians which can be done just as well by one of the Interpreters +without incurring any additional expense to the Government. + +One of the greatest injuries which I have met with during a term of more +than five years service, has been experienced from officious meddlers, +idlers and tale-bearers who are apt to hover round Indian encampments, and +I have never found one more so than the present Commissary. J. J. Sturm +who spends the principal part of his time at the Indian encampments +pretends to know more than anyone else, palpably neglects the instructions +given him and has produced more disquiet on the Reserve than has been +produced from all other causes, he would have been suspended and reported +long since, but I was apprehensive that it might be supposed that I was +actuated from vindictive feelings towards him on account of an injury +which he attempted to inflict upon me. At the close of the present +Contract if you should deem it necessary to continue such an office, I +hope a more suitable man will be appointed. + +At the close of the present fiscal year I shall report in detail +everything connected with the Reserve and the Indians thereon, the +expenses thereof and the reasons and necessities for so doing. I am sir, +Very respectfully, Your obt. servant. + + [M. LEEPER] + + +LEEPER TO PIKE + +Copy to Brig. Gen'l Albert Pike, Acting Supt., Comr., Etc., in reference +to making a treaty with the Kioway Indians and the signing of the +amendments of Congress. + +WASHITA AGENCY, L. D., July 11, 1862. + +BRIG. GEN'L ALBERT PIKE, & Act'g Superintendent, Commissioner, etc., + +Sir: In compliance with your instructions and authority, I have this day +entered into Treaty stipulations with the Kioway Indians and all the wild +Comanche bands with the exception of the Kua-ha-ra-tet-sa-co-no who +inhabit the western portion of the "Staked Plains," and with those I am +negotiating and shall probably conclude a treaty of peace in September or +October next. Those who treated in August last have also signed and +adopted amendments of Congress. + +They retired well satisfied with themselves, and with the action of the +Confederate Government, consequently peace and quietness may be expected +to prevail in future upon the frontier of Texas, provided, however, that a +band of fugitives from the various clans who have congregated on the +Pecos, numbering it is said one hundred and fifty or two hundred, governed +by no law and disposed to spread desolation wherever they go, are +destroyed or our troops can receive aid from the bands who have treated in +hunting down and destroying those "fellows". I am sir, Very respectfully, +Your obt. ser't + + [M. LEEPER] Ind. Agency, C. S. A. + + +NOTICE + +As Agent and Acting Commissioner on the part of the Confederate States of +America, I have entered into Solemn Treaty stipulations of perpetual +friendship and peace with the Kioway Indians and wild bands of Comanches +except the Kna-ha-ra-tet-sa-co-no whose habitations are on the Western +extremity of the "Staked Plains" and with those I am negotiating and will +probably conclude a treaty some time in September next. + +Therefore perfect peace and quietness may soon be expected to prevail on +the Texas frontier. + +In order to convince the Indians of our sincerity and punctuality, it is +necessary to comply strictly with the Treaty, and to do that, the +Government expects me to employ four or five farmers and twenty laborers +which I desire to do; farmers with families would be preferred, to whom +fifty dollars per month and rations will be given, and to laborers +twenty-five dollars per month and rations, negro men would be preferred. + +At present there is not the slightest danger there, the agency is one of +the most quiet and peaceful places within the limits of the Confederate +Government. + +Apply to the undersigned who will remain a few days in Sherman and +afterward at the Washita Agency. + +July 21st 1862. + + +LEEPER [?] TO PARKS + +SHERMAN, TEXAS, July 28th, 1862. + +MR. ROBERT W. PARKS, + +Sir,--Enclosed you will please find the copy of a letter of instructions +to me from Gen'l Pike the Acting Superintendent of Indian Affairs +(addressed to you) in reference to fifteen thousand dollars appropriated +by the Government to purchase farming utensils, oxen, wagons and stock +animals for Indians located on the Washita Reserve, which fund was handed +to you. The direction of the expenditures of the fund legitimately belongs +to the local Agent who is alone supposed to know the amount and +description of articles necessary to be purchased for the Indians, hence +Gen'l Pike's letter. Before making any of the purchases indicated it would +be well to see me in order to ascertain the amount and description +required, the Indians already have been furnished with a few wagons, oxen +and farming utensils, in fact in reference to farming implements they are +well enough supplied with the exception of weeding hoes and axes; and in +reference to the stock animals to be purchased I would like to have a +distinct understanding with regard to the quality and the price; a +responsible gentleman whom I met here is willing to furnish cows and +calves, the cows not to exceed six years old delivered at the agency at +sixteen dollars; therefore I should be unwilling to receive on the part of +the Government animals of that description at a higher price in the +absence of positive instructions to that effect; the quantity also to be +purchased is an important item. + +If you will take the trouble to visit the Agency, I will give you an exact +description of the articles necessary to be purchased and will give you +the preference as a contractor for furnishing the same. + +A copy of this letter will be furnished the Acting Superintendent Gen'l +Pike, and the Department. Very respectfully, Your obt sevt. + + [M. LEEPER] + + +WASH., ARK., Aug. 19, 1862. + +COLONEL: I have forwarded you letters to the Commissioner of Indian +Affairs. Having resigned and been deprived of command in the Indian +Country, I am also relieved of duty as Acting Superintendent, for which +crowning mercy, God be thanked. + +Mr. Parks returned on receiving your letter and refunded me $15,000 placed +in his hands, except $200, paid for a mowing machine. I have deposited the +residue, with all other Indian moneys, (Coin and paper), in a safe place, +and so advised the Commissioner. As soon as a new Superintendent is +appointed, I hope to get rid of it all. + +If you had written me, _before_, what you write now, in regard to +McKusken[?], you would not have had to complain that I frustrated your +efforts. You sent him to me it is true, but with no such charges, and +consequently left me bound to pay him off. I had employed him, and no +showing was made to me that he did not deserve his pay. I hear the charges +_now_ for the first time. + +As to the corn at Cobb, I think you are misinformed. When I returned there +last fall I found it difficult to get a small quantity, because the +officer in Command said they needed it all; although the troops were on +the point of leaving. I know it had been so wasted that there was not much +left and what _was_ left, you needed, as you had none. I wonder you did +not send your wagons and get it, as soon as the troops left, if there was +any remaining, and account for it. + +I _was_ sorry to hear that you had made unkind remarks in regard to +myself, and though apparently my friend, were secretly my enemy--and I am +truly glad to receive your flat contradiction. I have _never_ had any +unkind feelings towards you, and was glad to believe after meeting you +this Summer, that you had none towards me. For any imputations against +yourself in your official capacity, you are indebted in chief measure to +Major Rector who made them openly, anywhere, and in the presence of many. +What Mr. Sturm said was not said willingly, but drawn from him. He showed +a great disinclination to say anything against you. + +Believe me, I would now, as always for years past, rather serve than +injure you. And I sincerely hope our friendly relations may continue. I +expect to settle not far from you and will always gladly aid in +cultivating friendship with the Indians and enabling you to succeed with +them. I am very truly yours + + ALBERT PIKE + +Col. M. Leeper C. S. Agent Etc. + + +DESHLER[597] TO LEEPER + +Gen. Holmes in reply to your letter of 17th inst. just received, instructs +me to say, that Gen. Hindman is going to take command of all the troops in +the Indian country, he starts in a day or two. Col. W. P. Lane's Reg't has +been ordered to Fort Arbuckle. The gen. com'd'g thinks these measures will +be sufficient to insure quiet in your region, but instructs me to say that +if he knew of any available force in Texas he would have no objection to +sending 5 or 6 Companies to you, but there are no troops available other +than Col. Lane's Reg't already ordered to Arbuckle. + + + + +SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +I. GENERAL ACCOUNT OF DOCUMENTARY SOURCES. + +The material for this book has been drawn almost entirely from documentary +sources and, in a very large measure, from unpublished documentary +sources; namely, the manuscript records of the United States Indian +Office. Those records to-day are in a very disorganized state, largely due +to change of system and to the many removals to which they have been +subjected within the last few years. At the time when they were examined +for the purposes of the present work, such of them as were not included in +_Registers_, _Letter Books_, and _Report Books_ were classified as _Land +Files_, _General Files_, _Special Files_, _Emigration Files_, +_Miscellaneous Files_, _Star Files_, and the like, the basis of +classification being, convenience in the current and routine work of the +office. The individual files were arranged according to tribe, agency, or +superintendency and every incoming letter had its own file mark. It had a +letter to designate the transmitter, that letter being the initial of the +transmitter's surname or of the office he represented, and it had a number +to indicate its rank in a series, all the papers of which bore the same +initial letter and had been received in the same given year. Finally, it +was rated as belonging to a particular tribe, agency, or superintendency +and to a particular file. + +In the autumn of 1911, an attempt was made to consolidate the old _Land_ +and _General Files_ with the result that now they are no longer distinct +from each other; but it has seemed best not to change the reference in the +citations. The year, the letter, and the number are permanent indices and, +with them at hand, there ought to be no difficulty in the locating of a +paper, except for the fact that nearly everything in the United States +Indian Office seems, just now, rather transitory and chaotic. Had the +inaugural ball for 1913 not been dispensed with, the plan was, to use the +records as the base for the band-stand, a decidedly interesting +reflection, one must admit, upon the popular notion of the value of the +national archives. + +Among the manuscripts used in the preparation of the present work, were +two collections of papers that came into the United States Indian Office +out of the regular course of its official business. In the citations, one +is noted as _Leeper Papers_, and the other as _Fort Smith Papers_. Their +history, since they came into the Indian Office, proves how urgent is the +need for a Hall of Records. Inasmuch as these papers were not required for +the every-day business of the office, they were packed away, years and +years ago, along with a lot of other commercially useless papers, in huge +boxes and stored in the attic of the old Post-office Building. There they +were left to be forgotten. In the course of time, the Office of Indian +Affairs was moved from the old Post-office Building to the Pension +Building; but the packing-boxes in the attic were inadvertently left +behind. One day, however, the writer discovered that papers, found at the +Wichita Agency at the time Agent Leeper was killed, October, 1862, had +really come into the Indian Office; but the question was, where were they? +A search high and low was totally without success until it developed that +the packing-boxes in the attic were supposed to contain "useless" papers +and were still in the old Post-office Building. Permission was obtained to +have them examined and, for this purpose, they were transferred to the +Pension Building. Among their contents was found a number of interesting +and valuable documents which very likely would soon have been lost +forever, destroyed by the General Land Office because abandoned by the +Indian. The contents included, besides the _Leeper Papers_ for which the +search had been especially conducted, letter-books of Michigan territorial +governors, file-boxes of all sorts, and a mass of Confederate stuff, +brought from Fort Smith. The last-named proved a veritable mine of wealth. +It comprised the occasional correspondence of Cooper, Cowart, Crawford, +Drew, Dean, Rector, Pike, and many others whose official life had brought +them into contact with the Indians. It was all very suggestive and +remunerative. + +To supplement the manuscripts an exhaustive search of the _Official +Records of the War of the Rebellion_ has been made and with good results. +It is a pity that the material in the _Official Records_ is so badly +arranged and so much of it duplicated and often triplicated. Had it been +better edited and better indexed, the danger of over-looking important +documents would have been minimized a hundredfold. The volumes found +particularly useful for Indian participation in the Civil War were the +following: + + First Series, vols. i; iii; iv; viii; ix; xiii; xxii, parts 1 and 2; + xxvi, parts 1 and 2; xxxiv, parts 1, 2, and 3; xli, parts 1, 2, 3, and + 4; xlviii, parts 1 and 2; liii, supplement. + + Third Series, vols. i; ii; iii. + + Fourth Series, vols. i; ii; iii. + + +II. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SOURCES + +AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA, 1861-1865, inclusive (New York). + +ARKANSAS. Journal of the House of Representatives for the Thirteenth +Session of the General Assembly, November 5, 1860-January 21, 1861 (Little +Rock, 1861). + +---- Journal of the Convention, 1861. + +---- Messages of the Governors. + +BUCHANAN, JAMES. Works, collected and edited by John Basset Moore +(Philadelphia, 1908-1911), 12 vols. + +CAIRNES, J. E. Slave Power: its character, career, and probable designs +(New York, 1863), pamphlet. + +CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. Journal of the Congress, 1861-1865. (United +States Senate _Executive Documents_, 58th congress, second session, no. +234). + +---- Provisional and permanent constitutions; and acts and resolutions of +the first session of the Provisional Congress (Richmond, 1861). + +---- Special orders of the adjutant and inspector general's office, 1862 +(Richmond, 1862). + +CONNELLEY, WILLIAM E., editor. Provisional government of Nebraska +Territory and the Journals of William Walker [Lincoln, Nebraska, 1899]. + +DEAN, CHARLES W. Letter Book, May 26, 1855 to December 31, 1856 +(Manuscript in United States Indian Office). + +DREW, THOMAS S. Letter Book, June 1, 1853 to June 1, 1854 (Manuscript in +United States Indian Office). + +FORT SMITH PAPERS. A miscellaneous collection of manuscript materials, +transmitted from Fort Smith, Arkansas, at the close of the Civil War. +Among them is the fragment of one of Elias Rector's _Letter Books_. + +---- Minutes of the private meetings of the commissioners, 1865 (Land +Files, Indian Talks, Councils, etc., Box 4). + +HAGOOD, JOHNSON. Memoirs of the War of Secession from the original +manuscripts of Johnson Hagood (Columbia, S. C., 1912). + +KAPPLER, CHARLES J., compiler and editor. Indian affairs: Laws and +Treaties (United States Senate Documents, 58th congress, Second session, +no. 319), 2 vols. + +LEEPER PAPERS. Manuscripts, chiefly letters written or received by Matthew +Leeper, successively United States and Confederate States Indian Agent, +brought from the Wichita Agency after the massacre of October, 1862. + +LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Writings, edited by A. B. Lapsley (New York, 1905-1906), +8 vols. + +---- Complete Works, edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay (New York, +1894), 2 vols. + +MCPHERSON, EDWARD. Political history of the United States of America +during the Great Rebellion (Washington, 1864). + +MASON, EMILY V. Southern poems of the war (Baltimore, 1867). + +MATTHEWS, JAMES M., editor. Statutes at Large of the Confederate States of +America from February 8, 1861 to February 18, 1862, together with the +constitution of the provisional government and the permanent constitution +of the Confederate States, and the treaties concluded by the Confederate +States with the Indian tribes (Richmond, 1864). + +---- Statutes at Large of the first congress of the Confederate States of +America (Richmond, 1862), pamphlet. + +---- Statutes at Large of the Confederate States of America, commencing +the first session of the first congress and including the first session of +the second congress (Richmond, 1864). + +MISSOURI. Adjutant-general's report of the Missouri State Militia for 1861 +(St. Louis, 1862). + +MOORE, FRANK, editor. Diary, or Rebellion record (New York, 1868), 11 +vols. and a supplementary volume for 1861-1864. + +NEWSPAPERS. Arkansas Baptist (Little Rock). + + Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock). + Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren). + Arkansas True Democrat (Little Rock). + Chronicle, The (Little Rock). + Daily National Democrat (Little Rock). + Daily State Journal (Little Rock). + National Democrat (Little Rock). + State Rights Democrat, The (Little Rock). + Unconditional Union (Little Rock). + Weekly Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock). + +PHISTERER, FREDERICK. Statistical record of the armies of the United +States (New York, 1890). + + Supplementary volume to the Campaigns of the Civil War Series. + +PIKE, ALBERT. Poems, edited by his daughter, Mrs. Lillian Pike Roome +(Little Rock, 1900). + +RAINES, C. W., editor. Six decades in Texas, or the memoirs of F. R. +Lubbock (Austin, 1890). + +RECTOR, ELIAS. Letter Book. + + A Fragment. Ms. in United States Indian Office among the Fort Smith + Papers. Many of the letters have been almost obliterated by exposure. + +RICHARDSON, JAMES D., editor. Compilation of the messages and papers of +the Confederacy, including the diplomatic correspondence (Nashville, +1905), 2 vols. + +---- Compilation of the messages and papers of the presidents, 1789-1897 +(Washington, 1896-1899), 10 vols. + +SEWARD, WILLIAM H. Works, edited by G. E. Baker (New York, 1853-1884), 5 +vols. + +SMITH, WILLIAM R. History and debates of the convention of the people of +Alabama, January 7, 1861 (Montgomery, 1861). + +TEXAS. Ordinances and resolutions of the convention held in the city of +Austin, January 28, 1861, to February 24, 1861 (Austin, 1861). + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Attorney-general, opinions, 1791-1908 +(Washington, 1852-). + +---- Report of Covode committee, 1860 (House _Reports_, 36th congress, +first session, no. 648). + +---- Report of select committee to investigate abstraction of bonds held +in trust by the United States government for the Indian tribes (House +_Reports_, 36th congress, second session, no. 78). + +---- Department of the Interior, Reports of the Secretary, 1861-1865, +inclusive. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, Land Files, General Files, Miscellaneous +Files, and Special Files. + +---- Office of Indian Affairs, Letter Books [letters sent]: + + No. 50, August 28, 1854 to February 20, 1855. + " 51, February 21, 1855 to June 12, 1855. + " 52, June 13, 1855 to October 27, 1855. + " 53, October 29, 1855 to March 19, 1856. + " 54, March 20, 1856 to July 30, 1856. + " 55, July 31, 1856 to December 31, 1856. + " 56, January 2, 1857 to May 25, 1857. + " 57, May 26, 1857 to October 31, 1857. + " 58, November 2, 1857 to April 30, 1858. + " 59, May 1, 1858 to October 23, 1858. + " 60, October 25, 1858 to April 29, 1859. + " 61, April 30, 1859 to August 23, 1859. + " 62, August 24, 1859 to February 9, 1860. + " 63, February 10, 1860 to June 26, 1860. + " 64, June 27, 1860 to December 7, 1860. + " 65, December 8, 1860 to June 1, 1861. + " 66, June 3, 1861 to October 23, 1861. + " 67, October 24, 1861 to March 25, 1862. + " 68, March 26, 1862 to August 7, 1862. + " 69, August 8, 1862 to January 20, 1863. + " 70, January 20, 1863 to June 5, 1863. + " 71, June 5, 1863 to October 14, 1863. + " 72, October 15, 1863 to January 8, 1864. + " 73, January 9, 1864 to April 23, 1864. + " 74, April 25, 1864 to July 28, 1864. + " 75, July 28, 1864 to December 7, 1864. + " 76, December 8, 1864 to April 4, 1865. + " 77, April 4, 1865 to August 3, 1865. + " 78, August 3, 1865 to December 8, 1865. + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Office of Indian Affairs, Registers (letters +received): + + No. 44, January 4, 1855 to July 31, 1855. + " 45, August 1, 1855 to December 31, 1855. + " 46, January 1, 1856 to June 30, 1856. + " 47, July 1, 1856 to December 31, 1856. + " 48, January 1, 1857 to June 30, 1857. + " 49, July 1, 1857 to December 31, 1857. + " 50, January 1, 1858 to June 25, 1858. + " 51, June 25, 1858 to December 29, 1858. + " 52, December 30, 1858 to June 27, 1859. + " 53, June 28, 1859 to December 31, 1859. + " 54, January 1, 1860 to June 1, 1860. + " 55, June 1, 1860 to December 31, 1860. + " 56, January 1, 1861 to June 30, 1861. + " 57, July 1, 1861 to December 31, 1861. + " 58, January 1, 1862 to July 1, 1862. + " 59, July 1, 1862 to December 31, 1862. + " 60, January 1, 1863 to June 30, 1863. + " 61, July 1, 1863 to January 2, 1864. + " 62, January 2, 1864 to May 30, 1864. + " 63, June 1, 1864 to December 31, 1864. + " 64, January 1, 1865 to June 30, 1865. + " 65, July 1, 1865 to December 29, 1865. + +UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Office of Indian Affairs, Report Books: + + No. 8, May 1, 1854 to August 9, 1855. + " 9, August 10, 1855 to December 31, 1856. + " 10, January 1, 1857 to March 31, 1858. + " 11, April 1, 1858 to September 2, 1860. + " 12, September 3, 1860 to December 9, 1862. + " 13, December 12, 1862 to August 19, 1864. + " 14, August 20, 1864 to December 12, 1865. + +---- Department of War, Reports of the Secretary, 1861-1865, inclusive. + +---- Statutes at Large (Boston, 1850-). + +WAR OF THE REBELLION. Compilation of the official records of the Union and +Confederate armies (Washington), 129 serial volumes and an index volume. + +WELLES, GIDEON. Diary (Boston, 1911), 3 vols. + + +III. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF AUTHORITIES + +ABBOTT, LUTHER J. History and Civics of Oklahoma (Boston, 1910). + +ABEL, ANNIE HELOISE. Indians in the Civil War (_American Historical +Review_, vol. xv, 281-296). + +---- Indian reservations in Kansas and the extinguishment of their titles +(Kansas Historical Society, _Collections_, vol. viii, 72-109). + +---- History of events resulting in Indian consolidation west of the +Mississippi River (American Historical Association, _Report_, 1906). + +---- Proposals for an Indian State in the Union, 1778-1878 (American +Historical Association, _Report_, 1907, vol. i, 89-102). + +ADAMS, RICHARD C. Brief history of the Delaware Indians (Senate +_Documents_, 59th congress, first session, no. 501). + +ALEXANDER, GROSS. History of the Methodist Church South (New York, 1894). + +BANCROFT, FREDERIC. Life of William H. Seward (New York, 1900), 2 vols. + +BAPTIST HOME MISSIONS in North America, 1832-1882. + + Published by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, New York, + 1883. + +BISHOP, ALBERT WEBB. Loyalty on the frontier, or sketches of union men of +the southwest (St. Louis, 1863). + +BOUDINOT, ELIAS C. Speech delivered before the House Committee on +Territories, February 7, 1872 (Washington, 1872), pamphlet. + +---- Oklahoma, an argument before the House Committee on Territories, +January 29, 1878 (Alexandria, 1878), pamphlet. + +BREWERTON, G. DOUGLAS. War in Kansas (New York, 1856). + +BRIGHAM, JOHNSON. James Harlan (Iowa City, Ia., 1913). + +BRITTON, WILEY. Memoirs of the rebellion on the border, 1863 (Chicago, +1882). + +---- Civil War on the border, 1861-1862 (New York, 1891). + +BROUGH, CHARLES HILLMAN. Historic battlefields (Arkansas Historical +Society, _Publications_, vol. i, 278-285). + +BROWN, GEORGE W. Reminiscences of Governor R. J. Walker, with the true +story of the rescue of Kansas from slavery (Rockford, Ill., 1902). + +BRUCE, HENRY. Life of General Houston (New York, 1891). + +CALLAHAN, JAMES MORTON. Diplomatic history of the southern confederacy +(Baltimore, 1901). + +CHEROKEE INDIANS. Memorial of the delegates of the Cherokee Nation to the +president and congress of the United States (Washington _Chronicle Print_, +1886). + +CHESHIRE, JOSEPH BLUNT. Church in the Confederate States (New York, 1912). + +CONNELLEY, WILLIAM ELSEY. James Henry Lane (Topeka, 1899). + +---- Quantrill and the border wars (Cedar Rapids, 1910). + +CORDLEY, RICHARD. History of Lawrence (Lawrence, 1895). + +DAVIS, JEFFERSON. Rise and fall of the Confederate government (New York, +1881), 2 vols. + +DELAWARE INDIANS. Report on the military service (United States Senate +_Documents_, 61st congress, first session, no. 134). + +DRAPER, J. W. History of the American Civil War (New York, 1867-1870), 3 +vols. + +EVANS, GENERAL CLEMENT A., editor. Confederate military history (Atlanta, +1899), 10 vols. + +FITE, EMERSON DAVID. Presidential campaign of 1860 (New York, 1911). + +FLEMING, WALTER L. Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (New York, +1905). + +FOULKE, WILLIAM DUDLEY. Life of Oliver P. Morton (Indianapolis, 1899), 8 +vols. + +GARRISON, W. P. and F. J. GARRISON. William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879 +(Boston, 1894), 4 vols. + +GIHON, JOHN H. Geary and Kansas (Philadelphia, 1866). + +GOODLANDER, C. W. Memoirs and recollections of the early days of Fort +Scott (Fort Scott, Kans., 1899). + +GREELEY, HORACE. American Conflict (Hartford, 1864-1867), 2 vols. + +HALLUM, JOHN. Biographical and pictorial history of Arkansas (Albany, +1887). + +HILL, LUTHER B. History of the state of Oklahoma (Chicago, 1908), 8 vols. + +HODDER, FRANK HEYWOOD. The Genesis of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (Wisconsin +State Historical Society, _Proceedings for 1912_, pp. 69-86), (Madison, +1913), pamphlet. + +HOLLOWAY, JOHN N. History of Kansas to 1861 (Lafayette, Ind., 1868). + +HOLST, HERMANN VON. Constitutional and political history of the United +States (Chicago, 1876-1892), 7 vols. + +JOHNSON, ALLEN. Stephen A. Douglas (New York, 1908). + +JOHNSON, THOMAS CARY. History of the Southern Presbyterian Church (New +York, 1894). American Church History Series, vol. xi. + +KAUFMAN, WILHELM. Sigel und Halleck (_Deutsch-Am. Geschichtsblaetter_, Band +x, 210-216). + +MARTIN, GEORGE W. First two years of Kansas (Topeka, 1907), pamphlet. + +MEIGS, W. M. Life of Thomas Hart Benton (Philadelphia, 1904). + +NORTH, THOMAS. Five years in Texas, 1861-1865 (Cincinnati, 1871). + +PARKER, THOMAS VALENTINE. Cherokee Indians (New York, 1907). + +PAXTON, WILLIAM M. Annals of Platte County, Missouri (Kansas City, Mo., +1897). + +PHILLIPS, ULRICH. Georgia and state rights (Washington, 1902). + +---- The life of Robert Toombs (New York, 1913). + +RAMSDELL, CHARLES WM. Reconstruction in Texas (Columbia University +_Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law_, vol. xxxvi, no. 1). + +RAY, P. ORMAN. Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, its origin and +authorship (Cleveland, 1909). + +REYNOLDS, JOHN H. Makers of Arkansas (Story of the States series), (New +York, 1905). + +RHODES, JAMES FORD. History of the United States from the Compromise of +1850 (New York, 1893-1906), 7 vols. + +ROBINSON, CHARLES. Kansas Conflict (Lawrence, 1898). + +ROBLEY, T. F. History of Bourbon County, Kansas, to the close of 1865 +(Fort Scott, 1894). + +ROSS, D. H. and others. Reply of the delegates of the Cherokee Nation to +the demands of the commissioner of Indian affairs, May, 1866 (Washington, +1866), pamphlet. + + Land Files, Treaties, Box 3, M392. + +ROSS, MRS. WM. P. Life and times of William P. Ross (Fort Smith, 1893). + +SCHOULER, JAMES. History of the United States under the Constitution (New +York, 1899), 6 vols. + +SCHWAB, JOHN CHRISTOPHER. Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 (New +York, 1901). + +SHINN, JOSIAH. Pioneers and makers of Arkansas (Little Rock, 1908). + +SPECK, FRANK G. Creeks of Taskigi Town. American Anthropological +Association _Publications_, vol. ii, part 2. + +SPEER, JOHN. Life of James H. Lane (Garden City, Kans., 1897). + +SPRING, LEVERETT W. Kansas: the prelude to the War for the Union (American +Commonwealth series), (Boston, 1885). + +STEPHENS, ALEXANDER H. Constitutional view of the late War between the +States (Philadelphia, 1870), 2 vols. + +STOVALL, PLEASANT A. Robert Toombs (New York, 1892). + +TENNEY, W. J. Military and naval history of the rebellion in the United +States (New York, 1866). + +THOMPSON, ROBERT ELLIS. History of the Presbyterian Churches in the United +States (American Church History series, vol. vi), (New York, 1893). + +VAN DEVENTER, HORACE. Albert Pike, 1809-1891 (Knoxville, 1910). + +VILLARD, OSWALD GARRISON. John Brown, 1800-1859; biography fifty years +after (Boston, 1910). + +WALKER, WILLISTON. History of the Congregational Churches in the United +States (American Church History series, vol. iii), (New York, 1894). + +WILDER, D. W. Annals of Kansas (Topeka, 1875, 1885). + +WILSON, HENRY. Rise and fall of the slave power in America (Boston, +1872-1877), 3 vols. + +WOOTEN, DUDLEY G. Comprehensive history of Texas (Dallas, 1898), 2 vols. + + + + +INDEX + + + Abbott, J. B: 245, _footnote_ + + Abel, Annie Heloise: work cited, 71, _footnote_, 191, _footnote_ + + Abolitionists: Indians' slaves enticed away, 23; + charges against Calhoun, 30; + Quantrill in league with, 49; + desire Indian lands, 76, 118; + among Cherokees, 132; + Cherokees repudiate idea that they are, 225; + charges against, 291-294 + + Adair, W. P: 219, _footnote_ + + Address: of John Ross at Cherokee mass-meeting, 220 + + Agency system: under Confederacy, 179 + + Alabama: Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws from, 20, 193, _footnote;_ + Choctaws in, 20, _footnote;_ + David Hubbard, commissioner from, 108 + + Alliance: Indians given political position in return for, 17; + reasons for southern Indians entering into, with Confederacy, 18; + Confederate State Department to effect, 140, _footnote_; + failure of Pike to effect, with Cherokees, 156; + Choctaw General Council authorizes negotiation of treaty of, 156; + Confederacy paid dearly for its Indian, 177; + nature of Seminole, with Confederacy, 197; + principles of active, inserted by Pike into treaties, 212; + McCulloch to accept Drew's regiment of Home Guards as soon as treaty + of, be consummated, 227; + conditions of, between the Indians and Confederacy, 280; + result of Battle of Pea Ridge on Indian, 284 + + Allies: Indian, 17; + hope of finding in Cherokees, 125 + + Allotment in severalty: suggested to Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, 58 + + American Baptist Missionary Union: 38 + + American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions: work among + Cherokees and Choctaws, 39; + records of, 40, _footnote_; + missionaries among Choctaws remove themselves from patronage, 41, 42, + 43, _footnote_ + + American Civil War: [See Civil War] + + American Historical Association: _Report_, 20, _footnote_ + + American Revolution: effect upon Cherokee emigration to Texas, 20, + _footnote_; + work of Committees of Correspondence in connection with, 83 + + Amnesty: provided for, 176 + + Annuities: negro and Indian half-breeds share Indian, 23, _footnote_; + Choctaw, distinct from Chickasaw, 34, _footnote_; + Indian, declared forfeited by Lincoln government, 145; + John Ross considers Indian, safe, 147; + payment of Indian, assumed by Confederacy, 163; + Indian, diverted from regular channels, 170; + to use, of hostile Indians, 274; + Crawford makes requisition for Cherokee, 307 + + Antelope Hills: 55, 136, _footnote_ + + Apucks-hu-nubbe: district of, 34, _footnote_ + + Arbuckle, General: 193, _footnote_ + + Arkansas: Choctaws and Cherokees tarry in, 19, _footnote_; + Indian Territory annexed to, for judicial purposes, 23, _footnote_; + and Indian patronage, 59; + and Indian participation in Civil War, 63; + interest in Indian Territory, 67; + Knights of Golden Circle active in, 68; + interest in Indian alliance, 83; + affairs reach crisis, 97; + Hubbard, commissioner to, 108; + sends commission to Indian country, 119; + sends Albert Pike as delegate, 132-133 + + _Arkansas Baptist_: 47, _footnote_ + + Arkansas Convention: _Journal_, 119, _footnotes_, 120, _footnotes_ + + Arkansas Historical Association: _Publications_, 106, _footnote_ + + Arkansas Legislature: _House Journal_, 103, _footnote_, 110, _footnote_, + 111, _footnote_ + + Arkansas River: 67, 76, 97, 135, _footnote_, 162, 175 + + Arms: description of, needed for Indians, 190, _footnote_; + Choctaw-Chickasaw regiment not furnished with, 211; + scarcity of, 211, _footnote_; + Cherokees in, at Tahlequah mass-meeting, 217; + Ross able to bear, 137, _footnote_; + Creeks under, threaten hostilities, 138, _footnote_; + fear, for Indians will be taken by secessionists, 228, _footnote_; + Confederate difficulty in securing, 253 and _footnote_ + + Armstrong Academy: 40, _footnote_ + + Armstrong, William: 193, _footnote_ + + Asbury Mission: Indian amity compact concluded at, 69, _footnote_ + + Assinneboin: suggested Territory of, 32, _footnote_ + + Atchison, David R: letter to, mentioned, 33, _footnote_ + + _Austin State Gazette_: 80, _footnote_ + + Averell, William W: 101, _footnote_ + + + Baker, George E: work cited, 58, _footnote_ + + Balentine, H: 79 + + Ball-playing: connected with secret organization of "Pins," 86, + _footnote_ + + Bancroft, Frederic: work cited, 58, _footnote_ + + Barnes, James K: 260, _footnote_ + + Barnesville: 245, 246 + + Beams's Negroes: 23, _footnote_ + + Beaver Creek: 55 + + Beening, S. T: 102, _footnote_ + + Benjamin, Judah P: 140, _footnote_, 200, _footnote_, 215, _footnote_, + 252, _footnote_ + + Benton, Thomas H: plan for a national highway, 28; + request, 33, _footnote_ + + Big Chief: merit chief of Great Osages, 238 + + Billy Bowlegs: leaves Florida, 20 _footnote_; + communications from, 198, _footnote_; + refuses to sign treaty with Confederate States, 198-199; + death of, 198, _footnote_; + regarded as good commander, 277, _footnote_ + + Bird Creek: battle of, 138, _footnote_, 255-256 + + Bishop, A. W: work cited, 67, _footnote_, 68, _footnote_, 133, + _footnote_ + + Black Beaver: 101 and _footnote_, 303 + + Black Dog: see _Shon-tah-sob-ba_ + + Blackhoof, Eli: 209, _footnote_ + + Blain, S. A: 56, _footnote_, 57, _footnote_ + + Blankets: furnished Indian refugees, 261; + to be furnished Indian soldiers in U. S. A., 271, _footnote_; + Indians need, 310; + Leeper offers to give Kiowas, 318; + Rector urges Leeper not to promise, Kiowas, 332; + Kiowas receive from U. S. government, 343 + + Bloomfield Academy: 40, _footnote_ + + Bob Deer: 244 + + Boggy Depot: 91, 230, _footnote_ + + Bonds: 61, 145-146 + + Boone, A. G: 210, _footnote_ + + Boonsboro [Boonsborough]: 111 and _footnote_, 125 + + Boudinot, E. C: 119, 153, 156, _footnote_, 219, _footnote_ + + Bourland, James: appointed commissioner, 88; + report, 91 + + Branch, Harrison B: 182-183, 210, _footnote_, 228, 232-233, 249, 271, + 279, _footnote_ + + Brazos Agency: 55 + + Bribery: William McIntosh guilty of, 236; + of chiefs to induce secession, 262, _footnote_ + + Brigade: jayhawking character of Lane's, 233; + Lane's gives John Mathews his deserts, 239; + Hunter asks permission to muster, of friendly Indians, 250; + Kile, quartermaster in 274; + proportion of white troops in Pike's, 280 + + Brooks, Preston: 45, _footnote_ + + Brown, James: 217 + + Buchanan, James: administration charged by free-state Kansans with bad + faith, 37; + endorses pro-slavery policy, 45, _footnote_; + distrusted, 47; + "no coercion" policy, 87, _footnote_; + patronage, given to southern men, 262, _footnote_; + work cited, 22, _footnote_, 29, _footnote_ + + Buckner, H. S: 92 + + Buffalo Hump: 305, 315, 330, 338, 348 + + Bureau of Indian Affairs (Confederate): 128, 141, _footnote_, 190, + _footnote_ + + Burgevin, Edmund: 105, _footnote_ + + Burleigh, Walter A: 227, _footnote_ + + Burlington: 259, 260, _footnote_ + + Burroughs, B: 120 + + Burrow, N. B: 99, 298, 305, 330, 341 + + Bushwhackers: drive Caddoes out of Texas, 19, _footnote_ + + Butler, George: agent for Cherokees, 45, 47, _footnote_, 285, 290 + + Byington, Cyrus: 79 + + + Cache Creek: 55 + + Caddoes: from Louisiana, 19, _footnote_; + Pike to meet, 189, _footnote_; + horses stolen by, 353 + + Calhoun, J. M: 90, _footnote_ + + Calhoun, John C: report, 27; + motive, 29; + political heresy, 133 + + Cameron, Simon: 234, 249, _footnote_ + + Campbell, A. B: 260, _footnote_ + + Canadian River: 55, 63, 67, 162 + + Cane Hill: 296, 327 + + Carolinas: Catawbas in, 20, _footnote_ + + Carroll, H. K: work cited, 37, _footnote_ + + Carruth, E. H: report, 84, _footnote_, 197, _footnote_, 198, _footnote_; + appointed by Lane, 242; + interviews Creek delegates, 245; + tries to arrange for inter-tribal council, 246; + letter, 267 + + Cass, Lewis: 193, _footnote_ + + Catawbas: admitted to Choctaw citizenship, 20, _footnote_; + in possession of northeastern part of Choctaw country, 20, _footnote_; + in South Carolina fight with South, 20, _footnote_ + + "Catron letter": 29, _footnote_ + + Chah-la-kee: suggested territory of, 31, _footnote_ + + Chah-lah-ki: district of, 178 + + Chah-ta: suggested territory of, 31, _footnote_ + + Chahta Tamaha: 189, _footnote_ + + Chatterton, Charles W: 259, _footnote_ + + Checote, Samuel: 193, 194 + + Cherokee Declaration of Independence written by Pike, 137, _footnote_ + + Cherokee Executive Council, 136, _footnote_; + John Ross promises to call meeting of, 153; + meeting of, 216, 217; + communicates with McCulloch, 226 + + Cherokee Neutral Lands: location, 21, _footnote_, 64; + size, 21, _footnote_; + intruded upon, 35, 46, 285, 290; + project for selling, 50, 163; + McCulloch takes position opposite, 225; + Lane's proposed camp in, 233; + Stand Watie ordered to take up a position in, 252, _footnote_; + Cowart sets out for, 294 + + Cherokee Outlet: 54, _footnote_, 63, _footnote_, 64 + + Cherokee Proclamation of Neutrality: 153-154 + + Cherokee Strip: location, 21, 64; + coveted by Kansans, 21 + + Cherokee Treaty: 157 and _footnote_; + declares allegiance to C. S. A., 159, _footnote_; + contains guarantee of autonomy, 159, _footnote_; + contains promise of representation in Congress 159, _footnote_; + navigable waters, 174; + admission to military academy, 180; + appointment of postmasters, 180; + considered by Provisional Congress, 206; + negotiated, 237; + Ross's characterization of, 257 + + Cherokees: from Tennessee and Georgia, 20; + tarried in Arkansas, 19, _footnote_; + go to Texas, 20, _footnote_; + removal to Arkansas suggested by Jefferson, 20, _footnote_; + in North Carolina fight with South, 20, _footnote_; + "Eastern" in controversy with "Western," 20, _footnote_; + character of constitution, 31, _footnote_; + visited by Sacs and Foxes, 36, _footnote_; + work of A.B.C.F.M. among, 39; + schools among, 39, _footnote_; + religious denominations among, 39-40; + desirable to have slaveholders settle among them, 42; + material progress due to slavery, 46; + search organization among, 48; + with Cooper as volunteers, 54; + antebellum relations with people of Arkansas, 64; + representatives at inter-tribal conference, 71; + visited by commissioners from Texas, 92; + in council with Creeks, Seminoles, Quapaws, and Sacs, 94; + Pike's negotiations with, 134, _footnote_; + to be indemnified, 163; + made an exception, 168; + at Battle of Wilson's Creek, 214-215, 214, _footnote_; + secession of, 217; + resolutions of, 223-225; + secret organization among, 291-293 + + Chickasaw: district, 34, _footnote_, 52 + + _Chickasaw and Choctaw Herald_: 56, _footnote_ + + Chickasaw Legislature: act, 68; + resolutions, 122, _footnote_, 155 + + Chickasaw Manual Labor School: 40, _footnote_ + + Chickasaws: from Alabama and Mississippi, 20; + character of constitution, 31, _footnote_; + domestic troubles, 34; + political connection with Choctaws, 34, _footnote_; + religious denominations among, 40, _footnote_; + construct government, 51; + as volunteers, 54; + country, 63; + not represented at inter-tribal conference, 71; + convention of Choctaws and, 91; + prevented from attending council at North Fork, 94; + take charge of property abandoned by Federals at Fort Arbuckle, 102; + appeal of Burroughs to, 120-121; + resolutions of Choctaws and, 130; + negotiations of Albert Pike with, 136, _footnote_, 196-197; + reported as anxious to join Southern Confederacy, 155; + treaty with, considered by Provisional Congress, 204-207; + E. H. Carruth communicates with loyal portion of, 246-247 + + Chilton, William P: 127 + + Chippewas: from Michigan, 19; + warriors, 227, _footnote_ + + Chi-sho-hung-ka: 238, _footnote_ + + Chisholm, Jesse: 313, 320 + + Choctaw-Chickasaw Regiment: 77, 207, 210, 211, 230, _footnote_, 252, + _footnote_ + + Choctaw-Chickasaw Treaty: 157, and _footnote_; + declares allegiance to C. S. A., 159, _footnote_; + contains promise of representation in Congress, 159, _footnote_; + suggests ultimate statehood, 160, _footnote_; + recognizes Choctaw country as distinct from Chickasaw, 161; + transfers lease of Wichita Reserve to Confederate States, 162; + navigable waters, 174; + amnesty, 175 + + Choctaw Corn Contract: scandal involves Pike, 57, _footnote_ + + Choctaw General Council: act, 20, _footnote_; + resolution, 72-74; + under authority of Chief Hudson declares Choctaw Nation "free and + independent," 156, 196; + plan treaty of alliance and amity with Confederacy, 156; + communication from Pike, 187, _footnote_, 196, _footnote_ + + Choctaw Light Horse: 24, _footnote_ + + Choctaws: tarried in Arkansas, 19, _footnote_; + Catawbas wish to unite with, 20, _footnote_; + intimacy with negroes, 20, _footnote_; + in Mississippi fight with South, 20, _footnote_; + prepared to assent to territorial bill, 31, _footnote_; + domestic troubles, 34; + political connection with Chickasaws ended, 34, _footnote_; + religious denominations among, 39-40; + schools among, 40, _footnote_; + desirable to have slaveholders settle among them, 42; + ask relief, 57, _footnote_; + country, 63; + antebellum relations with people of Arkansas and Texas, 64; + not represented at inter-tribal conference, 71; + delegation, 74; + affairs, 75-79; + treaty with Confederate States, 78, 204; + convention of Chickasaws and, 91; + prevented from attending council at North Fork, 94; + resolutions of Chickasaws and, 130; + negotiations of Pike with, 136, _footnote_, 196-197; + reported as anxious to join Confederacy, 155; + enlist in army, 210; + Carruth in communication with loyal portion, 246-247 + + Chuahla: 39, _footnote_ + + Chustenahlah: battle of, 258 + + Citizenship: U. S. recommended for Indians, 31 and _footnote_; + Ottawas express preference for U. S., 36, _footnote_; + Indians to determine own tribal, 169; + Jim Ned's right of, forfeited within Leased District, 306 + + Civil War (American): no adequate history of American, 17; + Indian allies of South in, 20, _footnote_; + in Choctaw-Chickasaw country threatened, 34 and _footnote_; + delays Indian removal from Kansas, 37; + corrupt practices of Democratic Party just prior to American, 45, + _footnote_; + Stand Watie on Southern side in, 49, _footnote_; + responsibility of Texas and Arkansas for participation of Indians in, + 63; + early interest of Texas and Arkansas in Indian country, 67; + see also _Enlistment of Indians_ + + Civilization Fund: 37 + + Clark, George W: 211, _footnote_, 240, _footnote_ + + Clover, Seth: 209, _footnote_ + + Cobb, Howell: 45, _footnote_ + + Cockrell, S. R: 119 + + Coe, Chas. H: work cited, 20, _footnote_ + + Coffin, William G: 80 and _footnotes_, 184, 245, 247, 259, 274 + + Colbert, D: 41, _footnote_ + + Colbert, Holmes: 261, _footnote_ + + Colbert, Winchester: 197, 201, _footnote_ + + Colbert Institute: 40, _footnote_ + + Coleman, Isaac: 186, _footnote_, 259, _footnote_ + + Collamore, George W: 261, _footnote_ + + Colley, S. G: 350 + + Collin (Texas): exodus of non-secessionists from, 95 + + Colorado: indigenous tribe, in, 19, _footnote_; + attempts to secure Indian cooperation, 83 + + Comanche Treaty: 157, _footnote_, 158; + amnesty, 176 + + Comanches: 51, 52, 55, 189, _footnote_, 200 and _footnote_, 201, 206, + 313, 320, 323, 324, 331, 337, 347, 351 + + Commission: from Texas to Indian nations, 88 _et seq._; + from Arkansas, 108, _footnote_ + + Concharta: 255 + + Confederate Contract: for supplying Indians of Leased District, 301-303, + 347, 352 + + _Confederate Military History_: work cited, 103, _footnote_ + + _Congressional Globe_: work cited, 58, _footnote_ + + Connelley, W. E: work cited, 34, _footnote_, 49, _footnote_ + + Connor, John: 544 + + Cooley, D. N: 56, _footnote_, 134, _footnote_, 226 + + Cooper, Douglas H: citizen of Mississippi, 41; + fears abolitionization of Indian country, 41; + sends note to Superintendent Dean, 42; + sanguine as to slavery conditions among Indians, 45; + survey of Leased District, 53; + Choctaw Corn Contract, 57, _footnote_; + becomes colonel in Confederate army, 76; + regiment of Choctaws to be under command of, 77, 207; + absent from post, 82 and _footnote_; + apparently disapproves of Texan interference, 96; + receives suggestions from Rector, 106-107, _footnote_, 187; + instructions to, 147, _footnote_; + defection of, 186-187; + asked to continue as agent, 190, _footnote_; + wishes to be agent and colonel, 197, _footnote_, 212, _footnote_; + report concerning Indian enlistment, 211; + in battle with Opoethleyohola, 254 _et seq._, 312; + complains of not having more white troops, 280 + + Cooper, Samuel: 53, _footnote_, 147 + + Corn Contract: see _Choctaw Corn Contract_ + + Council: Cherokee, in session at Tahlequah, 50, _footnote_; + Choctaw at Doaksville, 77; + composition of Doaksville, 77; + at Fort Smith, 226-227, 241; + at Tahlequah, 237 _et seq._, 240; + Coffin holds, with representatives of non-secession element of various + tribes, 267; + Agent Johnson holds, with Delaware chiefs, 272, _footnote_; + Indian refugees hold, at Fort Roe, 278, _footnote_; + Creek, demands payment of money, 289; + Cowart reports rumor of Cherokee, 294; + Cherokee, to meet, 296; + of each tribe to consider amendments to treaties, 323; + Leeper holds with Indians of Leased District, 346; + Comanches propose, to effect everlasting peace with Southern people, + 347; + see also _Inter-tribal Conference_ + + Covode, John: 276 + + Covode Committee: 45, _footnote_ + + Cowart, Robert J: 46, 82 and _footnote_, 89, _footnote_, 114 and + _footnote_, 184, 290, 295, 298 + + Cowetah: 69, _footnote_ + + Cox, John T: 261, _footnote_ + + Crawford, John: 183, _footnote_, 184-185, and _footnotes_, 190, + _footnote_, 215, _footnote_, 216, 218, 219, _footnote_, 220, 223, + 325 + + Creek Country: Seminoles accommodated within, 50; + proposal for giving southern Comanches home within, 51 and _footnote_; + proposal to allot lands in severalty, 58 + + Creek Light Horse: 218, _footnote_ + + Creek National Council: rejects proposal for allotment of lands in + severalty, 58, _footnote_; + approves draft of treaty with C. S. A., 194 + + Creek Treaty: 157 and _footnote_; + Dole ignorant of existence, 157, _footnote_; + declares allegiance to C. S. A., 159, _footnote_; + contains guarantee of autonomy, 159, _footnote_; + contains promise of representation in Congress, 159, _footnote_; + model on subject of recognizing slavery, 166-167; + extradition, 173; + negotiation of, 192-195; + considered by Provincial Congress, 206; + clauses providing for active alliance, 212 + + Creeks: from Georgia and Alabama, 19-20; + assist in Seminole removal, 20, _footnote_; + mixture with negroes, 20, _footnote_, 23, _footnote_; + status of free negro among, 23, _footnote_; + Presbyterians among, 40; + desirable to have slaveholders settle among, 42; + repent giving home to Seminoles, 51; + location, 67; + representatives at inter-tribal council, 71; + visited by commissioners from Texas, 92; + in council with Cherokees, Seminoles, Quapaws, and Sacs, 94 + + Crime: unjustly charged against missionaries, 47; + charged against Reserve Indians, 52 + + Crutchfield, Major P. T: 111 + + Culbertson, Alexander: 210, _footnote_ + + Cumberland Presbyterians: 40, _footnote_ + + Curtis, Gen. S. R: 138, _footnote_ + + Cushing, Caleb: opinion as attorney-general, 22 + + Cutler, Abram: 229, _footnote_ + + Cutler, George A: 184, _footnote_, 249, _footnote_, 259, _footnote_, 266 + + + Davis, Jefferson: influences Cushing, 22; + writes to Worcester, 23, _footnote_; + nominates Hubbard Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 128; + appoints Pike special commissioner to Indians, 130; + message, 202; + Marshall writes to, 207 + + Davis, John B: 23, _footnote_ + + Davis, John D: 199, _footnote_ + + Davis, William P: 199, _footnote_ + + Dawson, J. L: 193, _footnote_ + + Dean, Charles W: 42; + work cited, 35, _footnote_, 60, _footnote_ + + Debray, X. B: 102, _footnote_ + + Decotah: suggested territory of, 31, _footnote_ + + Deep Fork of Canadian: 254 + + Delawares: from Indiana, 19; + tarry in Missouri, 19, _footnote_; + free state men among, 35; + anxious to avoid white man's interference, 36, _footnote_; + Baptist school on reservation, 38; + as refugees, 56, _footnote_; + Leeper to communicate with, 181, _footnote_; + Pike hopes to meet, 189, _footnote_; + wealth, 208, _footnote_; + treaty with, 231, _footnote_; + employed as scouts, 232; + appeal to, 268; + response of, 268; + and Shawnees attack Wichita Agency and kill Leeper, 329, _footnote_ + + Delegates: five great tribes should have, in Congress, 31, _footnote_; + Pike sent as, 132-133; + to be allowed in Confederate Congress, 159, 161, 177, 203, 204, 324; + Creek on way to Washington, 245; + Gamble to Confederate Congress, 312 + + Delegation: Choctaw and Chickasaw, gives assurance to Indian Office of + neutrality, 74 and _footnote_, 75; + from non-secession element in various tribes, 265-266 and _footnote_, + 267 and _footnote_; + from Leased District visits Kiowas, 353 + + Denton: exodus from, 95 + + Denver, J. W: 270 + + Derrysaw, Jacob: 69, _footnote_, 194, 218, _footnote_ + + Dickey, M. C: 209, _footnote_ + + Dickinson, J. C: 50, _footnote_, 296 + + Diplomacy: used to effect Indian alliance, 17; + and intrigue to effect Seminole removal from Florida, 20, _footnote_ + + District of Columbia: status of slavery in, 22 + + Disunion: Pike's poem on, 133 and _footnote_ + + Doaksville: 39, _footnote_; + Choctaw constitution, 51; + Council at, 77 + + Dole, William P: 56, _footnote_, 74, _footnote_, 75, 80, 231 and + _footnote_, 233, 241-242, 250, 266, 271, 273, 274 + + Dorn, Andrew J: 30, _footnote_; + takes charge of Neosho Agency, 35, _footnote_, 51; + absent from post, 82; + citizen of Arkansas, 82, _footnote_; + tells Neosho River Agency Indians to attend Tahlequah meeting, 241; + letter of, 295; + Rector complains of conduct of, 328 + + Dred Scott Decision: effect upon Indian interests, 29 + + Drew, John: 137, _footnote_, 214, _footnote_, 217, 226, 253, _footnote_, + 255 + + Drew, Thomas: work cited, 30, _footnote_; + issues permits to peddle in Indian country, 60 + + Drouth: 57, 146, 208 + + Du Val, Ben T: 104, _footnote_ + + Dwight: Cherokee school at, 39, _footnote_ + + + Echo Harjo: 58, _footnote_, 80, _footnote_, 192, 193, 243 + + Edwards, John: 78 + + Elder, Peter P: 81, _footnote_ + + Elk Horn Tavern: battle of, 138, _footnote_ + + Ellis, Jo: 244 + + Emigration: of Indians voluntary, 19, _footnote_ + + Emissaries: 83, 88, 89, _footnote_, 113 _et seq._, 114, _footnote_, 115, + _footnote_, 132, 142, 148, _footnote_, 183, 208, 210, _footnote_, + 218, _footnote_, 219, _footnote_, 242 + + Emory, William H: 96-102, 98, _footnotes_ + + Enlistment of Indians: Pike favors, 132; + McCulloch instructed to secure, 144, 147; + no intention of Confederacy to use as Home Guards exclusively, 148; + Pike objects to use outside of Indian country, 149; + Hyams urges, 155; + Chief Hudson authorizes, among Choctaws, 156; + Federal attitude towards, 227 _et seq._, + compulsory, illegal, 228, _footnote_; + Lane resolves upon, 229-230 and _footnotes_; + Fremont favors, 231-232; + Delaware chiefs oppose, 232; + Lane persists in urging, 248; + urged by Hunter, 250; + to be resorted to by Federals in invading Indian Territory, 270-271 + and _footnotes_, 272, _footnote_; + U. S. War Department reverses action respecting, 275, 279 and + _footnotes_; + Coffin's views on, 277, _footnote_; + muster roll showing, 344; + among Comanches abandoned, 350 + + Euchees: 52 + + + Factions: among Cherokees, 49-50, 151 _et seq._, 215, 223, 240; + among Creeks, 192-194, 254; + among Seminoles, 198-199; + among Comanches, 306 + + Fairfield: Cherokee school at, 39, _footnote_ + + Fall Leaf: 231, _footnote_, 232 and _footnotes_, 233, _footnote_ + + Farnsworth, H. W: 229, _footnote_, 272 + + Fayetteville: 67, _footnote_, 184, 310, 326 + + Female seminaries: Indian girls attend, 67, _footnote_ + + Finch, John: 30, _footnote_ + + Finley, C. A: 270 + + Fishback, William Meade: 104, _footnote_ + + Fleming, Walter L: work cited, 108, _footnote_ + + Floyd, John B: 53, 296 + + Folsom, George: 23, _footnote_ + + Folsom, Israel: 74 + + Folsom, Joseph P: 77 + + Folsom, Peter: 74, 76, 196 + + Folsom, Sampson: 41, _footnote_, 76, 196 + + Food: Indian refugees need, 260; + to destitute Delawares from Cherokee country, 268, _footnote_; + Creek refugees destitute of, 273, _footnote_, 278, _footnote_; + supposed fraudulent character of contract for supplying, 285-289; + Confederate contract with Charles B. Johnson for supplying, 301-303; + for Comanches, 313; + to be furnished Indians in council considering amendments to + treaties, 323; + receipt for, furnished, 345 + + Fort Arbuckle: 54, 87, _footnote_, 97, 135, _footnote_, 201, _footnote_, + 297, 303, 345, 357 + + Fort Belknap: 88, _footnote_ + + Fort Caleb: 295 + + Fort Cobb: 82, footnote, 84, _footnote_, 96, 97, 98 and _footnote_, 189, + _footnote_, 296, 332, 356 + + Fort Coffee Academy: 40, _footnote_ + + Fort Davis: 349 + + Fort Gibson: abandoned as military post, 53; + Major Emory and, 104; + distance from Fort Smith, 108; + Pike returns to, 137, _footnote_; + Armstrong to meet emigrating Creeks at, 193, _footnote_; + Cooper draws off in direction of, 256; + money at, 325 + + Fort Leavenworth: 88, _footnote_, 103, 208, _footnote_, 251, 259, 266, + 267, 270 + + Fort Lincoln: 229, _footnote_, 230, 243 + + Fort McCulloch: 139, _footnote_, 284 + + Fort Randall: 227, _footnote_ + + Fort Roe: 259 and _footnote_, 275, _footnote_, 277, _footnote_ + + Fort Scott: 249, _footnote_, 266 + + Fort Smith: headquarters of southern superintendency, 64; + evacuated, 76; + W. G. Coffin fails to reach, 81, _footnote_; + Emory reaches, 97; + Emory tarries at, 99; + hot-bed of sectionalism, 103; + distance from Fort Gibson, 108; + J. J. Gaines reaches, 113; + Pike proceeds to, 138, _footnote_; + McCulloch at, 150; + talk of confiscating Rector's property at, 182, _footnote_; + distance from Scullyville, 211; + fire at, 298 + + Fort Smith Council: 192, _footnote_, 226-227, 241 + + _Fort Smith Papers_: cited, 41, _footnote_, 43, _footnote_, 50, + _footnote_, 104, _footnote_, 197, _footnote_, 198, _footnote_, + 285-328 + + _Fort Smith Times_: cited, 47, _footnote_ + + Fort Sumter: 118 + + Fort Towson: 40, _footnote_ + + Fort Washita: 77, 91, 96, 189, _footnote_, 297, 303 + + Fort Wise: 210, _footnote_ + + Forty-niners: covet land in Indian country, 28 + + Frauds: William Walker, head chief of Wyandots, takes part in Kansas + election, 22, _footnote_ + + Frazier, Jackson: 41, footnote + + Free negroes: status among Creeks and Seminoles, 23, _footnote_; + among Choctaws, 24, _footnote_; + Leased District rendezvous for, 56-57 + + Free-soilers: 45, 46, 113 + + Free-state expansion: charge that Calhoun intended to prevent, 30 + + Free-state men: intrenched among Delawares north of Kansas River, 35 + + Fremont, John C: 214, _footnote_, 215, _footnote_, 231, 232, 233, + _footnote_, 248, 312 + + Frontier: action along Missouri-Arkansas in Civil War, 17; + character of men of, 114; + Indians exploited for sake of men of, 170; + trouble on, to be expected, 183, _footnote_ + + Frozen Rock: 53 + + Fugitive Slave Law: operative within Indian country, 22, 166, 178 + + + Gaines, J. J: 113, 115, _footnote_, 116 + + Gamble, James: 41, _footnote_, 54, _footnote_, 197, 312 + + Garland, Samuel: 74, 76 + + Garrett, William H: 58, _footnote_, 82, and _footnote_, 183, 184 192, + 194, 212, _footnote_, 324 + + Georgia: Creeks and Cherokees from, 20, 193, _footnote_; + D. E. Twiggs from, 87 + + Grayton: exodus from, 95 + + Green, J. J: 105, _footnote_ + + Greenwood, A. B: 36, _footnote_, 45, _footnote_, 46, 48, 113, 192, 209, + _footnote_, 291, 292, 294 + + "Grier letter": 29, _footnote_ + + Griffith, Samuel: 119, 182, _footnote_, 183-184 + + Grimes, Marshal: 56, _footnote_, 57, _footnote_, 98, _footnote_, 336, 337 + + + Hagerstown (Md.): Quantrill, native of, 48 + + Half-breeds: status of, 23, _footnote_; + generally slaveholders, 46; + influence sought in holding Indian country for South, 67; + planter class in Indian Territory, 67, 75; + white men and Choctaw, hold secession meeting, 77; + missionaries fear, 78; + hated by "loyal" Cherokees, 139, _footnote_; + attempt to force full-bloods into alliance with Confederacy, 216 + + Halleck, Henry W: 215, _footnote_, 275 + + Hamilton, Charles A: appointed commissioner, 88; + report, 91 + + Harris, C. A: 193, _footnote_ + + Harris, Cyrus: 41, _footnote_, 69, _footnote_, 80, _footnote_; + visited by commissioners from Texas, 91 + + Harris, Thomas A: 130 + + Harrison, James E: appointed commissioner, 88; + report, 91; + referred to by Governor Clark, 131, _footnote_ + + Helena (Ark.): 104 + + Hemphill, John: 100, _footnote_ + + Hester, G. B: 230, _footnote_ + + Hicks, Charles: 237, _footnote_ + + Hindman, Thomas C: 48, _footnote_, 105, _footnote_, 357 + + Hobbs, Reverend Doctor S. L: 79 + + Hotchkin, Ebenezer: 42, 76 + + Houston, Sam: 31, _footnote_, 90, 93 + + Howard, O. O: work cited, 220, _footnote_ + + Hubbard, David: 108; + letter to Governor Moore, 109-110; + nominated as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 128; + Pike hopes for cooperation, 141; + receives instructions from Walker, 142-143; + ill-health, 143, _footnote_; + writes to John Ross, 144-145; + reply of John Ross to, 146-147; + instructed not to offer statehood, 161; + advice to Crawford, 308; + advises economy, 315 + + Hudson, George: 77, 80, _footnote_; + declares Choctaw Nation "free and independent," 156; + dealings with Pike, 196; + proclamation, 196, 210 + + Humboldt: 243, _footnote_, 247 + + Humphreys, John J: 185, 218, _footnote_ + + Hunter, David: 248, 249, and _footnote_, 250, 251, 260, 266, 270, 275, + 276, 312 + + Hyams, S. M: 155 + + + Illinois: tribes from, 19 + + Indian adoption: 169 + + Indian camp: Lane plans establishment to prevent foraging into Kansas, + 230; + to be located in Cherokee Neutral Lands, 233; + Cooper reaches, 254 + + Indian country: west of Arkansas and Missouri, 19; + tribes within, indigenous and emigrant, 19 and _footnote_; + population, 20-21; + cut in two by Missouri Compromise line, 20; + reservation system established, 21; + listed with District of Columbia as strictly federal soil, 22; + Fugitive Slave Law declared operative within, 22; + presence of free negroes sometimes source of grave danger, 23, + _footnote_; + constantly beset by difficulties, 24, 27; + likely to be greatly reduced in area by Manypenny treaties, 35; + intruders attracted by supposed mines of precious metals, 35, + _footnote_; + rivalry among churches, 37; + intruders to be removed by Agent Cowart, 46; + practically no U. S. troops within, 52-53; + northern tribes of less importance politically than southern, 62, + _footnote_; + slaveholding politicians work through halfbreeds to hold for South, 67; + strategic importance of, appreciated by Arkansas, 108; + military necessity of securing, 131; + Pike describes sojourn in, 134 _et seq._, _footnote_; + McCulloch to give military protection to, 148; + McCulloch lays plans for taking possession of, 149; + establishment of Confederate States courts promised by treaty with + great tribes, 177; + postal system to be maintained throughout, 180; + U. S. War Department resolves upon expedition to, 270 + + Indian Home Guards: Pike in favor of Indians as, 132; + no evidence that Indians wanted exclusively as, 148; + individual Cherokees as, 149-151; + disposition to keep Indians as, 212; + Ross's plan defeated by McCulloch, 226-227; + authorized by Cherokee Executive National Council, 226; + Drew's regiment tendered to McCulloch, 227; + Drew's regiment escorts Pike to Park Hill, 240 + + Indian Intercourse Law: difficulty in enforcing, 24, _footnote_; + Greenwood's exposition of, 290; + Leeper asks for copy, 315; + Leeper reports troops necessary to enforce law within Leased District, + 346 + + Indian Property Rights: put in jeopardy by pioneer advance, 28; + in trans-Missouri region, 29; + rendered secure by treaty promises, chap. iii + + Indian Removal: policy, 19, _footnote_; + law for, 19, _footnote_; + indemnification for, 164-166 + + Indian States in Union: suggested by southern politicians, 31; + suggested by Texas newspapers, 31, _footnote_; + Confederacy promises to Choctaws, 78; + no assurance of, to be given by Hubbard, 143; + promised in treaties made by Confederacy, 160 and _footnote_, 161; + Davis calls attention to clauses in Indian treaties providing for, 203; + Provisional Congress modifies treaty guarantee for, 204 + + Indian Territory: small tribes find their way to, 19, _footnote_; + annexed for judicial purposes to Western District of Arkansas, 23, + _footnote_; + in danger of being abolitionized,41-42; + only home for Indians from Kansas, 36; + drouth in, 58; + political status of tribes in, 62, _footnote_; + position with respect to Texas and Arkansas, 63; + topographical description of, 63; + early interest of Texas and Arkansas in, 67; + halfbreeds of, a planter class, 67, 75; + Knights of Golden Circle active in, 68; + Indians to be driven out of, 76; + cut off from communication with U. S. Indian Office, 81, _footnote_; + agents within, all southern men, 82; + Commissioner Dole urges reoccupation of, 241; + strategical importance of, 242; + included within Trans-Mississippi District of Department No. 2, 280 + + Indian trade: licenses for, 59-60; + regulations respecting, 169-171 + + Indiana: tribes from, 19; + W. G. Coffin from, 80 + + Indians: lands granted in perpetuity, 18; + participation in American Civil War inevitable, 18; + as emigrants, 19; + number of colonized, 20-21; + proportion of southern to northern, 21; + slaves enticed away by abolitionists, 23; + seized as fugitives by southern men, 23; + interests militated indirectly against by Dred Scott decision, 29; + territorial form of government for, 30, _footnote_, 31, _footnote_; + treaty rights likely to be seriously affected by repeal of Missouri + Compromise, 34; + plan for colonizing Texas, 52, 55; + Knights of Golden Circle active among, 68; + condition of, reported by Texas commissioners, 94; + Choctaw and Chickasaw friendly to Confederate States, 100, _footnote_; + enlistment, 132, 147-149, 155, 181, _footnote_, 207, 210, 211-212, + 227, _footnote_, 248, 250, 252, _footnote_, 270, 275, 279; + treaties with Confederate States, 157-158, 202-206; + judicial rights under treaties with Confederate States, 172-174; + military support secured early by Confederacy, 207; + use of, by U. S. as soldiers uncertain, 227 _et seq._; + not subject to conscription, 228, _footnote_; + reported arming themselves on southern border of Kansas, 228, + _footnote_; + conference with Lane at Fort Lincoln, 230; + totally abandoned by U. S. government, 262, _footnote_; + see also under names of individual nations and tribes + + Interior Department: 53, 80, 218, _footnote_, 242, 265, 273 + + Interlopers: encourage slavery within Indian country, 22; + see also _Intruders_ + + Inter-tribal Conference: documents relating to, called by the + Chickasaws, 68, _footnote_; + assembling of, at Creek Agency, 70; + attendance, 71; + action, 71-72; + action not officially reported to U. S. government, 82; + Motey Kennard and Echo Harjo in Washington at time, was planned, 192; + Indians solicit, 209, _footnote_; + Lane arranges for, to meet at Fort Lincoln, 243, 246; + Coffin desires, at Humboldt, 247; + plans for, at Leroy, 248; + Hunter instructed to hold, 250; + difference between, as planned by Lane and by Hunter, 250, _footnote_; + John T. Cox gives account of, 262, _footnote_ + + Interview: of Pike and McCulloch with Cherokee Confederate sympathizers, + 135, _footnote_, 152; + of Lane with representatives of various tribes at Fort Lincoln + proposed, 243, 246; + of Coffin with Carruth, 243, _footnote_; + of Carruth with Creek delegation, 245 + + Intrigue: and diplomacy to effect Seminole removal from Florida, 20, + _footnote_; + Pike expected to succeed in, with Southern Indians, 86, _footnote_ + + Intruders: to be removed by Agent Cowart, 46; + interfere with slavery, 47; + Confederate military authority to supplement tribal in expulsion of, + 169; + Agent Butler's reports, 285; + Greenwood discusses matter with Rector, 290-291; + Cowart reports progress in removal of, 295, 296, 297; + Cowart gives notice to John B. Jones to leave Cherokee Nation, 296; + see also _Interlopers_ + + Iowas: 189, _footnote_ + + Irish, O. H: 227, _footnote_ + + Iyanubbi: Choctaw school at, 39, _footnote_ + + + Jackson, Andrew: 19; + inducements offered to Indians, 58; + procedure of, 72; + opposed to political tenets of John C. Calhoun, 133 + + Jayhawking: of Lane's brigade, 233, 234, 277 + + Jennison, C. R: 275, _footnote_ + + Jesup, Thomas S: 164, _footnote_, 165 + + Jim Ned: 306, 330, 341 + + Jim Pockmark: 306, 338 + + John Chupco: 198, _footnote_, 199 + + John Jumper: and Seminole removal, 20, _footnote_; + favors boarding schools for youth of tribe, 40, _footnote_; + approached by Albert Pike, 85, _footnote_, 197, _footnote_, 198, + _footnote_; + signs complaint against General Jesup, 164, _footnote_; + signs treaty with Confederate States, 198; + signature attached to Comanche treaties, 200, _footnote_; + doing duty faithfully, 319; + letter to, 337 + + Johnson, Charles, B: 56, _footnote_, 98, _footnote_, 105, footnote, 190, + _footnote_, 199, 287, 289, 301, 314, 323, 332, 352 + + Johnson, F: 231, footnote, 232, 248, and _footnote_, 329, _footnote_ + + Johnson, James B: 105, _footnote_ + + Johnson, Richard H: 47, _footnote_, 105, _footnote_ + + Johnson, Robert W: 31, _footnote_, 47, _footnote_, 105, _footnote_, 127; + correspondence with Albert Pike, 131, 132; + motion, 204; + Crawford serves by request, 308; + elected senator, 334 + + Johnson, Thomas: slavery-propagation work among Indians, 22, _footnote_, + 39 + + Johnson, W. Warren: 303 + + Johnson: exodus from, 95 + + Jones, Evan: 47, 93, 135, _footnote_, 217, 218, _footnote_, 236, 240, + _footnote_, 292, 293 + + Jones, H. P: 199, 348, 350 + + Jones, John: 309 + + Jones, John B: 47, 269, _footnote_, 296 + + Jones, R. M: 75, 77, 79, 197, 344-345 + + Journeycake, Charles: 231, _footnote_, 268, _footnote_ + + Jumper, John: see _John Jumper_ + + + Ka-hi-ke-tung-ka: 238, _footnote_ + + Kannady, J. R: 125 + + Kansa: indigenous to Kansas, 19; + suffering of, 209, _footnote_ + + Kansas: Indian tribes in, 19; + agitation for the opening up of, 28; + compared with Choctaw country, 31, _footnote_; + suggested organization causes excitement among Indians, 33-34; + citizens encroach upon Cherokee Neutral Lands, 46; + drouth in, 58; + political status of tribes in, 62, _footnote_; + and Cherokee Outlet, 64; + Elder, citizen of, 186; + Pike desires to raise Indian battalion, 207; + Indians wish to fight, 227, _footnote_ + + Kansas Historical Society: _Collections_, 19, _footnote_, 34, _footnote_ + + Kansas-Nebraska Bill: effect upon Indian interests, 29, 35; + settlers demand Indians to vacate territory covered by, 36; + Seward's speech on, 58-59 + + Kansas Territory: first districting illegally included Indian lands, 35; + free-state settlers charge Buchanan government with bad faith, 37 + + Kappler, C. J: work cited, 20, _footnote_, 34, _footnote_, 49, + _footnote_, 50, _footnote_, 52, _footnote_ + + Kaskaskias: from Illinois, 19 + + Keitt, Lawrence M: 127, 129 + + Kennedy, John C: 211, _footnote_ + + Kickapoos: from Indiana, 19; + tarry in Missouri, 19, _footnote_; + denominationalism among, 37, _footnote_; + refugees, 56, _footnote_; + Leeper to communicate with, in name of Albert Pike, 181, _footnote_; + Pike hopes to meet, 189, _footnote_ + + Kile, William: 261, _footnote_, 274 + + Kingsbury, Rev. Cyrus: 40, and _footnote_, 43, _footnote_, 76 + + Kingsbury Jr., Cyrus: 79 + + Kiowas: 52; + Texans reported tampering with, 210, _footnote_; + messengers from, 309; + talk for, 320; + treaty with, to be effected, 323, 331; + delegation of, 324; + Big-head, chief of, 342; + Lone Wolf, chief of, 350; + E-sa-sem-mus, chief of, 350; + annual festival of, 351; + treaty with, 354 + + Knights of Golden Circle: probable influence with Arkansas Legislature, + 68, _footnote_; + evidence of activity among Indians, 68; + halfbreeds belong to, 86, _footnote_ + + Koonsha Female Seminary: 40, _footnote_ + + + Lands: plot to dispossess Indian of, 18; + pledged by U. S. government as Indian possession in perpetuity, 18, 28; + of Cherokees extended north of thirty-seventh parallel, 21; + of Indians coveted by Forty-niners, 28; + of Indians in Kansas excluded from local governmental control, 35; + allotment in severalty proposed to Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, 58; + violation of treaties to cost Indians their, 86, _footnote_; + property rights of Indians guaranteed by Confederacy, 161 _et seq._; + Indians to have right to dispose of by will, 172; + Cherokee halfbreeds fear designs upon Indian, 216 + + Lane, James H: 125, 229, 231, _footnote_, 233, 242, 251 and _footnote_, + 265, 270, 276, 278 + + Lane, W. P: 357 + + Laughinghouse, G. W: 120 + + Leased District: 52 and _footnote_, 54, 56, 57, _footnote_, 63, 67, 96, + 179, 199, 297, 340, 349 + + Lee, Robert E: 88, _footnote_, 98, _footnote_, 99 + + Lee, S. Orlando: letter, 75-79, 197, _footnote_ + + Leeper, Matthew: 57 and _footnote_, 82 and _footnote_, 96, 98 and + _footnote_, 99, 180, _footnote_, 199, _footnote_, 303, 304-307, + 311, 315-319; + removal of, asked for by Rector, 323; + death of, 329, _footnote_; + charges against, 333 + + _Leeper Papers_: cited, 57, _footnote_, 99, _footnote_, 102, _footnote_, + 181, _footnote_, 186, _footnote_, 199, _footnote_, 200, + _footnote_, 201, _footnote_, 329-357 + + Lee's Creek: Cherokee school at, 39, _footnote_ + + Lefontaine, Louis: 208, _footnote_ + + Leroy: 248, 266 + + Lincoln, Abraham: 68, 76, 80, 86, _footnote_, 93, 95, 118, 122, + _footnote_, 182, 185, 234 and _footnote_, 250, 265, _footnote_, + 266, 274, 276, 278 + + Little Captain: 277, _footnote_ + + Little Rock: 103, 108, 190, _footnote_ + + London, John T: 104, _footnote_ + + Long John: 198, _footnote_ + + Love, Overton: 23, _footnote_ + + Lower Creeks: 50, 80, _footnote_, 192, 244 + + Lowrie, Walter: 75 + + "Loyal Creeks": 192, _footnote_, 193, 194, _footnote_, 195, 199, + 243-246, 250, 254, 259; + sufferings, 260; + measures for relief of, 260 _et seq._, 272; + annuities of "hostiles" to be applied to relief of, 274 + + Luce, John B: 125, 282, _footnote_ + + + McCarron, Thomas: 311 + + McClellan, George B: 265, _footnote_, 275, 276 + + McCulloch, Ben: 85, _footnote_, 120, 135, _footnote_, 141, 143-144; + letter of Hubbard to, 144-145; + attempt to secure Cherokee help, 149-153; + communication with John Ross, 149; + reply of John Ross to, 150; + correspondence with Secretary Walker, 151, and _footnote_; + reports Choctaws and Chickasaws as anxious to join Confederacy, 155; + accompanies Albert Pike, 189, _footnote_; + gives authority for calling out six hundred rangers from Fort Cobb, + 198, _footnote_; + objects to appointment of Garrett as colonel of Creek regiment, 212, + _footnote_; + acts under direct orders from Richmond, 225; + promises to protect Cherokee borders, 227; + orders Stand Watie to take up position in Cherokee Neutral Lands, 252, + _footnote_; + goes to Richmond, 257, _footnote_ + + McCulloch, Henry E: 99, _footnote_, 207 + + McCulloch, Thomas C: 210, _footnote_ + + McDaniel, James: 262, _footnote_, 268, and _footnote_ + + Machinations: secessionist sympathy of Indians not due to, of agents and + others, 219, _footnote_ + + McIntosh, Chilly: 92, 140, _footnote_, 193, and _footnote_, 200, + _footnote_ + + McIntosh, D. N: 92 + + McIntosh, James: 256 _et seq._ + + McIntosh, Rolly: 193, _footnote_ + + McIntosh, William: 191, _footnote_, 193, _footnote_; + attempts to bribe John Ross, 236, _footnote_ + + McRae, John J: presents petition for removal of Choctaws, 20, _footnote_ + + McWillie, M. H: 207, _footnote_ + + Mails: insecurity, 116; + none in Indian country, 190, _footnote_; + irregularity, 230, 252, _footnote_; + must be provided for in Leased District, 309; + Rector has no authority to establish, 332 + + Malfeasance: Rev. Thomas Johnson suspected of, 39, 41; + few Indian Office officials free from, 56, _footnote_; + Washburn implicated in, 85, _footnote_; + Indian agents guilty of, 262, _footnote_ + + Manassas Junction: battle of, 216 + + Mandan: suggested territory of, 32, _footnote_ + + Manypenny, George W: 30, _footnote_; + Indian treaties made by, 33, _footnote_, 35; + promises to look into expediency of Comanche removal, 51, _footnote_; + suggests giving Indians control of trade, 170 + + Marcy, William L: 165, _footnote_ + + Marshall, F. J: 207 + + Marysville: 207 + + Mass-meeting: of Cherokees at Tahlequah, 217 _et seq._, 226, 234 + + Mathews, John: 235, _footnote_, 239 + + Mayers, Abram G: 56, _footnote_, 197, _footnote_, 230, _footnote_, 287, + 288, 289, 312 + + Mayes, Joel: 214, _footnote_ + + Medicines: Texans seize, 305, 308; + Leeper's requisition can not be honored, 330-331 + + Memphis (Tenn.): 97, 104, 134, _footnote_ + + Methodist Episcopal Church South: 37, _footnote_, 38, 40, _footnote_ + + Methodists: 38 + + Mexican War: effect upon Indian interests, 28; + service of Pike in, 132 + + Miamies: from Indiana, 19; + charges against Agent Clover, 209, _footnote_ + + Michigan: tribes from, 19 + + Mikko Hutke: 194, 244 + + Military Board of Arkansas: 190 + + Minnesota: territory of Decotah to be carved out of, 31, _footnote_ + + Mission: of Pike, 134 _et seq._; + of Hubbard, 143 _et seq._; + of Carruth, 242, 246-247 + + Missionaries: encourage slavery within Indian country, 22; + among Indians, 39 _et seq._; + suspected of attempting to abolitionize Indian country, 41; + charged with inciting to murder, 47; + search organization among Cherokees due to, 48 + + _Missionary Herald_: cited, 40, _footnote_, 41, footnote + + Missions: 39 _et seq._, 143 + + Mississippi: Choctaws and Chickasaws from, 20; + Choctaws in, fight on side of South, 20, _footnote_; + Cooper, citizen of, 41 + + Mississippi River: 17, 63 + + Missouri: Kickapoos, Shawnees, and Delawares tarry in, 19, _footnote_; + interests herself in Indian alliance, 83 + + Missouri Compromise: line approximately boundary between northern and + southern Indian immigrants, 21; + encroachment upon northern rights under, 22; + as affected by Kansas-Nebraska bill, 30 + + Mitchell, Charles B: 97, 98, 334 + + Montgomery: 76, 87, _footnote_, 94, 109, 192, 196, 297 + + Moore, Andrew B: 108 + + Moore, Frank: work cited, 45, _footnote_, 125, _footnote_, 227, + _footnote_ + + Moore, Thomas O: 155, 192, _footnote_ + + Moo-sho-le-tubbee: district of, 34, _footnote_ + + Moravians: 38 + + Morton, Jackson: 127 + + Motey Kennard: 58, _footnote_, 80, _footnote_, 92, 94, 119, 191, and + _footnote_, 193, 199, 200, _footnote_, 218, _footnote_, 243, 337 + + Mound City: 230, _footnote_ + + Munsees: from Ohio, 19; + Moravians among, 38 + + Murphy, J: 119 + + Mus-co-kee: territory of suggested, 31, _footnote_ + + + Navajoe: suggested territory of, 32, _footnote_ + + Ne-a-math-la: 193, _footnote_ + + Nebraska: indigenous tribes in, 19, _footnote_; + agitation for opening up of, 28; + drouth in, 57 + + Ne-con-he-con: 268, _footnote_ + + Negroes: Choctaws charged with mixing with, 20, _footnote_; + Creeks almost completely mixed with, 22, _footnote_; + Creeks possess no aversion to race mixture, 23, _footnote_; + no rights that white men are bound to respect, 29; + Quantrill plans to rescue, 48; + Indians agree to return fugitive, 166, _footnote_; + six hundred, seized by Kansans, 334 + + Neighbors, Robert S: 56, _footnote_ + + Neosho: suggested territory of, 31, _footnote_ + + Neosho River: 208, 277, _footnote_ + + Neosho River Agency: 30, _footnote_; + invaded, 35, _footnote_; + Elder put in charge of, 186; + Indians of, at Fort Smith Council, 241 + + Neutrality: McCulloch agrees to respect Cherokee, 136, _footnote_; + of Indians scarcely possible, 145; + Chief Ross gives reasons for preserving, 147, 150; + Chief Ross objects to violation of, 150; + majority of Cherokees favor, 153; + Chief Ross's Proclamation of, 153-154; + discussion in Cherokee meeting at Tahlequah, 220 _et seq._; + McCulloch orders Stand Watie's men not to interfere with Cherokee, 227 + + New Hope Academy: 40, _footnote_ + + _New Orleans Picayune_: 32, _footnote_ + + Newspapers: 47, 75, 80, _footnote_ + + New York Indians: from Wisconsin, 19; + reservation invaded, 35; + members of Neosha River Agency, 51; + Refugees camp upon lands of, 260 + + North Carolina: Cherokees fight on side of South, 20, _footnote_ + + North Fork Village: 92, 94, 95, 157, 188, 192 + + North Fork of Canadian: 67, 136, _footnote_, 189, _footnote_, 254 + + Northern Baptists: 38, 39 + + Northern Indians: colonized within limits of great American desert, 18; + relative position of, 21; + Pike hoped to exert influence over, 208; + reported organized into spy companies by Federals, 306 + + + Oak Hills, or Wilson's Creek: battle of, 215, 216, 225, 257, _footnote_ + + Ochiltree, William B: 129 + + Office of Indian Affairs: plans for removal of Catawbas from Carolinas, + 20, _footnote_; + takes measures for removal of Seminoles from Florida, 20, _footnote_; + refuses to remove Choctaws from Mississippi, 20, _footnote_; + unable to execute plan for removal of Texas Indians before 1859, 52; + reply of Creeks to proposals, 58; + patronage of, 59; + out of communication with Indian Territory, 81, _footnote_; + complaint filed at, 96; + in possession of documents incriminating D. H. Cooper, 186; + discontinues Indian allowances, 192; + supports War Department, 271 + + Ogden, John B: 89, _footnote_, 108, _footnote_, 115, _footnote_ + + Ohio: people of, desire information about Manypenny treaties, 33, + _footnote_ + + Okanagan: suggested territory of, 32, _footnote_ + + Ok-ta-ha-hassee Harjo [Sands]: 194, 244, and _footnote_ + + Old Choctaw Agency: 211, _footnote_ + + Oldham, W. S: 100, _footnote_ + + _Old Scottish Gentleman_: 107 and _footnote_ + + Old Settlers Party: 49 + + Omaha Mission School: youths from, enlist in army, 227, _footnote_ + + Omahas: 227, _footnote_ + + Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la: 138, _footnote_, 193 and _footnote_, 194, 195, + _footnote_, 198, _footnote_, 236, _footnote_, 243, 253, + _footnote_, 254 _et seq._, 268, 278 + + Oregon: occupied, 28 + + Osage Manual Labor School: 38, _footnote_ + + Osage Mission: 182, _footnote_ + + Osage River Agency: 208, _footnote_ + + Osage Treaty: 157 and _footnote_; + lands, in Kansas guaranteed by, 162; + model on subject of rendition of slaves, 167; + navigable waters, 175; + negotiated, 237 + + Osages: indigenous to Kansas, 19; + Great and Little, 20, _footnote_; + reservation invaded, 35, 295; + determined to resist removal, 36; + Roman Catholicism among, 38 members of Neosho River Agency, 51; + negotiations with Pike, 137, _footnote_; + described as "lazy," 208, _footnote_; + letter to, from John Ross, 235, 236, _footnote_; + bands of, 237 + + Otis, Elmer: 210, _footnote_ + + Otoes: 209, _footnote_ + + Ottawas: from Michigan, 19; + regard removal as useless, 36, _footnote_; + Baptists among, 38 + + Ozark Mountains: 19, _footnote_ + + + Pacific Railroad Surveys: cited, 54, _footnote_ + + Pa-hiu-ska: 238, _footnote_ + + Panola: county of, 68, _footnote_ + + Pape, Henry: 182, _footnote_ + + Park Hill: Cherokee school at, 39, _footnote_; + residence of John Ross, 135, _footnote_, 188, footnote; + John Ross at, 150; + W. S. Robertson retires to, 218, _footnote_; + Pike invited to, 234; + treaties negotiated at, 237 + + Parker, Eli S: 228, _footnote_ + + Parker, Thomas Valentine: work cited, 49, _footnote_ + + Parks, Robert W: 355 + + Pas-co-fa: 198 and _footnote_, 319 + + Pawnees: purchase from, 33, _footnote_; + offer to enlist in U. S. army declined, 227, _footnote_ + + Pea Ridge: battle of, 138, _footnote_, 284 + + Pearce, N. Bart: 120, 131 + + Pegg, Major: 256, 257 + + Peoria, Baptiste: 235, _footnote_ + + Peorias: from Illinois, 19 + + Petition: of Representative John J. McRae, 20, _footnote_ + + Phelps, J. S: 81, _footnote_; 211, _footnote_, 240, _footnote_ + + Phillips, U. B: work cited, 134, _footnote_, 191, _footnote_ + + Piankeshaws: from Illinois, 19 + + Pickens: county of, 68, _footnote_ + + Pierce, Franklin: 41, _footnote_, 56, _footnote_ + + Pike, Albert: dislike of Van Dorn, 55, _footnote_; + concerned with Choctaw Corn Contract, 57, _footnote_; + and Choctaw commissioners, 78; + writes to Seminole chief, 84, _footnote_; + telegram, 105, _footnote_; + poem in honor of Elias Rector, 106; + correspondence with Robert Toombs, 129, 131, 134 and _footnote_, 152 + and _footnote_; + appointed by President Davis special commissioner to Indians west of + Arkansas, 130; + correspondence with R. W. Johnson, 131, 132; + writings, 132, _footnote_, 133 and _footnote_; + unjust to John Ross, 134, _footnote_; + commissioner from Arkansas, 190-191; + views on use of Indians as soldiers, 149; + continues intercourse with Ridge Party, 156 and _footnote_; + moderate in promises to strong tribes, 163; + assumes financial obligations in name of Confederacy, 163-164; + opens communication with Indian field service, 180-181; + offers post to Leeper, 180, _footnote_; + negotiates with Creeks, 192-195; + negotiates with Choctaws and Chickasaws, 196-197; + negotiates with Seminoles, 197-199; + negotiates with western Indians, 200-202, 200, _footnote_; + report submitted by President Davis to Provisional Congress, 202; + invited to be present at consideration of Indian treaties, 205; + desires to raise an Indian battalion from Kansas, 208; + informed of Cherokee willingness to treat, 234; + assigned to command of Indian Territory, 253-254, 322; + Van Dorn's plans for, 280, 283; + retires to Fort McCulloch, 284; + continues Charles B. Johnson as contractor, 301-303; + receives Leeper's apology, 356 + + Pike, W. L: 194 + + Pine Ridge: 43, _footnote_ + + Pins: 86, _footnote_, 135, _footnote_, 137, _footnote_, 138, _footnote_, + 216 + + Pioneers: 18, _footnote_ + + Pitchlynn, P. P: 74, 77 + + Pitchlynn, W. B: 197 + + Policy: of U. S. government with respect to Indians, 18; + of Confederate States government, 147 + + Politicians: as influencing Indian policy of government, 18, _footnote_; + motives of, 21; + demands of, for Indians, 31; + reason for urging secession among Indians, 98, _footnote_; + unjust charges against Ross, 150 + + Polk, James K: work cited, 49, _footnote_, 166, _footnote_ + + Pomeroy, Samuel C: 231, _footnote_ + + Pontotoc: county of, 68, _footnote_ + + Pope, John: 105, _footnote_ + + Population: of Indian country, 20-21; + of southern superintendency, 211, _footnote_; + of Creek Nation as estimated by Agent Garrett in report to Hubbard, + 252-253, _footnote_ + + Postal system: to be maintained by Confederate States throughout Indian + country, 180 + + Potawatomies: from Indiana, 19; + Roman Catholicism among, 38; + Southern Baptists among, 38 + + Poteau River: 108 + + Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions: 37, _footnote_, 40, _footnote_, + 41, 79 + + Presbyterians (Old School): 38, _footnote_, 39, 40, _footnote_, 41 + + Price, Sterling: 138, _footnote_, 225, 257, _footnote_, 280, 283, 312, + 326, 334 + + Prince, J. E: 98, _footnote_, 231, _footnote_ + + Proclamation: of Ross pledging Cherokee neutrality, 153-154; + of Hudson announcing Choctaw independence, 196, 210 + + Pro-slavery men: intrenched among Shawnees south of Kansas River, 35; + settled upon Cherokee Neutral Lands, 35, _footnote_ + + Protectorate: over Indian tribes suggested, 130, 142, 158, 190 + + Provisional Congress of Confederate States: act of, May 21, 1861, 130, + 158 and _footnote_; + considers treaties with Indian tribes, 202-206 + + Pulliam, Richard P: 183, _footnote_, 184, 294, 295, 297, 311, 324 + + Pushmataha: George Folsom, chief of district of, 23, _footnote_; + District of, 34, _footnote_ + + + Quakers: 39 + + Quantrill, Wm. Clarke: 48, 214, _footnote_ + + Quapaw Treaty: 157 and _footnote_ + + Quapaws: 51, 64, 67; + in council with Creeks, Cherokees, Seminoles, and Sacs, 94; + negotiations with Pike, 136, _footnote_, 235, _footnote_, 237 + + Quesenbury, William: 183, _footnote_, 184, 190, _footnote_, 194, 303, 323 + + + Ray, P. Orman: work cited, 22, _footnote_, 34, _footnote_, 38, _footnote_ + + Reagan, J. H: 230, _footnote_ + + Rector, Elias: superintends removal of Seminoles, 20, _footnote_, 182, + _footnote_; + demands for Indians, 31, _footnote_; + Cooper writes to, 42; + urges that Frozen Rock be converted into military post, 53; + enters into sort of private contract with Johnson and Grimes, 56 and + _footnote_; + Grimes and, 57, _footnote_, 285-289; + relieved, 80, _footnote_; + seconds efforts of cousin, 106; + suggestion to Cooper, 106-107, _footnote_, 187; + gives letter of introduction to Gaines, 113; + gives information concerning Choctaws and Chickasaws, 120; + attempt of U. S. government to find successor to, 182; + uncertainty as to when entering Confederate service, 182, _footnote_; + interview with Pike, 190, _footnote_; + in company of Pike, 197, 198, _footnote_; + writes to Leeper, 199, _footnote_; + expense account of, 304; + complaint against Pike, 328 + + Rector, Henry M: 102, 112 + + Red Fork of Canadian: 67, 255 + + Red River: 55, 63, 77, 91, 95, 100 and _footnote_, 108, 139, _footnote_, + 175, 347, 349 + + Refugees: Opoethleyohola, leader of, 195; + Coffin prepares to meet, 259; + take up station between Verdigris and Arkansas Rivers, 259; + approximate number of, 260 and _footnote_; + sufferings of, 260-261 and _footnotes_, 265, _footnote_, 272; + absolute destitution of, 273, _footnote_; + Dole furnishes supplies to, 274; + joint resolution for relief of, 274; + annuities of hostile Indians to be diverted to relief of, 274 and + _footnote_ + + Regiment: Colonel Cooper's filled with Texans, 78; + Choctaw-Chickasaw and Creek, 210-211; + Creek, to elect its own officers, 213; + Drew's, organized, 226-227; + work and character of Drew's, 240 and _footnote_; + of Choctaw-Chickasaw Mounted Rifles, of Creeks, and of Cherokee + Mounted Rifles, 252, _footnote_, 262, _footnote_; + Drew's deserts Cooper, 256; + only one white, in whole Indian Department, 280; + Leeper asks for at least one, to keep order on Reserve, 349 + + Reid, Alexander: 76, 78 + + Removal: of Indiana more or less compulsory, 19 and _footnote_; + slavery advanced as objection to Indian, 21-22; + makes no difference in matter of slavery among Indians, 22; + difficulties within Indian country incident to, 27; + Calhoun's plan for, 27; + U. S. government slow to adopt policy of, 27-28; + settlers demand, of Indians from Kansas, 36; + certain tribes contemplating, 36, _footnote_; + of Indians from Kansas delayed on account of Civil War, 37; + _Missionary Herald_ useful for history of, 40, _footnote_; + reasons for, 48; + project for, of Cherokees causes dissensions within tribes, 49; + of Texas Indians, 52; + Wichitas ask for immediate, 56; + guarantee of territorial integrity in treaties arranging for, 160-161; + indemnification for, 164-166; + Choctaw claims under treaty of, 196 + + Reservation: system, introduced into trans-Missouri region, 21; + Creeks disgusted with idea of individual, 58 + + Reserve Indians: see _Indians of Leased District_, _Wichitas_, + _Tonkawas_, _Euchees_, etc. + + Resolutions: of Choctaws, February 7, 1861, 72-74, 75; + of Chickasaw Legislature, May 25, 1861, 122-124 and _footnote_; + offered by Chilton of Alabama, 127; + offered by Toombs for appointment of special agent to Indian tribes, + 129; + of Choctaws and Chickasaws showing friendly disposition towards South, + 130 and _footnote_; + passed at Cherokee mass-meeting at Tahlequah, August, 1861, 218, + _footnote_, 223-225; + joint, for relief of Indian refugees in Kansas, 274 + + Rhodes, J. F: work cited, 45, _footnote_, 129, _footnote_, 146, + _footnote_ + + Richardson, James D: work cited, 129, _footnote_, 158, _footnote_, 202, + _footnote_ + + Ridge, John: 47, _footnote_ + + Ridge, or Treaty Party: in favor of Cherokee removal, 49; + connives with Ben McCulloch to circumvent wishes of Chief Ross, 151; + minority party, 153; + Pike's intercourse with, continues, 156; + attempts to develop public sentiment in favor of Confederacy, 215; + collision with Ross faction, 240 + + Robertson, W. S: 101, _footnote_, 192, _footnote_, 218, _footnote_ + + Robinson, Charles: 228, 234 + + Rock-a-to-wa: 231, _footnote_ + + Rogers, H. L: 332, 333, 336, 337 + + Rolla: W. S. Robertson fleeing from Indian country, reaches, 218, + _footnote_ + + Roman Catholics: 38, _footnote_ + + Ross, John: correspondence, 69, _footnote_, uncle of Wm. P. Ross, 71; + instructions of, 71, _footnote_; + influence, 72; + character, 72, _footnote_; + letter of Dole to, 80, _footnote_; + no one firmer friend to Union than, 86, _footnote_; + correspondence with John B. Ogden, 89, _footnote_, 115, _footnote_; + called upon by commissioners from Texas, 93; + letter from Governor Rector, 112; + letter to Rector, 117; + letter from citizens of Boonsboro, 111, _footnote_, 124; + J. R. Kannady communicates with, 125; + issues proclamation of neutrality, 125, 153-154; + Albert Pike unjust to, 134, _footnote_; + letter of Hubbard to, 144-145; + reply to Hubbard, 146-147; + correspondence with Ben McCulloch, 149-151; + sincerity possibly doubted, 168; + declared shrewd, 189, _footnote_; + Ridge Party attempts to undermine popularity, 215; + attends meeting of Cherokee Executive Council, 217; + address, 220, 223; + suspected of not acting in good faith, 226; + notifies Pike of Cherokee willingness to treat, 234; + communicates with Creeks and Osages, 235; + called upon to rally Cherokees, 256 + + Ross, Lewis: 138, _footnote_ + + Ross, Mrs. John: 220, _footnote_ + + Ross, Mrs. William P: work cited, 71, _footnote_ + + Ross, William P: 71, 89, _footnote_, 116, _footnote_, 137, _footnote_, + 139, _footnote_, 217, 223 + + Ross, W. W: 210, _footnote_ + + Ross Party: opposed to removal, 49; + majority party, 153 + + Round Mountain: 255 + + Route: of Opoethleyohola's retreat, 261-262 and _footnote_ + + Rust, Albert: 105, _footnote_ + + Rutherford, A. H: 30, _footnote_, 190, _footnote_ + + Rutherford, Samuel M: 86, _footnote_, 183, 199 and _footnote_, 319 + + + Sackett, Major: 98, _footnote_ + + Sacs and Foxes: of Missouri, 36, _footnote_ + + San Antonio: 52, _footnote_ + + Sands: see _Ok-ta-ha-hassee Harjo_ + + Schoenmaker, John: 182, _footnote_ + + Scott, S. S: 198, _footnote_, 201, _footnote_, 314, 321 + + Scott, Winfield: 88, _footnote_, 97, 249 + + _Scottish Songs_: work cited, 108, _footnote_ + + _Screw Fly_: work cited, 56, _footnote_ + + Scullyville: Choctaw constitution of, 51; + Creek regiment forming at, 211 + + Sebastian, William K: 106, _footnote_, 287 + + Secession: meeting held by white men and Choctaw half-bloods, 77; + Presbyterian ordained missionaries favor, 79; + Indian country threatened by advocates for, 80; + Indian agents active for, 82-83 and _footnote_; + mercenary motives in urging, 98, _footnote_; + sentiment in Arkansas, 103 _et seq._; + Pike offers arguments for, 133; + secret organization of "Pins," 135, _footnote_; + Stand Watie's party afraid to raise flag of, 140, _footnote_; + large element within Cherokee Nation favors, 153; + Griffith appointed commissioner to interview Indians in interests of, + 184; + Indian opponents absent from Pike's meeting at North Fork Village, 192; + Jones most prominent of Choctaw advocates, 197; + traces of influence of, 208; + August mass-meeting of Cherokees ending in, 217 + + Second Seminole War: 20, _footnote_, 23, _footnote_, 164, _footnote_, + 164-166 + + Secret Society: purpose of organization, 32, _footnote_; + in Missouri, 35, _footnote_; + among full-blooded Cherokees, 48; + "the Pins," 86, _footnote_, 135, _footnote_, 216; + among Cherokees for abolition purposes, 291, 293; + Greenwood orders its dissolution, 292; + Cowart's views upon schemes of, 294 + + Sells, Elijah: 186, _footnote_ + + Seminole Treaty: 157 and _footnote_; + declares allegiance to C. S. A., 159, _footnote_; + contains guarantee of autonomy, 159, _footnote_; + contains promise of representation in Congress, 159, _footnote_; + negotiated, 197-199, 197, _footnote_; + considered by Provisional Congress, 206 + + Seminoles: from Florida, 20; + removal in late fifties, 20, _footnote_; + status of free negro among, 40; + Presbyterians among, 40; + manifest only slight interest in education, 40, _footnote_; + given home in Creek country, 50; + destitute, 57, _footnote_; + representatives at inter-tribal conference, 71; + letter to chief of, 80, _footnote_; + condition reported by Carruth, 84, _footnote_; + in council with Creeks, Cherokees, Quapaws, and Sacs, 94; + negotiations of Pike with, 136, _footnote_; + complaint against General Jesup, 164, _footnote_; + Rector's transactions with, 182, _footnote_ + + Seneca and Shawnee Treaty: 157 and _footnote_ + + Senecas: 51, 64, 67; + negotiations of Pike with, 136, _footnote_; + from Cattaraugus Reservation, 227, _footnote_ + + Senecas and Shawnees: 51, 64, 67; + negotiations of Pike with, 136, _footnote_, 237 + + Settlers: in Kansas demand that Indians vacate territory, 36 + + Seward, William H: reference to "higher law" speech, 42, _footnote_; + Chicago speech, 58, 75; + Senate speech, 58 + + Shawnee Manual Labor School, 38 + + Shawnee Mission: work of Rev. Thomas Johnson at, 22, _footnote_ + + Shawnees: from Ohio, 19; + tarry in Missouri, 19, _footnote_; + pro-slavery men among, 35; + reported by Agent Dorn as anxious to leave Kansas, 36, _footnote_; + Baptist school on reservation of, 38; + Southern Methodists among, 38; + as refugees, 57, _footnote_; + trouble over tribal elections, 209, _footnote_; + attack Wichita Agency, 329, _footnote_ + + Shon-tah-sob-ba [Black Dog]: 235, _footnote_, 238, _footnote_ + + Short Bird: 319 + + Shoshone: suggested territory of, 32, _footnote_ + + Siebert, W. H: work cited, 23, _footnote_, 49, _footnote_ + + Sigel, Franz: 215, _footnote_ + + Simon, Ben: 329, _footnote_ + + Sioux: uprising, 21, _footnote_; + warriors, 227, _footnote_ + + Slaughter, Thomas C: 208 + + Slavery: in Kansas, 22; + encouraged, 22; + among Southern Indians, 22, 292; + influence of churches upon, 37; + white men to prevent abolition among Indians, 42; + opposition among Choctaws and Chickasaws, 45; + is being interfered with by intruders, 47; + cause in jeopardy among Cherokees, 48; + North to exterminate among Indians, 145; + recognized as legal institution by treaties, 166 and _footnote_; + offers easy solution of labor problem, 219; + Cowart reports complaints of interference with, 293 + + Slaves: 22, 142, 143, 144-145, 165, 166, _footnote_, 167, _footnote_, + 172, 216, 261 + + Smith, Andrew J: charges against, 41, _footnote_ + + Smith, Caleb B: 74, _footnote_, 183, 242, 271, 274, 275 + + Smith, E. Kirby: 100, _footnote_ + + Smith, John G: 192 + + Smith, William R: work cited, 108, _footnote_, 109, _footnote_ + + Snow, George C: 198, _footnote_, 199, _footnote_ + + Southern Baptist Convention: 39, _footnote_ + + Southern Baptists: 38, 39 + + South Carolina: 20, _footnote_ + + Southern Indians: 18, 21, 32, 34, 36 + + Southern Methodists: 38, 39, 40 + + Southern Superintendency: 30, _footnote_ + + Sparrow, Edward: 127 + + Spencer Academy: 40, _footnote_, 75, 76, 78 + + Springfield: 214, _footnote_, 217, 255, 283, 312, 334 + + Spy companies: reported equipped by Federals, 306 + + Stand Watie: 49, _footnote_, 137, _footnote_, 153, 156, _footnote_, 227, + 240, 283, 324 + + Stanton, Edwin M: 276, 279 + + Stanwood, Edward: work cited, 106, _footnote_ + + Stark, O. P: 76 + + State Department (C. S. A.): Albert Pike, commissioner from, 134, + _footnote_, 152; + Bureau of Indian Affairs, part of, 188, _footnote_ + + Stephens, Alexander H: work cited, 118, _footnote_, 119, _footnote_ + + Stevens, R. S: 209, _footnote_ + + Stevens, Thaddeus: 210, _footnote_ + + Stidham, G. W: 194 + + Stocks: 61, 76, 203, _footnote_ + + Stockton, G. B: 107, _footnote_, 186, _footnote_ + + Strain, J. H: 285, 287 + + Sturm, J. J: 199, 201, _footnote_, 330, 331, 353, 357 + + Sumner, Charles: 45, _footnote_ + + Sur-cox-ie: 268, _footnote_ + + Surveyors: 53 + + + Tahlequah: 39, _footnote_, 93, 188, _footnote_, 217, and _footnote_, + 218, _footnote_, 226, 234, 237, 293 + + Tallise Fixico: 194 + + Tatum, Mark T: 50, _footnote_, 104, _footnote_, 296 + + Taylor, J. W: 193, _footnote_ + + Taylor, N. G: 30, _footnote_ + + Tennessee: Cherokees from, 20; + John J. Humphreys from, 185 + + Tenney, W. J: work cited, 90, _footnote_ + + Tents: furnished to refugees, 261 + + Territorial expansion: 28, 58 + + Territorial form of government: 30, 31, _footnote_, 33 + + Texas: indigenous tribes in, 19, _footnote_; + Indians expelled from, 19, _footnote_, 52, 340; + Cherokees in, 20, _footnote_; + annexed, 28; + troops from, 53; + Indian patronage, 59; + Indian participation in Civil War, 63; + interest in Indian Territory, 67; + interest in securing alliance of Indians, 83, 88, 90; + interest in amnesty provisions of Indian treaties, 175-176; + commissioners from, 183; + attitude of northern countries of, 200, _footnote_; + desires Reserve Indians placed under her jurisdiction, 297 + + Texas Historical Association _Quarterly_: work cited, 20, _footnote_ + + Texas Superintendency: 56, _footnote_ + + Thomason, Hugh F: 202, 335 + + Thompson, Jacob: 45, _footnote_, 46, 54, 56, _footnote_ + + Tishomingo: county of, 68, _footnote_ + + Tonkawas: 52 and _footnote_, 189, _footnote_, 200, 201, _footnote_, 340, + 353 + + Toombs, Robert: 129, 131, 134 and _footnote_, 135, _footnote_, 152 + + Totten, James: 103, 104 + + Traders: 22, 27, 59-60, 169 _et seq._, 193, _footnote_, 238-239, 319 + + Trammel, Dennis: 288, 289 + + Treat, S. B: 43, _footnote_ + + Treaties: 34, _footnote_, 37, _footnote_, 53, 78, 84, _footnote_, 102, + 117, 122, _footnote_; + made with Indians as with foreign powers, 17; + Ohio desires information as to Manypenny, 33, _footnote_; + relations to U. S. in, 70, _footnote_; + obligation to abide by, 71, _footnote_; + reduction of forts violation of guaranties in, 97, _footnote_; + resulting from council at Tahlequah, 237 _et seq._; + with the Cherokees in part the result of intimidation, 240, _footnote_; + with the Neosho Agency Indians, 241; + money due the Creeks under, 289; + Pike reports all ratified, 320; + amendments to, 323; + manuscript copies of, 329-330, _footnote_; + no Indian Department to be organized until ratification of, 331; + terms of the, with the wild Indians, 352; + Leeper makes a, with the Comanches, 354-355 + + TROOPS: + _Confederate_--in Cherokee country, 136, _footnote_; + no Arkansas, available, 253, _footnote_; + Van Dorn's erroneous surmise as to proportion of white, in Pike's + brigade, 280; + Van Dorn's plans as to disposition of, 283; + Leeper inquires when, may be expected, 310; + Pike's confidence in white, 320; + lack of, in Leased District, 343, 349; + non-arrival of, 345. + _Indian_--Confederacy secure before negotiation of treaties of + alliance, 207; + plans for distribution of, 207; + Cherokee, under McCulloch, 226-227; + Northern, offer to furnish U. S. with, 227, _footnotes_; + large and increasing number in Indian Territory, 252; + not possible to keep order, 346. + _United States_--few within Indian country, 52-53; + Secretary Floyd disposed to withdraw from Indian frontier, 53; + from Texas ordered to protect U. S. surveyors, 53; + number to be retained in Indian country queried, 72, _footnote_; + Carruth reports all gone from Indian Territory, 86, _footnote_; + ordered to leave, 87 and _footnote_; + disposition, reported upon by Texas commissioners, 95; + under Emory ordered to Indian Territory, 96 _et seq._; + flee from Indian Territory, 101; + dissatisfaction at reported change in disposition in Arkansas, 103, + 105; + to counteract influence of secessionists, 216; + method of warfare under Lane, 233; + Dole urges to re-occupy Indian Territory, 241; + sudden withdrawal spreads alarm in Leased District, 299 + + _True Democrat_: work cited, 47, _footnote_, 48, _footnote_, 106, + _footnote_ + + Tuckabatche Micco: 51, _footnote_ + + Tuckabatchee Town: 193, _footnote_ + + Tulsey Town: 255 + + Turnbull, John P: 189, _footnote_ + + Turner, J. W: 260, 272, _footnote_ + + Tusaquach: 247 + + Tush-ca-horn-ma: district of, 179 + + Twiggs, D. E: 55, _footnote_, 87 + + + Umatilla: suggested territory of, 32, _footnote_ + + Underground railroad: 40 + + Upper Arkansas Agency: 210, _footnote_ + + Upper Creeks: 50, 208, _footnote_, 191, _footnote_, 192, 193, + _footnote_, 236, _footnote_, 244, 319 + + Usher, John P: 56, _footnote_, 228, _footnote_ + + + Van Buren (Ark.): 64, _footnote_ + + Van Dorn, Earl: 55, 138, _footnote_, 280, 283 + + Vann, Joseph: 217, 223 + + Verdigris River: 259, 272 + + + Wah-pa-nuc-ka Institute: 40, _footnote_ + + Walker, David: 116, 298 + + Walker, Leroy P: 119, 127, 142, 147, 151, 161, 200, _footnote_, 207, + 215, _footnote_ + + Walker, William: head chief of the Wyandots, 22, _footnote_ + + Walker, William: 105, _footnote_ + + Wall, David: 23, _footnote_ + + Walnut Creek: 259 + + War Department: C. S. A., 128, _footnote_, 139, _footnote_, 140, + _footnote_, 193, _footnote_, 257, _footnote_; + U. S. A., 52, 80, 87, 96, 228, _footnote_, 234, 241, 250, 264-265, 275 + + Washburn, J. W: 84, _footnote_, 164, _footnote_, 238, and _footnote_ + + Washita: Indians driven from country of, 19, _footnote_ + + Wattles, Augustus: 229, _footnote_ + + Waul, Thomas N: 127, 205 + + Weas: from Illinois, 19 + + Weber's Falls: 86, _footnote_ + + Welch, George W: 84, _footnote_ + + West Florida: seizure of, 28 + + West Point: 215, _footnote_ + + Wheelock: Choctaw school, 39, _footnote_ + + White, Joseph: 209, _footnote_ + + White, S. W: letter of, 33, _footnote_ + + White Cloud: 227, _footnote_ + + Whitney, Henry C: 208 and _footnote_ + + Whittenhall, Daniel S: 350 + + Wichita Agency: site for, 54, 56, _footnote_, 136, _footnote_; + attack upon, 329, _footnote_ + + Wichita Mountains: 51, 55 + + Wichita Treaty: 157, _footnote_, 158, 163, 176 + + Wichitas: 52; + colonization of, 55; + subsistence given to, 57, _footnote_; + Leased District of, 63; + colonized on land claimed as their own, 166; + Pike hopes to meet, 189, _footnote_; + Pike fears hostility of, 200; + refuse to be cajoled or intimidated, 201 + + Wilson, Henry: work cited, 32, _footnote_ + + Wilson, William: 23, _footnote_ + + Wilson's Creek: battle of, 225 + + Winneconne: 219, _footnote_ + + Wisconsin: tribes from, 19 + + Wolcott, Edward: 273, _footnote_ + + Worcester, Reverend S. A: 23, _footnote_; + opposed to slavery, 41 + + Wyandots: from Ohio and Michigan, 19; + William Walker, head chief of, 22, _footnote_; + initiate movement for organization of Nebraska Territory, 34; + interested in Kansas election troubles, 34, _footnote_; + Methodism, 38 + + + Yancton Sioux: Agent Burleigh suggests that garrison Fort Randall, 227, + _footnote_ + + Young, William C: 100 + + Yulee, David L: 238, _footnote_ + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Confessedly much to its discredit, the United States government has +never had, for any appreciable length of time, a well-developed and +well-defined Indian policy, one that has made the welfare of the +aborigines its sole concern. Legislation for the subject race has almost +invariably been dictated by the needs of the hour, by the selfish and +exorbitant demands of pioneers, and by the greed and caprice of +politicians. + +[2] There were, of course, other indigenous tribes to the westward, in the +direction of Colorado and Texas, and to the northward, in southern +Nebraska; but only the latter were more than remotely affected, as far as +local habitation was concerned, by the coming of the eastern emigrants and +the consequent introduction of the reservation system. + +[3] Kansas Historical Society _Collections_, vol. viii, 72-109. + +[4] In scarcely a single case here cited was the old home of the tribe +limited by the boundaries of a single state nor is it to be understood +that the state here mentioned was necessarily the original habitat of the +tribe. It was only the territorial headquarters of the tribe at the time +of removal or at the time when the policy of removal was first insisted +upon as a _sine qua non_. Some of the Indians emigrated independently of +treaty arrangements with the United States government and some did not +immediately direct their steps towards Kansas or Oklahoma; but made, +through choice or through necessity, an intervening point a +stopping-place. The Kickapoos, the Shawnees, and the Delawares tarried in +Missouri, the Choctaws and the Cherokees, many of them, in Arkansas but +that was before 1830, the date of the removal law. After 1830, there was +no possible resting-place for weary Indians this side of the Ozark +Mountains. + +[5] Some of the more insignificant southern Indians eventually found their +way also to Oklahoma. In 1860 there were a few Louisiana Caddoes in the +northwestern part of the Chickasaw country, most likely the same that, in +1866, were reported to have been driven out of Texas in 1839 by +bushwhackers and then out of the Washita country at the opening of the +Civil War. They continued throughout the war loyal to the United States. +In 1853 the Choctaw General Council passed an act admitting to the rights +of citizenship several Catawba Indians; and from that circumstance, the +Office of Indian Affairs surmised that the Choctaws would be willing to +incorporate Catawbas yet in the Carolinas. In 1857 there were about +seventy Catawbas in South Carolina on a tiny reservation. They expressed +an ardent wish to go among the Choctaws. In 1860 the Catawbas were in +possession of the northeastern part of the Choctaw country. + +[6] For the detailed history of events leading up to Indian removals, +particularly the southern, see American Historical Association, _Report_, +1906, 241-450. + +[7] Not all of the southern Indians had emigrated in the thirties and +forties. A considerable number of Cherokees removed themselves from the +country east of the Mississippi to Texas. This was immediately subsequent +to and induced by the American Revolution [Texas Historical Association, +_Quarterly_, July, 1897, 38-46 and October, 1903, 95-165]. Many Cherokees, +likewise, took the suggestion of President Jefferson and moved to the +Arkansas country prior to 1820. Moreover, there were "Eastern Cherokees" +in controversy with the "Western Cherokees" for many years after the Civil +War. Their endless quarrels over property proved the occasion of much +litigation. In the late fifties active measures were taken by the Office +of Indian Affairs to complete the removal of the Seminoles and to +accomplish by intrigue and diplomacy what the long and expensive Second +Seminole War had utterly failed to do. Elias Rector of Arkansas +superintended the matter and the Seminole chief, John Jumper, gave +valuable assistance, as did also the Creeks, who generously granted to the +Seminoles a home within the Creek country west [Creek Treaty, 1856, +Kappler's _Indian Laws and Treaties_, vol. ii, 757]. Billy Bowlegs was the +last Seminole chief of prominence to leave Florida [Coe's _Red Patriots_, +198]. In 1853 there were still some four hundred Choctaws reported as +living in Alabama and there must have been even more than that in +Mississippi. In 1854 steps were taken, but unsuccessfully, for their +removal. In 1859 Representative John J. McRae presented a petition from +citizens of various Mississippi counties asking that the Choctaws be +removed altogether from the state because of their intimacy and +intercourse with the negroes. The Office of Indian Affairs refused to act. +Perchance, it considered the moment inopportune or the means at hand +insufficient. It may even have considered the charge against the Choctaws +a mere pretext and quite unfounded since it was commonly reported that the +Choctaws had a decided aversion to that particular kind of race mixture. +In that respect they differed very considerably from the Creeks who to-day +are said to present a very curious spectacle of an almost complete +mixture. Choctaws from Mississippi and Cherokees from North Carolina and +Catawbas from South Carolina fought with the South in the Civil War. + +[8] Other Indians made trouble during the progress of the Civil War, as, +for instance, the Sioux in the summer of 1862. The Sioux, however, were +not fighting for or against the issues of the white man's war. They were +simply taking advantage of a favorable occasion, when the United States +government was preoccupied, to avenge their own wrongs. + +[9] The existence of the "Cherokee Neutral Land" out of which the +southeastern counties of Kansas were illegitimately formed was not exactly +an exception to this. The Neutral Land, eight hundred thousand acres in +extent, was an independent purchase, made by the Cherokees, and was not +included in the exchange or in the original scheme that forced their +removal from Georgia. It was a subsequent concession to outraged justice. + +[10] By far the best instance of missionary activity in behalf of slavery +among the northern Indian immigrants is to be found in the case of the +Reverend Thomas Johnson's work at the Shawnee Mission [Ray's _Repeal of +the Missouri Compromise_, footnote 207]. Johnson, like William Walker, +head chief of the Wyandots, was an ardent pro-slavery advocate [_ibid._, +footnote 205] and took a rather disgracefully prominent part in the +notorious election frauds of early Kansas territorial days [House +_Report_, 34th congress, first session, no. 200, pp. 14, 18, 94, 425]. + +[11] Buchanan's _Works_, vol. iii, 348, 350, 353. + +[12] Siebert's _Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom_, 284. + +[13] The most interesting case that came up in this connection was that of +the so-called Beams' Negroes, resident in the Choctaw country and +illegally claimed as refugees by John B. Davis of Mississippi [Indian +Office, _Special Files_, no. 277]. The Reverend S. A. Worcester interested +himself in their behalf [Jefferson Davis to Worcester, October 7, 1854] +and a decision was finally rendered in their favor. Another interesting +case of similar nature was, "In re negroes taken from Overton Love and +David Wall of the Chickasaw Nation by Citizens of Texas, 1848-'57" +[_ibid._, no. 278]. + +[14] Under the Intercourse Law of 1834, the Indian Territory had been +annexed for judicial purposes to the western district of Arkansas. The +Indians were much dissatisfied. They felt themselves entitled to a federal +court of their own, a privilege the United States government persistently +denied to them but one that the Confederate government readily granted. As +matters stood, prior to the Civil War, the red men seemed always at the +mercy of the white man's distorted conception of justice and were, +perforce, quite beyond the reach of the boasted guaranties of theoretical +Anglo-Saxon justice since the very location of the court precluded a trial +by their peers of the vicinage. The journey to Arkansas, in those early +days, was long and tiresome and expensive. Complications frequently arose +and matters, difficult of adjustment, even under the best of circumstance. +Among the Creeks and Seminoles, the status of the free negro was +exceptionally high, partly due, with respect to the latter, to conditions +growing out of the Second Seminole War. As already intimated, the Creeks +had no aversion whatsoever to race mixtures and intermarriage between +negroes and Indians was rather common. The half-breeds resulting from such +unions were accepted as bona fide members of the tribe by the Indians in +the distribution of annuities, but not by the United States +courts--another source of difficulty and a very instructive one as well, +particularly from the standpoint of reconstructionist exactions. + +Occasionally the presence of the free negro within the Indian country was +a source of grave danger. The accompanying letters outline a case in +point: + + HEAD QUARTERS 7TH. MIL: DEPT. FORT SMITH, March 5th. 1852. + + SIR: By direction of the Colonel commanding the Department I transmit + herewith copies of a communication from George Folsom, Chief of the + Pushmataha District, to Colonel Wilson Choctaw Agent and one from + Colonel William Wilson Choctaw Agent to Brevet Major Holmes commanding + Fort Washita asking aid from the Military force. + + As the letter from the Choctaw Agent is not sufficiently explicit as + to what he wishes done by the Military authority the subject is + referred to you, and if on investigation it be found that Military + interference is necessary to enforce the intercourse law, prompt + assistance will be rendered for the purposes therein specified, under + the direction and in presence of the Choctaw Agent. Respectfully Yr + Obt. Servt., + + FRANCIS N PAGE, Asst. Adjt. Genl. + + Colonel John Drennen, Superintendent W. T. + + + _Inclosure_ + + CHOCTAW AGENCY, February 9th 1852 + + SIR: The enclosed copy of a letter from Colonel George Folsom Chief of + Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation will put you in possession + of the facts and reasons why I address you at this time. + + As the position of the free Negros and Indians alluded to in the + Chief's letter seems to be of rather a hostile character, having built + themselves a Fort doubtless for the purpose of defending themselves if + interupted in their present location, it seems to me necessary that + they should be driven away if necessary by Military authority; and, as + your post is the most convenient to the place where the Negroes and + Indians are Forted I have thought that a command could be sent with + less trouble and at less expense to the government by you than any one + else. I would therefore most respectfully call upon you to take such + steps as you may think most advisable to remove from the Choctaw + country the persons complained of by the Chief, and if necessary call + upon Chief Folsom to aid you with his light horse, who may be of much + service to you in the way of Guides. Very Respectfully Yr. Obt Servt. + + (Signed) WILLIAM WILSON, Choctaw Agent + + [Endorsement] A true Copy, Francis N Page, Asst. Adjt. Genl. + + + _Inclosure_ + + PUSHMATAHA DISTRICT, January 23. 1852. + + DEAR SIR: I spoke to you about those free negroes upon the head waters + of Boggy, when I last saw you, requesting to have something done with + them. I have just learned that the negroes and some Indians are banded + together and have built themselves a little Fort. There is no doubt + but that they will be a great trouble to us. One of our country judges + sent for the light-horse-men to go and seize the negroes, but I have + forbid them going, and many of our people wish to go and see them. I + have forbid any body to go there with intentions to take them. It will + no doubt be hard to break them up. You have probably just returned + home, and it may seem tresspassing upon you to write you about those + negroes and Indians, but you are our agent and we have the right to + look to you for help. It seems to me this affair wants an immediate + action on it. + + I have simply stated to you how these negroes and Indians are Forted + up that you may better know how to deal with them. In purforming your + duties if I can in any way render you any assistance I shall always be + happy to do so. Very respectfully Your friend + + (Signed) GEORGE FOLSOM, Chief Push: Dist: + + Col: William Wilson, Choctaw Agent [Endorsement] a true Copy, Francis + N Page, Asst. Adjt. Genl. + +[15] Buchanan's _Works_, vol. x, "the Catron letter," 106; "the Grier +letter," 106-107. + +[16] This was as it appeared to N. G. Taylor, Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, as he looked back, in 1867, upon events of the past few years. He +was then of the opinion that the very existence of slavery among the +southern tribes had most probably saved their country from being coveted +by emigrants going westward. + +[17] One agency under the Southern Superintendency, the Neosho River +Agency, was, however, included in the scheme preliminary to the +organization of Kansas and Nebraska. See the following letters found in +Thomas S. Drew's _Letter Press Book_: + + (a) OFFICE SUPT. IND. AFFAIRS FORT SMITH, ARKS., Dec. 21, 1853. + + SIR: Inclosed herewith you will receive letters from Agent Dorn, dated + the 1st and 2nd instant; the former in relation to the disposition of + the Indians within his agency to meet Commissioners on the subject of + selling their lands, or having a Territorial form of Government extend + over them by the United States: and the latter nominating John Finch + as Blacksmith to the Great and Little Osages. Very respectfully Your + obt. servt. + + A. H. RUTHERFORD, Clerk for Supt. + + Hon. Geo. W. Manypenny, Com{r} Ind. Affairs + Washington City. + + + (b) OFFICE SUPT. INDIAN AFFAIRS FORT SMITH, ARKS. Dec. 29, 1853. + + SIR: ... I have also to acknowledge the receipt of letters from you of + the 2nd instant to the Commissioner of Ind. Affrs. upon the subject of + the Indians within your Agency being willing to meet Commissioners on + the part of the U. S. preparatory to selling their lands, or to take + into consideration the propriety of admitting a Territorial form of + Government extended over them &. ... + + A. H. RUTHERFORD, Clerk for Supt. + + A. J. Dorn, U. S. Indian Agt., Crawford Seminary. + +[18] In this connection, the following are of interest: + + (a) The Choctaws, it is understood, are prepared to receive and assent + to the provisions of a bill introduced three years since into the + Senate by Senator Johnson of Arkansas, for the creation of the + Territories of Chah-la-kee, Chah-ta, and Muscokee, and it is greatly + to be hoped that that or some similar bill may be speedily enacted.... + Their country, a far finer one than Kansas.... The Choctaws have + adopted a new constitution, vesting the supreme executive power in a + governor.... It is understood that this change has been made + preparatory to the acceptance of the bill already mentioned. + +The foregoing is taken from the _Annual Report_ of the southern +superintendent for 1857 and in that report, Elias Rector who was then the +superintendent, having taken office that very year, argued that all the +five great tribes ought to be allowed to have delegates on the floor of +Congress and to be made citizens of the United States; for the +constitutions of the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws would compare +favorably, said he, with those of any of the southwestern states [Senate +_Documents_, 35th congress, first session, vol. ii, 485]. + + (b) The Fort Smith _Times_ of February 3, 1859 printed the following: + + SAM HOUSTON AND THE PRESIDENCY + + The following we take from a printed slip sent to us by our Doaksville + correspondent, who informs us that it was sent to that office just as + he sends it. We presume that it is the programme laid down by some of + the Texas papers, friendly to the election of Sam Houston to the + Presidency.... + + _Re-organization of the Territories_ + + 1. The organization of the Aboriginal Territory of Decotah, from that + part of the late Territory of Minnesota, lying west of the State of + Minnesota. + + 2. To fix the western boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska, at the + Meridian 99 or 100; and to establish in those Territories, Aboriginal + counties, for the exclusive and permanent occupation of the Aboriginal + tribes now located east of that line and within those Territories; + also to provide, that said Territories shall not be admitted into the + Union as States unless their several Constitutions provide for the + continuation of the Federal regulations adopted for better government + and welfare of the Aboriginal tribes inhabiting the same. + + 3. To organize the Indian territory lying west of Arkansas, as "the + Aboriginal Territory of Neosho," under regulation similar to those + proposed by Hon. Robert W. Johnson of Arkansas in 1854 for the + organization of the Indian territory of Neosho. + + 4. To purchase from the State of Texas all that portion of the State + lying north of the Red river and include the same in the Aboriginal + territory of Comanche or Ouachita. + + 5. The territory of New Mexico. + + 6. From the western portion of New Mexico to take the Aboriginal + territory of Navajoe. + + 7. From the western portion of Utah, to take the Aboriginal territory + of Shoshone. + + Re-organize the eastern part of Utah, (the Mormon country), as an + Aboriginal territory. + + Organize the western territory of Osage. + + From Nebraska, west of the M.100, and south of the 45th parallel take + the Aboriginal territory of Mandan. + + Organize the eastern half of Oregon, as the Aboriginal territory of + Umatilla. + + Washington east of the M.118 to be the Aboriginal territory of + Okanagan. + + Nebraska, north of the 45th parallel to be the Aboriginal territory of + Assinneboin. Emigration into these territories to be prohibited by law + of Congress, until the same shall have been admitted into the Union as + States. + + In each territory, a resident Military Police to preserve order.... + + (c) Henry Wilson, in the _Rise and Fall of the Slave Power_, vol. ii, + 634-635 says, + + In the Indian Territory there were four tribes of Indians--Cherokees, + Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks. Under the fostering care of their + governments slavery had become so firmly established that slaveholders + thought them worthy of political fellowship, and articles in favor of + their admission began to appear in the southern press. "The progress + of civilization," said the New Orleans "Picayune," "in several of the + Indian tribes west of the States will soon bring up a new question for + the decision of Congress.... It cannot fail to give interest to this + question that each of the Indian tribes has adopted the social + institutions of the South." To concentrate and give direction to such + efforts, a secret organization was formed to encourage Southern + emigration, and to discourage and prevent the entrance into the + Territory of all who were hostile to slaveholding institutions. It was + hoped thus to guard against adverse fortune which had defeated their + purposes and plans for Kansas.... + +[19] With reference to the proposed organization the subjoined documents +are of interest: + + C. STREET, July 2. + + MR. MIX, + + Dear Sir, Please have the western boundary of Mis. laid down on this + map, and the _outline_ of the Pawnee, Kanzas & Osage purchases, and + the reservations, as they now stand within that _outline_. You need + not show each purchase, but the _outline_ of the whole. Yours truly + + THOMAS H. BENTON. + +Letter of July 2, 1853, Indian Office _Miscellaneous Files, 1851-1854_. + + WASHINGTON CITY, August 5th, 1854. + + Hon. G. W. MANYPENNY Esq., Com Indian Department, Washington City. + + Dear Sir, Many people of Ohio, as well as of the states west of it, + have for a long time been most anxious to learn through your + Department, the nature of the several treaties made by yourself in + behalf of the Government, with the several tribes of Indians occupying + the Territories of Nebraska & Kansas: particularly as to the + _reservation_ of _land_ made by such Tribes, _its extent_, _where_, + _when_, & how to be _located_, & _within what time_,--and also what + lands in both of said Territories by virtue of said treaties _are now + subject to location_? + + I regret to inform you that much censure has attached to your + Department, in consequence of the delay which has attended the + promulgation of the above information, but which from my long + knowledge of you personally, and of the very prompt manner in which + you have invariably discharged your public duties, I believe to be + most unjust. + + I seek the above information, not only for myself (contemplating a + removal to Kansas) but also in behalf of many persons in the western + states, who have solicited my intervention in that matter on my visit + to this City. Very respectfully your friend + + S. W. WHITE + +Indian Office _Miscellaneous Files, 1851-1854_. + + C. STREET, Aug. 19, '53. + + To GEO. W. MANYPENNY ESQ., Com. of Indian Affairs, + + Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of + yesterday with the accompanying copy of a letter to the Hon. Mr. + Atchison, and make my thanks to you for this mark of your attention. + The reply will be immediately forwarded to Meas Ami, to be published + in the same paper in which your note to me covering the map on which + the Indian's cessions & reserves west of Missouri, was published. Very + respectfully, Sir, Yr. obt. servant, + + THOMAS H. BENTON. + +Indian Office _Miscellaneous Files, 1851-1854._ + +[20] Ray, _op. cit._, 86; Connelley, in Kansas Historical Society, +_Collections_, vol. vi, 102; Connelley, _Provincial Government of Nebraska +Territory_, pp. 24, 30 _et seq._ + +The Wyandots took an active part in the Kansas election troubles. For some +evidence of that, see, House _Reports_, 34th congress, first session, no. +200, pp. 22, 266. + +[21] By the treaty of 1837 [Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 486], the +Choctaws, for a money consideration as was natural, agreed to let the +Chickasaws occupy their country jointly with themselves and form a +Chickasaw District within it that should be on a par with the other +districts (Moo-sho-le-tubbee, Apucks-hu-nubbe, and Push-ma-ta-ha), or +political units, of the Choctaw Nation. The arrangement meant political +consolidation, one General Council serving for the two tribes, but each +tribe retaining control of its own annuities. The boundaries of the +Chickasaw District proved the subject of a contention, constant and +bitter. Civil war was almost precipitated more than once. Finally, in +1855, the political connection was brought to an end by the terms of the +Treaty of Washington [Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 706], negotiated in +that year. + +[22] See Report of C. C. Copeland to Cooper, August 27, 1855. + +[23] A secret society is said to have been formed in Missouri for the +express purpose of gaining the Shawnee land for slavery. + +[24] Dean wrote to Butler, November 29, 1855 [_Letter Press Book_] saying +that the disturbed state of things in Kansas was having a very serious +effect upon the Cherokee Neutral Land. Early in 1857, Butler reported that +he had given notice that if intruders had not removed themselves by spring +he would have them removed by the military [Butler to Dean, January 9, +1857]. Manypenny approved Butler's course of action which is quite +significant, considering that the federal administration was supposed to +be unreservedly committed to the pro-slavery cause and the intruders were +pro-slavery men from across the border. + +[25] Andrew Dorn took charge of the Neosho Agency, to which these +reservations as well as the Quapaw, Seneca, and Seneca and Shawnee +belonged, in 1855 and regularly had occasion to complain of intruders. +White people seem to have felt that they could with impunity encroach upon +the New York Indian lands because they were only sparsely settled and +because the Indian title was in dispute. + +[26] Apart from any sectional desire to obtain the Indian country, +would-be settlers seem to have been attracted thither from a mistaken +notion that there were mines of precious metals west of Missouri +[Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1858]. + +[27] As early as 1857, the Sacs and Foxes of Missouri were reported as +looking for a new home to the southward, in a less rigorous climate, and, +with that purpose in mind, they visited the Cherokees. When the Delaware +treaty of 1860 was being negotiated, the Delawares expressed themselves as +very anxious to get away from white interference, to leave Kansas. The +Ottawas thought and thought rightly, forsooth, judging from the experience +of the past, that removal would do no good. They declared a preference for +United States citizenship and tribal allotment [Jotham Meeker, Baptist +missionary, to Agent James, September 4, 1854, also Agent James's +_Report_, 1857]. At this same period, Agent Dorn reported that the Kansas +River Shawnees were desirous of joining those of the Neosho Agency. +Greenwood replied, January 18, 1860, that the subject of allowing the +northern Indians to go south was then under consideration by the +department [Letter to Superintendent Rector]. + +[28] The evidence of this is to be found in a letter from W. G. Coffin to +Dole, June 17, 1861 [_Neosho Files, 1838-1865_, C1223]. + +[29] For information on this subject, see Carroll's _American Church +History_, 19, 93, 253-254, 302. + +[30] Feeling that, under the treaty of 1854, they were free to choose +whatever denomination they pleased to reside among them, the Kickapoos +expressed a preference for the Methodist Episcopal Church South, but the +Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions was already established among their +neighbors of the Otoe and Missouria and Great Nemaha Agencies, their own +agent, Mr. Baldwin, was a Presbyterian, and so, before long, in some +almost unaccountable way, they found that the Presbyterians (Old School) +had obtained an entry upon their reserve and had established a mission +school there. The Kickapoos were indignant, as well they had a right to +be, and made as much trouble as they possibly could for the Presbyterians. +In 1860, the Presbyterian Board vacated the premises and the Methodist +Episcopal Church South took possession, Agent Badger favoring the change. +The change was of but short duration, however; for, in 1861, the Southern +Methodists, finding the sympathy of the Kickapoos was mainly with the +federal element, took their departure. + +[31] Ray, _op. cit._, 86, footnote 107. + +[32] The most flourishing schools seem to have been the Roman Catholic. +The Roman Catholics did not greatly concern themselves, as a church +organization, with the slavery agitation, and St. Mary's Mission and the +Osage Manual Labor School were scarcely affected by the war and not at all +by the troubles that presaged its approach. + +[33] The Baptist school among the Potawatomies closed in 1861. See +Appendix. + +[34] House _Report_, 34th congress, first session, no. 200, pp. 14, 18, +94, 425. + +[35] See Indian Office, _Special File, no. 220_. + +[36] The work of the American Board among the Cherokees was discontinued +just before the war [_Missionary Herald_, 1861, p. 11; American Board +_Report_, 1860, p. 137]. + +[37] The four were: "Park hill, five miles south from Tahlequah; Dwight, +forty-two miles south-southwest from Tahlequah; Fairfield, twenty-five +miles southeast from Tahlequah; Lee's creek, forty-three miles southeast +from Tahlequah"--Commissioner of Indian Affairs [_Report_, 1859, p. 173]. +There had been a fifth, an out station. + +[38] The Congregational schools among the Choctaws were: Iyanubbi, near +the Arkansas line; Wheelock, eighteen miles east of Doaksville; and +Chuahla, one mile from Doaksville. + +[39] The Southern Baptist Convention had not been long in the county prior +to the Civil War. The Methodist Episcopal Church South had no schools but +several missionaries. The American Baptist Missionary Union had a number +of meeting-houses. + +[40] The Presbyterians (Old School) established Wah-pa-nuc-ka Institute +for young women, forty miles north of Red River and one and one-eighth +miles west of the Choctaw and Chickasaw line; but differences arose +between the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions and the Chickasaw +authorities, neither institutional nor sectional, but purely financial, +which caused the Presbyterians to abandon the school in 1860 [C. H. +Wilson, attorney for the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, to +Cooper, April 16, 1860]. The Presbyterian schools among the Choctaws were: +Spencer Academy, "located on the old military road leading from Fort +Towson to Fort Smith, about ten miles north of Fort Towson," and Koonsha +Female Seminary. Both of them were under the Presbyterian Board. A third +institution, Armstrong Academy, belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterians. +The Southern Methodists had Bloomfield Academy, Colbert Institute, and the +Chickasaw Manual Labor School among the Chickasaws; and the Fort Coffee +and New Hope academies, for boys and girls respectively, among the +Choctaws. + +[41] The Seminoles were late in manifesting an interest in education, and, +when interest did arise among them, John Jumper, the chief, declared for +boarding-schools and asked that such be established under the Presbyterian +Board, the same that had influence among their near neighbors, the Creeks. + +[42] The American Board itself was inclined to be non-committal and +temporizing [Garrison, op. cit., vol. iii, 30]. The _Missionary Herald_, +so valuable an historical source as it proved itself to be for Indian +removals, is strangely silent on the great subject of negro slavery among +the Indians. Its references to it are only very occasional and never more +than incidental. + +[43] Kingsbury was superintendent of the Chuahla Female Seminary. + +[44] Worcester died, April, 1859 [_Missionary Herald_, 1859, p. 187; 1860, +p. 12]. + +[45] _Missionary Herald_, 1859, pp. 335-336; 1860, p. 12; The American +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, _Report_, 1856, p. 195. + +[46] Report of C. C. Copeland, 1860. + +[47] Cooper was also Chickasaw agent. On the fifth of October, 1854, some +of the principal men of the Chickasaw Nation, Cyrus Harris, James Gamble, +Sampson Folsom, Jackson Frazier, and D. Colbert, petitioned President +Pierce for the removal of Agent Andrew J. Smith on charges of official +irregularity and gross immorality. A year later, Superintendent Dean +reiterated the charges. Smith's commission was revoked, November 9, 1855; +and, in March, 1856, Cooper was assigned the Chickasaws as an additional +charge. Henceforth, the two tribes had an agent in common. + +[48] This note itself bore no date but there is documentary proof that it +was received at Fort Smith, November 27, 1854. It is to be found in the +Indian Office among the _Fort Smith Papers_. + +[49] The allusion is, of course, to the "higher law" doctrine expressed in +Seward's Senate Speech of March 11, 1850. + +[50] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, pp. 190-191. + +The letter of Dr. Treat referred to by Agent Cooper is herewith given. It +is accompanied by the letter that covered it and that letter, as it is +found among the _Fort Smith Papers_ in the United States Indian Office, +bears a record to the effect that the copy of it was transmitted by the +southern superintendent to Washington, November 28, 1855. + + FORT TOWSON Nov. 16, 1855 + + SIR: I have the pleasure to forward a copy of letter, addressed to the + Rev{d} S. B. Treat, Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of + Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by C. Kingsbury and + others--Missionaries among the Choctaws--and request the same may be + transmitted to the Hon Comr of Indian Affairs for the information of + the Government of the United States. + + The letter as you will perceive refers to an exciting and highly + important subject--in which the States adjoining the Indian Territory + are deeply & directly interested, as well as the Choctaw People. + + I cannot refrain from the expression of my gratification at the + position assured in this letter by the old and valued Missionaries + among the Choctaws. The copy was handed to me by Rev{d} Cyrus + Kingsbury, one of the signers to the original letter. Respectfully + + DOUGLAS H. COOPER, U. S. Agent for Choctaws + + Hon. C. M. Dean, Supt. Indian Affairs, + Ft Smith. + + + [_Inclosure_]--_Copy_ + + PINE RIDGE, CHOC. NA. Nov. 15, 1855. + + REV. S. B. TREAT, Cor. Secretary of the A.B.C.F.M. + + Rev. & Dear Brother, When the Rev. G. W. Wood visited us as a + deputation from the Prudential Committee, he treated us, our views, + and _our practice_ so kindly, and spoke to us so many encouraging + words, that we were constrained to meet him in a similar spirit of + concilliation. We were willing to re-examine the difference in views + on the subject of slavery, which for a long time had existed between + the Committee and ourselves, and to see if there was not common ground + on which we could stand together. + + At the opening of the meeting at Good Water, Mr. Wood laid aside the + letter of June 22nd '/48. This was a subject we were not to discuss. + He then introduced, by way of compromise, as we understood it, certain + articles to show that there were principles, or modes of expression, + in relation to slavery, in which there was substantial agreement. To + these articles, though not expressed in every particular as we could + have wished, (and after some of them had been modified by oral + explanations,) we gave our assent, for the sake of peace. We hoped it + would put an end to agitation on a subject which had so long troubled + us, and hindered us in our work. We took it for granted that the + Committee had yielded certain important points, insisted on in the + letter of June 22nd '/48. This gladdened our hearts, and disposed us + to meet Mr. Wood's proposal in a spirit of concilliation and + confidence. We are not skilled in diplomacy, and had no thought that + we were assenting to articles which would be considered as covering + the whole ground of the letter of June 22nd. The first intimation that + we had been mistaken, was from a statement made by Mr. Wood, in New + York, that the result of the meeting at Good Water "_involved no + change of views or action_ on the part of the Prudential Committee and + Secretaries." + + In Mr. Wood's report to the Pru. Com. which was read at Utica, the + Good Water document was placed in such a relation on to other + statements, as to make the impression that we had given our full and + willing assent to the entire letter of June 22d. The Com. on that + Report, of which Dr. Beman was chairman, say, "The great end aimed at + by the Pru. Com. in their correspondence with these missions for + several years; and by the Board at their last annual meeting; has been + substantially accomplished." + + This is a result we had not anticipated. We can not consent to be thus + made to sanction principles and sentiments which are contrary to our + known, deliberate, and settled convictions of right, and to what we + understand to be the teachings of the word of God. We are fully + convinced that we can not go with the Committee and the Board, as to + the manner in which as Ministers of the Gospel and Missionaries we are + to deal with slavery. We believe the instructions of the Apostles, in + relation to this subject, are a sufficient guide, and that if followed + the best interests of society, as well as of the Church, will be + secured. + + We have no wish to give the Com. or the Board farther trouble on this + subject. As there is no prospect that our views can be brought to + harmonize, we must request that our relations to the A.B.C.F.M. may be + dissolved in a way that will do the least harm to the Board, and to + our Mission. + + We have endeavored to seek Divine guidance in this difficult matter, + and we desire to do that which shall be most for the glory of our + Divine Master, and the best interests of his cause among this people. + We regret the course we feel compelled to take, but we can see no + other relief from our present embarassment. Fraternally and truly + yours, + + (Signed) C. KINGSBURY C. C. COPELAND + C. BYINGTON O. P. STARK + E. HOTCHKIN + +[51] That the Buchanan administration did endorse pro-slavery policy and +actions requires no proof today. The findings of the Covode committee of +investigation, 1860, are in themselves sufficient evidence, were other +evidence lacking, of the intensely partisan and corrupt character of the +Democratic regime just prior to the Civil War. Of the officials, having +Indian concerns in charge, the Secretary of the Interior and the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs are, for present purposes, alone important. +Buchanan's Secretary of the Interior was Jacob Thompson, who had formerly +been a representative in Congress from Mississippi and had thrown all the +weight of his influence in favor of the Lecompton constitution for Kansas +[Rhodes, J. F. _History of the United States_, vol. ii, 277]. After his +retirement from Buchanan's cabinet, Thompson served as commissioner from +Mississippi, working in North Carolina for the accomplishment of secession +[Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. i, 5]. A. B. Greenwood of Arkansas was +Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Buchanan's time. He also had been in +Congress and, while there, had served on the House Committee of +Investigation into Brooks's attack upon Sumner. He formed with Howell Cobb +of Georgia the minority element [Von Holst, vol. v, 324]. + +[52] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1860, p. 129. + +[53] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, p. 172. + +[54] Greenwood to Rector, March 14, 1860 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, +no. 63, p. 128]; Greenwood to Cowart, March 14, 1860 [_ibid._, 125]. + +[55] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1860. See also additional +documents in Appendix B. + +[56] The following extract from the _Fort Smith Times_ of February 3, 1859 +makes particular mention of the Reverend Evan Jones: + + In the _True Democrat_ of the 19th inst., we find an article credited + to the _Fort Smith Times_, in which the Rev. Evan Jones, a Baptist + Missionary, residing near the State line, Washington county, is + handled rather roughly so far as words are concerned. He is said to be + an abolitionist, and a very dangerous man, meddling with the affairs + of the Cherokees, and teaching them abolition principles. + + "As such reports will be circulated to the prejudice of the Southern + Baptists, we hereby request some of our Brethren in the northwest part + of the State to write us the grounds for such reports. + + "Is the 'Rev. Evan Jones' connected with any Missionary Society and if + so, what one? + + "We hope shortly to hear more concerning this matter." + + The above notice is from the first number of the _Arkansas Baptist_, a + new paper just published in Little Rock, P. S. G. Watson, Editor. It + was not our intention to cast any reflections on the Baptist Church by + noticing the Rev. gentleman named above, as we have great respect for + the Church. We deny, however, that Mr. Jones "is handled roughly so + far as words are concerned," for there are no harsh words or epithets + in the article referred to; but he is _handled roughly_ so far as + _facts_ are concerned. He is a Missionary Baptist, and the society by + which he is supported, has, we believe, its headquarters in Boston, + Mass. Mr. Jones' conduct has been fully reported to the Indian office, + at Washington, by a number of the Cherokees, and by their Agent, Mr. + George Butler, to whom we refer the editor of the _Baptist_, for the + truth of the charges we have made against him; and, if they are not + satisfactory we can give a full history of Evan Jones' conduct for a + number of years, well known among the Cherokees. + +In connection with the foregoing newspaper extract, it is well to note +that Richard Johnson was the editor of the _True Democrat_. Richard was a +brother of Robert W. Johnson who represented one faction of the Democratic +party in Arkansas while Thomas C. Hindman represented another. This was +before their devotion to the Confederate cause had made them friends. +Robert W. Johnson served in the United States Congress, first as +representative, then as senator. He was later a senator in the Confederate +States Congress. The Johnson family, although not so numerous as the +Rector family, was, like it, strongly secessionistic. + +[57] Greenwood to Thompson, June 4, 1860 [Indian Office, _Report Book_, +no. 12, pp. 323-324]. + +[58] Connelley, _Quantrill and the Border Wars_, 147-149, 152. + +[59] Siebert, _Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom_, 284. + +[60] This party came to be known, almost exclusively, as the Treaty Party. +After the murder of John Ridge, from whom the party took its name, his +nephew, Stand Watie, became its leader. Stand Watie figured conspicuously +on the southern side in the Civil War. + +[61] A good general account of these Cherokee factional disputes may be +found in Thomas Valentine Parker's _Cherokee Indians_. + +[62] Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 561; Polk's _Diary_ (Quaife's edition), +vol. ii, 80. + +[63] George Butler to Dean, January 9, 1857. + +[64] "... The Cherokee Council is in session, tho they do not seem to be +doing much. It will hold about four weeks yet. I will stay till it breaks. +I think the Councilmen seem to be split on some questions. It seems as if +there are two parties. One is called the land selling party & those +opposed to selling the land (that is Neutral lands). They passed a bill +last council to sell it. Congress would not have anything to do with it & +in fact they got up a protest against selling it & sent it to Washington +City & they did not sell the land."--Extract from J. C. Dickinson to +Captain Mark T. Tatum, dated Tahlequah, October 16, 1860 [_Fort Smith +Papers_]. + +[65] Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 388. + +[66] Rector to Greenwood, June 14, 1860. + +[67] Tuckabatche Micco and other Creek chiefs wished the southern +Comanches to be located somewhere between the Red and Arkansas Rivers. +That might or might not have meant a settlement upon the actual Creek +reservation. Manypenny promised to look into the matter and find out +whether there were any vacant lands in the region designated [Manypenny to +Dean, May 25, 1855, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 51, pp. 444-445]. + +[68] Dean to Manypenny, November 24, 1856, and related documents [General +Files, _Chickasaw_, 1854-1858, D304, I400]. + +[69] For Choctaw political disturbances in 1858, see General Files, +_Choctaw_, 1859-1866, I933 and R1004. + +[70] Some of the Tonkawas most probably went back to their old Texan +hunting-grounds upon the breaking out of the war and were found encamped, +in 1866, around San Antonio [Cooley to Sells, February 15, 1866, Indian +Office, _Letter Book_, no. 79, p. 293]. + +[71] The Leased District was designed to accommodate any Indians that the +United States government might see fit to place there, exclusive of New +Mexican Indians, who had caused the Wichitas a great deal of trouble, and +those tribes "whose usual ranges at present are north of the Arkansas +River, and whose permanent locations are north of the Canadian...." +[Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 708]. + +[72] The treatment of the Indians by Texas will be made the subject of a +later publication. The story is too long a one to be told here. + +[73] Mix to Rector, March 30, 1859 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 60, +pp. 386-388]. + +[74] _Annual Report_, 1857. + +[75] Samuel Cooper, the New York man, who was now in United States employ +but later became adjutant-general of the Confederacy [Crawford, _Genesis +of the Civil War_, 310], made, about this time, a very significant inquiry +as to how many Indian warriors there were in the vicinity of the various +settlements [Cooper to Mix, January 29, 1856, Indian Office, +_Miscellaneous Files, 1858-1863_]. + +[76] J. Thompson to J. B. Floyd, March 12, 1858 [Indian Office, +_Miscellaneous Files_]. + +[77] By this treaty, the Choctaws had surrendered to the United States all +their claims to land beyond the one hundredth degree of west longitude. + +[78] Cooper to Rector, June 23, 1858. + +[79] Cooper to Rector, June 30, 1858. + +[80] Some of the Chickasaws came to Cooper under the lead of the United +States interpreter, James Gamble, later Chickasaw delegate in the +Confederate Congress. + +[81] The Cherokees soon deserted Cooper, no cause assigned. Why they were +with him at all can not very easily be explained unless they were looking +out for the interests of the "Cherokee Outlet". They may, indeed, have +been some refugee Cherokees who, in 1854, were reported as living in the +Chickasaw country and consorting with horse thieves and other desperadoes. +Under ordinary circumstances, Cooper had no authority to command the +actions of Cherokees and his call was to Choctaws and Chickasaws whose +agent he was and whose interests were directly involved in the survey then +being made. + +[82] On the question of the proposed site, see Rector's _Report_, 1859, +pp. 307, 309. For Emory's familiarity with the region, note his report of +a military reconnaissance undertaken by him in 1846 and 1847 [Pacific +Railroad _Surveys_, vol. ii]. + +[83] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, and accompanying +documents. + +[84] It would seem that Van Dorn had been ordered by General Twiggs, +commanding in Texas, to explore the country between the one hundredth and +the one hundred and fourth meridians as far north as the Canadian River. +He was to do it quite irrespective of department jurisdictional lines. Van +Dorn had the Texan's unrelenting hatred for all Indians and, as was to +have been expected, considering the latitude of his orders, soon got +himself into trouble. It is interesting to note in connection with this +affair and in view of all that followed when Van Dorn and Albert Pike were +both serving under the Confederacy, that their dislike of each other dated +from Pike's condemnation of Van Dorn's cruel treatment of the Comanches. + +[85] The contractor was Charles B. Johnson of Fort Smith. Under the firm +name of Johnson & Grimes, this man and Marshal Grimes, also of Arkansas, +were able again and again to secure subsistence contracts from Rector and +always with the suspicion of fraud attaching. Whenever possible, Rector +and his friends eliminated entirely the element of competition. Abram G. +Mayers of Fort Smith seems to have been the chief informer against Rector. +As a matter of fact, and this must be admitted in extenuation of Rector's +conduct, the Indian field service was so grossly mismanaged, officials +from the highest to the lowest were so corrupt, that it is not at all +surprising that each one [unless by the merest chance he were strong +enough morally to resist temptation] took every opportunity he could get +to enrich himself at the Indian's expense; for, of course, all such +ill-gotten gains came sooner or later out of the Indian fund. Very few +Indian officials seem to have been able to pass muster in matters of +probity during these troublous times. Secretary Thompson and even +Ex-president Pierce were not above suspicion in the Indian's estimation +[Article, signed by "Screw Fly" in the _Chickasaw and Choctaw Herald_, +February 11, 1859]. Mix was accused of dishonesty, so were Commissioner +Dole, Commissioner Cooley, and Secretary Usher, to say nothing of a host +of lesser officials. + +[86] Supervising agent, Robert S. Neighbors, who had always befriended the +Indians when he conveniently could against unfounded charges, was killed +soon after the removal by vindictive Texans. S. A. Blain was then given +charge of the Texas superintendency in addition to his own Wichita Agency. +The consolidation of duties gave the Texans, apparently, a fresh +opportunity to lodge complaints against the Wichitas. + +[87] These refugees were mostly Delawares and Kickapoos. There were other +"strays," or "absentees," scattered here and there over the Indian +country. There were Shawnees near the Canadian, Delawares among the +Cherokees, and Shawnees and Kickapoos on the southwestern border of the +Creek lands. + +[88] Matthew Leeper was appointed to succeed S. A. Blain as agent, July, +1860. He had previously been special Indian agent in Texas. + +[89] Among the _Leeper Papers_ is found the following: + + Notice: All free negroes are notified to leave the Wichita Reserve or + Leased District forthwith, except an old negro who is in charge of + Messrs. Grimes & Rector, who will be permitted to remain a few days. + + [M. LEEPER], U. S. Ind. Agt. + + Wichita Agency, L. D. Sept. 26, 1860. + +[90] The suffering among the Indians must have been very great. There was +a complete failure of crops everywhere. Subsistence had to be continued to +the Wichitas, the Seminoles were reported absolutely destitute, and even +the provident Choctaws were obliged to memorialize Congress for relief on +the basis of the Senate award under their treaty of 1855 [General Files, +_Choctaw, 1859-1866_]. Out of this application of Choctaw funds to the +circumstances of their own pressing needs, came the great scandal of the +Choctaw Corn Contract, in which Agent Cooper and many prominent men of the +tribe were implicated. In some way Albert Pike was concerned in it also; +but it must have been practically the only time a specific charge of +anything like peculation could possibly have been brought against any of +his transactions. His character for honesty seems to have been impeccable. + +[91] In January, 1860, Agent Garrett asked the Creeks in their National +Council to consent to the apportionment of the tribal lands. Motty Cunard +[Motey Kennard] and Echo Mayo [Echo Harjo] sent the reply of the Council +to Garrett, January 19, 1860. It was an unqualified and absolute refusal. + +[92] Cooper to Greenwood, March 31, 1860 [General Files, _Choctaw, +1859-1866_, C445]. + +[93] George E. Baker, _Works of W. H. Seward_ (edition of 1884), vol. iv, +363; Bancroft's _Seward_, vol. ii, 460-470. + +[94] _Congressional Globe_, 33rd congress, first session, Appendix, p. +155. + +[95] Dean to Manypenny, October 24, 1855 [Dean's _Letter Book_]. + +[96] INDIAN TRUST FUND + +_List of stocks held by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for Indian +tribes_ + + STATE PER CENT AMOUNT + + Arkansas 5 $ 3,000.00 + Florida 7 132,000.00 + Georgia 6 3,500.00 + Indiana 5 70,000.00 + Kentucky 5 183,000.00 + Louisiana 6 37,000.00 + Maryland* 6 131,611.82 + Missouri 5-1/2 63,000.00 + Missouri 6 484,000.00 + North Carolina 6 562,000.00 + Ohio 6 150,000.00 + Pennsylvania* 5 96,000.00 + South Carolina 6 125,000.00 + Tennessee 5 218,000.00 + Tennessee 6 143,000.00 + United States 6 251,330.00 + Virginia 6 796,800.00 + ------------ + 3,449,241.82 + + *Taxed by the State. + +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, p. 452. + +[97] David Hubbard to Ross and McCulloch, June 12, 1861 [_Official +Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 497]. + +[98] The position of the tribes in the northern part of the Indian +country, in Kansas, was considerably different from that of the tribes in +the southern part, in Oklahoma. Each of the great tribes to the southward +had a government of its own that was modelled very largely upon that of +the various states. The tribes to the northward had retained, unchanged in +essentials, their old tribal community government. Moreover, they had +already been obliged to allow themselves to be circumscribed by +territorial lines, soon to be state lines; their integrity had been broken +in upon; and now they were not of sufficient importance to have, either +individually or collectively, anything to say about the sectional +affiliation of Kansas. As a matter of fact, they never so much as +attempted to take general tribal action in the premises. Neither their +situation nor their political organization permitted it. + +[99] An interruption to this came in the shape of the indefinitely defined +"Cherokee Outlet," which lay north of Texas and in addition occupied the +northern part of Indian Territory. + +[100] The subjoined map will illustrate the relative position of the +individual Indian reservations. Although published in 1867, it is not +correct for that date but is fairly correct for 1861. The "reconstruction +treaties" of 1866 made various changes in the Indian boundaries but the +map takes no account of them. + +[101] Van Buren had a short time previously been the headquarters of the +Southern Superintendency. + +[102] We find that this intimate intercourse extended even to things +scholastic; for, though there were plenty of female seminaries, so-called, +within Indian Territory, Indian girls regularly attended similar +institutions in Fayetteville [Bishop, A. W., _Loyalty on the Frontier_, +143]. + +[103] Bishop [_Loyalty on the Frontier_, 20] says that to the zeal of the +Knights of the Golden Circle, or "Knaves of the Godless Communion," was +mainly attributable "the treasonable complexion" of the Arkansas +legislature that organized in November of 1860. + +[104] The following documents include the act of the Chickasaw Legislature +and related correspondence: + + Be it enacted by Legislature of the Chickasaw Nation, That the + Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, be and he is hereby authorized to + appoint four Commissioners, one from each county, namely:--Panola, + Pickens, Tishomingo, and Pontotoc County, on the part of the Chickasaw + Nation, to meet a like set of Commissioners appointed respectively by + the Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations, to meet in General + Convention at such time and place That the Chief of the Creek Nation, + may set, for the purpose of entering into some compact, not + inconsistent with the Laws and Treaties of the United States, for the + future security and protection of the rights and Citizens of said + nations, in the event of a change in the United States, and to renew + the harmony and good feeling already established between said Nations + by a compact concluded & entered into on the 14th of Nov. 1859, at + Asbury Mission Creek Nation. + + Be it further enacted That said Commissioners shall receive for their + services the sum of One hundred dollars each, and shall report the + proceedings of said Convention to the next session of the Chickasaw + Legislature for its approval or disapproval.... + + Passed the House Repts as amended Jany 5th 1861. + + Passed Senate Jan. 5, 1861. Approved Jan. 5, 1861. + +Indian Office General Files--_Cherokee 1859-1865_, C515. + + Enclosed please find an Act of the called Session of the Chickasaw + Legislature, the object of which you will readily understand. Your + cooperation, and union of action of the Cherokee people in effecting + the object therein expressed is hereby respectfully solicited. + + It will be left to the Principal Chiefs of the Creek Nation to appoint + the time and place of meeting, of which you will have timely notice.-- + CYRUS HARRIS, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, to John Ross, + principal chief of the Cherokees, dated Tishomingo, C. N. January 5th, + 1861 [_ibid._]. + + You will please find enclosed a communication from the Gov{r} of the + Chickasaw Nation & an Act of the Chickasaw Legislature calling upon + their Brethren the Creeks to appoint a time & place for a General + Convention of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, and Creeks. We + therefore appoint the 17th inst. to meet at the General Council Ground + of the Creek Nation--At which time & place we will (be) happy to meet + our Brethren the Cherokees.-- JACOB DERRYSAW, acting chief of the + Creek Nation, to John Ross, dated Cowetah, Creek Nation, February 4, + 1861 [ibid.]. + + I was much surprised to receive a proposition for taking action so + formal on a matter so important, without having any previous notice or + understanding about the business, which might have afforded + opportunity to confer with our respective Councils and People. + + Although I regret most deeply, the excitement which has arisen among + our White brethren: yet _by us_ it can only be regarded as a family + misunderstanding among themselves. And it behooves us to be careful, + in any movement of ours, to refrain from adopting any measures liable + to be misconstrued or misrepresented:--and in which (at present at + least) we have no direct and proper concern. + + I cannot but confidently believe, however, that there is wisdom and + virtue and moderation enough among the people of the United States, to + bring about a peaceable and satisfactory adjustment of their + differences. And I do not think we have the right to anticipate any + contingency adverse to the stability and permanence of the Federal + Union. + + Our relations to the United States, as defined by our treaties, are + clear and definite. And the obligations growing out of them easily + ascertained. And it will ever be our wisdom and our interest to adhere + strictly to those obligations, and carefully to guard against being + drawn into any complications which may prove prejudicial to the + interests of our people, or imperil the security we now enjoy under + the protection of the Government of the United States as guaranteed by + our Treaties. In the very worst contingency that can be thought of, + the great National Responsibilities of the United States must and will + be provided for. And should a catastrophe as that referred to in + (your) communication, unhappily occur, then will be the time for us to + take proper steps for securing the rights and interests of our people. + + Out of respect to the Chiefs of neighboring Nations, and from the deep + interest I feel for the peace and welfare of our red brethren, I have + deemed it proper to appoint a Delegation to attend the Council + appointed by the Creek Chiefs at your request, on the 17th inst. at + the Gen{l} Council Ground of the Creek Nation, for the purpose of a + friendly interchange of the views & sentiments on the general + interests of our respective Nations. + + In the language of our Fathers, I am your + + "Elder Friend and Brother" + JOHN ROSS, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation. + +Extract from letter to Cyrus Harris, February 9, 1861 [_ibid._]. + + Previous to the receipt of your Communication enclosing the + proceedings of the Chickasaw Authorities, I had received similar + papers from the "Governor of the Chickasaw Nation." + + And I herewith enclose for the information of yourself & people a copy + of my reply. I will appoint a Delegation to attend your Council for + the purpose therein stated.--Ross to Derrysaw, February 9, 1861 + [_ibid._]. + + I have received a communication from the Gov. of the Chickasaw Nation, + with a copy of an Act of their Legislature. And I presume a similar + communication has been received by you. Deeming it important that much + prudence and caution should be exercised by us in regard to the object + of the Governor's communication, I have thought it proper to address + him a letter, giving a brief expression of my views on the subject, a + copy of which I enclose for your information.--Ross to the principal + chief of the Choctaw Nation, February 11, 1861 [_ibid._]. + +[105] See preceding note. + +[106] The Creek Agency was probably chosen because of its convenient +situation. It was at the junction of the North Fork and the Canadian and, +consequently, in close proximity to three of the reservations and not far +distant from the other two. + +[107] See Mrs. W. P. Ross, _Life and Times of William P. Ross_. + +[108] _American Historical Review_, vol. xv, 282. + +[109] + + ... On your deliberations it will [be] proper for you to advise + discretion, and to guard against any premature movement on our part, + which might produce excitement or be liable to misrepresentation. Our + duty is very plain. We have only to adhere firmly to our respective + Treaties. By them we have placed ourselves under the protection of the + United States, and of no other sovereign whatever. We are bound to + hold no treaty with any foreign Power, or with any individual State or + combination of States nor with Citizens of any State. Nor even with + one another without the interposition and participation of the United + States.... + + Should any action of the Council be thought desirable, a resolution + might be adopted, to the effect, that we will in all contingencies + rest our interests on the pledged faith of the United States, for the + fulfilment of their obligations. We ought to entertain no apprehension + of any change, that will endanger our interests. The parties holding + the responsibilities of the Federal Government will always be bound to + us. And no measures we have it in our power to adopt can add anything + to the security we now possess. Relying on your intelligence & + discretion I will add no more.--CHIEF ROSS'S instructions to the + Cherokee Delegation, February 12, 1861 [Indian Office General File; + _Cherokee 1859-1865_, C515]. + +[110] The Indian Office files are full of testimony proving John Ross's +wisdom, foresight, sterling worth generally, and absolute devotion to his +people. Indeed, his whole biography is written large in the records. His +character was impeccable. Judged by any standard whatsoever, he would +easily rank as one of the greatest of Indian half-breeds. + +[111] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 682. + +[112] The evidence of this is to be found in an official letter from +Commissioner W. P. Dole to Secretary Caleb B. Smith, under date of April +30, 1861, which reads as follows: + + I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a letter, dated 17th. + Inst. from Elias Rector, Esq., Supt. Indian Affairs ... together with + copy of its enclosure, being one addressed to _Col. W. H. Emory_ by + _M. Leeper_, Agent for the Indians within the "Leased District," + having reference to the removal of the troops from Fort Cobb. + + The Government being bound by treaty obligations to protect the + Indians from the incursions of all enemies, I would respectfully ask + to be informed, if it is not its intention to keep in the country a + sufficient force for the purpose. + + The Choctaw and Chickasaw delegation--composed of the principal men of + those Nations--while recently in this City expressed great + apprehensions of attack upon their people, by Citizens of Texas and + Arkansas; and these delegations having assured me of their + determination to maintain a neutral position in the anticipated + difficulties throughout our Country, I would recommend that a depot + for arms be established within the Southern Superintendency in order + that the Indians there may be placed in the possession of the means to + defend themselves against any attack....--Indian Office _Report Book_, + no. 12, p. 152. + +[113] General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, L632. + +[114] The letter can be found in manuscript form in Indian Office, _Letter +Book_, no. 65, pp. 447-449, and in printed form in Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 34. + +[115] _John Ross_, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation; _Cyrus Harris_, +governor of the Chickasaw Nation; _M. Kennard_, principal chief of the +Lower Creeks; _Echo Hadjo_ [Echo Harjo], principal chief of the Upper +Creeks; _George Hudson_, principal chief of the Choctaw Nation; and the +unnamed principal chief of the Seminoles west of Arkansas. + +[116] It would seem that the letter was not given to Coffin immediately +but was held back on account of the insecurity of the mails [Dole to Creek +and Seminole chiefs, November 16, 1861, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. +67, pp. 78-79]. + +[117] The delay was not entirely due to the military situation. Coffin +went from Washington to his home in Indiana. He was there on the +twentieth, at Annapolis, Parke County, when Dole wrote urging him to +hasten on his way, + + I herewith enclose a slip taken from the National Intelligencer of + this date, being an extract from the Austin [Texas] State Gazette of + the 4th Instant, by which you will perceive that efforts are being + made to tamper with the Indians within your Superintendency. + + By this you will perceive the urgent necessity, that you should + proceed at the earliest moment practicable to the vicinity of the + duties in your charge, that from your personal knowledge of the views + of the Government in relation to these Indians as well as by the + instructions and communications in your possession, you may be able to + thwart the endeavors of any and all who have or shall attempt to + tamper with these tribes and array them in hostility to the + Government. + + I deem it of the utmost importance that no time be lost in this + matter, as delay may be disastrous to the public service.--Indian + Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 473. + +By the nineteenth of June, Coffin had managed to reach Crawford Seminary, +from which place he reported to Dole, + + We have at length reached the Indian Territory propper.... I find Mr. + Elder the Agent absent. I learned on my way down here that he had gone + to Fort Scott with the view of locating the Agency there for the + present which I supposed when I wrote you from the Catholic Mission + might be propper from its close proximity to Missouri but as Mr. + Phelps district is opposit here and he a good Union man and has been + Stumping the district and I learn that the Union cause is growing fast + in that part of the State I think there is now at least no Sort of + excuse for removing, the buildings here are ample for a large family, + watter good....--General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, + C1229. + +The sequel showed that Agent Elder was right and Superintendent Coffin +wrong about the security of the region. Coffin never reached Fort Smith at +all and was soon compelled to vacate the Indian Territory. Indian Office, +_Letter Book_, no. 66, which covers the period from June, 1861 to October, +1861, contains scarcely a letter to prove that the Indian Office was in +communication with Indian Territory. Official connection with the country +had been completely cut off. Military abandonment and dilatory officials +had done their work. + +[118] Official instructions were issued to Coffin, then in Washington, on +the ninth, and gave him permission to change his headquarters at +discretion. The following is an excerpt of the instructions: + + You having been appointed by the President to be Superintendent of + Indian Affairs for the Southern Superintendency in place of _Elias + Rector_, Esq. ... You will repair to Fort Smith, Arkansas, as early as + practicable, for the purpose of relieving _Elias Rector_, Esq. + + In your progress from Indiana to Fort Smith, should you deem it + expedient and advisable to pass down the Kansas line and among the + Indians in that section, you will make it your business to inquire as + to their sentiments and disposition with reference to the present + disturbances in the neighboring countries, so far as time and + opportunity will enable you to do so. On reaching Fort Smith you will + also inform yourself as to the condition of Affairs there and + surrounding country, and as to the prospect of the business of the + Superintendency being carried on without molestation or other + inconvenience, and should you find it necessary from the circumstances + that may surround you to remove the office of Superintendent from Fort + Smith you are authorized to do so, selecting some eligible point in + the proximate Indian Territory, or if required some point northwardly + among the Indians in Kansas as your best discretion may dictate. I + trust however that this discretionary authority may prove unnecessary + and that in the legitimate discharge of your duties, you may suffer no + interruption from any cause or source whatever. In a report from this + Office of the 30th Ultimo, with reference to anticipated Indian + troubles in your Superintendency consequent upon the removal of the + troops from Fort Cobb, the attention of the _Hon. Secretary of the + Interior_ was called to the subject, and the enquiry as to the policy + of the Government to keep in the country a sufficient force for the + purpose of proper protection; and further calling his attention to the + expression of friendship and loyalty made by the Choctaw and Chickasaw + delegates lately in this City, recommended that a depot for arms be + established within the Southern Superintendency, in order that the + Indians there may be placed in possession of the means to defend + themselves against any attack. As yet no response to this report has + been received....--Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, pp. 442-443. + +[119] Douglas H. Cooper, agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws, was from +Mississippi; William H. Garrett, agent for the Creeks, was from Alabama; +Robert J. Cowart, agent for the Cherokees, was from Georgia; Matthew +Leeper, agent for the Indians of the Leased District, was from Texas; and +Andrew J. Dorn, agent at the Neosho River Agency, was from Arkansas. + +[120] Telegram, Greenwood to Rector, January 19, 1861 [Indian Office, +_Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 104]. + +[121] For information showing what Indian agents became adherents of the +Confederate cause, see, among other things, an extract from a report of +Albert Pike to be found in Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 130, pp. +237-238; and a letter from R. W. Johnson to L. P. Walker, published in +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 598. + +[122] The evidence on this point is not very convincing, either one way or +the other. A number of documents might be cited bearing some brief, vague, +or indefinite reference to the steps the Indians took from the beginning. +The closing paragraph of the following report from E. H. Carruth, under +date of July 11, 1861, is a typical case: + + SIR: I know not that any person has given information to any of the + United States officers in regard to the position of the Indian Tribes + connected with the Southern Superintendency. + + I am just arrived from the Seminole Country where for a year I have + been employed as [illegible] to induce the Seminoles to establish + schools. In Sept. last the chiefs applied to the Department to set + aside $5000 for this purpose, but never heard from their application, + and their Ag't soon became too deeply interested in the politics of + the Country to pay much attention to the affairs of the tribe. + + From the time the secession movement began to ripen into treason, the + Chief of the Seminoles has constantly sought information on the + subject, and whenever I rec'd a mail he would bring an Interpreter & + remain with me until all had been read and explained. + + After the Forts west were taken possession of by the Texans, the + tribes living under the protection of Government around Fort Cobb came + into the Seminole Country, seeking the counsel of the Seminoles as to + what they should do, hostility to the Texans, being with them + strengthened by the recollection of recent wrongs. The Seminoles gave + them permission to reside on their lands, and advised them to + interfere with neither party, should both be represented in the + country. + + The Texan officers sent several letters among them & left + Commissioners at Cobb to treat with them offering to them the same + protection before enjoyed while the Government of the U. S. was + represented among them. A letter was also sent to the Seminoles signed + by Geo. W. Welch, "Capt-Commanding the Texan troops in the service of + the Southern Confederacy" which asserted that the _Northern people + were determined to take away their lands & negroes_, that the old + Gov't would never be able to fulfill her treaty stipulations and wound + up by asking them to place their interests under the protection of the + Southern Confederacy. + + Very soon afterwards Capt. Albert G. Pike "Commissioner for the + Confederate States of America" wrote to the Seminole Chief from the + Creek Agency, asking that he should meet him at that place with six of + his best men fully authorized to treat with him. He also asked for a + body of Seminole warriors, & promised as "good perhaps better treaty" + than their old one. His letter was backed up by one from Washburn + (formerly Seminole Ag't) who gave a glowing description of treason, + representing to the Indians that the U. S. could never pay one dollar + of the moneys due them, that European Nations were committed to the + cause of the Rebels, and entreated, prayed, almost commanded them to + take the step so essential to their political salvation. This Washburn + had once been engaged in a money transaction with two of the Chiefs + which swindled the nation out of many thousands of dollars, and while + they came near losing their heads in the operation, he escaped, & + still enjoys great personal popularity with the tribe. No man knows + better how to approach Indians. He was born among them of missionary + parents, & like all southern men, who regret their northern parentage, + he is the most rabid of violent traitors. The day after these letters + were rec'd the Chief (John Jumper) spent at my house. He felt true to + the treaties, & said that all his people were with the Government, + but, the Forts west were in possession of its enemies, their Agent + would give them no information on the subject, & he feared that his + country would be overrun, if he did not yield. + + I told him plainly that Government was shamefully misrepresented, that + the treaties bound him to all the states alike, that the U. S. could + not fall with all the Army & Navy at her disposal, & that should the + South ever succeed in gaining her own independence the free States + would fight till not a man, woman or child was left, before yielding + one inch of Territory to the rebels. The war being entered into not so + much either for or against slavery in the states, as to protect the + Constitutional rights of Government in the Territories. The Chief told + me that all the full Indians everywhere were with the Gov't, that he + did not wish to fight, nor did his people, they had hoped to be left + to themselves untill the whites settled their quarrels, his people had + enough of war in Florida, & were now anxious for peace. He would + however go to the Creek Agency & tell Capt. Pike & Ben McCulloch their + determination. I believe the object of Pike in drawing the Seminoles + to the Creek country was that he could thus bring Creek influence to + bear upon them. When Pike's letter came, the Bearer sent word to the + Chief to meet him ten miles below, where they were read, but this + caution did not keep them out of sight, as the Chief immediately + brought them to me, to whom as clerk they should have come at first, + but a "white man" was declared to be the adviser of the Seminoles, for + whom a black jack limb would soon suffice. I knew it dangerous to + await the arrival of my ranger friends, & with my wife I left on + horseback, traveling in a Kickapoo trail, coming in above the Creek + country, as they had seceded--I was questioned a good deal in the + Cherokee Nation, but not interfered with as I was personally + acquainted with their leading half breeds, and my wife being fortunate + enough to have a Virginia birth and a brother in Missouri. + + When within a half hour's travel of the Neosho River, my shot gun was + taken by a company of men, organized that day--the 2d after Seymour + was killed--they said "to clean out Kansas Jay hawkers." + + The influence of Capt. Pike the Rebel Commissioner is second to no + man's among the Southern Indians & I fear that he may succeed in his + intrigues with the other tribes, the Creeks, Chickasaws, & Choctaws + having already gone. The Cherokees refuse to go as a Nation, & no one + is a firmer friend to the Union than John Ross, their Chief, but + traitors are scheming, and the half breeds in favor of the South, want + an army to come in, in which event they promise to be "forced in" to + the Arms of Jeff. Davis, & the select crowd of traitors at Montgomery. + + There are many true & loyal men even among the half breeds, some of + the Judges of their courts I know to be so, while all the full blood + element is with the Gov't. + + The half breeds belong to the K. G. C. a society whose sole object is + to increase & defend slavery and the full bloods have--not to be + outdone--got up a secret organization called the "pins" which meets + among mountains, connecting business with Ball-playing, and this is + understood to be in favor of Gov't, at least when a half breed at + Webers falls raised a secession flag, the "pins" turned out to haul it + down & were only stopped by a superior force, they retired swearing + that "it should yet be done & its raiser killed" and now Sir, let me + say a word in behalf of the full Indians who make up in devotion to + our Gov't what they lack in knowledge. + + I sometimes hear rejoicing on the part of Northern people, that these + tribes are seceding, because they say such violation of their treaties + will lose them their lands, whose beauty & fertility have long been + admired by western farmers. I have been twelve years among these + tribes & I know the full bloods to be loyal to the Gov't. That Gov't + is bound by treaties to protect these nations, to keep up Forts for + that purpose. The forts are deserted, the soldiers are gone. The + Agents are either resigned or, working under "confederate" + commissions. The Indians are told that the old Gov't is bankrupt, that + it must die, that England & France will help the South, That they are + southern Indians & own slaves, & have interests only with & in the + south, That the war is waged by the North for the sole purpose of + killing slavery, & stealing the Indian lands etc. etc. What have the + Indians with which to disprove this? The "Confederate" Gov't is + represented there by an army & Commissioners, but the United States + have not been heard from for six months. Every battle is believed to + be against the old Gov't & those who control the news know in what + shape it should go to have influence. The Seminole Agent, Col. + Rutherford, has never lifted his finger to give information or advice + to the Indians under his charge--He said before Mr. Lincoln took his + seat as President that he would not receive a reappointment from him, + but would serve until it should come, which means that his love of + money would enable him to make an occasional visit to the Agency + buildings, but his fear for & sympathy with Ark. rebels, would keep + him from doing anything to endanger their interests. A proper officer + could have kept the Seminoles from sending a delegation to Capt. Pike, + as well as in the Creek country one could have kept the Creeks loyal. + That there has been the most culpable neglect on the part of its + officers to the interests of the Genl Gov't needs no + demonstration--The cry has been: "More favorable treaties can now be + made with the South than after the war, as it will show that the + Indians are at heart with the South"--No doubt is allowed to be felt + as to the issue of the war. The agents who hold Commissions from Mr. + Lincoln & go to Montgomery to have Jeff. Davis endorse them, show a + faith in the issue, that is not lost upon the Indians. + + A Capt. Brown of the Chickasaw tribe was commanding at Arbuckle, in + the absence of Col. McKing who was at Tishimingo where the legislature + was in session. He informed me that the Texans would not come over + until the Choctaws & Chickasaws had given them to understand that "it + would be all right"--At the time these nations did not wish to invite + them, it would have been too palpable a violation of treaties, tho' + they took command of the Fort, whether under their national + authorities, or the "Confederate" I do not know which. + + Letters now in possession of the Seminole Chief will prove much herein + stated. I told the chief to preserve those letters & all others which + he might receive of a like nature....--General Files, _Southern + Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348. + +[123] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 513. + +[124] --_Ibid._, 515-516. + +[125] The order was one of the many, dictated by the policy of "no +coercion," that issued in the last days of Buchanan's administration and +the first of Lincoln's. A few of them, affecting or designed to affect the +frontier, may as well be listed in chronological order. On the thirteenth +of February, an abandonment of Fort Smith was ordered [_Official Records_, +first ser., vol. i, 654]. The citizens protested and the order was +countermanded [_ibid._, 655]. On the fifteenth of the same month, General +Scott ordered, in the event of secession, all United States troops from +Texas, via Fort Belknap and the Indian country, to Fort Leavenworth +[_ibid._, 589]. On the eighteenth of March, a similar abandonment of +Arkansas and the Indian country was arranged for [_ibid._, 667]. + +[126] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, pp. 626, 628, +629. + +[127] General Twiggs was then waiting to be relieved of his command, +having personally requested to be relieved, his sense of embarrassment +being strong and his unwillingness to take responsibility, extreme. Robert +E. Lee, brevet colonel, Second United States Cavalry, was relieved from +duty in Texas and ordered to repair to Washington, by orders of February +4, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 586]. + +[128] Commissioners of some sort had been sent to the Indians even before +this. They do not seem to have been, in any sense, agents of Texas, +indeed, the ones particularly in mind were from Arkansas; but Texas may +have taken her cue from their appointment. Their presence in the Indian +country is sufficiently attested by the following correspondence: + + I have been informed today that persons purporting to act in the + capacity of Commissioners are now visiting the Indian nations on our + frontier--preparatory to forming an alliance with them to furnish them + with arms and munitions of war, in violation of subsisting treaties + and the laws of the United States. Occupying the position I do as a + Civil officer of the Government in discharge of my duty as well as + instructions, It is my duty to make inquiry and report such a state of + facts as may exist in relation to the same. And having no authentic + information in relation to this matter other than public rumor, I have + believed it my duty to address you knowing that if such projects are + in embryo or consummation that they cannot escape your vigilance; and + that from you I shall be informed of the same, that, they may be + communicated from a reliable official source to the authorities at + Washington for their action.--JOHN B. OGDEN, United States + commissioner, to John Ross, dated Van Buren, February 15, 1861 [Indian + Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, O32]. + + I have received your communication of the 15th inst.--stating that you + have been informed that persons purporting to act in the capacity of + commissioners are now visiting the Indian Nations on the frontier + preparatory to forming an alliance.... + + It is currently rumored in the Country that Mr. R. J. Cowart--the U. + S. Agent--is officially advocating the secession policy of the + Southern States and that he is endeavoring to influence the Cherokees + to take sides and act in concert with the seceded States--At the same + time uttering words of denunciation against all the distinguished + Patriots who are exerting their efforts, to devise measures of + reconciliation in Congress as well as those in the Peace Convention at + Washington for the Preservation of the Union. + + Mr. Cowart brought out with him from the State of Georgia a man + named--Solomon--who is a notorious drunken brawling disunionist. He is + strolling about Tahlequah under the permission of the socalled "U. S. + Agent"--and is creating strife & getting into difficulties with + citizens of the Nation--a perfect nuisance to the peace and good order + of society. + + The conduct and general deportment of this man, also of the Agent + being in direct violation of the laws and Treaties of the United + States--they should be removed out of the Cherokee Country. + + For further information as to such facts relating to the subjects of + your enquiry, I have to refer you at present to Mr. W. P. Ross for + what he may be in possession of....--JOHN ROSS to John B. Ogden, + February 28, 1861 [Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, + 1859-1865_, O32]. + +[129] _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 322. + +[130] Tenney, W. J. _Military and Naval History of the Rebellion in the +United States_, 134. + +[131] Letter to the Alabama commissioner, J. M. Calhoun, January 7, 1861 +[_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 74]. + +[132] "Report of a Committee of the Convention, being an address to the +people of Texas, March 30, 1861."--_Ibid._, 199. + +[133] _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 322-325. + +[134] Leeper to Greenwood, February 12, 1861 [General Files, _Wichita, +1860-1861_, L373]. + +[135] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 656. + +[136] --_Ibid._ + +[137] --_Ibid._, 660. + +[138] --_Ibid._, 648. + +[139] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 656. + +[140] The Indian Office protested against a reduction of the forts because +of treaty guaranties to the Indians [Dole to Smith, April 30, 1861, Indian +Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, p. 152]. + +[141] Townsend to Emory, March 21, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. i, 659]. + +[142] Same to same, _ibid._, 660. + +[143] Emory to Townsend, April 2, 1861 [_ibid._, 660]. + +[144] At the time, when it was intended to remove all the troops from Fort +Cobb for purposes of concentration farther south and nearer to the source +of danger, instructions were issued that the Reserve Indians, whose +peculiar protection Fort Cobb was, might remove within the limits of Fort +Washita; but the Choctaws and the Chickasaws objected and, in deference to +their wishes, Emory suspended the permission [_Official Records_, first +ser., vol. i, 663], his excuse being that Fort Cobb was not to be +abandoned anyway. The contractors, Johnson and Grimes, whom Superintendent +Rector had so much favored, had a good deal to do with the forming of this +decision. They told Emory that the Reserve Indians were not free to move; +for they had no means and that they were "hutted and planting at Fort +Cobb." Quite naturally the food contractors did not wish the Indians to be +taken out of their reach within the limits of a military reservation. + +[145] Matthew Leeper was very insistent. He not only wrote letters to +Emory arguing his case but travelled from his agency to Fort Smith to +interview him. + +[146] Emory refused to grant the appeal of Major Sackett and Captain +Prince not to abandon Fort Arbuckle [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. +i, 666]. + +[147] This circumstance ought not, however, to be cited to the prejudice +of Colonel Emory; for it was while he was yet at Fort Smith that he +manifested some of the spirit that inspired Robert E. Lee, who, by the +way, was in command of the 2nd regiment of United States cavalry and had +been stationed, like Emory, in Texas, and who, whether he believed in the +doctrine of secession or not, put, as many another high-minded Southerner +did, the state before the nation in matters of pride, of allegiance, and +of personal honor. Such men as Lee belonged to quite another class from +what the self-seeking politicians did who, in isolated cases at least, +engineered the secession movement from hope of gain. Many of the Indian +agents and employees belonged to this latter class. Emory was unlike Lee +in the final result; for he did not ultimately conclude to go with his +state. It was he who later on commanded, as a Union brigadier-general, the +defences of New Orleans. + +[148] See Appendix B, _Leeper Papers_. + +[149] Very early, as has already been commented upon, the Texans bethought +them of securing the Indian alliance. Additional evidence is to be found +in such a request as Henry E. McCulloch made of Secretary Walker, on the +occasion of his brother Ben's having passed over to him the charge +originally conferred upon himself of raising a regiment of mounted troops +for the defence of the frontier. Henry E. McCulloch requested Secretary +Walker to permit him + + To use some of the friendly Indians in the Indian Territory, if I can + procure their services, in my scouting parties and expeditions against + the hostile Indians. These people can be made of great service to us, + and can be used without any great expense to the + Government.--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 618. + +[150] Letter of Carruth, July 11, 1861. + +[151] As proof that the Texans regarded the Choctaws and the Chickasaws as +friends, the two following letters may be cited: + +A letter from John Hemphill and W. S. Oldham, two of the representatives +from Texas in the Provisional Congress, to Secretary Walker, March 30, +1861, outlining a scheme of defence for Texas in which the admission was +made that, from the southwest corner of Arkansas to Preston on the Red +River, Texas needed no defense as her neighbors on that side were, "the +highly-civilized and agricultural tribes of Choctaws and Chickasaws, who +are in friendship with Texas and the Confederate States."--_Official +Records_, first ser., vol. i, 619. + +A letter from E. Kirby Smith, major, Artillery, Confederate States of +America, to Walker, April 20, 1861, to the effect that, + + In considering the defense of the line of the western frontier of + Texas our relations with the civilized Indians north of Red River are + of the utmost importance. Numbering some eight thousand rifles, they + form a strong barrier on the north, forcing the line of operations of + an invading army westward into a region impracticable to the passage + of large bodies of troops. Regarding them as our allies, which their + natural affinities make them, the line of the western frontier reduces + itself to the country between the Rio Grande and Red River.--_Official + Records_, first ser., vol. i, 628. + +[152] Between Fort Washita and Fort Arbuckle, Colonel Emory was overtaken +by William W. Averell, second lieutenant, Regiment Mounted Rifles, with +additional despatches from Townsend, ordering him, upon their receipt, +immediately to repair to Fort Leavenworth, "with all the troops in the +Indian country west of Arkansas" [_ibid._, 667]. Lieutenant Averell's own +account of his experiences on the journey between Washington City and Fort +Washita, the hardships, difficulties, and delays, also the frenzied +excitement of the Arkansas people over the prospect of secession, forms an +interesting narrative [_ibid._, vol. liii, supplement, 488, 493-496]. + +[153] Black Beaver had served creditably as United States interpreter for +the Wichitas and recently Leeper had turned to him for help in allaying +their fears [Leeper to Rector, dated Wichita Agency, March 28, 1861, +_Leeper Papers_]. For services rendered on this expedition northward to +Fort Leavenworth [Letter of W. S. Robertson, September 30, 1861, General +Files, _Southern Superintendency_, _1859-1862_, R1615], Black Beaver +brought a claim against the United States [E. S. Parker to J. D. Cox, July +1, 1869, Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 18, pp. 417-418; and same to +same, April 25, 1870, _ibid._, no. 19, p. 321]. Evidently Black Beaver +served also in the Mexican War. He was then head of a company of mounted +volunteers, Shawnees and Delawares [George W. Manypenny to Drew, August 8, +1854], which had been called and mustered into the service by Harney [P. +Clayton, 2nd auditor, to A. K. Parris, 2nd comptroller, October 26, 1850]. + +[154] Emory to Townsend, May 19, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. i, 648]. + +[155] Captain S. T. Benning to Walker, May 14, 1861 [_Official Records_, +first ser., vol. i, 653.] + +[156] --_Ibid._ + +[157] Leeper to Rector, January 13, 1862 [_Leeper Papers_]. + +[158] A note, communicated by X. B. Debray, aide-de-camp to the Governor +of Texas, to Walker and dated, Richmond, August 28, 1861, says, + + The governor of Texas being convinced that the integrity of the soil + of Texas greatly depends upon the success of the Southern cause in + Missouri, and moved by an appeal to the people of Arkansas and Texas + (published at the beginning of July by General Ben. McCulloch) ordered + on the 25th ultimo the raising and concentration on Red River of 3,000 + mounted men, besides the regiment commanded by Col. W. C. Young, which + has been occupying for several months Forts Arbuckle, Cobb, and + Washita, under authority of Texas, and at the request of the Chickasaw + Indians.--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iv, 98. + +[159] House _Journal_, Arkansas, 1861, p. 304. + +[160] _Confederate Military History_, vol. x, 4. + +[161] _Confederate Military Hillary_, vol. x, 7. + +[162] Two letters found among the _Fort Smith Papers_ may serve, in a +measure, to illustrate the point: + + LITTLE ROCK, ARKS, Jan{y} 6, 1861. + + DR THAD: I received your letter a few days ago.... I am thankful that + there are a few righteous men left and particularly gratified that you + and Henry Lewis are true and faithful to the South. + + I will endeavor to keep you posted so that you may hold your own with + the Union savers--in sober truth the question is not whether the Union + ought or can be saved but whether Arkansas shall go with the North or + adhere to the South. Neither Fishback or anybody can preserve the + Union--it now becomes us as wise men to put our house in order for the + impending crisis. I wrote to Porter last night--the Senate have not + passed the Convention bill and will not in anything like a right + shape.... + + BEN T. DU VAL. + + [Addressed to Capt. M. T. Tatum, Greenwood, Arks.]. + + + LITTLE ROCK ARK, January 7th 1861. + + DEAR THAD. I enclose you a copy of the printed bill now before our + House to arm and equip the Militia of this State and to appropriate + 100,000$ for that purpose.... We have passed a bill through the House + appropriating five hundred dollars to Porter to cover his losses to + some extent in money which he has paid out in recovering fugitives, it + ought to have been a good deal more, but I never worked harder for + anything in my life to get what we did. I think it will pass the + Senate. The news from South Carolina indicate a Tea party at + Charleston before many days. From the general signs of the times I + think a Compromise will be effect between the North and the South and + the _Union saved_. The Convention bill has not passed the Senate yet + but will in a few days I think. Give my respects to the boys generally + Your obt Servt + + JOHN T. LONDON + + [Addressed to Capt. M. T. Tatum, Greenwood, Sebastian County, + Arkansas.] + +[163] An interesting series of telegrams has a bearing upon that event. + + February 1, 1861 + + J. J. GREEN, WILLIAM WALKER, Van Buren, Ark.: + + Not possible to leave here. Southern confederacy certain. Arkansas + must save her children by joining it. Write by mail to-day. + + JOHNSON and HINDMAN, + +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, 617. + + + WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861. + + JOHN POPE, ESQ., Little Rock, Ark.: + + For God's sake do not complicate matters by an attack. It will be + premature and do incalculable injury. We cannot justify it. The + reasons that existed elsewhere for seizure do not exist with us. + + ALBERT PIKE, R. W. JOHNSON. + +--_Ibid._, vol. i, 682. + + + U. S. SENATE, WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861. + + HIS EXCELLENCY H. M. RECTOR, Little Rock, Ark.: + + The motives which impelled capture of forts in other States do not + exist in ours. It is all premature. We implore you prevent attack on + arsenal if Totten resists. + + R. W. JOHNSON, W. K. SEBASTIAN. + +--_Ibid._, 681. + + + WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861. + + R. H. JOHNSON, JAMES B. JOHNSON, Little Rock: + + Southern States which captured forts were in the act of seceding, were + threatened with troops, and their ports and commerce endangered. Not + so with us. If Totten resists, for God's sake deliberate and go stop + the assault. + + R. W. JOHNSON. + +--_Ibid._, 681-682. + + + WASHINGTON, February 7, 1861. + + GOVERNOR RECTOR, Little Rock, Ark.: + + For God's sake allow no attack to be made on Fort Totten. + + A. RUST. + +--_Ibid._, vol. liii, supplement, 617. + + + February 7, 1861. + + E. BURGEVIN, Little Rock: + + For God's sake do not attack the arsenal. It can do no good and will + be productive of great harm. + + C. B. JOHNSON. + +--_Ibid._ + + + LITTLE ROCK, February 8, 1861. + + C. B. JOHNSON, Washington: + + Spoke too late, like Irishman who swallowed egg. Arsenal in hands of + Governor. + + EDMUND BURGEVIN. + +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, 617. + +The senders and recipients of the telegraphic dispatches were, with one or +two exceptions, all relatives of each other, and all in public life. +Robert Ward Johnson and William K. Sebastian were, at the time, United +States senators from Arkansas; Thomas C. Hindman and Albert Rust were +Arkansas representatives in Congress; Albert Pike was in Washington, +prosecuting the Choctaw Indian claim; Edmund Burgevin was the +attorney-general of Arkansas and a brother-in-law of Governor Rector; +Richard H. Johnson and James Johnson were brothers of Robert W. Johnson, +the former being proprietor and editor of the Little Rock _Democrat_ and +the latter, in future years, a colonel in the Confederate army. In 1868, +R. W. Johnson moved to Washington City and became the law partner of +Albert Pike. [Arkansas Historical Association, _Publications_, vol. ii, +268.] Hindman was the man who sneered at the precautions taken to insure +President-elect Lincoln's safety [Stanwood, _History of Presidential +Elections_, 235]. Sebastian was expelled from the Senate because of his +southern sympathies; but, as he really took no active part in the +Confederate movements, the resolution of expulsion was rescinded in 1878. + +[164] It would be interesting to know whether Elias Rector had as yet +formulated any such plan for personal aggrandizement such as must have +been in his mind when he wrote the letter to Douglas H. Cooper that called +forth from Cooper the following response: + + _Private & Confidential_ + + _Copy_ + + FORT SMITH May 1st 1861. + + MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR + + Dr. Sir: I have concluded to act upon the suggestion yours of the 28th + Ultimo contains. + + If we work this thing shrewdly we can make a fortune each, satisfy the + Indians, stand fair before the North, and revel in the unwavering + confidence of our Southern Confederacy. + + My share of the eighty thousand in gold you can leave on deposite with + Meyer Bro, subject to my order. Write me soon. COOPER. Indian Office, + General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1863-1864_, I435. + +The foregoing letter of Cooper's was one of those referred to in the +following telegraphic communication from Special Agent G. B. Stockton to +Secretary Usher, dated Fort Smith, Arkansas, February 20, 1864: + + I have just found & have now in this office a large desk containing + indian papers treaties correspondence of Cooper Rector & others, + correspondence of W. P. Dole as late as May fifteenth 1861 vouchers + abstracts & correspondence convicting Rector & Cooper of enticing the + various tribes to become enemies of the U. S. The papers extend back + as far as 1834 will you please direct me what disposition to make of + them. + +Secretary Usher referred the matter to the Office of Indian Affairs and +Mix instructed Stockton to send the papers on to Washington [Letter of +February 20, 1864]. This Stockton did and notified the Commissioner of +Indian Affairs in this wise, by telegraph: + + I have boxed the Indian Papers which I found at this place, and this + day send them by wagons to Leavenworth City, Kansas, to be thence + forwarded by the American Express Company. + +There seems to have been considerable delay in their transmittal after +they had passed into the custodianship of the express company but they +eventually reached the Indian Office and to-day form part of the Fort +Smith collection. + +[165] The melodious refrain of this, + + That fine Arkansas gentleman, + Close to the Choctaw line. + +unconsciously brings our one of the very ideas sought to be conveyed by +the present chapter; namely, the extremely close connection between +Arkansas and Indian Territory. + +[166] This old, old song, "written on the model and to the air of 'The Old +Country Gentleman'," runs thus: + + The song I'll sing, though lately made, it tells of olden days, + Of a good old Scottish gentleman, of good old Scottish ways; + When our barons bold kept house and hold, and sung their olden lays + And drove with speed across the Tweed, auld Scotland's bluidy faes, + Like brave old Scottish gentlemen, all of the olden time. + +_Scottish Songs_, printed by W. G. Blackie and Company (Glasgow). + +[167] The commissioners to whom Ogden referred in his letter of February +15, 1861, may have been the tangible evidence of Governor Rector's first +attempt to influence the Indians. + +[168] Fleming, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama_, 46, footnote 1. + +[169] Smith, _Debates of the Alabama Convention_, 443-444; _Official +Records_, fourth ser., vol i, 3. + +[170] Governor Moore had appointed the commissioners, including Hubbard, +on his own initiative before the convention met. See his address, Smith's +_Debates_, 35. + +[171] House _Journal_, Arkansas, 38. + +[172] House _Journal_, Arkansas, 314, 445. + +[173] January 12, 1861. + +[174] The resolution is found in House _Journal_, Arkansas, 167 and in +_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 307. Its text is as follows: + + _Resolved_, That no money or property of any kind whatever, now in the + hands of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, or of any Indian agent, + being placed there, or designed for the Indians on the western + frontier of Arkansas, shall be seized, but that the same shall so + remain to be applied to and for the use of the several Indian Nations, + faithfully, as was designed when so placed in their hands for + disbursement. + + And the people of the State of Arkansas, here in sovereign convention + assembled, do hereby pledge the sovereignty of the State of Arkansas, + that everything in their power shall be done to compel a faithful + application of all money and property now in the hands of persons or + agents designed and intended for the several Indian tribes west of + Arkansas. + + Adopted in and by the convention May 9, 1861. + + DAVID WALKER, President of the Arkansas State Convention. + + Attest. ELIAS C. BOUDINOT, Secretary of the Convention. + +[175] + + BOONSBOROUGH, ARK., May 9, 1861. + + HON. JOHN ROSS: + + Dear Sir: The momentous issues that now engross the attention of the + American people cannot but have elicited your interest and attention + as well as ours. The unfortunate resort of an arbitrament of arms + seems now to be the only alternative. Our State has of necessity to + co-operate with her natural allies, the Southern States. It is now + only a question of North and South, and the "hardest must fend off." + We expect manfully to bear our part of the privations and sacrifices + which the times require of Southern people. + + This being our attitude in this great contest, it is natural for us to + desire, and we think we may say we have a right, to know what position + will be taken by those who may greatly conduce to our interests as + friends or to our injury as enemies. Not knowing your political status + in this present contest as the head of the Cherokee Nation, we request + you to inform as by letter, at your earliest convenience, whether you + will co-operate with the Northern or Southern section, now so + unhappily and hopelessly divided. We earnestly hope to find in you and + your people true allies and active friends; but if, unfortunately, you + prefer to retain your connection with the Northern Government and give + them aid and comfort, we want to know that, as we prefer an open enemy + to a doubtful friend. + + With considerations of high regard, we are, your obedient servants, + + MARK BEAN, + W. B. WELCH, + E. W. MACCLURE, + JOHN SPENCER, + J. A. MCCOLLOCH, + J. M. LACY, + J. P. CARNAHAN, + _And many others_. + +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 493-494; Indian Office, General +Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515. + +[176] Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official +Records_, first ser., vol. i, 683-684; vol. xiii, 490-491. + +[177] Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official +Records_, first ser., vol. i, 683. + +[178] In a letter to A. B. Greenwood, dated Fort Smith, February 13, 1861, +he says: + + On the 11th Inst. I sent a dispatch to you asking for Troops and + yesterday rec'd an answer making enquiries as to the Object for which + they are wanted, and asking if the Governor's Commissioner was here & + what was his Object. + + I have just replyed in a Dispatch, that the Gov. has no Com. here and + has had none. I suppose you have been Tehlegraphed that there was a + Com. and that for mischief. Now the following are the facts in the + case as far as I have been able to learn them. On Saturday or Sunday + last there came a young man by the name of Gains called Dr. Gains from + Little Rock. He stated his object was to visit the Indian Tribes west + of this to cultivate with them friendly Relations and stated moreover + that he was authorized to do so by the Gov. of Arkansas. When I + returned your Dispatch I went to Dr. Gains and asked him in the + presents of witnesses if he was acting as Com. for the Gov. of + Arkansas he replyed that he was not, and now Sir I am sorry to learn + to day that a rumor is afloat that I am here to aid in taking this + post & that by having Troops sent from here to weaken the forces. + Nothing can be more false. In the first place, the Citizens have no + Disposition to interfere with this post in any way and the truth is I + see no persons but the Officers and I will not judge of their motives. + + Them and myself are all friendly as far as I know except it may be + they object to a Speach I made here on Monday night last. I can say + and prove by all the best citizens of the Place that my remarks were + mild and conciliatory and could not be objectionable to any true + Southern man this the citizens of the City will bare me out, the truth + is the only objection they could make to my speech was that it was + unanswerable. I told you the same when in Washington. I appeal to the + Citizens for the truth of what I say. I desire troops to protect the + Cherokees from Abolition forays from Kansas & the Neutral land. I am + told that there are three times the No. of Intruders now that there + was there last fall and that violent threats have been made by Kansas. + + In the next place I can do nothing without Troops there and a No. of + lawless murderers in the Nation that cannot without Troops, and I told + you those things when with you last and in addition to the above facts + the Troops can live and support quite as comfortable and for less + money out there than they can here.--Indian Office, General Files, + _Cherokee, 1859-1865_. + +[179] The proof appeared in the correspondence of John B. Ogden, +commissioner of the district court of the United States for the western +district of Arkansas. On March 4, 1861, Ogden wrote from Van Buren to the +Secretary of the Interior the following letter: + + Having learned on the 15th of Feb{y} last from rumor the person + appointed as Com{r} had been sent by Gov. Rector of the State of + Arkansas to the Indian tribes upon our frontier for co-operation in + secession movements, and the same being in violation of treaty + stipulations and the laws enacted by Congress regulating trade and + Intercourse, I addressed a letter of inquiry to John Ross principal + chief of the Cherokee Nation in relation to the same, which letter + accompanies this with his reply--The letter to me I think was intended + to be confidential from its language and from my conversation with the + messenger who was the bearer of it to me, of this however I cannot + positively judge and have thought best to forward the same. John Ross + was unable to give me an imediate answer as he was not personally + advised of the subject matter. But upon the return of Mr W. P. Ross + who was a delegate from the Cherokees to a General Council being held + of the tribes West of Arkansas in relation to their own international + policy, he became advised of the matter of inquiry and for the purpose + of furnishing the required information sent Mr W. P. Ross the bearer + of this letter to Van Buren that he might fully communicate with me in + the matter. I learn from him that one Dr J. J. Gains late editor of a + secession sheet at Little Rock, did attend the said Council held by + the Indian tribes west of Ark{s} in the Choctaw Nation, and that said + Gains announced to the Council his mission to be that of a Com{r} from + Arkansas accredited by the Gov{r} to consult with them in relation to + co-operation with the seceding States--That he submitted a written + Statement to them in reference to their interests and future relations + in the event of a dissolution of the Union--but that he was guarded in + his propositions--You will learn from M{r} John Ross' letter that he + informs me officially that the present (agent) of the Cherokees "is + officiously advocating the secession policy of the southern States and + that his endeavoring to influence the Cherokees to take sides and act + in Concert with the Seceding States."--I can state from my own + information that when said Agent is in Ark{s} he is invariably to be + found upon the stump "open-mouthed and--" for disunion, to the great + anoyance of the good people of the Country. These people should be + heard and their grievances redressed and the causes removed, and some + man of correct constitutional morals appointed in his stead. We have + hosts of such men in this State, and as the Incoming Administration + are not advised of persons in this country, allow me to suggest that + on application to the Hon. A. B. Greenwood now of Washington the + selection of a suitable person could be named. I have no doubt, that + would be satisfactory--pardon this apparent officiousness--At this + time my great anxiety for the preservation of the Union must be my + apology for what I have said. + + I also enclose you a copy of a permit furnished me by M{r} Ross issued + by said agent.--Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, + O32. + + _Inclosures_ + + 1. John Ogden to John Ross, February 15, 1861. + + 2. John Ross to John B. Ogden, February 28, 1861. + + 3. CHEROKEE AGENCY, near Tahlequah, C. N. + + Isaac G. Freeman, a citizen of what was formerly the United States and + a farmer by occupation has permission to remain with J. C. Cunningham + near Park Hill in said Nation and labor for the said Cunningham for + twelve months from this date subject to be removed by the Agent at any + time for cause. + + R. J. COWART, U. S. Cherokee Agent. + + [Endorsement] A true copy from the original as taken by me March 1st + 1861 + + WILL P. ROSS + + 4. Newspaper clippings, one containing the Choctaw resolutions of + February 7, 1861, and the other this: + + Dr. J. J. Gains, (an old editor) dropped in upon us, last week, on his + way to Little Rock, from the Indian country. His mission was one of + peace, and not to "_incite rebellion_" as was telegraphed to + Washington City, by some officious person. We were glad to learn from + him, that our border friends are all right. + +[180] General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, +first ser., vol. xiii, 491-492. + +[181] Stephens says they were almost equally divided on the question of +secession [_Constitutional View of the Late War between the States_, vol. +ii, 363]. + +[182] On April 20, 1861. + +[183] Stephens, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 375; _Official Records_, first ser., +vol. i, 674, 687. + +[184] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 686. + +[185] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 369. + +[186] The importance of such an alliance seems never to have been lost +sight of. In his message of May 6, 1861, Governor Rector called attention +to the fact that Arkansas was the most exposed state in the Union, because +of the Indians on the west [_Journal_, 153]. In various ways, he +emphasized the strategical value of Indian Territory [_ibid._, 156]. + +[187] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 183. + +[188] See page 183. + +[189] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 189. + +[190] --_Ibid._, 295. + +[191] N. Bart Pearce had just been created by the convention +"brigadier-general of Arkansas, to command the Western frontier." + +[192] On the thirteenth of May, the Confederate War Department had +assigned Ben McCulloch to the command of the district embracing Indian +Territory. + +[193] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 369. + +[194] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 691. + +[195] These resolutions are found in the _Official Record_, first ser., +vol. iii, 585-587 and are as follows: + + _Resolutions of the Senate and House of Representatives of the + Chickasaw Legislature assembled_, May 25, 1861: Whereas the Government + of the United States has been broken up by the secession of a large + number of States composing the Federal Union--that the dissolution has + been followed by war between the parties; and whereas the destruction + of the Union as it existed by the Federal Constitution is irreparable, + and consequently the Government of the United States as it was when + the Chickasaw and other Indian nations formed alliances and treaties + with it no longer exists; and whereas the Lincoln Government, + pretending to represent said Union, has shown by its course towards + us, in withdrawing from our country the protection of the Federal + troops, and withholding, unjustly and unlawfully, our money placed in + the hands of the Government of the United States as trustee, to be + applied for our benefit, a total disregard of treaty obligations + toward us; and whereas our geographical position, our social and + domestic institutions, our feelings and sympathies, all attach us to + our Southern friends, against whom is about to be waged a war of + subjugation or extermination, of conquest and confiscation--a war + which, if we can judge from the declarations of the political + partisans of the Lincoln Government, will surpass the French + Revolution in scenes of blood and that of San Domingo in atrocious + horrors; and whereas it is impossible that the Chickasaws, deprived of + their money and destitute of all means of separate self-protection, + can maintain neutrality or escape the storm which is about to burst + upon the South, but, on the contrary, would be suspected, oppressed, + and plundered alternately by armed bands from the North, South, East, + and West; and whereas we have an abiding confidence that all our + rights--tribal and individual--secured to as under treaties with the + United States, will be fully recognized, guaranteed, and protected by + our friends of the Confederate States; and whereas as a Southern + people we consider their cause our own: Therefore, + + _Be it resolved by the Chickasaw Legislature assembled_, 1st. That the + dissolution of the Federal Union, under which the Government of the + United States existed, has absolved the Chickasaws from allegiance to + any foreign government whatever; that the current of the events of the + last few months has left the Chickasaw Nation _independent_, the + people thereof free to form such alliances, and take such steps to + secure their own safety, happiness, and future welfare as may to them + seem best. + + 2d. _Resolved_, That our neighboring Indian nations--Choctaws, + Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Osages, Senecas, Quapaws, Comanches, + Kiowas, together with the fragmentary bands of Delawares, Kickapoos, + Caddoes, Wichitas, and others within the Choctaw and Chickasaw country + who are similarly situated with ourselves, be invited to co-operate, + in order to secure the independence of the Indian nations and the + defense of the territory they inhabit from Northern invasion by the + Lincoln hordes and Kansas robbers, who have plundered and oppressed + our red brethren among them, and who doubtless would extend towards us + the protection which the wolf gives to the lamb should they succeed in + overrunning our country; that the Chickasaws pledge themselves to + resist by all means and to the death any such invasion of the lands + occupied by themselves or by any of the Indian nations; and that their + country shall not be occupied or passed through by the Lincoln forces + for the purpose of invading our neighbors, the States of Arkansas and + Texas, but, on the contrary, any attempt to do so will be regarded as + an act of war against ourselves, and should be resisted by all the + Indian nations as insulting to themselves and tending to endanger + their Territorial rights. + + 3d. _Resolved_, That it is expedient, at the very earliest day + possible, that commissioners from other Indian nations for the purpose + of forming a league or confederation among them for mutual safety and + protection, and also to the Confederate States in order to enter into + such alliance and to conclude such treaties as may be necessary to + secure the rights, interest, and welfare of the Indian tribes, and + that the co-operation of all the Indian nations west of the State of + Arkansas and south of Kansas be invited for the attainment of these + objects. + + 4th. _Resolved_, That the Chickasaws look with confidence especially + to the Choctaws (whose interests are an closely interwoven with their + own, and who were the first through their national council to declare + their sympathy for, and their determination, in case of a permanent + dissolution of the Federal Union, to adhere to the Southern States), + and hope they will speedily unite with us in such measures as may be + necessary for the defense of our common country and a union with our + natural allies, the Confederate States of America. + + 5th. _Resolved_, That while the Chickasaw people entertain the most + sincere friendship for the people of the neighboring States of Texas + and Arkansas, and are deeply grateful for the prompt offer from them + of assistance in all measures of defense necessary for the protection + of our country against hostile invasion, we are desirous to hold + undisputed possession of our lands and all forts and other places + lately occupied by the Federal troops and other officers and persons + acting under the authority of the United States, and that the governor + of the Chickasaw Nation be, and he is hereby, instructed to take + immediate steps to obtain possession of all such forts and places + within the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and have the same + garrisoned, if possible, by Chickasaw troops, or else by troops acting + expressly under and by virtue of the authority of the Chickasaw or + Choctaw nations, until such time as said forts, Indian agencies, etc., + may be transferred by treaty to the Confederate States. + + 6th. _Resolved_, That the governor of the Chickasaw Nation be, and he + is hereby, instructed to issue his proclamation to the Chickasaw + Nation, declaring their _independence_, and calling upon the Chickasaw + warriors to form themselves into volunteer companies of such strength + and with such officers (to be chosen by themselves) as the governor + may prescribe, to report themselves by filing their company rolls at + the Chickasaw Agency, and to hold themselves, with the best arms and + ammunition, together with a reasonable supply of provisions, in + readiness at a minute's warning to turn out, under the orders of the + commanding general of the Chickasaws, for the defense of their country + or to aid the civil authorities in the enforcement of the laws. + + 7th. _Resolved_, That we have full faith and confidence in the justice + of the cause in which we are embarked, and that we appeal to the + Chickasaw people to be prepared to meet the conflict which will + surely, and perhaps speedily, take place, and hereby call upon every + man capable of bearing arms to be ready to defend his home and family, + his country and his property, and to render prompt obedience to all + orders from the officers set over them. + + 9th [8th]. _Resolved_, That the governor cause these resolutions to be + published in the National Register, at the Boggy Depot, and copies + thereof sent to the several Indian nations, to the governors of the + adjacent States, to the President of the Confederate States, and to + Abraham Lincoln, President of the Black Republican Party. + + Passed the House of Representatives May 25, 1865. + + A. ALEXANAN, Speaker House Representatives. + + Attest: C. CARTER, Clerk House Representatives + + Passed the Senate. + + JOHN E. ANDERSON, President of Senate. + + Attest: JAMES N. MCLISH, Clerk of Senate. + + Approved, Tishomingo, May 25, 1861. + + C. HARRIS, Governor. + +[196] See _footnote_ 175. + +[197] General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, +first ser., vol. xiii, 492. + +[198] General Files, _ibid._; _Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, +492-493. + +[199] The text of this is to be found in various places. The most +convenient of such places are, _Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, +489-490 and Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. ii, 145-146. A manuscript +copy of the proclamation may be found in General Files, _Cherokee, +1859-1865_, C515; and a synopsis of its contents in Moore's _Rebellion +Record_, vol. ii, 1-2. + +[200] Ross gave the citizens of Boonsboro their direct answer, May 18, +1861 [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, +first ser., vol. xiii, 494-495]. + +[201] The official list of members of the Confederate congresses can be +found in _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. iii, 1185-1191. + +[202] Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, _Journal_, vol. i, +70. + +[203] --_Ibid._, 81. + +[204] Under the second section of the law of February 21, 1861, Indian +affairs had been left for general supervision to the War Department +[_Provisional and Permanent Constitutions of the Confederate States and +Acts and Resolutions of the First Session of the Provisional Congress_, +48]. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, created by the law of March 15, 1861, +was made a bureau of the War Department. + +[205] Provisional Congress _Journal_, vol. i, 142; Richardson, _Messages +and Papers of the Confederacy_. + +[206] _Provisional and Permanent Constitutions_, 133-134. + +[207] Provisional Congress _Journal_, vol. i, 154. + +[208] Hubbard had occupied other and earlier positions of importance; but +it must certainly have been upon the basis of the experience gained in +filling this one that his nomination for commissioner of Indian affairs +was made. Hubbard had been a state senator, a representative in the +twenty-sixth and in the thirty-first United States congresses, and +presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1844 and on the +Breckinridge and Lane ticket in 1860 [_Biographical Congressional +Directory_, _1774-1903_, 608]. + +[209] + + The Bureau of Indian Affairs ... has been organized.... So far this + Bureau has found but little to do. The necessity for the extension of + the military arm of the Government toward the frontier, and the + attitude of Arkansas, without the Confederacy, have contributed to + circumscribe its action. But this branch of the public service + doubtless will now grow in importance in consequence of the early + probable accession of Arkansas to the Confederacy; of the friendly + sentiments of the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, and + other tribes west of Arkansas toward this Government; of our + difficulties with the tribes on the Texas frontier; of our hostilities + with the United States, and of our probable future relations with the + Territories of Arizona and New Mexico.--Extract from the Report of + Secretary Walker to President Davis, April 27, 1861 [_Official + Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 248]. + +[210] Davis would have preferred to have had Toombs for secretary of the +treasury [Rhodes, _History of the United States_, vol. iii, 295, _note_ +7]. + +[211] _Journal_, vol. i, 105. + +[212] Both Pike and Toombs reached in time the thirty-second degree, or +Scottish Rite. Note Pike's glowing tribute to Toombs, quoted in +Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the Confederacy_, vol. ii, 142. + +[213] _Journal_, vol. i, 205. + +[214] --_Ibid._, 225. + +[215] Just what particular sets of resolutions those were I have no means +of knowing. The most important set of Chickasaw resolutions, those issued +under date of May 25, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, +585-587] had not yet been passed. The Choctaw resolutions presented may +have been and very probably were those of February 7, 1861 [_ibid._]. + +[216] On the twenty-first of May, President Davis approved "An Act for the +protection of the Indian Tribes" [_Journal_, 263], it having gone through +its various stages of amendment and having passed Congress, May +seventeenth [_ibid._, 244]. Adjutant-general G. W. Andrews reports, +November 4, 1912, that nothing additional concerning the text of this law +is to be found in the Confederate archives. + +[217] _Journal_, vol. i, 244. + +[218] Governor Clark of Texas, also, at this time displayed great interest +in the matter. On the fifteenth of May, he wrote to President Davis that +he was constituting James E. Harrison, a man thoroughly conversant with +the whole subject, "the duly accredited agent of Texas to convey" the +Report of April 23, 1861 to Richmond [_Official Records_, fourth ser., +vol. i, 322]. + +[219] See letter from Pearce to President Davis, May 13, 1861 [_ibid._, +first ser., vol. iii, 576]. + +[220] _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 572-574. + +[221] Pike was appointed under authority of a resolution passed by +Congress, March 5, 1861. See Message of President Davis, December 12, 1861 +[_ibid._, fourth ser., vol. i, 785]. + +[222] To-day he is, perhaps, best known by his parody on "Dixie" and by +his singularly beautiful and pathetic "Every Year" [_Poems_, Roome's +edition, 31-34]. + +[223] See _Journal of Proceedings_, no. 273 of Johns Hopkins University +Civil War Pamphlets. + +[224] Bishop, _Loyalty on the Frontier_, 148-151. + +[225] The poem is printed entire in Bishop's _Loyalty on the Frontier_, +149-150. The first two stanzas are here given: + + DISUNION + + Ay, shout! 'Tis the day of your pride, + Ye despots and tyrants of earth; + Tell your serfs the American name to deride, + And to rattle their fetters in mirth. + Ay, shout! for the league of the free + Is about to be shivered to dust, + And the rent limbs to fall from the vigorous tree, + Shout! shout! for more firmly established, will be + Your thrones and dominions beyond the blue sea. + + Laugh on! for such folly supreme, + The world has yet never beheld; + And ages to come will the history deem, + A tale by antiquity swelled; + For nothing that time has upbuilt + And set in the annals of crime, + So stupid and senseless, so wretched in guilt, + Darkens sober tradition or rhyme. + _It will be like the fable of Eblis' fall, + A by-word of mockery and horror to all._ + +[226] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 580-581. + +[227] In a letter to Commissioner D. N. Cooley, under date of February 17, +1866, Pike said that Toombs requested him in May of 1861 to visit the +Indian country as commissioner. I have not been able to find out whether +Toombs made his request in writing or verbally. The correspondence of +Toombs recently edited by U. B. Phillips does not furnish any additional +information on this point. + +[228] On one very important occasion, Albert Pike was not strictly fair to +the Indians. That occasion was after the war when the United States Indian +Office was endeavoring to make a settlement with the Cherokees on the +basis of their adherence to the Confederate cause. Pike was appealed to +and threw the weight of his influence against John Ross, but most unjustly +as it would seem. The letter embodying his views is a narrative of the +events of 1861 as they happened in the Indian country under his scrutiny, +and may as well be inserted here in full. It is to be found in the Indian +Office in a bundle labeled, "Loyalty of John Ross, Principal Chief of the +Cherokees: Letter of Albert Pike (original), Feb. 17, 1866--and _Copies_ +of several of Ross' letter--relative to his _loyalty_ in 1861 & 1862, +etc." + + 5. _Albert Pike to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs_ + + MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, 17th February 1866. + + SIR: I have received, to-day, a copy of the "Memorial" of the + "Southern Cherokees," to the President, Senate and House of + Representatives, in reply to the Memorial of other Cherokees claiming + to be "loyal." + + It is not for me to take any part in the controversy between the two + portions of the Cherokee People, nor have I any interest that could + lead me to side with one in preference to the other. Nor am I much + inclined, having none of the rights of a Citizen, to offer to testify + in any matter, when my testimony may not be deemed worthy of credit, + as that of one not yet restored to respectability and creditability by + a pardon. + + But, as I know it to be contemptible as well as false, for Mr. John + Ross and the "loyal" Memorialists to pretend that they did not + voluntarily engage themselves by Treaty Stipulations to the + Confederate States, and as you have desired my testimony, I have this + to say, and I think no man will be bold enough to deny any part of it. + + In May, 1861, I was requested by Mr. Toombs, Secretary of State of the + Confederate States, to visit the Indian Country as Commissioner, and + assure the Indians of the friendship of those States. The Convention + of the State of Arkansas, anxious to avoid hostilities with the + Cherokees, also applied to me to act as such Commissioner. I + accordingly proceeded to Fort Smith, where some five or six Cherokees + called upon General McCulloch and myself, representing those of the + Cherokees who sympathized with the South, in order to ascertain + whether the Confederate States would protect them against Mr. Ross and + the Pin Indians, if they should organize and take up arms for the + South. We learned that some attempts to raise a Secession flag in the + Cherokee Country on the Arkansas had been frustrated by the menace of + violence; and those who came to meet us represented the Pin + Organization to be a Secret Society, established by Evan Jones, a + Missionary, and at the service of Mr. John Ross, for the purpose of + abolitionizing the Cherokees and putting out of the way all who + sympathized with the Southern States. + + The truth was, as I afterwards learned with certainty, the Secret + Organization in question, whose members for a time used as a mark of + their membership a _pin_ in the front of the hunting shirt, was really + established for the purpose of depriving the half-breeds of all + political power, though Mr. Ross, himself a Scotchman and a McDonald + by the father and the mother, was shrewd enough to use it for his own + ends. At any rate, it was organized and in _full_ operation, long + before Secession was thought of. + + General McCulloch and myself assured those who met us at Fort Smith, + that they should be protected; and agreed to meet, at an early day + then fixed, at Park Hill, where Mr. Ross resided. Upon that I sent a + messenger with letters to five or six prominent members of the + Anti-Ross party, inviting them to meet me at the Creek Agency, two + days after the day on which General McCulloch and I were to meet at + Park Hill. + + I did not expect to effect any arrangement with Mr. Ross, and my + intention was to treat with the heads of the Southern party, Stand + Watie and others. + + When we met Mr. Ross at Park Hill, he refused to enter into any + arrangement with the Confederate States. He said that his intention + was to maintain the neutrality of his people; that they were a small + and weak people, and would be ruined and destroyed if they engaged in + the war; and that it would be a cruel thing if we were to engage them + in our quarrel. But, he said, all his interests and all his feelings + were with us, and he knew that his people must share the fate and + fortunes of Arkansas. We told him that the Cherokees _could_ not be + neutral. We used every argument in our power to change his + determination, but in vain; and finally General McCulloch informed him + that he would respect the neutrality of the Cherokees, and would not + enter their Country with troops, or place troops in it, unless it + should become necessary in order to expel a Federal force, or to + protect the Southern Cherokees. + + So we separated. General McCulloch kept his word, and no Confederate + troops ever were stationed in or marched into the Cherokee Country, + until after the Federal troops invaded it. + + Before leaving the Nation I addressed Mr. Ross a letter, which I + afterwards printed, and circulated among the Cherokee people. In it I + informed him that the Confederate States would remain content with his + pledge of neutrality, although he would find it impossible to maintain + that neutrality; that I should not again offer to treat with the + Cherokees, and that the Confederate States would not consider + themselves bound by my proposition to pay the Cherokees for the + neutral land, if they should lose it in consequence of the war. I had + no further communication with Mr. Ross until September. + + Meanwhile, he had persuaded Opoth le Yahola, the Creek leader, not to + join the Southern States, and had sent delegates to meet the Northern + and other Indians in Council near the Antelope Hills, where they all + agreed to be neutral. The purpose was, to take advantage of the war + between the States, and form a great independent Indian + Confederation--I defeated all that, by treating with the Creeks at the + very time that their delegates were at the Antelope Hills in Council. + + When I had treated with them and with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, at + the North Fork of the Canadian, I went to the Seminole Agency and + treated with the Seminoles. Then I went to the Wichita Agency, having + previously invited the Reserve Indians to return there, and invited + the prairie Comanches to meet me. After treating with these, I + returned by Fort Arbuckle, and before reaching there, met a nephew of + Mr. Ross, and a Captain [Keld? _sic_] in the prairie, bearing a letter + to me from Mr. Ross and his Council, with a copy of the resolutions of + Council, and an invitation in pressing terms to repair to the Cherokee + Country and enter into a Treaty. + + I consented, fixed a day for meeting the Cherokees, and wrote Mr. Ross + to that effect, requesting him also to send messengers to the Osages, + Quapaws, Shawnees, Senecas, &c. and invite them to meet me at the same + time. He did so, and at the time fixed I went to Park Hill, and there + effected Treaties. + + When I first entered the Indian Country, in May, I had as an escort + one company of mounted men. I went in advance of them to Park Hill; + General McCulloch went there without an escort. At the Creek Agency I + sent the Company back: I then remained without escort or guard, until + I had made the Seminole Treaty, camping with my little party and + displaying the Confederate flag. When I went to the Wichita Country, I + took an escort of Creeks and Seminoles. These I discharged at Fort + Arbuckle on my return, and went, accompanied only by four young men, + through the Creek Country to Fort Gibson, refusing an escort of Creeks + offered me on the way. + + From Fort Gibson eight or nine companies of Colonel Drew's Regiment of + Cherokees, chiefly full-bloods and Pins, escorted me to Park Hill. + This regiment was raised by order of the National Council, and its + officers appointed by Mr Ross, his nephew William P. Ross, Secretary + of the Nation, being Lieut. Colonel, and Thomas Pegg, President of the + National Committee, being its Major. + + I encamped, with my little party near the residence of the Chief, + unprotected even by a guard, and with the Confederate flag flying. The + terms of the Treaty were fully discussed and the Cherokee authorities + dealt with me on equal terms. Mr. John Ross had met me as I was on my + way to Park Hill, escorted by the National Regiment, and had welcomed + me to the Cherokee Nation, in an earnest and enthusiastic speech; and + seemed to me throughout to be acting in perfect good faith. I acted in + the same way with him. + + After the treaties were signed, I presented Colonel Drew's Regiment a + flag, and the chief in a speech exhorted them to be true to it: and + afterwards, _at his request, I wrote the Cherokee Declaration of + Independence_ which is printed with the Memorial of the Southern + Cherokees. I no more doubted, then, that Mr. Ross' whole heart was + with the South, than that mine was. _Even in May he said to General + McCulloch and myself, that if Northern troops invaded the Cherokee + Country, he would head the Cherokees and drive them back._ "_I have + borne arms_" he said, "_and though I am old I can do it again_." + + At the time of the treaty there were about nine hundred Cherokees of + Colonel Drew's Regiment encamped near, and fed by me, and Colonel + Watie, who had almost abandoned the idea of raising a regiment, had a + small body of men, not more, I think, than eighty or ninety, at + Tahlequah. When the flag was presented, Col. Watie was present, and + after the ceremony the chief shook hands with him and expressed his + warm desire for union and harmony in the Nation. + + The gentlemen whom I had invited to meet me in June at the Creek + Agency did not do so. They were afraid of being murdered, they said, + if they openly sided with the South. In October they censured me for + treating with Mr. Ross, and were in an ill humour, saying that the + regiment was raised in order to be used to oppress _them_. + + The same day that the Cherokee Treaty was signed, the Osages, Quapaws, + Shawnees and Senecas signed treaties, and the next day they had a talk + with Mr. Ross at his residence, smoked the great pipe and renewed + their alliance, being urged by him to be true to the Confederate + States. + + I protest that I believed Mr. John Ross, at this time and for long + after, to be as sincerely devoted to the Confederacy as I myself was. + He was frank, cheerful, earnest, and evidently believed that the + independence of the Confederate States was an accomplished fact. I + should dishonour him if I believed that he then dreamed of abandoning + the Confederacy or turning the arms of the Cherokees against us in + case of a reverse. + + Before I left the Cherokee Country, part of the Creeks, under + Opoth-le-Yaholo left their homes, under arms and threatened + hostilities. Mr. Ross, at my request, invited the old Chief to meet + him, and urged him to unite with the Confederate States. Colonel + Drew's regiment was ordered into the Creek Country, and afterwards, on + the eve of the action at Bird Creek, abandoned Colonel Cooper, rather + than fight against their neighbours. But after the action, the + regiment was again reorganized. The men were eager to fight, they + said, against the Yankees; but did not wish to fight their own + brethren, the Creeks. + + When General Curtis entered North Western Arkansas, in February 1862, + I sent orders from Fort Smith to Colonel Drew to move towards + Evansville and receive orders from General McCulloch. Colonel Watie's + Regiment was already under General McCulloch's command. Colonel Drew's + men moved in advance of Colonel Watie, with great alacrity, and showed + no want of zeal at Pea Ridge. + + I do not _know_ that any one was scalped at that place or in that + action, except from information. None of my officers knew it at the + time. I heard of it afterwards. I cannot say to which regiment those + belonged who did it. But it has been publicly charged on some of the + same men who afterwards abandoned the Confederate cause and enlisting + in the Federal Service were sent into Arkansas to ravage it. + + After the actions at Pea Ridge and Elk Horn, the Regiment of Colonel + Drew was moved to the mouth of the Illinois, where I was able, after a + time, to pay them $25 cash, the commutation for six months' clothing, + in Confederate money. Nothing more, owing to the wretched management + of the Confederate government, was ever paid them; and the clothing + procured for them was plundered by the commands of Generals Price and + Van Dorn. The consequence was that when Colonel Weer entered the + Cherokee Country, the Pin Indians joined him _en masse_. + + I had procured at Richmond, and paid Mr. Lewis Ross, Treasurer of the + Cherokee Nation, about the first of March 1862, in the Chief's house + and in the Chief's presence, the moneys agreed to be paid them by + Treaty, being about $70,000 (I think) in coin, and among other sums + $150,000 in Confederate Treasury notes, loaned the Nation by way of + advance on the price expected to be paid for the Neutral land. This + sum had been promised in the Treaty at the earnest solicitation of Mr. + John Ross; and it was generally understood that it was desired for the + special purpose of redeeming scrip of the Nation issued long before, + and much of which was held by Mr. Ross and his relatives. That such + _was_ the case, I do not know. I only know that the moneys were paid, + and that I have the receipts for them, which, with others, I shall + file in the Indian Office. + + In May, 1862, Lieut. Colonel William P. Ross visited my camp at Fort + McCulloch, near Red River, and said to me that "the Chief" would be + gratified if he were to receive the appointment of Brigadier General + in the Confederate Service. I did not ask him if he was authorized by + the Chief to say so; but I did ask him if he were _sure_ that the + appointment would gratify him; and being so assured, I promised to + urge the appointment. I did so, more than once, but never received a + reply. It was not customary with the Confederate War Department to + exhibit any great wisdom; and in respect to the Indian Country its + conduct was disgraceful. Unpaid, unclothed, uncared for, unthanked + even, and their services unrecognized, it was natural the Cherokees + should abandon the Confederate flag. + + When Colonel Weer invaded the Cherokee Country, Mr. Ross refused to + have an interview with him, declaring that the Cherokees would remain + faithful to their engagements with the Confederate States. There was + not then a Confederate soldier in the Cherokee Nation, to overawe Mr. + Ross or Major Pegg or any other "loyal" Cherokee. Mr. Ross sent me a + copy of his letter to Colonel Weer, and I had it printed and sent over + Texas, to show the people there that the Cherokee Chief was "loyal" to + the Confederate States. + + Afterwards, when Stand Watie's Regiment and the Choctaws were sent + over the Arkansas into the Cherokee Country, and Mr. Ross considered + his life in danger from his own people, in consequence of their + ancient feud, he allowed himself to be taken prisoner by the Federal + troops. At the time, I believed that if white troops had been sent to + Park Hill, who would have protected him against Watie's men, he would + have remained at home and adhered to the Confederacy: for either he + was true to his obligations to the Confederate States, voluntarily + entered into,--true at heart and in his inmost soul,--or else he is + falser and more treacherous than I can believe him to be. + + The simple truth is, Mr. Commissioner, that the "loyal" Cherokees + hated Stand Watie and the half-breeds and were hated by them. They + were perfectly willing to kill and scalp Yankees, and when they were + hired to change sides, and twenty two hundred of them were organized + into regiments in the _Federal_ Service, they were just as ready to + kill and scalp when employed against us in Arkansas. _We_ did _not_ + pay and clothe them, and the United States _did_. They scalped for + those who paid for and clothed them. As to "loyalty" they had none at + all. + + I entered the Indian Country in May, and left it in October. For five + months I travelled and encamped in it, unprotected by white troops, + alone with the four young men, treating with the different tribes. If + there had been any "loyalty" among the Indians, I could not have gone + a mile in safety. Opoth-le-Yaholo was not "loyal." He feared the + McIntoshes, who had raised troops, and who, he thought, meant to kill + him for killing their father long years before. He told me that he did + not wish to fight against the Southern States, but only that the + Indians should all act together. If Mr. Ross had treated with us at + first, _all_ the Creeks would have done the same. If Stand Watie and + his party took _one_ side, John Ross and his party were sure, in the + end, to take the other, _especially when that other proved itself the + stronger_. + + So far from the Watie party overawing the party which upheld Mr. Ross, + I _know_ it to be true that they were _afraid_ to actively cooperate + with the Confederate States, to organize, to raise Secession flags, or + even to meet me and consult with me. They feared that Colonel Drew's + Regiment would be used to harrass them, and they never dreamed of + _forcing_ the authorities into a Treaty. + + After the action at Elkhorn, murders were continually complained of by + Colonels Watie and Drew, and the Chief solicited me to place part of + Colonel Drew's Regiment at or near Park Hill, to protect the + government and its records. I did so. There never a time when the + "loyal" Cherokees had not the power to destroy the Southern ones. + + As to myself, I dealt fairly and openly with all the Indians. I used + no threats of force or compulsion, with any of them. The "loyal" + Cherokees joined us because they believed we should succeed, and left + us when they thought we should not. At their request I wrote their + declaration of Independence and acceptance of the issues of war; and + if any men voluntarily, and with their eyes open, and of their own + motion acceded to the Secession movement, it was John Ross and the + people whom he controlled. I am, Sir, Very res{py}, Your obt Svt + + ALBERT PIKE + + D. N. Cooley Esq, Commissioner of Ind. Aff. + +[229] In writing this letter, Pike most certainly addressed himself to +Toombs officially and with the idea in mind that he was holding his +commission under the Confederate State Department. That he was serving +under that department and that he did not get his appointment until May +seem scarcely to admit of a doubt, notwithstanding the fact that Judah P. +Benjamin, Secretary of War later in the year, December [14?], 1861, in +reporting to President Davis, could make the following statement: + + At the first session of the Congress an act was passed providing for + the sending of a commissioner to the Indian tribes north of Texas and + west of Arkansas, with the view of making such arrangements for an + alliance with and the protection of the Indians as were rendered + necessary by the disruption of the Union and our natural succession to + the rights and duties of the United States, so far as these Indians + were concerned. The supervision of this important branch of + administrative duty was confided to the State Department, by which + Brig.-Gen. Albert Pike was selected as commissioner. At a later period + of the same session a Bureau of Indian Affairs was created by law and + attached to this Department, charged with the management of our + relations with the Indian tribes....--_Official Records_, fourth ser., + vol. i, 792. + +Now, if Benjamin was correct in his chronology, the appointment of Pike +must have antedated that of Hubbard, a very unlikely state of affairs +unless, indeed, the Confederate government from the start, taking +cognizance of the very advanced condition of the Indians under discussion +and of the very extreme delicacy of the situation, concluded it would be +wisest to act upon the assumption that the great tribes were independent +enough to be dealt with almost as foreign powers and so left everything to +the discretion of the State Department. + +In November, 1861, the Provisional Congress considered the advisability of +transferring the whole Indian Bureau to the Department of State +[_Journal_, November 28, 1861, vol. i, 489]. The transfer was probably +suggested by the fact that the relations to date of the Confederate States +with the Indians had been conducted altogether upon a basis of diplomacy. +An added reason might have been, that the ordinary business of the War +Department was sufficiently onerous without the details of Indian +complications being made a part of it. Yet the transfer was never made. + +[230] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 576-578. + +[231] Hubbard's ill-health, however, seems to have made it incumbent upon +Pike to assume much the larger share of official responsibility and +practically to do Hubbard's work as well as his own; that is, so much of +it as was not transacted in Richmond. + +[232] Adjutant and Inspector-General S. Cooper to McCulloch, May 13, 1861 +[_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 575-576]. + +[233] Hubbard to Walker, June 2, 1861 [_ibid._, 589-590]. + +[234] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 497-498; General Files, +_Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515. + +[235] Rhodes, _op. cit._, vol. iii, 237-238; also _Report_ of the Select +Committee to Investigate the Abstraction of Bonds Held by the United +States Government in Trust for Indian Tribes, being House _Report_, 36th +congress, second session, no. 78. Dole, in his _Annual Report_ for 1861, +p. 27, urged that the government make the loss good to the Indians and +also appropriate money "to meet the unpaid interest on those trust bonds +of the revolted States yet in custody of the Secretary of the Interior." +There ought never, either from the standpoint of national faith or of that +of political expediency, to have been any hesitation in the matter. + +[236] The entire letter is to be found in _Official Records_, first ser., +vol. xiii, 498-499; also in General Files, _Cherokee, 1850-1865_, C515. + +[237] + + WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. ARMY, MONTGOMERY, May 13, 1861. + + MAJOR DOUGLAS H. COOPER, Choctaw Nation: + + Sir: The desire of this Government is to cultivate the most friendly + relations and the closest alliance with the Choctaw Nation and all the + Indian tribes west of Arkansas and south of Kansas. Appreciating your + sympathies with these tribes, and their reciprocal regard for you, we + have thought it advisable to enlist your services in the line of this + desire. From information in possession of the Government it is deemed + expedient to take measures to secure the protection of these tribes in + their present country from the agrarian rapacity of the North, that, + unless opposed, must soon drive them from their homes and supplant + them in their possessions, as, indeed, would have been the case with + the entire South but for our present efforts at resistance. It is well + known that with these unjust designs against the Indian country the + Northern movement for several years has had its emissaries scheming + among the tribes for their ultimate destruction. Their destiny has + thus become our own, and common with that of all the Southern States + entering this Confederation. + + Entertaining these views and feelings, and with these objects before + us, we have commissioned General Ben. McCulloch, with three regiments + under his command, from the States of Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, + to take charge of the military district embracing the Indian country, + and I now empower you to raise among the Choctaws and Chickasaws a + mounted regiment, to be commanded by yourself, in co-operation with + General McCulloch. It is designed also to raise two other similar + regiments among the Creeks, Cherokees, Seminoles, and other friendly + tribes for the same purpose. This combined force of six regiments will + be ample to secure the frontiers upon Kansas and the interests of the + Indians, while to the south of the Red River three regiments from + Texas, under a different command, have been already assigned to the + Rio Grande and western border. + + It will thus appear, I trust, that the resources of this Government + are adequate to its ends, and assured to the friendly Indians. We have + our agents actively engaged in the manufacture of ammunition and in + the purchase of arms, and when your regiment has been reported + organized in ten companies, ranging from 64 to 100 men each, and + enrolled for twelve months, if possible, it will be received into the + Confederate service, and supplied with arms and ammunition. Such will + be the course pursued also in relation to the two other regiments I + have indicated. + + The arms we are purchasing for the Indians are rifles, and they will + be forwarded to Fort Smith. Respectfully, + + L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War. + +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 574-575. + +[238] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 572-574. + +[239] --_Ibid._, 583. + +[240] See McCulloch to Walker, May 28, 1861, _ibid._, 587; also same to +same, June 12, 1861, _ibid._, 590-591. + +[241] --_Ibid._, 591-592; also vol. xiii, 495. + +[242] General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, +first ser., vol. iii, 596-597 and vol. xiii, 495-497. + +[243] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 590-591. + +[244] + + HEADQUARTERS MCCULLOCH'S BRIGADE, + Fort Smith, Ark., June 22, 1861. + + HON. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War: + + Sir: I have the honor to transmit the inclosed copy of a communication + from John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. + + Under all the circumstances of the case I do not think it advisable to + march into the Cherokee country at this time unless there is some + urgent necessity for it. If the views expressed in my communication to + you of the 14th instant are carried out, it will, I am satisfied, + force the conviction on the Cherokees that they have but one course to + pursue--that is, to join the Confederacy. The Choctaw and Chickasaw + regiment will be kept on the south of them; Arkansas will be to the + east; and with my force on the western border of Missouri no force + will be able to march into the Cherokee Nation, and surrounded as they + will be by Southern troops, they will have but one alternative at all + events. From my position to the north of them, in any event, I will + have a controlling power over them. I am satisfied from my interview + with John Ross and from his communication that he is only waiting for + some favorable opportunity to put himself with the North. His + neutrality is only a pretext to await the issue of events. + + I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, + + BEN. MCCULLOCH, Brigadier-General Commanding. + +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 595-596. + +[245] See Pike to Toombs, May 20, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. iii, 580-581]. + +[246] On the twenty-ninth of May, Pike wrote to Toombs again and informed +him that he was leaving for Tahlequah that very morning [_Ibid._, fourth +ser., vol. i, 359]. + +[247] See McCulloch to Walker, May 28, 1861 [_Ibid._, first ser., vol. +iii, 587-588]. + +[248] See Pike to Cooley, February 17, 1866 [Indian Office, _Miscellaneous +Files_]. + +[249] --_Ibid._ + +[250] McCulloch to Walker, June 12, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. iii, 591]. + +[251] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 489-490. + +[252] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 585-587. + +[253] --_Ibid._, 589. + +[254] --_Ibid._, 587. + +[255] --_Ibid._, 593-594. + +[256] See Albert Pike to John Ross, June 6, 1861 and John Ross to Albert +Pike, July 1, 1861 in General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515. + +[257] It would appear that, failing with John Ross, Pike tried to +negotiate with the disaffected Cherokees under the control of Stand Watie, +Boudinot, and others. See _Office Letter_ to President Johnson, February +25, 1866. Pike himself says that he invited some of these men to meet him +at the Creek Agency. See Pike to Cooley, February 17, 1866. + +[258] The text of the treaties is to be found in the _Confederate +Statutes_ and also in _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, as follows: + + Creek Treaty, 426-443 Osage Treaty, 636-646 + Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty, 445-466 Seneca and Shawnee Treaty, + Seminole Treaty, 513-527 647-658 + Wichita Treaty, 542-548 Quapaw Treaty, 659-666 + Comanche Treaty, 548-554 Cherokee Treaty, 669-687 + +[259] Although the Creek Treaty was negotiated July tenth and was the +first to be negotiated, Dole was ignorant of its existence as late as +October second [_Report_, 1861, 39], which only goes to prove how very +slight was the Federal communication with Indian Territory through all +that critical time. + +[260] President Davis, in his message of December 12, 1861, said, + + Considering this act as a declaration by Congress of our future policy + in relation to those Indians, a copy of that act was transmitted to + the commissioner and he was directed to consider it as his + instructions in the contemplated negotiation. [Richardson, _Messages + and Papers of the Confederacy_, vol. i, 149; _Official Records_, + fourth ser., vol. i, 785.] + +[261] All the treaties of the First Class contain a _Preamble_, lacking in +the others, which specifically outlines the assumption of the +protectorate. In addition, those same treaties have a special clause +accepting the full force of the Act of May twenty-first. + +All references to these treaties, unless otherwise noted, will be page +references to the treaties as found in the _Statutes at Large_ of the +Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America. + +[262] See Creek Treaty, Articles II and IV, pp. 289, 290; Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Articles II and VII, pp. 312, 313; Seminole Treaty, +Articles II and IV, Pp. 332, 333; Cherokee Treaty, Articles II and V, pp. +395, 396. + +[263] + + ARTICLE VIII (Creek Treaty). The Confederate States of America do + hereby solemnly agree and bind themselves that no State or Territory + shall ever pass laws for the government of the Creek Nation; and that + no portion of the country hereby guaranteed to it shall ever be + embraced or included within or annexed to any Territory or Province; + nor shall any attempt ever be made, except upon the free, voluntary + and unsolicited application of the said nation, to erect the said + country, by itself or with any other, into a State or any other + territorial or political organization, or to incorporate it into any + State previously created [p. 291]. + +Compare with similar articles in the other treaties; viz., Article X of +the Choctaw and Chickasaw, p. 314; Article VIII of the Seminole, p. 334; +Article VIII of the Cherokee, p. 397; Articles VIII and XXVI of the Osage, +pp. 364, 367; Articles VIII and XIX of the Seneca and Shawnee, pp. 376, +377; Article VII of the Quapaw, p. 367. + +[264] + + ARTICLE XL (Creek Treaty). In order to enable the Creek and Seminole + Nations to claim their rights and secure their interests without the + intervention of counsel or agents, and as they were originally one and + the same people and are now entitled to reside in the country of each + other, they shall be jointly entitled to a delegate to the House of + Representatives of the Confederate States of America, who shall serve + for the term of two years, and be a member of one of the said nations, + over twenty-one years of age, and labouring under no legal disability + by the law of either nation; and each delegate shall be entitled to + the same rights and privileges as may be enjoyed by delegates from any + territories of the Confederate States to the said House of + Representatives. Each shall receive such pay and mileage as shall be + fixed by the Congress of the Confederate States. The first election + for delegate shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted + in such manner as shall be prescribed by the agent of the Confederate + States, to whom returns of such election shall be made, and he shall + declare the person having the greatest number of votes to be duly + elected, and give him a certificate of election accordingly, which + shall entitle him to his seat. For all subsequent elections, the + times, places, and manner of holding them and ascertaining and + certifying the result shall be prescribed by law of the Confederate + States [p. 297]. + +Compare with Article XXVII of Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty [p. 318], the +chief point of difference between the two being that, in the latter treaty +the delegate to which the two tribes, parties to the treaty, were entitled +jointly, was to be elected from them alternately. The Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty also stipulated that the delegate was to be a member by +birth or blood on either the father's or the mother's side. The +corresponding provision in the Cherokee Treaty, Article XLIV [pp. +403-404], said that the delegate should be a native born citizen. The +Seminole arrangement, Article XXXVII [p. 339], was, as might be expected, +exactly the same as the Creek. + +[265] The Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty was the only one that developed +this idea. We might presume that the Creeks were even opposed to it. This +is how it appears in Articles XXVIII, XXIX, and XXX, of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty [pp. 318-319]: + + ARTICLE XXVIII. In consideration of the uniform loyalty and good + faith, and the tried friendship for the people of the Confederate + States, of the Choctaw and Chickasaw people, and of their fitness and + capacity for self-government, proven by the establishment and + successful maintenance, by each, of a regularly organized republican + government, with all the forms and safe-guards to which the people of + the Confederate States are accustomed, it is hereby agreed by the + Confederate States, that whenever and so soon as the people of each + nation shall, by ordinance of a convention of delegates, duly elected + by majorities of the legal voters, at an election regularly held after + due and ample notice, in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of + each, respectively, declare its desire to become a State of the + Confederacy, the whole Choctaw and Chickasaw country, as above + defined, shall be received and admitted into the Confederacy as one of + the Confederate States, on equal terms, in all respects, with the + original States, without regard to population; and all the members of + the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations shall thereby become citizens of the + Confederate States, not including, however, among such members, the + individuals of the bands settled in the leased district aforesaid. + + _Provided_, That, as a condition precedent to such admission, the said + nations shall provide for the survey of their lands, the holding in + severalty of parts thereof by their people, the dedication of at least + one section in every thirty-six to purposes of education, and the sale + of such portions as are not reserved for these, or other special + purposes, to citizens of the Confederate States alone, on such terms + as the said nation shall see fit to fix, not intended or calculated to + prevent the sale thereof. + + ARTICLE XXIX. The proceeds of such sales shall belong entirely to + members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, and be distributed among + them or invested for them in proportion to the whole population of + each, in such manner as the Legislatures of said nations shall + provide; nor shall any other persons ever have any interest in the + annuities or funds of either the Choctaw or Chickasaw people, nor any + power to legislate in regard thereto. + + ARTICLE XXX. Whenever the desire of the Creek and Seminole people and + the Cherokees to become a part of the said State shall be expressed, + in the same manner and with the same formalities, as is above provided + for in the case of the Choctaw and Chickasaw people, the country of + the Creeks and Seminoles, and that of the Cherokees, respectively, or + either by itself, may be annexed to and become an integral part of + said State, upon the same conditions and terms, and with the same + rights to the people of each, in regard to citizenship and the + proceeds of their lands. + +[266] Abel, "Proposals for an Indian State in the Union, 1778-1878," in +the American Historical Association, _Report_, 1907, pp. 89-102. + +[267] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 577. + +[268] Articles V and VI. + +[269] Article VIII. + +[270] Article XI. + +[271] Article XII. + +[272] Article VII of the Seminole Treaty [p. 334], and Article VII +likewise of the Creek Treaty [p. 291]. + +[273] Article IV of the Cherokee Treaty [pp. 395-396]. + +[274] In the matter of the guarantee of territorial integrity, the +treaties of the Second Class were strictly on a par with those of the +First Class. See Article VIII of the Osage Treaty [p. 364], Article XIX of +the Seneca and Shawnee Treaty [p. 378], Article VII of the Quapaw [p. +387]. + +[275] Article XLVII [pp. 407-408]. + +[276] Article V [p. 348]. + +[277] Article III [pp. 374-375]. + +[278] Article V [p. 291]. + +[279] Article I [p. 354]. + +[280] For an illustration of how the Seminoles had been preferring the +claim, see the following affidavit: + + Be it known that on this 22d day of January, A.D. 1856, personally + appeared before me, J. W. Washbourne, United States' Agent for + Seminoles, in open Council, the following named Chiefs and Head men of + the Seminole tribe of Indians, and deposed to the subsequent + statement. + + That sometime during the war between the United States and the + Seminoles, Gen. Thomas S. Jessup, then commanding the U. S. troops in + Florida, issued a proclamation to the effect that all negroes + belonging to the hostile Seminoles who should come in and take service + under the Government against their masters, or in any way render + service to the United States against the Seminoles, or induce them to + sue for peace and emigrate west, they, the negroes, should be declared + free: That many negroes took advantage of said illegal proclamation + and did take service in Florida under Government, but that, by far the + larger number of negro slaves who took refuge under said proclamation + and thereby claimed their freedom, did so after the immigration west + was determined or consummated: That said negro slaves, in great + numbers and to the great injury of their owners, and against their + orders, took refuge within the United States' post, Fort Gibson, + Cherokee Nation, where they were for upwards of three years protected + by the United States officers at that Post, although the Seminoles + claimed them, the negroes, as their lawful slaves, and protested + against this procedure of the U. S. officers: That while these negro + slaves were thus protected by military officers, it was impossible to + keep their slaves at home who were continually flying to Fort Gibson, + where they were beyond the reach of their masters: That this occurred + during the years 1845-'6-'7: That through the instrumentality of their + former Sub Agent and attornies employed by them, they after long delay + and at great expense and loss of slaves, presented the matter to the + attention of the Secretary of War, Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, and that finally + from him, as such Secretary of War, there issued an order bearing date + the 5th of August 1848, directed to the commanding officer at Fort + Gibson, enjoining him to protect no longer said negro slaves at that + Post and commanding him to deliver all of said slaves to the Seminoles + their rightful owners: That even after this order the nuisance did not + abate, for another order dated July 31st 1850 required the commanding + officer of Fort Gibson to give no further protection to these + "Seminole negroes": That by this order of the Secretary of War, as was + just and right, the United States recognised the ownership of these + said slaves as being in the Seminoles, and that they were entitled by + law and right to said slaves and their service: That in consequence of + the withdrawal of the protection afforded them at Fort Gibson and from + their having so long considered themselves free, said slaves in great + numbers escaped, some of whom reached Mexico, some were killed by the + wild Indians, and the remainder were only captured at great and + ruinous expense: That the owners of these said negro slaves are justly + and equitably entitled to the service of said slaves, while unlawfully + and against the power and protests of the Seminoles, detained at Fort + Gibson for the space of more than three years, by U. S. officers: That + the number of said negro slaves so unlawfully detained and kept from + the service due their masters, as near as now can be estimated was Two + Hundred and Thirty-four or thereabouts: That the services of these + said slaves for these three years and upwards were amply worth at the + time Seventy five dollars each per annum, making the sum of Fifty two + Thousand Six hundred and fifty dollars ($52.650.00,) to which the + Seminole owners of said slaves are fully and fairly, in law and + equity, entitled, and which ought to be paid to them by the Government + of the United States. + + JOHN JUMPER, P. Chief Seminoles X his mark + PAH SUC AH YO HO LAH, Speaker Council X his mark + CHITTO-TUSTO-MUGGEE X his mark + ARHAH-LOCK-TUSTO-MUGGEE X his mark + NOKE-SU-KEE X his mark + PARS-CO-FER X his mark + TESI-KI-AH X his mark + ALLIGATOR X his mark + TALLA-HASSA X his mark + GEORGE CLOUD X his mark + HO-TUL-GEE-HARJO X his mark + TAR-HAH FIXICO X his mark + + Sworn to and subscribed before me, in open Council Jany 22d 1856. + + J. W. WASHBOURNE U. S. Agent for Seminoles. + + Witnesses: GEORGE M. AUD + +[281] President Polk seems to have been of the opinion that negro slaves +could not be freed by military proclamation [_Diary_ (Quaife's edition), +vol. iii, 504]. + +[282] Slavery was not completely ignored even in the treaties of the Third +Class. In Article IX of their treaty [p. 348], the Wichitas promised to do +all in their power to take and return any negroes, horses, or other +property stolen from white men or from Indians of the great tribes. The +corresponding article in the Comanche Treaty [p. 355], was to like +purpose. + +[283] Article XXXVII of the Osage Treaty, Article XXVIII of the Seneca and +Shawnee Treaty, and Article XXVII of the Quapaw Treaty. + +[284] The following are the Creek clauses and the Choctaw and Chickasaw, +Articles XLV and XLVII, the Seminole, Articles XXIX and XXXIII, and the +Cherokee, Articles XXXIV and XXXVII, are similar: + + ARTICLE XXIX. The provisions of all such acts of Congress of the + Confederate States as may now be in force, or may hereafter be + enacted, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provision of the + constitution in regard to the re-delivery or return of fugitive + slaves, or fugitives from labour and service, shall extend to, and be + in full force within the said Creek Nation; and shall also apply to + all cases of escape of fugitive slaves from the said Creek Nation into + any other Indian nation or into one of the Confederate States, the + obligation upon each such nation or State to re-deliver such slaves + being in every case as complete as if they had escaped from another + State, and the mode of procedure the same [p. 296]. + + ARTICLE XXXII. It is hereby declared and agreed that the institution + of slavery in the said nation is legal and has existed from time + immemorial; that slaves are taken and deemed to be personal property; + that the title to slaves and other property having its origin in the + said nation, shall be determined by the laws and customs thereof; and + that the slaves and other personal property of every person domiciled + in said nation shall pass and be distributed at his or her death, in + accordance with the laws, usages and customs of the said nation, which + may be proved like foreign laws, usages & customs, and shall + everywhere be held valid and binding within the scope of their + operation [p. 296]. + +[285] P. 369. + +[286] Article XVII of the Cherokee Treaty [p. 399]. + +[287] + + ARTICLE XV (Creek Treaty). The Confederate States shall protect the + Creeks from domestic strife, from hostile invasion, and from + aggression by other Indians and white persons not subject to the + jurisdiction and laws of the Creek Nation, and for all injuries + resulting from such invasion or aggression, full indemnity is hereby + guaranteed to the party or parties injured, out of the Treasury of the + Confederate States, upon the same principle and according to the same + rules upon which white persons are entitled to indemnity for injuries + or aggressions upon them committed by Indians [p. 293]. + +See also Article XXI of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty and Article XV of +the Seminole Treaty. + +[288] Manypenny to Dean, November 30, 1855 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, +no. 53, pp. 94-95]. Dean to Manypenny, December 25, 1855 [_Letter Press +Book_]. + +[289] Compare Article XX of the Cherokee Treaty and Article XXIV of the +Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty with Article XVI of the Creek Treaty and all +of these with Article XVI of the Seminole Treaty. + +[290] See, for example, Article XVIII of the Seminole Treaty [p. 336]. + +[291] One other important right was conceded and that was the right of +free transit. The concession is well stated in the Creek Treaty and occurs +in connection with a prohibition against the pasturing of stock by +outsiders within the Creek country. + + ARTICLE XXII. No citizen or inhabitant of the Confederate States shall + pasture stock on the lands of the Creek Nation, under the penalty of + one dollar per head for all so pastured, to be collected by the + authorities of the nation; but their citizens shall be at liberty at + all times, and whether for business or pleasure, peaceably to travel + the Creek country; and to drive their stock to market or otherwise + through the same, and to halt such reasonable time on the way as may + be necessary to recruit their stock, such delay being in good faith + for that purpose. + + ARTICLE XXIII. It is also further agreed that the members of the Creek + Nation shall have the same right of travelling, driving stock and + halting to recruit the same in any of the Confederate States as is + given citizens of the Confederate States by the preceding article [p. + 295]. + +[292] Article LXV of the Creek Treaty, Article XXVI of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XXXI of the Seminole Treaty, and Article XXII of +the Cherokee Treaty. + +[293] Article XVIII of the Creek Treaty, Article XXV of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XIX of the Seminole Treaty, and Article XXI of +the Cherokee Treaty. + +[294] Article LXV of the Creek Treaty and Article XXXI of the Seminole +Treaty. + +[295] Tush-ca-hom-ma at Boggy Depot and Cha-lah-ki at Tahlequah. + +[296] Article XXX of the Creek Treaty, Article XLIII of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XXX of the Seminole Treaty, and Article XXXV of +the Cherokee Treaty. + +[297] Article XXVIII of the Creek Treaty, Article XLIV of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XXVIII of the Seminole Treaty, Article XXXIII of +the Cherokee Treaty, Article XXXVI of the Osage Treaty, Article XXVII of +the Seneca and Shawnee Treaty, and Article XXVII of the Quapaw Treaty. + +[298] Article XXIX of the Cherokee Treaty and Article XXIII of the Choctaw +and Chickasaw Treaty. + +[299] + + ARTICLE XXXI (Cherokee Treaty). Any person duly charged with a + criminal offence against the laws of either the Creek, Seminole, + Choctaw or Chickasaw Nations, and escaping into the jurisdiction of + the Cherokee Nation, shall be promptly surrendered upon the demand of + the proper authority of the nation within whose jurisdiction the + offence shall be alleged to have been committed; and in like manner, + any person duly charged with a criminal offence against the laws of + the Cherokee Nation, and escaping into the jurisdiction of either of + the said nations, shall be promptly surrendered upon the demand of the + proper authority of the Cherokee Nation [pp. 401-402]. + +Note the development from the corresponding extradition clause in the +earlier treaties of the series. In the Creek and Seminole treaties, +extradition was as between Creeks and Seminoles exclusively. In the +Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty, it was as between Choctaws and Chickasaws +exclusively. In this treaty of the Cherokees, all the tribes were to be +sharers in the extradition privilege; but it is difficult to understand +how a clause in the Cherokee Treaty could be made legally binding upon +other Indians than Cherokee. + +[300] Article XXVI. + +[301] It was also a one-sided affair in the treaties of the Second Class. +See Article XXXIV of the Osage Treaty, Article XXV of the Seneca and +Shawnee Treaty, and Article XXV of the Quapaw Treaty. + +[302] Article XXXVII of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty [p. 320], and +Article XXXII of the Cherokee Treaty [p. 402]. + +[303] Article XXXI of the Creek Treaty, Article XLVI of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XXXII of the Seminole Treaty, and Article XXXVI +of the Cherokee Treaty. Note that the enjoyment of the privilege by the +Seminole Nation was to be conditioned upon its own establishment of +regular courts. + +[304] There were also secret articles to some of the treaties. The +indications are that such secret articles entailed the customary bribery +of chiefs and influential men upon whose support depended successful +negotiation. + +[305] Article VII of the Osage Treaty [p. 364]. + +[306] Article XIII of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty [p. 315]. + +[307] Article IX of the Cherokee Treaty [p. 397]. + +[308] Article LXVI of the Creek Treaty, Article XLIV of the Seminole, +Article LIII of the Cherokee. + +[309] Article LXIV [p. 330]. + +[310] Article XL of the Wichita Treaty and Article X of the Comanche. + +[311] Article XI of the Creek Treaty, Article XVI of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XI of the Seminole Treaty, Article XIII of the +Cherokee Treaty, Article IV of the Osage Treaty, Article V of the Seneca +and Shawnee Treaty, and Article IV of the Quapaw Treaty. + +[312] Article XII of the Creek Treaty, Article XVII of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, Article XII of the Seminole Treaty, Article XIV of the +Cherokee Treaty, Article V of the Osage Treaty, Article VI of the Seneca +and Shawnee Treaty, and Article V of the Quapaw Treaty. After the war the +posts in certain specified cases were to be garrisoned by native troops. + +[313] The reference is the same as the foregoing with two exceptions; +viz., Article XXVIII of the Osage Treaty and Article XX the Quapaw Treaty. + +[314] Article XIII of the Creek Treaty, Article XVIII of the Choctaw and +Chickasaw Treaty, and Article XIII of the Seminole Treaty. + +[315] The provision in the Osage Treaty was one exception to this. It was +definitely said there that there should be no compensation. + +[316] The details of this will come out in the chapter following. + +[317] + + ARTICLE XXXVIII (Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty). In order to secure the + due enforcement of so much of the laws of the Confederate States in + regard to criminal offences and misdemeanors as is or may be in force + in the said Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and to prevent the Choctaws + and Chickasaws from being further harassed by judicial proceedings had + in foreign courts and before juries not of the vicinage, the said + country is hereby erected into and constituted a judicial district of + the Confederate States to be called the Tush-ca-hom-ma District, for + the special purposes and jurisdiction hereinafter provided; and there + shall be created and semi-annually held, within such district, at + Boggy Depot, a district court of the Confederate States, with the + powers of a circuit court, so far as the same shall be necessary to + carry out the provisions of this treaty, and with jurisdiction + co-extensive with the limits of such district, in such matters, civil + and criminal, to such extent and between such parties as may be + prescribed by law, and in conformity to the terms of this treaty [p. + 320]. + +Articles XXXIX, XL, XLI, and XLII more specifically define the +jurisdiction. + +[318] See Article XXIII of the Cherokee Treaty, and, for the jurisdiction +of the court, see Articles XXIV, XXV, and XXVI. + +[319] Article XXXV. + +[320] Article XXVI. + +[321] Article XXVI. + +[322] In other ways than this, the treaties with the minor tribes stressed +the "peculiar institution." Consider, for instance, in the matter of +extradition, how it was not the criminal generally, but only the fugitive +slave that was to be reciprocally extradited. Moreover, as a rule, the +weak tribes all pledged themselves to try to return negroes and other +property and were assured that negroes should come under the jurisdiction +of tribal laws. + +[323] Article II [p. 395]. + +[324] Article LII [p. 410]. + +[325] Article XXXIX [p. 403]. + +[326] Without doubt some preliminary sounding of Leeper must have preceded +the accompanying document. Pike would hardly have written with such +assurance or given such instructions unless he had been very sure of his +ground. + + FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, 26th May 1861. + + SIR: I have been appointed by the President of the Confederate States + of America Commissioner to the Indian Tribes West of Arkansas, with + discretionary powers, for the purpose of making treaties of alliance + with them, and of enlisting troops to act with the forces of the + Confederate States. + + In the exercise of the powers entrusted to me, I hereby authorize and + request you to exercise the powers of Agent for the Wichitas and other + Indians in the Country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, until + you shall receive a regular commission therefor. Your compensation + will be the same as that received from the United States, to commence + from the day when you resigned as agent of the United States. + + And you are hereby instructed forthwith to repair to your agency, and + to inform the Indians under your charge that the Confederate States of + America will take you themselves and fully comply with all the + obligations entered into by the United States in their behalf; + securing and paying all that may be due them from injury; and + especially that they will continue to supply them with rations, as it + has heretofore been done, until they shall no longer need to be + supplied. + + You will also please inform them that I shall in a short time be among + them, to enter into a treaty with them, on the part of the Confederate + States. + + You will impress upon them that the people of Texas are now a part of + the Confederate States, and must no longer be looked upon as enemies: + and if any troops from Texas should come within your jurisdiction, you + will particularly warn them against doing any harm to the Indians + under your charge. + + You will make known to the Delawares, and if practicable to the + Kickapoos, that it is my desire, and I have authority, to enlist a + battalion of 350 men, of the Delawares, Kickapoos, and Shawnees, and + will especially assure the Kickapoos, that if they have any cause of + complaint against any of the people of Texas, it will be inquired + into, and reparation made, and that they must in no case commit any + act of hostility against Texas. + + I shall be greatly obliged to you for all assistance you can render in + securing the services in arms of the Kickapoos and Delawares. They + will be paid like other mounted men, receiving 40 cents a day for use + and risk of their horse, in addition to their pay, rations, and + clothing. + + I need not say that I place much reliance on your zeal and + intelligence and assure you that your services will not fail to be + appreciated by the Government of the Confederate States. Most + respectfully yours + + ALBERT PIKE, Comm{r}, C. S. A. to the + Indian Tribes, West of Arkansas. + + Matthew Leeper Esq. + +_Leeper Papers._ + +[327] It is not clear as to just when Elias Rector left the United States +service or when he entered the Confederate. The Indian Office in +Washington was communicating with him officially for some little time +after Griffith had been notified of his appointment. There seems no reason +to doubt that Rector was working in the interests of the Southern +Confederacy all through the spring of 1861; and, when he went over openly +to the South, he did not close his accounts with the United States Indian +Office. He was accordingly regarded as a defaulter and there was talk of +confiscating his property at Fort Smith [W. G. Coffin to Dole, January 29, +1864, General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1863-1864_, I640; Dole to +Usher, February 2, 1864, Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 13, p. 297]. + +In the course of his official connection with the United States government +Elias Rector had frequently been accused of irregularities and even of +crookedness [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1222]. +As touching the Seminole removal from Florida, he had much that was +peculiar to explain away. Apparently he quite frequently made queer +contracts, was given to making over-charges for mileage and to favoring +his friends at the expense of the Indians and of the government. In 1861, +he rendered a voucher showing he had paid a certain Henry Pape $6000.00 +for building the Wichita Agency house. On various matters connected with +his official record, see Rector's _Letter Press Book_ and Indian Office, +_Letter Books_, no. 64, p. 342; no. 65, P. 49; no. 66, p. 26. In 1865, +Rector made application to be allowed to straighten out his accounts [J. +B. Luce to Cooley, November 2, 1865]. + +Returning, however, to the subject of Rector's incumbency: on the twelfth +of June, 1861, he wrote quite frankly to John Schoenmaker, principal of +the Osage Mission, + + ... I have no connection at this time with the Indian Department under + the old U. S. Government. I am now acting as Superintendent under the + Government of the Confederate States, and as no treaties have as yet + been concluded between the Southern confederacy and the tribes of + Indians with whom you are engaged I of course can say nothing to you + on the subject matter of your letter....--General Files, _Southern + Superintendency, 1859-1862_. + +The Confederate southern superintendency had not at the time been filled, +but Rector seems to have been considered the most competent candidate. +Johnson, in recommending various men to Walker for various positions, +recommended Rector in strong terms of implied commendation, + + Dr. Griffith wants to be appointed superintendent in place of E. + Rector. Do not allow this to be done. Hold everything as it is until + peace and unity are attained, and then make all the changes you think + proper; but not now--not now, by all manner of means. + + I do earnestly beg you to keep your agencies as they were. They are + good and true men, and popular and qualified with the tribes and their + business. Restore and commission Elias Rector, superintendent; John + Crawford, Cherokee agent; William Quesenbury, Creek agent; Samuel M. + Rutherford, Seminole agent; and Matthew Leeper, Wichita agent; and if + Cooper has resigned (which I fear is the case), appoint Richard P. + Pulliam (who is the next best living man on earth for the place, I + believe) as agent of the Choctaws. With this programme you will have + peace and success; without it, no one can tell your troubles or our + misfortunes on this frontier....--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. + iii, 598. + +[328] Dole to Robinson, April 9, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. +65, 323]. + +[329] Dole to Rector, April 6, 1861 [--_ibid._, p. 317]. + +[330] General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, G463. + +[331] General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, G463. + +[332] Smith to Dole, May 4, 1861; Dole to Rector, May 9, 1861 [Indian +Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 440]. + +[333] Johnson to Walker, June 25, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. iii, 598]. + +[334] Caleb B. Smith to Dole, April 6, 1861 [General Files, _Southern +Superintendency, 1859-1862_]. + +[335] Dole to Quesenbury [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 330]. +In the middle of the summer, George A. Cutler became United States agent +for the Creeks [_ibid._, no. 66, p. 200]. + +[336] Dole to Crawford [_ibid._, no. 65, p. 331]. + +[337] Rector to Greenwood, August 31, 1860 [_Letter Press Book_]. + +[338] November 27, 1860, he voted in the affirmative on a resolution +against Lincoln's election and against the advisability of Arkansas +members of Congress taking their seats during his administration [Arkansas +House _Journal_, thirteenth session, 1860-1861, p. 234]. + +[339] On the thirteenth of June, when Crawford wrote, resigning his +commission, he said in extenuation of his conduct, + + I only accepted through the influence of friends knowing then the + Cherokee Indians was Southern in their feelings and did not wish a + Northern man sent among them to act as Agent & as the Government of + the Southern Confederacy has in their wisdom thought best to take + charge of all the Indian Tribes south of Kansas and the Indians all + being anxious to join in with the South and oppose to the bitter end + the course now pursued by the Northern Government--I most respectfully + decline acting as agent for the Cherokee Indians under the + Administration of A. Lincoln.--CRAWFORD to Dole, June 13, 1861 + [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C1376]. + +[340] Crawford to Dole, May 20, 1861 [_ibid._]. + +[341] + + The excitement here is at an alarming pitch for the last few days I + trust to God that those in power will do something to settle this + interruption in the government and something must be done soon or War + will ensue troops were drilling here last night at ten oclock, State + troops, strong talk of attacking Fort Smith the President of the + Convention has called the Convention to meet on the 6th day of May and + the State will seceed if there is not something done immediately + perhaps war will be commenced before you receive my letter though I + trust not. I should very much to know that the North and South were + engaged in a war, if you can do anything to have those troubles + settled use your influence with the President in calling a national + convention or something else to have peace....--CRAWFORD to Dole, + dated Van Buren, April 21, 1861 [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, + C1044]. + +[342] Smith to Dole, April 20, 1861 [General Files, _Wichita, 1860-1861_, +I320]. + +[343] Some slight account of the Wichita Agency and of Agent Leeper's +defection has already been narrated. A number of documents elucidating the +subject are to be found in the "Appendix." + +[344] Dole to Elder, April 29, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, +pp. 390-391]; Mix to Elder, August 22, 1861 [_ibid._, no. 66, pp. +283-284]. + +[345] See, for instance, Stockton to Usher, February 20, 1864 [General +Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1863-1864_]. + +[346] See Isaac Coleman, United States Indian agent, to Superintendent +Elijah Sells, a copy of which letter is retained in the Office of Indian +Affairs, the original having been sent to the office of the United States +attorney-general, October 10, 1865. + +[347] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, pp. 310, 345. + +[348] The reference is, presumably, to a portion of the money that the +United States government had allowed the Choctaws in satisfaction of +claims arising under the treaties of 1830 and 1855 [Act of March 2, 1861, +U. S. _Statutes at Large_, vol. xii, 238]. The episode of the Corn +Contract was directly connected with the expenditure of the money. For +documents bearing upon it, see Land Files, _Choctaw, 1874-1876_, Box 39, +C1078, particularly documents labelled "N," "O," and "P." Document "N" is +a communication from Albert Pike to the General Council of the Choctaw +Nation, received at the June session, 1861, and is most interesting as +showing how Pike mixed up private and public business and, indeed, gave to +private the preference. + + FRIENDS AND BROTHERS: You are aware that since the year 1854 M{r} John + T. Cochrane and myself, aided by Col. Cooper your agent and by your + delegates, have been engaged at Washington in prosecuting the just + claims of your people under the treaty of 1830 before the Government + of the United States. + + We have succeeded in procuring a final award of the Senate, giving you + the net proceeds of all the lands which you ceded by that treaty, and + a Report from the Committee of Indian Affairs, estimating the sum due + you at over two millions three hundred thousand dollars. + + At the last session of Congress, we succeeded in procuring an + appropriation on account of this debt of $250,000 in money and + $250,000 in bonds of the United States. + + Owing to the unfortunate difficulties between the Northern and + Southern States, one hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars, only, + of the sums, has been paid, $135,000 of which was placed in your + Agent's hands, ostensibly to purchase corn; and most of it remains + unexpended. + + Towards my expenses while prosecuting your claims and towards my fee, + I have received the sum of sixteen hundred dollars. My expenses alone, + in four years have been five thousand dollars. + + I have had to abandon my other business, to attend to yours: and + unless some part of my compensation is paid, or my expenses repaid me, + my property will have to be sold to pay my debts. I am entirely + without money, and have you only to look to. + + I have labored for you very faithfully; and am sure your Delegates + will tell you that, but for me your claims would never have been + allowed; and but for me, after they were allowed, the appropriation + would not have been obtained. + + The whole of the claims will be paid whenever peace is restored, + either by the United States, or by the Confederate Southern States. I + shall take it in charge and never desert you until all is paid. + + I respectfully and earnestly request you to cause to be paid to me, + out of the moneys now in the Agent's hands, for my expenses, and on + account of my fee, such sum of money as you may think just and right; + and which I hope will not be less than seven thousand five hundred + dollars. + + I also desire to inform you that I have been appointed by the + President of the Confederate States, a Commissioner to your Nation, + and all the other Nations and Tribes west of Arkansas; that I shall at + the proper time come among you to counsel with you, and that I shall + take your interests in charge, and see that your title to your lands, + and all annuities, and other moneys due you by the United States are + assumed and guaranteed by the Confederate States. On this you may + implicitly rely; as it is the promise of one who never breaks his + word. + + Let your people therefore, and the Chickasaws remain perfectly quiet + until the proper time arrives, and look to me for advice. If any + emissaries from Arkansas come among you, hear them and say nothing. So + it is that wise men do. The State of Arkansas has nothing whatever to + do with you, and cannot protect you. The Confederate States are both + able and willing to do so; and when they have guaranteed your rights, + it will be time enough for you to act. Your friend + + (signed) ALBERT PIKE. + + Office of the National Secretary of the Choctaw Nation. + + [Endorsement] I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy from + the original letter from Albert Pike on file in the National + Secretary's Office. + + Given under my hand and official seal. Done at Chahta Tamaha, November + 1{st} A.D. 1873. + + (signed) JNO. P. TURNBULL, National Secretary Choctaw Nation. + +[349] Pike's programme of operations is outlined in his letter to Toombs +of May 29, 1861: + + SIR: I leave this morning for Tahlequah, the seat of government of the + Cherokee Nation, and Park Hill, the residence of Governor Ross, the + principal chief. Since 1835 there have always been two parties in the + Cherokee Nation, bitterly hostile to each other. The treaty of that + year was made by unauthorized persons, against the will of the large + majority of the nation and against that of the chief, Mr. Ross. + Several years ago Ridge, Boudinot, and others, principal men of the + treaty party, were killed, with, it was alleged, the sanction of Mr. + Ross, and the feud is today as bitter as it was twenty years ago. The + full-blooded Indians are mostly adherents of Ross, and many of + them--1,000 to 1,500 it is alleged--are on the side of the North. I + think that number is exaggerated. The half-breeds or white Indians (as + they call themselves) are to a man with us. It has all along been + supposed, or at least suspected, that Mr. Ross would side with the + North. His declarations are in favor of neutrality. But I am inclined + to believe that he is acting upon the policy (surely a wise one) of + not permitting his people to commit themselves until he has formal + guarantees from an authorized agent of the Confederate States. These I + shall give him if he will accept them. General McCulloch will be with + me, and I strongly hope that we shall satisfy him, and effect a formal + and firm treaty. If so, we shall have nearly the whole nation with us, + and those who are not will be unimportant. If he refuses he will learn + that his country will be occupied; and I shall then negotiate with the + leaders of the half-breeds who are now raising troops, and who will + meet me at the Creek Agency on Friday of next week. Several of those + living near here I have already seen. + + On Wednesday of next week I will meet the chiefs of the Creeks at the + North Fork of the Canadian. I will then fix a day for a council of the + Creeks, and go on to meet the Choctaws at Fort Washita. When I shall + have concluded an arrangement with them I will go to the Chickasaw + Country, and thence to the Seminoles. + + I hope to meet the heads of the Wichitas, Caddos, Iowas, Toncawes, + Delawares, Kickapoos, and Reserve Comanches at Fort Washita. I have + requested their agent to induce them to meet me there. The Creek + chiefs have a council with the wild Indians, Comanches and others, + high up on the North Fork of the Canadian, on the 10th proximo. I + shall endeavor, through the Creek chiefs, to have an interview with + the heads of the wild tribes at Fort Washita and induce them to come + in and settle on the reserve upon the False Washita River near Fort + Cobb. + + As I shall be absent from this post some six weeks or more, it is not + likely that I shall be able to give you frequent advice of my + movements. There are no mails in the Indian country and I shall have + to employ expresses when I desire to send on letters. + + We shall have no difficulty with the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, and + Chickasaws, either in effecting treaties or raising troops. The + greatest trouble will be in regard to arms. Not one in ten of either + of the tribes has a gun at all, and most of the guns are indifferent + double-barreled. I do not know whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs is + a part of the Department of State, and of course whether this is + properly addressed to you. I do not address the Commissioner because I + understand he is on his way hither. The suggestions I wish to make are + important and I venture to hope that you will give them their proper + direction. I have already spoken of arms for the Indians. Those arms, + if possible, should be the plain muzzle-loading rifle, large bore, + with molds for conical bullets hollowed at the truncated end, which I + suppose to be the minie-ball. Revolvers, I am aware, cannot be had, + and an Indian would not pick up a musket if it lay in the road. + + Our river is falling and will soon be low, when steam-boats will not + be able to get above Little Rock, if even there. To embody the Indians + and, collecting them together, keep them long without arms would + disgust them, and they would scatter over the country like partridges + and never be got together again. The arms should, therefore, be sent + here with all speed. + + No funds have been remitted to me, nor have I any power to procure or + draw for any, for my expenses or for those of the councils I must + hold. It has always been customary for the Indians to be fed at such + councils, and they will expect it. I have borrowed $300 of Mr. Charles + B. Johnson, giving him a draft on the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, + for incidental expenses, and if I have a council at Fort Washita shall + contract with him to feed the Indians. I have seen Elias Rector, late + superintendent of Indian affairs at Fort Smith, and William + Quesenbury, appointed agent for the Creeks by the Government at + Washington, but who did not accept, and Samuel M. Rutherford, agent + for the Seminoles, who forwards his resignation immediately; and have + written to Matthew Leeper, agent for the Wichitas and other Reserve + Indians; and have formally requested each to continue to exercise the + powers of his office under the Confederate States. They are all + citizens of Arkansas and Texas and have readily consented to do so. + + If we have declared a protectorate over these tribes and extended our + laws over them we have, I suppose, continued in force there the whole + system. Even if we have not we cannot dispense with the superintendent + and agents. I shall also see Mr. Crawford, agent for the Cherokees, + and request him to continue to act, as I have requested Colonel Cooper + to do as agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws. Unless all this were + done there would be both discontent and confusion, and I therefore + earnestly request that my action may be immediately confirmed and + these officers assured that they shall be continued, and that their + compensation shall be the same as under the United States and date + from the day of the resignation of each or of his acceptance of office + under the Confederate States. And I also strenuously urge that no + changes be made in these offices. The incumbents are all good men and + true, competent, and honest, and are, or will be, very acceptable to + the Indians. To make changes will be to make mischief. + + Mr. Charles B. Johnson is feeding the Wichitas and other Reserve + Indians under a contract which ends on the 30th of June. I have + instructed him to continue feeding them during the present season + under the same contract, _i.e._, on the same terms, which I know to be + reasonable. + + It is very important that some funds should be at my disposition. The + State of Arkansas has furnished me an escort of a company and General + McCulloch has procured me transportation. To meet contingent expenses + it is necessary that at least $1000 should be placed here subject to + my draft; and, as I have several times urged, money should be placed + in the proper hands to pay a bounty to each Indian that enlists. + + I wish I had more definite instructions and power more distinctly + expressed, especially power in so many words to make treaties and give + all necessary guarantees. For without giving them nothing can be done, + and I am [not] sure that John Ross will be satisfied with my statement + or assurance that I have the power, or with anything less than a + formal authority from the Congress. He is very shrewd. If I fail with + him it will not be my fault. + + I have the honor to be, sir, very truly and respectfully, yours, + + ALBERT PIKE, Commissioner, &c. + +_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 359-361. + +[350] Pike to Cooley, February 17, 1866. + +[351] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, 688. + +[352] A military escort had also been furnished by the Arkansas Military +Board to General McCulloch [_ibid._, 687]. + +[353] Motey, or Moty, Kennard is occasionally spoken of, in the records, +as the principal chief of the entire Creek Nation. The tribe was, however, +very sharply divided into the Lower and the Upper Creeks. Their +differences had been accentuated by the unpleasant and even dishonorable +and tragic circumstances of their removal from Georgia and Alabama. The +Lower Creeks represented the faction that had stood back of William +McIntosh and that had consented to the fraudulent treaty of Indian +Springs, the Upper Creeks were the dissenters [Abel, _History of Indian +Consolidation_, chapters vi and vii; Phillips, _Georgia and State Rights_, +56-57]. + +[354] Letter from Greenwood to the Delegation, February 4, 1861 [Indian +Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, pp. 140-141]. + +[355] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861. Note that as early +as March 18, 1861, Secretary Smith had ordered the suspension of the +issuance of all requisitions to ordinary disbursing officers in the +seceding states. This order probably affected indirectly even the Indian +Territory [Smith to commissioner of Indian affairs, March 18, 1861, +_Miscellaneous Files, 1858-1863_]. + +[356] Governor Thomas O. Moore of Louisiana to President Davis, May 31, +1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 588]. + +[357] See letter of W. S. Robertson to the Secretary of the Interior +[General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1664]. + +[358] See statement of the "Loyal" Creek Delegation at the Fort Smith +Council, September, 1865 [Land Files, _Indian Talks, Councils, etc., +1865-1866_, Box 4; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, pp. +328-329]. + +[359] Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la was nevertheless a very prominent man among the +Upper Creeks and had been prominent even before the exodus from Georgia +and Alabama. At all events he was sufficiently prominent to protest with +others against the transportation contracts that had been made by the War +Department [Lewis Cass to Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la and other Creek chiefs, dated +Tuckabatchytown, Alabama, January 27, 1836]. Again in 1838, +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la headed a party of protest, that time against the +selling of certain Creek lands left unsold at the time of emigration +[_Creek Reservation Papers_, 25]. + +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la seems to have been one of the assassins of William +McIntosh; that is, if the subjoined statement of Acting-superintendent +William Armstrong is to be trusted: + + CHOCTAW AGENCY August 31, 1836 + + C. A. HARRIS Esqr, Com{r} of Ind Affairs, + + Sir: The first party of emigrating Creeks are now on the opposite side + of the river Arkansas, on their way up. I shall leave tomorrow so as + to meet them at Gibson; while there, I will see the McIntosh party and + endeavor to learn the state of feelings amongst the several parties. + Many threats have been made; and much dissatisfaction manifested by + both Chilly & Rolly McIntosh, the latter has sworn to kill + A-po-the-ho-lo who was concerned in taking the life of his Father. + Rolly McIntosh and the other Chiefs now over, are opposed to + Ne-a-math-la the Chief who is with the party emigrating, upon the + ground mainly that they may probably be superseded, or their authority + abridged. I will however report to you, fully, after I shall have + informed myself, of the state of feeling &c, and will endeavor with + Gen{l} Arbuckle, to bring about a reconciliation. Respectfully Your + Obt Servt + + WM ARMSTRONG Act Supt West{n} Ter{y} + +_War Department Files_, A37. + +Early in the forties, Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la posed as a trader in the Creek +country. He was the partner of J. W. Taylor, a white man. The company so +composed failed, in 1843, "to give bond and license" and so Agent J. L. +Dawson closed its store [Communication of J. L. Dawson, September 5, 1843, +_War Department Files_, I1537]. + +[360] G. W. Stidham was probably a half-breed. Naturally, being the +official interpreter, he signed as the interpreter and not as a member of +the tribe. + +[361] + + We the loyal Creek Indians represented by the Delegation now present, + solemnly declare that the Treaty of July 10, 1861 was alone made by + the rebel portion of the Creek Indians, and never was executed or + assented to by the Union portion of the Nation, and is, not now, and + never has been, obligatory upon them and the names to said treaty, of + the loyal party, was a forgery--Land Files, _Indian Talks, Councils, + etc._, Box 4, 1865-1866; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, + 1865, p. 330. + +[362] The document herewith given presents one view of the case: + + The undersigned Delegates from the Creek Nation would respectfully ask + to make the following statement concerning the alliance between the + said Creek Nation and the so-called Confederate States of America. To + the end that the Creek Nation may be put upon a proper footing in the + estimation of your honorable body and that there may be no + misapprehension on the part of the Government you here represent we + beg leave to state: + + 1st. The Alliance entered into by the Creek Nation with the + Confederate Government was entered into voluntarily, and without the + interference of any person or persons other than members of our tribe. + In taking that step the assembled wisdom of the Nation in council, + thought they were acting for the best interests of the Nation and of + their posterity. + + 2d. Hopoethle Yoholo the far-famed leader of those members of our + tribe who battled against us, was not at the time of the making of the + treaty with Albert Pike Commissioner on the part of the Confederate + States, a Chief, counsellor or head man in said tribe and had no voice + in the council, he was however present at the making of said Treaty + and give said Pike to understand that he fully concurred in the result + of our deliberations. After the making of the Treaty Hopoethle Yoholo + collected together his adherents, and for reasons entirely of a + domestic character and in no wise connected with the National question + at issue, withdrew from the country and assumed a hostile attitude. + With this exception the Creeks were united as one man in action and + were ever united as one man in principle on the National question then + agitated. + + 3d. Although the Nation we represent would not attempt at this time to + urge anything in palliation of the course of conduct they adopted in + this matter, other than to ask your honorable body to esteem the error + as one of the "head and not of the heart"--but we beg leave to state + that at the time of the forming of the Alliance above refered to + circumstances over which we could not possibly exercise control seemed + to _demand_ an adoption of the course taken. The protection always + borne with the idea of allegiance, was taken from our Nation by the + withdrawal of the United States forces from the Indian Territory. This + movement left the Nations entirely without the support of the United + States government, and had they desired to remain neutral or to take + active measures on the side of the United States they could not + possibly have done so without having their Country desolated, or by + abandoning their homes. Surrounded by States, in a tumult of angry + excitement attendant upon a dissolution of their connection with the + United States, they were completely in the power of those States, + without having United States forces to call to their aid or + assistance. An alliance under such circumstances were [was] + indispensible to the safety of the country. Viewing the matter in this + light the Treaty was made, and once having linked our destiny with + those of the Confederacy, we could not in honor betray our trust. In + conclusion we beg leave to say that as long as events cannot be + controlled by human wisdom and foresight and until an honorable + adherence to promises made voluntarily, is dishonorable so long must + we deem ourselves in one sense at least--guiltless of any criminality + in this matter.--Land Files, _Indian Talks, Councils, etc., Box 4, + 1865-1866._ + +[363] They were also worried over rumors of sequestration: + + Statements having found their way into some of the public prints, to + the effect that supplies purchased for the use of the Choctaws, have + been detained by citizens of the Northern States, which statements if + uncontradicted may engender hostile feelings between those Indians and + the Government, I have thought proper to forward to you the enclosed + copies of official correspondence in relation to this subject, that + you may be able authoritatively to contradict such statements and + satisfy the Choctaws that the Government intends faithfully to + preserve and perpetuate the amicable relations subsisting between + itself and those people.--Dole to Rector and same to Coffin, May 16, + 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 458]. + +[364] Particularly by means of the resolutions of the National Council, +June 10, 1861. + +[365] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 593. + +[366] For evidence of this and for the fullest extant account of the +progress of secession among the Choctaws, see letter of S. Orlando Lee to +Dole, March 15, 1862. + +[367] The following is found in the _Fort Smith Papers_: + + Tishomingo, C. N. Nov. 26, 1861. + + GEN. A. G. MAYERS + + Sir: Having been appointed as a Delegate from this Nation (the + Chickasaw) to the Southern Congress, am at a loss (to know) when the + Congress does meet. I have all along understood from newspaper + accounts that it was to be on the 22d of February, but some seems to + think it is sooner. Will you please inform me at your earliest + convenience at what time the S. Congress does meet. Your attention to + the above is respectfully requested. I am yours very Respectfully + + JAMES GAMBLE. + + P.S. Please continue to send me the Parallel, I will make it all right + with you when on my way to Va. + + J. G. + +[368] In the list of members of the Confederate congresses, given in +_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. iii, 1184-1191, no Indian delegate +is specified until 1863. + +[369] Cooper to President Davis, July 25, 1861 [_ibid_., first ser., vol. +iii, 614]. + +[370] E. H. Carruth, in a letter to General Hunter of November 26, 1861 +[Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 47], would have us +understand that the Seminoles as a tribe did not negotiate with Pike, but +that the whole affair was as between Pike and Jumper, Jumper being +assisted by four chosen friends. The five were probably bribed. That Pike +was not averse to the use of money for such ends, his letter to Walker of +June twelfth would lead us to suspect [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. iii, 590]. We have, however, no definite proof of the same. John +Jumper was early rewarded by the Confederate government. By act of the +Provisional Congress, January 16, 1861 [_Statutes at Large_, p. 284], he +was made an honorary lieutenant-colonel of the army of the Confederate +States. Carruth further says that the family influence of Jumper "enabled +him to raise forty-six men, not all Seminoles, and Ben McCulloch +authorized him to call to his aid six hundred rangers from Fort Cobb, that +he might crush out the Union feeling in his tribe." + +[371] It is just possible that Rector had been with him all the time. At +all events Rector subsequently entered an expense account against the C. +S. A. for services from July tenth to August twenty-fourth inclusive. See +Appendix A, _Fort Smith Papers_. + +[372] See letter of Agent Snow, dated March 10, 1864, and its enclosures, +one of which is a speech of Long John, who became principal chief when the +aged Billy Bowlegs died, and another, a speech of Pas-co-fa, who, provided +his signature to the treaty be genuine, eventually must have repented of +his Confederate alliance. He was soon, with Bowlegs and Chup-co, in the +ranks of Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la [General Files, _Seminole, 1858-1867_, S291]. + +[373] The report of the United States commissioner of Indian affairs for +1863 estimates the loyal Seminoles at about two-thirds of the tribe [House +_Executive Documents_, 38th congress, first session, vol. iii, 143], that +of the Confederate States commissioner of Indian affairs as fully one-half +[S. S. Scott to Secretary Seddon, January 12, 1863, _Official Records_, +fourth ser., vol. ii, 353]. + +[374] While at the Creek Agency, Pike had communicated, so it seems, with +John Jumper and had asked him to meet him there with six others competent +and authorized to make a treaty. Up to the time of hearing from Pike, John +Jumper seems to have been inclined to adhere faithfully to the United +States government. The excellent report of E. H. Carruth, July 11, 1861 +gives full particulars of this whole affair. + +[375] See supplementary Article [_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, +525]. + +[376] See communications from Bowlegs [So-nuk-mek-ko] to Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, March 2, 1863 and May 13, 1863 [General Files, _Seminole, +1858-1869_, B131, B317]. See also Dole to Coffin, March 24, 1863 [Indian +Office, _Letter Book_, no. 70, pp. 208-209]. + +[377] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Report, 1869 [House _Executive +Documents_, 41st congress, second session, vol. iii, part 3, p. 521]. + +[378] See letter of E. H. Carruth. + +[379] William P. Davis of Indiana had been given the United States +Seminole Agency but he never reached his post [Dole to John D. Davis, +April 5, 1862, Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 68, p. 39]. Consequently, +the Confederate States agent, Rutherford, had sole influence there. Not +until George C. Snow of Indiana became United States Seminole agent, did +the non-secessionist Indians get the encouragement and support they ought +to have had all along. + +[380] See Appendix B--_Leeper Papers_. + +[381] The _Leeper Papers_, printed in the Appendix, furnish convincing +proof of this. Note also that July 4, 1861, Rector wrote to Leeper from +Fort Smith as follows: + + In the 3rd section of the law of the Confederate Congress, regulating + the Indian service connected with said government, and making + provision for the continuance in office of the Superintendent and + Agents heretofore connected with the original U. S. government, you + will be continued upon the same terms and at the same salary, as + heretofore received from the federal government, and before entering + upon your duties as such it will be your duty to take an oath before a + proper officer of a State of the Confederate States, to support the + Constitution of and accept a Commission from the Confederate States of + America....--_Leeper Papers._ + +[382] Pike to Walker, dated Seminole Agency, July 31, 1861 [_Official +Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 624]. Writing to Benjamin, December 25, +1861 [_ibid._, vol. viii, 720], Pike said he had "64 men." + +[383] These two treaties are interesting in various particulars. They +contained fewer concessions, fewer departures from established practice +than any others of the nine. They were made primarily for the maintenance +of peace on the Texan frontier. That fact is only too evident from their +contents and from the circumstances of their negotiation. One of the chief +reasons, cited by Texas, for her withdrawal from the Union was the failure +of the United States to protect her from Indian ravages. It seems never to +have occurred to her to mention the fact that her citizens, by their +aggressions, had constantly provoked the ravages, if such we can call +them. The northern counties of Texas were not "Southern" in climate or +industries, so it was especially necessary to enlist their sympathy in the +Confederate cause by keeping the Indians of the plains quiet and peaceful. + +The Comanche treaties were also interesting in the matter of their +signatures and of their schedules. The signatures included that of Rector, +of the Creek chiefs, Motey Kennard and Chilly McIntosh, and of the +Seminole chief, John Jumper. The schedules promised such things as the +following to the Indians but in amounts that were beautifully indefinite: + + Blue drilling, warm coats, calico, plaid check, regatta cotton shirts, + socks, hats, woolen shirts, red, white and blue blankets, red and blue + list cloth, shawls and handkerchiefs, brown domestic, thread, yarn and + twine, shoes, for men and women, white drilling, ribbons, assorted + colors, beads, combs, camp kettles, tin cups and buckets, pans, coffee + pots and dippers, needles, scissors and shears, butcher knives, large + iron spoons, knives and forks, nails, hatchets and hammers, augers, + drawing knives, gimlets, chopping axes, fish-hooks, ammunition, + including powder, lead, flints and percussion caps, tobacco. + +Two of a kind would have satisfied most of the requirements of these +schedules. The list of things is interesting from the standpoint of +domesticity and general utility and also from the standpoint of the things +that the same Indians had previously seemed to need in such immense +quantities. For illustration it would be well to note that when Agent +Leeper handed in his last accounts to the United States government, he +claimed to have issued during the second quarter of 1861 to the Indians at +the Wichita Agency, 550 pounds of coffee, 550 pounds of sugar, 650 pounds +of soap, 600 pounds of tobacco, etc. + +In conclusion, with respect to these Comanche treaties, we may say that, +since the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty had put the Leased District under +the jurisdiction of the C. S. A., there was very little for the reservees +themselves to do, except take the protection and other things offered by +the Confederacy (the Comanches of the Prairie and Staked Plain had +promised to become reservees on the Leased District) and be content. Pike +did not bother about promising to make them citizens eventually or about +making them admit the legality of the institution of slavery. Their +political status had never been high and it was no higher under the +Confederacy than it had been under the Union. + +[384] The Tonkawas seem to have been the ones who were the most completely +persuaded of all to adhere to the South and they continued unwaveringly +loyal thereafter to its failing fortunes [S. S. Scott to Governor +Winchester Colbert, dated Fort Arbuckle, November 10, 1862; Colbert to +Scott, same date; Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. vi, 6; Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1863, House _Executive Documents_, 38th +congress, first session, vol. iii, 143; Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. +19, pp. 186-188]. Apparently the Confederacy was rather careful in +carrying out its obligations to the Tonkawas. Among the _Leeper Papers_ +are various documents proving this, such as an unsigned receipt for money +received from Pike, July 19, 1862, to carry out the terms of Articles XVI +and XVII of the treaty of August 12, 1861; and a copy of a letter, from +Leeper probably, to J. J. Sturm, commissary, dated November 30, 1861, +complaining that Sturm had not followed "instructions in making issues to +Tonkahua Indians." + +[385] _Journal_, vol. i, 565. + +[386] Message of Dec. 12, 1861 [Richardson, _op. cit._, vol. i, 149-151; +_Official Register_, fourth ser., vol. i, 785-786]. + +[387] This report I have been unable to find. + +[388] + + 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] Fremont 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 Fremont'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 Fremont, 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 +"pfaelzisch-badischen Revolutionaere" 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 Geschichtsblaetter_, 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. + + The passage above quoted [meaning one from Coffin's report of + September 24, 1863--"They resisted the insidious influences which were + brought to bear upon them by Rector, Pike, Cooper, Crawford and other + rebel emissaries for a long time."] however does great injustice to + all the parties named, particularly to Genl Cooper, who had no earthly + connection with the Cherokees until several months after. Mr. John + Ross made the treaty with the so-called Confederate States.--General + Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, B60. + +[437] "Ross was overborne. It is said that his wife was more staunch than +her husband and held out till the last. When an attempt was made to raise +a Confederate flag over the Indian council house, her opposition was so +spirited that it prevented the completion of the design."--Howard, _My +life and experiences among our hostile Indians_, 100. + +[438] For the entire address of John Ross, see _Official Record_, first +ser., vol. iii, 673-675. + +[439] _Official Record_, first ser., vol. iii, 675-676. A slightly +incorrect copy of these same resolutions is to be found in vol. xiii, +499-500. + +[440] John Ross and others to McCulloch, August 24, 1861 [_Official +Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 673]. + +[441] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865. The Report of the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs to President Johnson, February 25, 1866, in +answer to the Cherokee protest against Chief Ross's deposition contains +this statement: + + As early as June or July, the exact date is not known, John Ross + authorized the raising of Drew's Regiment, for the Southern army.... + +[442] McCulloch to Ross, September 1, 1861 [_Official Records_, first +ser., vol. iii, 690]. + +[443] --_Ibid._; McCulloch to John Drew, September 1, 1861 [_ibid._, 691]. + +[444] In the course of the war, both inside and outside of Kansas, many +instances occurred of Indians' expressing a wish to fight or of their +services being earnestly solicited. In late April of 1861, a deputation, +headed by White Cloud, came east and tendered to the United States +government the services of some three hundred warriors, Sioux and +Chippewas [Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. i, 43]. + +Agent Burleigh, in charge of the Yancton Sioux, asked permission to +garrison Fort Randall with Indians [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, p. 118]. The Omahas manifested great interest in the war, +so their agent, O. H. Irish, reported [_ibid._, p. 65]. Towards the end of +the struggle a young recruiting officer, who went among them, persuaded +about thirty youths, mostly students at the Mission School, to enlist. +Their terms had not expired when the war closed, so they were sent out as +scouts to protect the Union Pacific Railroad, in course of construction +from Denver to Salt Lake City, against the Sioux who were attacking +workmen and emigrants. Even Senecas from the far away Cattaraugus +Reservation, New York, offered to enlist [Dole to Strong, December 7, +1861, Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 67, p. 129]; and so did the Pawnees +from the great plains. The United States government, however, refused to +accept the Pawnees for anything but scouts and, in that capacity, they +proved exceedingly useful [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1869, +p. 472]. Winnebagoes were in the United States employ [Indian Office, +_Report Book_, no. 13, pp. 276-277], as were also many individuals from +other tribes. Some Indians became commissioned officers and a number were +at the head of companies. Captain Dorion of Company B, Regiment Fourteenth +Kansas Volunteers was an Iowa [_ibid._, 261] and Eli S. Parker on General +Grant's staff was a Seneca. + +After the Enrollment Act of March 3, 1863 [United States _Statutes at +Large_, vol. xii, 731-737] was passed, several attempts were made to force +the Indians to serve in the army but Mix, the Acting Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, declared they were exempt from the draft [Letter to Agent +D. C. Leach, September 4, 1863, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 71, p. +354]. On the sixteenth of July, 1863, the United States War Department +inquired very particularly as to the Indian eligibility for enrollment and +Secretary Usher took occasion to instruct Mix that the respective agents +should be + + Directed to offer no resistance to the enrolling officers, after + notifying said officers of the fact, that the tribe or tribes under + their charge are composed of Indians who have not acquired the rights + of Citizenship, but immediately upon being informed of the drafting of + any member of his tribe, he will report the case to the Com{r} of + Indian Affairs, for such action as may be necessary to procure the + exemption of the Indians from military service.--Letter of Secretary + Usher, September 12, 1863, _Miscellaneous Files_, 1858-1863. + +[445] + + The bearer has a train of goods at this point en route for the Indians + on the western border of the State, containing quite a quantity of + arms & ammunition. + + There is great excitement in the community with reference to arming + the Indians at the present time, as for several days past reports have + come to us that our frontier settlements are in danger of attack from + hostile Indians who are collecting in the neighborhood. I am daily + importuned to send them aid. Also, report says, and it seems very + reliable, that the Indians on our southern border are arming + themselves against our citizens. In addition to these Indian rumors it + is believed by many that these arms are in danger of falling into the + hands of secessionists, before reaching their destination. Quite a + number of that class of men have recently passed up this way (Topeka) + and through Riley County. In this condition of affairs I do not think + these arms & ammunition can be taken west without an escort, as the + rabble will be almost certain to waylay them as soon as they get on + the Pottawatomie Reserve. I can protect them while in this county & + will do so, but cannot follow them. Would it not be well, if you have + the authority, to direct the bearer to leave that part of his freight + in charge of the U. S. Marshal, or in my charge, until there shall be + a change of circumstances, or until further orders from Washington? + + Although I would not undertake to oppose the action of Government in + the matter and would not interfere unless it should be to prevent the + property from falling into the hands of a mob, yet I do think under + the circumstances it is very bad policy to arm the Indians on the + border. I feel very sure from what I learn, they will be used against + our citizens within three months time. I am ready to co-operate at all + times with the U. S. authorities....--General Files, _Central + Superintendency, 1860-1862_, B479. See also Branch's reply, May 23, + _ibid._ + +[446] H. B. Branch to Mix, September 16, 1861, transmitting a letter from +Agent Farnsworth of September 16, 1861, enclosing communications from +Senator Lane, Captain Price, and others, "relative to organizing the +Indians for the defense of the Government" [General Files, _Kansas, +1855-1862_, B774]. + + Headquarters K.B. Ft. Lincoln, Aug. 22{d} 1861. + + To Indian Agents Sac and Foxes--Shawnees--Delawares--Kickapoos-- + Potawatomies--and Kaws--Tribes of Indians + + GENTS: For the defence of Kansas I have determined to use the loyal + Indians of the Tribes above named. To this end I have appointed + Augustus Wattles, Esq to confer with you and adopt such measures as + will secure the early assembling of the Indians at this point. + + If you have the means within your control I would like to have you + supply them when they march with a sufficient quantity of powder, lead + & subsistence for their march to this place, where they will be fed by + the Government. + + You can assure them for the Govt that they will not be marched out of + Kansas without their consent--that they will be used only for the + defence of Kansas. + + I enjoin each of you to be prompt and energetic that an early + assembling of said Indians at this point may thereby be secured. + + J. H. LANE, Commanding Kansas Brigade. + By ABRAM CUTLER, Acting assistant Adgt-Gen. + + The danger is imminent. Hordes of whites & half breeds in the Indian + country are in arms driving out & killing Union men. They threaten to + overrun Kansas and exterminate both whites & Indians. It it rumored + that John Ross, the Cherokee Chief is likely to be overcome unless he + is assisted. + + The Osages also need assistance. Gen. Lane intends to establish a + strong Indian camp near the neutral lands as a guard to prevent forage + into Kansas. He is very solicitous that you should come if possible + with the Chiefs & see him at Ft. Lincoln on the Little Osage 10 miles + south of Mound City. + + If you do come, please bring all the fighting men you can, of all + Kinds. Men are needed. + + If you do not come, please authorise some responsible man to lead the + Indians as far as Ft. Lincoln where Gen. Lane will receive them and + give them a big war talk. Bring an interpreter. Expenses will be paid. + + Congress will undoubtedly make suitable acknowledgements to the Kaws, + as an independent nation, for any valuable services which they may + render.... + + P.S. A Captain's wages will be given to any competent man whom you may + appoint to take the lead of the band, provided there are fifty or + more.--AUGUSTUS WATTLES to Major Farnsworth, dated Sac and Fox Agency, + Kansas, August 25, 1861. + +Wattles had evidently not yet heard of the Tahlequah mass-meeting. Postal +connections with Indian Territory were, of necessity, very poor. Dole had +recommended, May 29, 1861, to Secretary Smith a new postal route through +southwest Missouri or southern Kansas instead of the old route through +Arkansas [Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, p. 170]. + +The Confederates were similarly embarrassed. On the twenty-seventh of May, +the postmaster at Fort Smith had complained to the postmaster-general J. +H. Reagan, + + Enclosed please find letter of G. B. Hester (a Choctaw who was made + quarter-master and commissary in the First Choctaw Regiment and, in + 1865, "cotton agent for the Creek Indians who were at that time + squatting in the Chickasaw Nation." See O'Beirne's _Leaders and + Leading Men of the Indian Territory_) at Boggy Depot, C. N. You will + see they are without mails in that country. For three weeks the mails + for the Indian country have been accumulating in this office. I sent + forward all the mail that could be packed on a single horse.... I + cannot get men to carry the mail. They say they are afraid of being + robbed or murdered.... Our neighbours, the Indians must suffer great + inconvenience on account of the stoppage of mail facilities. All + tribes are in favor of the South except the Cherokees. A little good + talk would do them good, perhaps a little powder and lead might help + the cause. Ross and his party are not to be relied on.--_Fort Smith + Papers_. + +Mayers wrote Reagan in a similar vein a month later, on June 26, 1861, + + Our mails throughout the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw & Creek nations + have all been stopped by the old mail carriers....--_Ibid._ + +[447] On August 26, 1861, Wattles wrote Farnsworth from Lawrence, + + I wrote you a few days ago concerning the employment of the Indians in + the defence of our frontier. + + The necessity seemed imperative. But on hearing that the Commissioner + of Indian Affairs was in Kansas and will probably see you--I think it + best to say nothing to the Indians till he is consulted in the matter. + + Gen. Lane has 60 miles of the Missouri border to guard, and an army of + at least double his to hold in check, which employs all his force + night & day. + + Besides this, he has the Indian frontier on the south of about 100 + miles. This he intends to intrust to the loyal Indians--I will add, if + the Commissioner agrees to it. + +The stay of execution was not of long duration, however; for, September +10, 1861, J. E. Prince sent Farnsworth from Fort Leavenworth a circular +requesting immediate enrollment and an estimate of the strength of the +loyal Indians. + +[448] The conduct of Lane was presumptuous, arrogant, dictatorial; but he +had interfered in yet other ways in Indian concerns. He must have had +quite a hold, political or otherwise, over several of the agents and they +appealed to him in matters that ought, in the first instance, to have been +referred to the Indian Office and left there. Thus, in July, Agent F. +Johnson had approached Lane on the subject of having Charles Journeycake +appointed Delaware chief in place of Rock-a-to-wa deceased. Both Pomeroy +and Lane endorsed the appointment but it was unquestionably entirely out +of their province to do so. Tribal politics were assuredly no concern of +the Kansas delegation in Congress. + +[449] Dole had gone to Kansas in the latter part of August "to submit in +person the amendments, made by the Senate at its last session, to the +Delaware treaty of May 30, 1860" [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, p. 11]. + +[450] + + I find here your letter to the Agent of the Delaware, requesting _Fall + Leaf_ to organize a party of 50 men for the service of your + Department. _Mr. Johnson_ the Agent called the tribe together before I + arrived here, and found the Chiefs unwilling that their young men + should enter the service as you desired. Since my arrival I have seen + the Chiefs and stated to them that the Government was not asking them + to enter the war as a tribe but that we wished to employ some of the + tribe for Special Service and wished the Chiefs to make no objection. + I could not however get their consent even to acquiesce in their men + Volunteering for the service as you desired, & _Fall Leaf_ and several + of the tribe are here and determined to tender you their Services, + with my consent. I have advised them that they are at Liberty to join + you if they choose. _Fall Leaf_ says he will be able to report at Fort + Leavenworth in a very few days with twenty to twenty five men. Should + you require more men, you will have probably to call on some other + tribe. Those men who volunteer against the advice of their Chiefs + should be particularly remembered by the Gov't.--DOLE to Fremont, + dated Leavenworth City, September 13, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter + Book_, no. 66, p. 485]. + +[451] --_Ibid._ + +[452] + + I am instructed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th + inst., and to state that the Commanding General will accept with + pleasure the services of Fall Leaf and his men. + + Other tribes will be applied to immediately. I have written to the + same effect to Mr. Johnson, at the Deleware Agency.--JOHN R. HOWARD, + captain and secretary, to William P. Dole, dated Headquarters, Western + Department, at St. Louis, September 20, 1861 [General Files, _Central + Superintendency, 1860-1862_]. + +[453] F. Johnson to Dole, June 6, 1862 [General Files, _Delaware, +1862-1866_]. + +[454] Dole to Captain Fall Leaf, November 22, 1863 [Indian Office, _Letter +Book_, no. 72, p. 109]. + +[455] Report to Dole, October 22, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, p. 50]; Report to Dole, September 17, 1862 [Commissioner +of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 98]. + +[456] + + I send you a letter to _General Fremont open_ that you may read and + understand its object. _Fall Leaf_ will call upon you probably this + afternoon and receive from you such information as you see proper to + give him. I am disinclined to encourage the Indians to engage in this + war except in extreme cases, as guides. I have in this case used my + influence in favor of the formation of this Company, without any + knowledge of the views of Gov't, supposing Gen{l} Fremont was a + special need of them or he would not have made the request....--DOLE + to Captain Price, dated Leavenworth, September 13, 1861 [Indian + Office, _Letter Book_, no. 66, pp. 485-486]. + +[457] Letter of August 15, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, +1861, p. 39]. + +[458] General Orders, no. 23 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, +539]. + +[459] Villard says, as early as 1856, rivalry had developed between +Robinson and Lane [_John Brown_, 108]. + +[460] Thomas to Fremont, October 14, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. iii, 533]. + +[461] Lane to Lincoln, October 9, 1861 [_ibid._, 529]. + +[462] It would seem as if Lane were remotely responsible for the division +of the Western Department into the Department of Kansas and the Department +of Missouri. In his letter to President Lincoln of October 9, 1861, he +described the good work that his Kansas Brigade had done and asked that, +in order that it might be enabled to continue to do effective work, a new +military department be created, one that should group together Kansas, +Indian Territory, and so much of Arkansas and the territories as should be +advisable [_ibid._]. + +[463] Ross's Address to Drew's Regiment, December 19, 1861 [Commissioner +of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 355]; Letter of Albert Pike to D. N. +Cooley, February 17, 1866. + +[464] + + "Chisholm" the well known interpreter has been sent to the Comanches, + Creeks to the Osages--Matthews to the Senecas Quapaws &c. + ...--ROBERTSON in a letter, dated St. Louis, September 30, 1861 + [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1615]. + + ... In the fall of the same year Albert Pike called a General Council + of the same tribes to meet at Talloqua and in order to secure their + attendance stated that John Ross was to make a speech ... he sent Dorn + late U. S. Indian Agent to notify the Osages, Quapaws Senecas & + Shawnees that there was to be a Council at Talloqua and that Ross was + going to talk at the same time to tell them that the U. S. Government + was breaking up--that they would get no more money and that they were + about to send an Army to take their Negroes and drive them from the + country and pointed to Missouri in proof of it, when the Council met + at Talloqua instead of Ross the council was opened by Pike who told + them "We are here to protect our property and to save our + Country."...--BAPTISTE PEORIA. + +Baptiste Peoria, in the spring and summer of 1862, went around as a secret +agent of the United States government among the southern Indians finding +out their real sentiments respecting the war. The report from which the +above extract is taken is dated May 1, 1862, and is in General Files, +_Osage River, 1855-1862_, B1430. + +[465] + + FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, September 19{th} 1865. + + In a talk held at the rooms of the Commission, with Commissioners + Sells and Parker, the following statement was this day voluntarily + made by Shon-tah-sob-ba ("Black Dog") the Chief of the Black Dog band + of the Osage Indians, relating to a treaty with the so-called + Confederate States. In answer to a question by Commissioner Sells, + "How did you happen to be in this Southern Country?" Shon-tah-sob-ba + (Black Dog) replied "I am glad you have asked that question, for I + wish to make some statements in explanation. We came down here upon + the invitation of John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, + who sent us a letter asking us to attend a Council for the purpose of + making a treaty with Albert Pike"-- + + COMM{R} SELLS--Have you that letter now in your possession? + + ANSWER: We don't know where the letter is. It was sent to Clermont, + whose son had it in his possession when he died & we suppose it was + buried with him. But I have it here in my head & will never forget it. + John Ross, the Cherokee Chief, said in that letter, "My Bros. the + Osages, there is a distinguished gentleman sent by the Confederate + States who is here to make treaties with us. He will soon be ready to + treat, and I want you to come here in order that we may all treat + together with him. My Brothers, there is a great black cloud coming + from the North, about to cover us all, and I want you to come here so + that we can counsel each other & drive away the black cloud." This is + all that he said & signed his name. All the Osages went. We were all + there together, Pike, John Ross and I, sitting as you are. Pike told + us he was glad that we had come to make peace & a treaty. All your + other brothers have made treaties & shook hands, & if _you_ want to, + you can do so too. I will tell you what John Ross said at the time. + John Ross told us, "My Red Bros. you have come here as I asked you & I + am glad to see you & hope you will do what the Commissioner wants you + to do. The talk the Commissioner has made is a good talk & I want you + to listen to it & make friends with the Confederate States. You can + make a treaty or not, but I advise you, as your older brother, to make + a treaty with them. It is for your interest & your good." After he + finished talking, John Ross told us we could consult among ourselves + over there (pointing to our camp near his residence) & decide among + ourselves. We consulted on the matter, & on the request of John Ross + we signed the treaty. He asked us to do it. He was the man that made + us make that treaty, and that's how we came to be away from our + country. + + The above statement was endorsed by Wah-tah-in-gah, Chief Counselor of + the Black Dog & Clermont bands of the Osage Indians. + + The above is a correct statement as interpreted. + + E. S. PARKER Com{r} GEO. L. COOK Ass't Sec{y}. + ELIJAH SELLS Com{r} + +Papers relating to the Council at Fort Smith, September, 1865, _Indian +Office Files_. + +[466] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, pp. 353-354. + +[467] These Creeks, of course, were the Upper Creeks, the anti-McIntosh +Creeks, the following of Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la. Some of the confidence that +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la seems to have had in John Ross, in his discretion and +in his integrity, may have dated from the days when John Ross had refused, +as he must have refused, to share in the plan for a betrayal of his +country, at the instance of William McIntosh. The following document will +explain that circumstance: + + NEWTOWN 21th October 1823 + + MY FRIEND: I am going to inform you a few lines as a friend. I want + you to give me your opinion about the treaty wether the chiefs will be + willing or not. If the chiefs feel disposed to let the United States + have the land part of it, I want you to let me know. I will make the + United States commissioner give you two thousand dollars, A. McCoy the + same and Charles Hicks $3000 for present, and no body shall know it, + and if you think the land wouldent sold, I will be satisfied. If the + land should be sold, I will get you the amount before the treaty sign, + and if you got any friend you want him to Receive it, they shall recd + the same. nothing moore to inform you at present. I remain your + affectionate Friend + + WM MCINTOSH + + John Ross--an answer return + + NB. the whole amount is $12000. you can divide among your friends. + exclusive $7000. + +This letter is on file in the United States Indian Office and bears the +following endorsement: + + rec{d} on the 23{rd} Oct. 1823. + + M{R} JOHN ROSS President _N. Committee_ + + Letter from Wm McIntosh to Mr John Ross read & exposed in open Council + in the presence of Wm McIntosh Oct 24{th} 1823 + + J ROSS + +[468] Letters to Dole, October 31, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, p. 42] and November 2, 1861 [General Files, _Cherokee, +1859-1865_, J503]. + +[469] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, pp. 353, 354. + +[470] _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 669-687. + +[471] --_Ibid._, 636-646. + +[472] --_Ibid._, 659-666. + +[473] --_Ibid._, 647-658. + +[474] The Senecas of the mixed band of Senecas and Shawnees were not +originally parties to the treaty, but provision was duly made for their +becoming so. + +[475] Ka-hi-ke-tung-ka for Clermont's Band, Pa-hiu-ska for White Hair's, +Shon-tas-sap-pe for Black Dog's, and Chi-sho-hung-ka for the Big Hill. + +[476] For information concerning Washbourne [Washburne or Washburn] and +charges against him, see Dean to Manypenny, December 28, 1855, December +31, 1855 [Dean's _Letter Book_, Indian Office]; and Elias Rector to +Secretary Thompson, October 1, 1859 [Rector's _Letter Book_, Indian +Office]. Rector's letter was as follows: + + An important sense of my duty as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for + the Southern Superintendency compells me to recommend, most earnestly, + the immediate removal of the present incumbent of the Seminole Agency, + + The performance of this unpleasant duty is forced upon me by the + following consideration,-- + + 1st The neglect of duty and disregard of the orders and Regulations of + the Department in absenting himself repeatedly and for protracted + periods, from his Agency without authority for so doing; to the + prejudice of the public interests entrusted to him,-- + + On this point I presume it is not necessary for me to enlarge, or to + urge upon the Department my views of the paramount necessity of Indian + Agents residing at their Agencies and being at all times present at + their Stations as well to cultivate the respect and confidence, and a + just knowledge of the character and wants of the people entrusted to + their care, as to be in position to execute promptly the orders, and + to promote the views of the Department,-- + + 2nd I consider him unworthy of the trust reposed in him from certain + facts connected with the late payment of money to the Indians under + his charge, which have come to my knowledge-- + + Of the $90,000 recently paid to those Indians, appropriated by + Congress expressly to pay such of them as should remove under the late + Treaty; for their improvements and to assist in defraying their + removal expences I have ascertained, and it is notorious, that + thirteen thousand Dollars or more passed into the hands of Mr + Washbourne, through Collusion with the principal Chiefs, $5000 of + which he received under a private Contract with Senator Yulee of + Florida for services in obtaining the consent of the Chiefs to the + payment of thirty thousand dollars of this money to Senator Yulee on + an old claim presented by him of long standing in behalf of one Gov + Humphreys of Florida. The balance of the $13000 received by Mr + Washbourne was probably awarded him in consideration of his permitting + the Chiefs to appropriate certain portions of the money they paid over + to them in trust for the legetimate claimants, to their own use and + benefit, + + I have informed you in a late letter of the pains I took to make the + Chiefs acquainted with the true object of the appropriations. Having + been instructed to pay over the whole amount to the authorities of the + Nation, this was all I could do in furtherance of the intentions of + Congress; my efforts to accomplish which were thus frustrated by Mr + Washbourne and his advances.-- + + 3d The breach of good faith in the Chiefs towards the Indians, + prompted by Mr Washbourne in the distribution of this $90.000 as + explained in my late letter, has incensed the Indians to such degree + that bloodshed has been threatened and is seriously to be + apprehended,-- + + 4th The influence of Mr Washbourne over the Chiefs acquired through + his Collusion with them in this swindling the intended legal + recipients of this money is such that, the Chiefs have intimated that + they will not send a delegation to Florida unless Mr Washbourne shall + accompany them, and I have reason to believe that in case he is not + permited to accompany them, he is prepared to throw every obstacle in + the way of the accomplishment of this, so much desired measure of the + Government, + + The conduct of the Chiefs and their Agent in the distribution of the + $90000 and the enclosed letter from Mr Jacoway U S Marshal of this + District, whose acquaintance you have made, taken in connection with + the declarations of the Chiefs, that they will not go without him (or + that they desire that he should go with and have charge of them) + justifies the apprehension that there is another scheme in embryo + between them to perpetrate another swindle. Should circumstances + favour its accomplishment; and if it is the intention of the + Department to charge me with conducting the negotiations of a + Delegation to Florida, I must decline the performance of this duty if + one in whom I have so little confidence is permited to accompany the + Delegation in the capacity of Agent; for I hesitate not to say, that + if disappointed in his hopes of making a profitable employment of his + influence he would exert himself to defeat any negotiations that might + be set on foot, and there is good reason to fear that he might be + successful,-- + + For these reasons I beg leave respectfully to urge upon the Department + the immediate removal of Mr Washbourne and the appointment in his + stead of some gentleman who will perform the duties of the office with + a high appreciation of the trust confided to him and with a view, + rather to the honest discharge of this trust, than to his own profit, + + I make this communication direct to the Sec't of Interior instead of + sending it through the Indian office for the reason that I learn that + the Comr Ind Affrs is absent on official acct. + +[477] Agent Elder to Coffin, September 30, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 37]; Coffin to Dole, October 2, 1861 [_ibid._, +p. 38]; Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. iii, 33. + +[478] We the loyal Cherokee Delegation acknowledge the execution of the +treaty of Oct. 7, 1861. But we solemnly declare that the execution of the +Treaty was procured by the coercion of the rebel army [Land Files, _Indian +Talks, Councils, etc._, Box 4, 1865-1866]. + +[479] Hon. J. S. Phelps to C. B. Smith, dated Rolla, Mo., October 3, 1861 +[General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, P44]. + +[480] A difference of opinion seems to exist as to the original object of +the organization of Drew's regiment. When Ross wrote his despatches to +McCulloch concerning the proceedings at Tahlequah, he sent them for +transmission to the C. S. A. quartermaster at Fort Smith, Major George W. +Clark, to whom he imparted the information that the Cherokees were going +to raise a regiment of mounted men immediately and place it under the +command of Colonel John Drew, "to meet any emergency that may arise." +"Having espoused," said he, "the cause of the Confederate States, we hope +to render efficient service in the protracted war which now threatens the +country, and to be treated with a liberality and confidence becoming the +Confederate States."--Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. iii, 155, Document +63-1/2. + +Those, who afterwards wanted to put the Cherokee position in the best +possible light, declared repeatedly that Drew's regiment had no sectional +bias in the work mapped out for it, that it was nothing more than a home +guard. Writing to Dole, January 21, 1862, the Reverend Evan Jones said, + + A regiment of Cherokees was raised for home protection, composed of + one company for each of eight Districts, and either two or three + companies for the District of Tahlequah. But these were altogether + separate and distinct from the rebel force.... The great majority of + officers and men, in this case, being decidedly loyal Union men Four + of the Captains and four hundred men, gave evidence of their loyalty, + in the part they acted, at the battle in which Opothleyoholo was + attacked by the Texan rangers & rebel Creeks & Choctaws, under + Cooper....--General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, J556. + +[481] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 355. + +[482] Cooley's Report to President Johnson, February 25, 1866. This letter +was found in the loose files of the Indian Office and is not to be found +in Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 15, where it would properly belong. + +[483] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 321. + +[484] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 35: Indian +Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, p. 176. + +[485] + + Enclosed pleaz find a coppy of a Commission given by General Lane to + E. H. Carruth together with coppies of Letters sent by him to the + various Tribes in the Indian Territory. I had an interview with Mr. + Carruth yesterday. I find him a very Inteligent man and thougherly + posted as to all matters relating to the Southern Indians he is very + confident that most if not all the Southern Indians written to will + Send deligations to Fort Scott as requested there ware three Creek + Indians came up to se General Lane who came to Iola for Caruthe to go + with them to General Lane which he did and they ware the barers of + letters of which the enclosed are coppies. I am going to Fort Scott + today and will make arrangements with Agent Elder to give the notice + imediately on their arrival or Bring them to Humboldt. I shall try to + secure the assistance of Mr. Caruthe tho he is now a voluntear in the + Home Guards for protection. I very much feer the service required of + me at the Sacks & Fox and Kaw agencies will take me to far off but + will try to attend to all if possible--General Files, _Southern + Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348. + +[486] Manypenny to Dean, April 9, 1855 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. +51, pp. 232-233]. + +[487] Extract from commission, dated Fort Scott, August 30, 1861, issued +to Carruth by authority of J. H. Lane, Commanding the Kansas Brigade +[_ibid._]. + +[488] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 328. + +[489] The loyal Creeks testified, in 1865, that they sent their "chief" +and others to Washington and leave the reader to infer that the chief +meant was "Sands;" but the accredited delegates were most certainly Mik-ko +Hut-kee, Bob Deer, and Jo Ellis. These three men signed their names, or +rather attached their mark, to an address to the president of which the +following is a certified copy: + + SHAWNEE AGENCY, LEXINGTON, September 18, 1861. + + Sir, we the Chiefs, Head Men, and Warriors, of the Creek Nation of + Indians, in the Indian Territory, through our delegates, the + undersigned desire to state to your excellency the condition of our + people. Owing to the want of correct information as to condition of + the Country and Government our people are in great distress. Men have + come among us, who claim to represent a New Government, who tell us + that the Government represented by Our Great Father at Washington, has + turned against us and intends to drive us from our homes and take away + our property, they tell us that we have nothing to hope from our old + Father and that all the Friends of the Indian have joined the New + Government. And that the New Government is ready to make treaties with + the Indians and do all and more for them than they can claim under + their old treaties. they ask us to join their armies and help sustain + the Government that is willing to do so much for us. But we doubted + their statements and promises and went to talk with the Agent and + Superintendent which Our father has always kept among us but they were + both gone and then some of our people began to think that Our Great + Father had forsaken us and a very few joined the Army of the New + Government and our people were in great trouble and we called a Grand + Council of the Chiefs of Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Shawnees, + Senecas, Quapaws, Kickapoos, Delawares, Weas, Peankeshaws, Witchetaws + Tribes and bands of Comanches, Seminoles, and Cadoes. And after a long + discussion of the source of their troubles, decided to remain loyal to + our Government and if possible neutral. The Chiefs went among their + people (and as a general thing) counteracted the influence of the + emissaries of the New Government. But these emissaries are still among + us giving us great trouble, while our Government has no one who can + officially represent itself. And we most earnestly ask that some + person shall be sent here who shall meet the Chiefs of the above + mentioned tribes in Council at some suitable place, and then make + known to them the condition, policy and wishes of the Government so + far as the interests of the Indians are concerned. If your Excellency + should deem it best to comply with our request, we would suggest that + Humboldt Allen County Kansas be the place for holding the Council. A + notice sent to the Agent of the Shawnees, will immediately be + forwarded by a messinger to the Chiefs. Very Respectfully, your + Obedient Servants + + WHITE CHIEF X his mark + BOBB DEER X his mark + JOSEPH ELLIS X his mark Interpreter + + P.S. The Choctaws were not present at the Council and we have reason + to feer that they have gone with the Southern Confederacy. It will + take near forty days to notify the Chiefs and get them together after + the notice gets at this place. + + WHITE CHIEF X his mark + +[490] They also saw Agent Abbot [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, +1865, p. 330] and received new assurances from him. + +[491] Perchance the same letter, either the original or a copy of which, +Superintendent Branch transmitted to Dole along with an explanatory letter +from Agent Abbott. The "talk" of the Creek chiefs was accompanied by a +sort of Seminole and Chickasaw endorsement. Dole replied to the Creek and +Seminole delegate appeals, November 16, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter +Book_, no. 67, pp. 78-79]. This is what the Creek chiefs said: + + CREEK NAT. Aug 15, 1861. + + Now I write to the President our Great Father who removed us to our + present homes, & made a treaty, and you said that in our new homes we + should be defended from all interference from any people and that no + white people in the whole world should ever molest us unless they come + from the sky but the land should be ours as long as grass grew or + waters run, and should we be injured by anybody you would come with + your soldiers & punish them, but now the wolf has come, men who are + strangers tread our soil, our children are frightened & the mothers + cannot sleep for fear. This is our situation now. When we made our + Treaty at Washington you assured us that our children should laugh + around our houses without fear, & we believed you. Then our Great + Father was strong. And now we raise our hands to him we want his help + to keep off the intruder & make our homes again happy as they used to + be.... + + I was at Washington when you treated with us, and now White People are + trying take our people away to fight against us and you. I am alive. I + well remember the treaty. My ears are open & my memory is good. This + is the letter of Your Children by + + OPOTHLEHOYOLA + OUKTAHNASERHARJO + + The Seminoles also send the same word & the full Indians of the + Chickasaws too send to the P-- + +The reply to this letter was made by Dole, November 56, 1862. See Indian +Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, pp. 79-80. + + Pascofar the chief of Seminoles was present, he was not able to come + with us now but sent word. And if our Great Father want us we will + come to see him. + + MICEO HULKA JO ELLIS + ROB DEER + +General Files, _Creek, 1860-1869_, B787. + +[492] + + There is a delegation of the Creeks now at Gen'l Lanes Head Quarters. + + We wish to see delegations from the tribes loyal to the U. S. + Government. You will send us a delegation who will report to the Head + Quarters of the Kansas Brigade where commissioners of the Government + will meet and confer with them. + + You are probably aware of the falsehoods resorted to by the enemies of + the U. S. to induce the Indians to withdraw their allegiance from the + Government. Could you come in person it would be grattifying to the + Commissioners.--Letter of September 11, 1861 [General Files, _Southern + Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348]. + +[493] + + Your letter by Micco Hutka is received. You will send a delegation of + your best men to meet the Commissioners of the United States + Government in Kansas. + + I am authorized to inform you that the President will not forget you. + Our armies will soon go south and those of your people who are true + and loyal to the Government will be treated as friends--Your rights & + property will be respected. The Commissioners from the Confederate + States have deceived you they have two tongues. + + They wanted to get the Indians to fight and they will rob and plunder + you if they can get you into trouble. But the President is stil alive + his soldiers will soon drive these men who have treacherously violated + your homes from the land they have entered. When your Delegates Return + to you they will be able to inform you when and where your monies will + be paid those who stole your orphan funds will be punished and you + will learn that the people who are tru to the Government which has so + long protected you are your Friends.--Letter to Opoth-le-ho-yo-ho, + Ho-so-tau-hah-sas Hayo, dated Barnesville, September 11, + 1861.--General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348. + +The author's opinion is that the mistakes in spelling were made by the +illiterate Coffin, who probably made a copy of Carruth's letters for +transmission to the Indian Office. He may also have made a slight +alteration in the date of the letter to the Creeks; for the original of +the letter, bearing the date of September 10, 1861, was found in +Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la's camp after the Battle of Chustenahlah, December 26, +1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 25]. + +[494] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 26. + +[495] In his letter to the Seminole chiefs and headmen, Carruth reminds +them that he was with them when letters came from Pike and that Pike "is +the man who has tried so hard to get your lands sectionalized" and asks, +"who brought up a bill in Congress to bring your tribes under Territorial +laws, Johnson of Arkansas...." + +[496] --_Ibid._, 26. + +[497] Coffin to Dole, October 2, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, pp. 38-39]. + +[498] Evan Jones wrote, October 31, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, pp. 41-43] that he had found it impossible to get anyone +who would undertake to carry a message to John Ross. The risk was too +great. + +[499] Dole to Hunter, November 16, 1861 [_ibid._, p. 44]. + +[500] + + On consultation with Gen'l Jas. H. Lane he thinks an auxiliary + Regiment of Indians are necessary to the service and could be used to + great advantage in this department. If it meets with your approbation + I would like and ask the privilege of Raising such Regt which I think + I could do in thirty days. I have made my estimate of the number of + men which I think would be furnished by each tribe as follows + + Iowas & Kickapoos 225 + Delawares 125 + Potawatomies 250 + Shawnees, Miamies, & Weas 100 + Sacks & Foxes 250 + Senecas & Wyandotts 125 + ---- + 1075 + + This will be laid before you by Gen{l} Lane in person I hope it will + meet with your approval and that you will grant the permission to + raise the Regt and if necessary I have no doubt but a Brigade of + Indians could be organized by embracing the Osages and Loyal Creeks + and Cherokees.--Letter of October 10, 1861 [General Files, _Delaware, + 1855-1861_]. + +[501] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 553. + +[502] I am not certain of the exact date of Lane's departure for +Washington. Spring says [_Kansas_, 279] that he went there in November. +When an Indian delegation reached Fort Scott, seeking him, some time about +the middle of the month, he had already handed over his command to Colonel +James Montgomery and "had gone to Washington" [Cutler to Coffin, September +30, 1862, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 138]. Yet +Dole's letter to General Hunter would convey the impression that Lane was +still in Kansas the middle of the month and expected to be there on the +twenty-fourth. I am also in doubt as to when Hunter reached his post. He +communicated with Agent Cutler from St. Louis, November 20, 1861 [_ibid._, +1861, p. 44]. Hunter and Lane may very well have met even outside of +Kansas and have exchanged views and opinions that would have given a basis +for the representations that Lane must have made to Lincoln and Cameron +regarding Hunter's approval of the "Jayhawking Brigade." McClellan seems +to have advised the forward movement in the direction of the Indian +Territory; for he says, when writing to Hunter, December 11, 1861 +[_Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 428]: + + Immediately after you were assigned to your present department I + requested the Adjutant-General to inform you that it was deemed + expedient to organize an expedition under your command to secure the + Indian territory west of Arkansas, as well as to make a descent upon + Northern Texas, in connection with one to strike at Western Texas from + the Gulf. The general was to invite your prompt attention to this + subject, and to ask you to indicate the necessary force and means for + the undertaking. + +It is only fair to say that Lane had always advocated a more southern +concentration of forces. He more than any other northern man seems to have +appreciated fully the importance of Indian Territory. He continually +recommended using Fort Scott as a base for such military operations as had +the protection of Kansas as their main object. + +[503] Hunter to Thomas, dated Leavenworth, January 15, 1862 [General +Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_]. + +[504] In January, 1862, Hunter deplored the fact that his request had not +been acceded to and said, + + Had this permission been promptly granted, I have every reason to + believe that the present disastrous state of affairs, in the Indian + country west of Arkansas, could have been avoided. I now again + respectfully repeat my request--_Ibid._ + +[505] Dole to Hunter, November 16, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. +67, PP. 80-82; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, pp. 43-44]. + +[506] Lane's proposed conference called for the assembling of +representatives of Kansas tribes as well as of Indian Territory tribes. +Judging from Hunter's letter to Agent Cutler of November 20, 1861 +[Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, pp. 44-45], I infer that +Hunter's conference was to be confined to the southern Indians. The +purpose of Lane's must have been represented to the Kansas Indians as +Creek needs [Shawnee "talk" to the Creeks, November 15, 1861, _ibid._, p. +45]. Hunter intended to hold his conference at his headquarters, Fort +Leavenworth, which was making the southern Indians come a pretty long way +[Hunter to Cutler, November 20, 1861, _ibid._, p. 44; Dole to Cutler, +December 3, 1861, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, p. 107]. + +[507] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 567. + +[508] Major-general H. W. Halleck was to command the sister department of +Missouri. + +[509] _Abraham Lincoln_, vol. v, 81-82. + +[510] + + I earnestly request and recommend the establishment of a new military + department, to be composed of Kansas, the Indian country, and so much + of Arkansas and the Territories as may be thought advisable to include + therein.--LANE to Lincoln, dated Leavenworth City, Kansas, October 9, + 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 529]. + +[511] By the end of July, the First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw +Mounted Rifles had been completely organized [_Official Records_, first +ser., vol. iii, 620, 624] and eight companies of a prospective Creek +regiment [_ibid._, 624]. By October twenty-second, when McCulloch ordered +him [_ibid._, 721] to take up a position in the Cherokee Neutral Lands, +Stand Watie's battalion had apparently reached the proportions of a +regiment, the First Cherokee Mounted Rifles. On the twenty-seventh of +November, Pike who was then in Richmond informed Benjamin, + + We have now in the service four regiments, numbering in all some 3,500 + men, besides the Seminole troops and other detached companies, + increasing the number to over 4,000. An additional regiment has been + offered by the Choctaws and another can be raised among the Creeks. If + I have the authority I can enlist even the malcontents among that + people. I can place in the field (arms being supplied) 7,500 Indian + troops, not counting the Comanches and Osages, whom I would only + employ in case of an invasion of the Indian country....--_Official + Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 697. + +A supposed report of Agent Garrett, sent to the United States Indian +Office under the following endorsement, is not without interest as bearing +upon the strength of the Confederacy within the Indian country: + + The copy of a letter herewith, is without signature, but is said to be + in the handwriting of the late Col. Garret, who at that date, was U. + S. Indian Agent of the Creeks. It is not of much importance, but yet, + as historical and statistical, is nor without some interest. I + obtained it a few weeks ago, found among other papers at the Agency, + and I presume is a retained copy of the original. + + + CREEK AGENCY C. N. Dec. 16th 1861. + + SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the + 2d ultimo, requiring certain information from me in regard to the + number of Creek Indians; and their relations or feelings towards the + Confederate States. Owing to the great irregularity of the mails, I + did not receive your communication as soon as I ought. The difficulty + at the time I received your letter in regard to answering it properly, + caused me to delay a few days, so that I might answer it definitely. + Incidental to the confusion here, I could not state to you who were + reliable, and who were not, for I did not know myself, and believing + that a battle would be fought in a few days where every one would have + to show his hand, I thought I could give you more reliable + information: and from the valor and fidelity of the Creeks engaged + then I can give you reliable information. + + The Creeks number in all 14630, a portion of whom reside in Alabama, + Texas and Missouri, leaving about 13000 within the limits of the Creek + Nation:--From the best information I can get, there are among the + lower Creeks 1650 warriors, 375 of them are unfriendly--Among the + Upper Creeks there are 1600 warriors--only 400 of them are + friendly--to sum up the whole matter there are 1675 Creek warriors + friendly to the Confederate States and 1575 unfriendly--Of those + friendly there are in the service of the Confederate States 1375--One + Regiment is commanded by Col. Chilly McIntosh, numbering 400--and an + independent company commanded by Capt. J. M. C. Smith numbering 75 + men, all in the service, and armed with a very few exceptions, and I + think from recent indications are willing to do service wherever + ordered, and circumstances justify it. + + The Regiment, Battalion and Company were all mustered into service for + twelve months. This comprises nearly all the friendly warriors in the + Nation. I cannot answer you in regard to the number that are willing + to serve during the war. My opinion is, though, that the number now in + the service, and perhaps more, are willing to remain in the service as + long as they may be wanted. The Hostiles are headed by Ho path ye ho + lo who has engaged in his cause portions of several tribes viz a + portion of the Seminoles, Kickapoos, Shawnees, Delawares, Wichitas, + Comanches, and Cherokees--400 of whom deserted a few days before the + recent battle from Col. John Drews Regiment Cherokee Volunteers and + joined Hopathyeholo who is in communication with the federal forces in + Kansas, and has received goods and ammunition from them: His force is + estimated from 2500 to 3000--I would give you a more detailed account + of the battle, but I do nor think it proper in this communication and + I presume the commanding officer Col. Cooper has made his report of + the Battle to the Secretary of War--I may be mistaken to some extent, + in regard to the friendly and hostile Creeks, but I think I am not, + and it is correct from the best information I can get, and my own + knowledge of the facts. It will afford me much pleasure, to + communicate to you at any time anything of importance to the + Confederate States. Very Respectfully Your Obt Servt. + + Hon. David Hubbard, Com. Indian Affairs + Richmond Va. + +[512] Therein lay the whole difficulty. It was simply impossible for the +Confederate government to honor all requisitions for arms. + +[513] The matter must have been even earlier under advisement; for, on the +twenty-sixth of October, J. P. Benjamin, Acting Secretary of War, sent +this notion to "General Albert Pike, Little Rock, Ark.:" + + I cannot assign to your command any Arkansas troops at this moment. + Governor Rector is applying for return of the regiments in + Tennessee.--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 727. + +[514] --_Ibid._, vol. viii, 690. + +[515] _Daily State Journal_ (Little Rock), Nov. 8, 1861. + +[516] Colonel D. H. Cooper's "Report" [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. viii, 5]. + +[517] Colonel D. H. Cooper's "Report" [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. viii, 7, 709]. + +[518] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, pp. 355-357. + +[519] Extract from John Ross's address to Drew's regiment [Commissioner of +Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 356]. + +[520] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 357. + +[521] --_Ibid._ + +[522] McIntosh, at the time, was in charge of McCulloch's brigade, +McCulloch having gone to Richmond to explain to the authorities there why +he had persistently laid himself open to the charge of refusing to +cooperate with Sterling Price in his many Missouri ventures, planned +subsequent to the Battle of Wilson's Creek. McCulloch's orders from the +Confederate War Department were that he should guard the Indian Territory. +Price's great idea was to occupy the Missouri River country. Had McCulloch +gone northward with Price, he would, as he ably argued, have removed +himself altogether from his base. + +[523] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 11. + +[524] --_Ibid._, 22. + +[525] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 23-24. + +[526] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 136. + +[527] The agents were, George A. Cutler, Creek, Charles W. Chatterton, +Cherokee, Isaac Coleman, Choctaw and Chickasaw, G. C. Snow, Seminole, and +Peter P. Elder, Neosho River. Agent Elder did not report for duty. + +[528] The Indian agents usually referred to it as "Fort Roe" but the +military men, with a few possible exceptions, when meaning identically the +same locality, spoke of "Roe's Fork." There is no such place as Fort Roe +given in the _Lists of Military Posts, etc., established in the United +States from its earliest settlement to the present time_, published by the +United States War Department, 1902. That list, however, is far from being +complete. + +[529] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 138. + +[530] + + In compliance with instructions from Major-General Hunter, contained + in your order of the 22d. ultimo, I left this place on the 22d. and + proceeded to Burlington, where I learned that the principal part of + the friendly Indians were congregated, and encamped on the Verdigris + river, near a place called Roe's Fork, from twelve to fifteen miles + south of the town of Belmont. I proceeded there without delay. By a + census of the tribes taken a few days before my arrival, there was + found to be of the Creeks, 3,168; slaves of the Creeks, 53; free + negroes, members of the tribe, 38; Seminoles, 777; Quapaws, 136; + Cherokees, 50; Chickasaws, 31; some few Kickapoos and other tribes, + about 4,500 in all. But the number was being constantly augmented by + the daily arrival of other camps and families....--A. B. CAMPBELL, + surgeon, U. S. A., to James K. Barnes, surgeon, U. S. A., medical + director, Department of Kansas, dated Fort Leavenworth, February 5, + 1862. + +[531] These were purchased by Coffin, acting under the advice of Hunter +[Dole to Smith, June 5, 1862, Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, pp. +392-396]. + +[532] Extracts from Agent Cutler's _Report_, September 30, 1862. Various +reports, more or less detailed, descriptive of the intense sufferings of +Indian refugees in the first weeks of their sojourn in Kansas may be found +in the _Annual Report_ of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1862, pp. +135-175. Those of Turner, Campbell, Cutler, and George W. Collamore are +particularly good. Some of the reports originally accompanied Dole's +_Report_ of June 5, 1862 [Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, pp. +392-396; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, pp. 147-149; +House _Executive Documents_, 37th congress, second session, vol. x, no. +132], which was prepared in answer to a House resolution, calling for +information on the southern refugee Indians. + +Collamore's _Report_ of April 21, 1862 is to be found in manuscript form +in General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1602. Another +report, most excellent in character, issued from the pen of special agent, +William Kile, February 21, 1862. It is in Land Files, _Southern +Superintendency, 1855-1870_, K107. There are also a few good accounts of +the Creek exodus of 1861. One of them is a sworn statement, presented by +Holmes Colbert in a letter, dated March 25, 1868, and authoritatively +cited by Mix in an office letter to Secretary Browning, June 8, 1868 +[Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 17, p. 308]. + +Another account came from John T. Cox to W. G. Coffin under date of March +28, 1864, and, while not in the least detailed, is worth quoting because +of its tribute of respect to the loyal Indians. It runs thus: + + Herewith I enclose a map of the route of retreat of the early Loyal + Refugee Indians, under Apoth yo-ho-lo, in the Winter of 1861. + + With the facilities within my reach, for obtaining facts connected + with that remarkable exodus, I am fully warrented in saying, that the + history of the War does not furnish a parallel of patriotic devotion + to the Union. + + The Rebels had managed so adroitly during the administration of + Buchanan, as to secure the appointment of, or favor of every + Government Official, or Employee, within the limits of the South + Indian Country, all sources of information were corrupted or poisoned. + Postmasters deplored the fall of the Old Government, as already taken + place, Indian Agents, and all others holding business relations with + the several tribes, used every means in their power to discourage them + and destroy their confidence in the Old Government, resorting to the + grossest Misrepresentations, Bribery of Chiefs, Headmen, &c., + Malfeasance and Robbery--Military Posts, Government Stores, Ordnance + &c. &c. were surrendered or abandoned under color of the most dire + military necessity, and the apparent tardiness of the Old Government + to render them timely assistance, or in any way counteract those + influences, left them without counsel, and without friends, and + implied a total abandonment of the Indians. Yet under all the + discouraging surroundings a large portion of the Creeks, Cherokees, + Seminoles and others maintained their loyalty. The Chickasaws were + divided in their Councils, and the Choctaws went over almost entirely + to the Rebel Government. + + In the month of March 1861, international councils were held, first at + the Creek Agency, next at North Fork, without affecting very + materially the fidelity of the Indians. But in the latter part of + April, the Choctaws and Chickasaws gave in full adhesion to the + Confederate Government. The remaining tribes were alternating between + the Counsels of Apoth-yo-ho-lo, McDaniel and others on the one hand, + and a swarm of Rebel Commissioners on the other. + + The Rebel Government was pushing forward the organization of Indian + Regiments, under the McIntoshes, Stan Watie, Adair, Jumper, Smith and + others, while the Conservative element, forming a Cherokee Regiment + under Col. Drew, for armed neutrality, but in truth loyal to the + Union, while Apoth-yo-ho-lo headed the hostiles, as they were termed + by the Rebels. + + In a Report dated Creek Agency C. N. Dec. 16th., 1861, addressed to + the Hon. David Hubbard, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Richmond, Va., + the Creek Agent, Col. Garrett says, See Copy marked "A" (Garrett's + report to Hubbard appears in another connection in the present work. + It seems to have come into the Indian Office from two independent + sources). I have noted this to show the attitude of the several tribes + at the beginning of the Rebellion. + + The principal object of this report is to call attention to the real + claims of the Indians upon the Government, not only to sympathy, but + compensation for services from the time they abandoned their homes and + all they possessed, and took up arms in support of the Government. + + Although they claim nothing of the kind, yet the moral effect of such + a tangible recognition of their early services, would insure fidelity + of all other tribes against any other future rebellion or disaffection + against our Government. + + The history of their destitution, and terrible sufferings in their + pilgrimage of three hundred miles in mid-winter, is familiar to you + and not necessary here to relate [General Files, _Southern + Superintendency, 1863-1864_, C824]. + +[533] Others had reached that decision likewise. On the tenth of December, +McClellan had written to Halleck, "I shall send troops to Hunter to enable +him to move into the Indian Territory west of Arkansas and upon Northern +Texas. That movement should relieve you very materially"--_Official +Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 419. See also the letter of December 11, +1861 [_ibid._, 428]. + +[534] It was to this delegation, I have no doubt, that the Shawnees sent +their note of encouragement. It bears date November 15, 1861 and was +issued from the Shawnee Agency, Johnson County, Kansas. Its inspiring +passages are these: + + Brothers, hold fast to the Union! Hold to your treaties! And now call + upon the United States government to fulfill their treaty stipulations + with you by protecting you in this your time of need, and save your + country to you first, and then, by so doing, save the whole of the + Indian country to the Union. + + ... And now our advice to you is, go immediately to Washington City, + lay your case before President Lincoln, state everything, and we + assure you that he will protect you, and that immediately; we think + that delay on your part will be ruinous to your people; we believe + that your agent ought to conduct you there. Put your confidence only + in the Union and you will be safe....--Commissioner of Indian Affairs, + _Report_, 1861, p. 45. + +[535] Report of Agent Cutler, September 30, 1862 [Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 138]. + +[536] Montgomery to Lincoln, November 19, 1861 [_ibid._, 1861, p. 461]. + +[537] Hunter to Dole, December 1, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +_Report_, 1861, p. 49]. + +[538] Note that Hunter, when writing to McClellan, December 19, 1861 +[_Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 450], professed that, previous +to the receipt of McClellan's letter of the eleventh, he had not known +that it was expected of him that he should undertake an expedition for the +defense of Indian Territory. He declared that Thomas' communication of +November twenty-sixth, touching the matter, had been vague in the extreme. + +[539] Extract from letter of Carruth to Hunter, November 26, 1861 +[Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 49]. + +[540] It seems a little surprising that they did depart from Fort +Leavenworth in such good spirits; for, while there, they surely must have +heard rumors of the final attack upon Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la. Agent Cutler +tells us that he heard of the exodus a few days after his return to Kansas +with the delegation. He had then left Leavenworth, however, for he says +farther on in his letter that he went back there to confer with Coffin as +to what should be done. + +[541] Extract from letter of Coffin to Dole, December 28, 1861 [General +Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_]. + +[542] See letter of Mix to F. Johnson at the Delaware Agency, Quindaro, +Kansas, dated January 22, 1862, acknowledging Johnson's letter of January +fourth, which enclosed + + A copy of the reply of the Delaware Chiefs in Council to the letter of + the Creek Chief O-poeth-lo-yo-ho-la, inviting their cooperation + against the rebel States....--Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, + pp. 271-272. + +[543] + + On the 1st inst., I mailed you the letter of Opoth-la-yar-ho-la + Muscogee Chief to the Delawares asking for men and ammunition. On the + 2nd inst. the Delaware chiefs in Council returned the following letter + in answer to Opoth-la-ho-la....--F. JOHNSON to Dole, dated Quindaro, + Kansas, January 4, 1862 [General Files, _Delaware, 1862-1866_, J543]. + +[544] + + John Connor, Head Chief, Ne-con-he-con, Sur-cox-ie, Chas. Journeycake, + Assistant Chiefs, to Oputh-la-yar-ho-la, Muscogee Chief Warrior and + our loyal Grand Children dated Delaware Nation, Kansas Jan. 3rd 1861. + +[545] James McDaniel seems to have been a Cherokee. On April 2, 1862, +Agent Johnson reported to Dole that forty-one Delaware Indians had +returned destitute from the Cherokee country and that he had given them +assistance and also "a refugee Cherokee chief, James McDaniel." This idea +is further borne out by the following letter: + + Office of U. S. Agent for Cherokees + Tahlequah, Ind. Ter. April 7, 1873 + + HON. H. R. CLUM, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affs + + SIR: I beg leave to call your attention to the fact that in the fall + and winter of 1861 Opothleyoholo a Creek and James McDaniel a Cherokee + placed themselves at the head of the loyal Creeks, Seminoles, + Cherokees & others. Unsustained by any U. S. forces they gathered on + Bird Creek, in this Nation, to resist rebel conscription into their + army. They tried to avoid a fight, to make their way peacably to the + union army in Kansas, by a far western route. But Gen. Douglas H. + Coopper, & Gen. Stand Watie, with troops from Texas, & Arkansas, & + with rebel Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws &c pressed upon them, & + attempted to bring them into subjection to the Southern Confederacy. + They adhered to their loyalty. Fought the rebel forces in three or + four battles. At first vanquishing the rebel forces, but finally were + overcome, & compelled to flee to Kansas in mid-winter, with women & + children. In Kansas these men were organized into regiments, & on + arriving in the Cherokee Nation were largely reinforced by their + friends here, & in the Creek & Seminole Nations. + + I have made this statement so that you may see the situation in which + these men are placed, & judge intelligently. + + _Now I wish to know if men wounded in those engagements, under + Opothleyoholo & James McDaniel, while fighting against the rebels, & + the widows of those who were killed, & those who were otherwise + disabled in those fights, & in the subsequent flight, are entitled to + the benefits of pension laws. Can they be pensioned under existing + laws?_ + + If not, can you, through the Secretary of the Interior, prevail on the + President to have the matter presented to the next Congress, with a + view to having these persons placed on the rolls of the pension + office. I need say nothing of the propriety of the Government + rewarding as far as possible, such acts of loyalty & voluntary + fighting for the Government by full blood Indians--when all the + influence & power of faithless Indian Agents, & Superintendants, & the + Southern army from Texas & Arkansas, & the more wealthy & educated + mixed blood Indians, were arrayed against them. It should be rewarded, + as far [as] practicable, as an incentive to like faithfulness in any + emergency that may arise in the future. I have the honor to be Very + Respectfully Your Obdt. Servant + + JOHN B. JONES, U. S. Agent for Cherokees + +[546] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 576. + +[547] + + WASHINGTON, D. C. January 3, 1862. + + MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER, Commanding Kansas Department: + + It is the intention of the Government to order me to report to you for + an active winter's campaign. They have ordered General Denver to + another department. They have ordered to report to you eight regiments + cavalry, three of infantry, and three batteries, in addition to your + present force. They have also ordered you, in conjunction with the + Indian Department, to organize 4,000 Indians. Mr. Doles, Commissioner, + will come out with me. + + J. H. LANE. + +_Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 482. + +[548] + + It being the intention of the Gov't of the United States to take into + its military service 4000 Indians from the borders of Kansas and + Missouri, to be organized under Major Gen{l} Hunter, you are hereby + made acquainted therewith. The different Agents in your + superintendency will be instructed direct from this Office to use + their best endeavors to engage the above number of Indians, taking + care that those so engaged are capable of good service and are well + affected towards this Government. + + All the operations in this behalf should be conducted with dispatch + and as much secrecy as the nature of the measure will admit of. + + I understand that the Government proposes to equalize the pay of these + Indian volunteers with that of other volunteers, but giving the chiefs + an additional compensation. Each man will receive a blanket, and those + not having arms of their own will be provided by the Government. Their + subsistence will be the same as that provided in Revised Regulations + No. 5, Section 39 of this Bureau, or the army subsistence, whatever + that may be. Where any of the Indians, thus engaged, shall die or be + killed whilst in service, their pay will be given over to their + families--Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, pp. 211-212. + +[549] --_Ibid._, 215-216. + +[550] Farnsworth wrote on the 21st, acknowledging Dole's letter of the +sixth and saying, + + Its contents has been explained to two trusty Indians, who will keep + the matter entirely secret until the time for public action comes. I + have sent for the Indians to come in. I think they will all be here by + the 30th or 31st of this month. I will enroll them as soon as + possible. I think I shall be able to enlist about 150 vigorous + warriors....--General Files, _Kickapoo, 1855-1862_, F335. + +[551] + + Your communication to this office of the 31st December last has been + received enclosing a letter which was brought to you by a messenger + from the South, as you were holding a Council with the Delaware Chiefs + of your Agency, and which letter you desired to be laid before the + President of the United States. Your communication also represented + the readiness of the Delawares and all the other Western tribes to + engage in military service on the side of the Government against the + rebel States. + + With reference to all these Subjects, you will have an opportunity of + conferring with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (who has perused + your letter in person) at Leavenworth City, for which destination he + left this City on Sunday last on public business.--CHARLES E. MIX, + acting commissioner, to F. Johnson, January 21, 1862 [Indian Office, + _Letter Book_, no. 67, p. 268]. + +[552] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, pp. 26, 147-148. + +[553] + + I have the honor to inform you that Capt. J. W. Turner, Chief + Commissary of Subsistence of the Department, has just returned from + the encampments of the loyal Indians, on the Verdigris river, and in + its vicinity. Having made arrangements for subsisting these + unfortunate refugees until the 15th day of the present month. + + In the neighborhood of Belmont and Roe's Fort, there were, at the time + Capt. Turner left, about four thousand five hundred Indians, chiefly + Creeks and Seminoles. But their number was being constantly augmented + by the arrival of fresh camps, tribes and families. + + Their condition is pictured as most wretched--destitute of clothing, + shelter, fuel, horses, cooking utensils and food. This last named + article was supplied by Capt. Turner in quantities sufficient to last + until the 15th instant after which time, I doubt not, you will have + made further arrangements for their continued subsistence. + + In taking the responsibility of supplying their wants until the Indian + Department could make provision for their necessities I but fulfilled + a duty due to our common humanity and the cause in which the Indians + are suffering. I now trust and have every confidence that under your + energetic and judicious arrangements these poor people may be supplied + with all they need after the 15th instant, on which day the supplies + furnished by Capt. Turner will be exhausted. + + I make no doubt that provision should be made for feeding, clothing + and sheltering not less than six thousand Indians, and possibly as + high as ten thousand, on this point however, you are doubtless better + prepared to judge than myself. I only wish to urge upon you the + necessity for prompt measures of relief. + + P.S. Copies of the reports made by Capt. Turner and Brigade Surgeon + Campbell will be furnished to you by tomorrow's post, in view of the + urgency of this case, and the fact that these Indians cannot be + supplied any further than have been done from the supplies of the + army, I send one copy of this letter to Topeka and the other to + Leavenworth City. Fearful suffering must ensue amongst the Indians + unless the steps necessary are promptly taken. + +This letter was forwarded by Edw. Wolcott, at Dole's request, to the +Indian Office [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, +W513]. + +[554] Coffin to Dole, dated Fort Roe, Verdigris River, Kansas, February +13, 1862 [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1526]; +Snow to Coffin, February 13, 1862 [General Files, _Seminole, 1858-1869_]. + +[555] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 148. + +[556] --_Ibid._ + +[557] Dole to Dr. Kile, February 10, 1862. [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, +no. 67, pp. 450-452]. + +[558] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 148. + +[559] _Congressional Globe_, 37th congress, second session, p. 815. + +[560] United States _Statutes at Large_, vol. xiii, 562. + +[561] It was, however, the beginning of a great deal of graft and misuse +of government funds. Citizens of Kansas, otherwise reputable, prepared to +reap a rich harvest, and government officials were not at all behindhand +in the undertaking. Presumably, immediately upon the departure of Hunter's +commissary from Fort Roe, the Indians began to get into the debt of the +settlers and the sum of the indebtedness soon mounted up tremendously. +Coffin again and again urged payment [Coffin to Dole, May 12, 1862], so +did Colonel C. R. Jennison of the Seventh Regiment Kansas Volunteers, and +so did General Blunt. + +The act of March 3, 1862, reinforced by that of July 5, 1862 [United +States _Statutes at Large_, vol. xii, 528] was re-enacted, in whole or in +part, each year of the war [Act of March 3, 1863, United States _Statutes +at Large_, vol. xii, 793; Act of June 25, 1864, _ibid._, vol. xii, 180]. +In addition, special appropriations were made, like that of May 3, 1864, +for the refugees. + +[562] Hunter to Thomas, December 11, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. viii, 428]; McClellan to Hunter, December 11, 1861, [_ibid._]. + +[563] Halleck to McClellan, January 20, 1862 [_ibid._, 509-510]. + +[564] Thomas to Hunter, January 24, 1862 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. viii, 525-526]. + +[565] --_Ibid._, 529-530. + +[566] --_Ibid._ + +[567] Stanton had become Secretary of War, January 15, 1862. On the real +reasons for Cameron's retirement, see Welles' _Diary_, vol. i, 57. + +[568] Lincoln to Stanton, January 31, 1862 [_Official Records_, first +ser., vol. viii, 538]. + +[569] Lincoln to Hunter and Lane, February 10, 1862 [_ibid._, 551]. + +[570] Hunter to Halleck, February 8, 1862 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. viii, 829-831]; Halleck to Hunter, February 13, 1862 [_ibid._, +554-555]; McClellan to Halleck, February 13, 1862 [_ibid._, 555]. + +[571] + + My object more particularly in writing to you to-night is on account + of the orders that we learn here to-night from General Gennison to + General Hunter that no Indians are to be mustered into the Service we + have taken greate paines and have made flattering progress in + enrooling them according to the orders of your Selfe and General + Hunter nearly all of them set apart 10 Dollars out of their wages pr + month for their families and many that have no families leave it in + the hands of the Agents for their benefit after the war is over and + they are burning with revenge and spiling for a fight and I have no + dout at all but they would doo good Service there are two amongst them + at least perhaps many more that I think would make good Commanders + Billy Bowlegs & Little Captain the latter a Creek that commands in all + the Late Battles and they suposed that he was killed but he got in a + few days sinc Billy has also recently arivd I am fully of the opinion + that these Indians at least two Thousand of them for such a campaigne + as they are designed for or the one is suposed to be that is to go + South from here are as well calculated for as any Troops that could be + selected and it will make great trouble with them as they have their + harts set upon it and will be most cruelly disappointed if not + permettd to go and they should be got back as soon as posabl to their + homes as the planting season is near and if they do not get there in + time for putting in a crop the present Spring it looks like they will + have to be suportd by the Government til August 1863 or til a crop can + be maturd nex year which could not be sooner than August this would + entail a heavy expense upon the Indian department that I would like to + be avoidd I have had an Interview with General Gennison and he is very + sure that if they would arm these Indians and give him three thousd + other Troops he could put those Indians into their homes in time for a + crop this year all here are very much disappointed and mortified at + the course things are for their families will be no small Item in + lessening the expense of Subsisting them which with all the Economy we + can use will be very large.--COFFIN to Dole, dated Humboldt, Kansas, + February 28, 1862 [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, + 1859-1862_, C1541]. + + Since writing you from Humboldt Dr. Kile & my selfe have visited Fort + Roe to make arrangements for moving the Indians to the Neosho on + getting there we found that about 1500 of them had left for this place + they left Saturday noon it turned cold Saturday night and commenced + snowing and snowed hard most of the day Sunday and last night was the + coldest of the season the Indians all got to timber Saturday night to + camp and remained in camp Sunday but most of them ware on the Road to + day tho it was too coald to travel in the fix they are in I saw many + of them barefooted and many more that the feett was a small part of + them that was bare, these people realy seem to be doomd to suffer for + this Loyalty beyond measure, the goods and shoes ordered by Dr. Kile + and an order sent by myselfe before Kile's arival have not yet reached + here. Kile remained at Fort Roe to Settle and close up business there + and assist in the araingements for starting them from there and I came + on to se to those on the way and make araengments for taking care of + them when they get here I found many of them Sick and not able to + leave camp till teams are sent to them to aid them. We find that we + cannot move them with less than about three Teams to the Hundred and + it may overrun that the weather is moderating now and we shall make a + vigorous effort to move them as quick as possible, we find it very + dificult to get Teams on government vouchers and may not be able to + move them in a reasonable time on that account the funds I brot down + three Thousand Dollars was nearly exausted before Kile arived we are + now nearly destitute of money if I find it as dificult around here to + get teams as I have between here and the fort I shall make an effort + to raise some funds for that purpose tomorrow with what success + remains to be seen we have kept them pretty well suplied with + Something to eat so far but that is all we can bost of, iff we ware to + say they ware well clothed there would be ten thousand square ft of + nakedness gaping forth its contradiction; they have been out of + Tobacco for Several days and I doo think one days experience in camp + would convince the most skeptical that with Indians at least the weed + is a necessity, the Indians of all tribs held a grand council last + Thursday at Fort Roe in regard to the war, at which they determined + with great unanimity to gather up and arm as best they could, all + there able bodied men and go down with the army on their own hook and + aid in driving out the Rebels from their homes in time to plant a crop + for this season and then gather all the Ponies they can and they think + they can capture enough from the Rebels with what they have to come up + for their families. _Cannot the Government aid so Laudible an + enterprise as that at least with a few guns and some amunition_ they + appear to be in good earnest and are feeding up the best of their + Ponies for the Trip....--COFFIN to Dole, dated Leroy, March 3, 1862 + [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1544]. + +[572] Letter of January 28, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. +viii, 534]. + +[573] + + I have a despatch from Secretary Smith saying that the Secretary of + War is opposed to mustering the Indians into the service, and that he + would see the President and settle the matter that day (Feb. 6). + + This as you will see disarranges all my previous arrangements, and + devolves upon me the necessity of revoking my orders to you to proceed + with the agents, to organize the loyal Indians in your Superintendency + into companies preparatory to their being mustered into the service by + Gen. Hunter. I have now to advise that you explain fully to the Chiefs + that no authority has yet been received from Washington authorizing + their admission into the army of the United States; but I would, at + the same time advise that you proceed to ascertain what number are + able and willing to join our army, and that you so far prepare them + for the service as you can consistently do, without committing the + Government to accept them, as I still hope for the power to get these + refugees if no others, into the service, it being one, and as I think, + the best means of providing for their necessities....--DOLE to Coffin, + February 11, 1862 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, p. 448]. + +[574] Coffin had not been written to, Jan. 6, because the original plan +did not contemplate the employment of southern Indians. Not until he heard +of their presence, as refugees in Kansas, did Dole include them in his +list of possible soldiers. + +[575] Superintendent Branch may have had something to do with the +opposition that grew up in Washington after Dole's departure; for he was +there the last days of the month. Lane asked for his immediate return to +the west [MIX to Lane, January 27, 1862, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. +67, p. 293]. + +[576] Special Orders, no. 8, Jan. 10, 1862 [_Official Records_, vol. viii, +734]. + +[577] Van Dorn to Price, February 7, 1862 [_Official Records_, first ser., +vol. viii, 749]. + +[578] Cooper to Pike, February 10, 1862 [_ibid._, vol. xiii, 896]. + +[579] Walker to Cooper, May 13, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. +iii, 574-575]. + +[580] Report of Albert Pike, dated Fort McCulloch, May 4, 1862 [_ibid._, +vol. xiii, 819]. + +[581] Van Dorn, Report to Bragg, March 27, 1862 [_Official Records_, first +ser., vol. viii, 283]. + +[582] Van Dorn to Mackall, February 27, 1862 [_ibid._, 755]. + +[583] Maury to Pike, March 3, 1862 [_ibid._, 763-764]. + +[584] Maury to Pike, March 3, 1862 [_ibid._, 764]. + +[585] Maury to Drew, McIntosh, and Stand Watie, March 3, 1862 [_Official +Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 764]. + +[586] This will be discussed fully in a later volume. + +[587] _Journal_, vol. i, 640, 743; vol. ii, 19, 20, 51, 52; vol. v, 47, +115, 116, 151, 167, 210. + +[588] The act was passed April 8, 1862 [Confederate _Statutes at Large_ +(edition of 1864), 11-25]. + +[589] The writer of this letter was evidently Elias Rector, although the +document from which this copy was made is in the handwriting of Albert +Pike. + +[590] The history of the collection that I have designated for convenience +of reference, the _Leeper Papers_, is outlined in the following letter +from F. Johnson, Delaware Indian Agent, to Dole, January 20, 1863 [Indian +Office, General Files, _Wichita, 1862-1871_, J62]. + + On or about the first of September last a company of Delaware & + Shawnee Indians numbering ninety-six, seventy Delawares and twenty-six + Shawnees, left Kansas on an expedition southwest from Kansas under the + leadership of Ben Simon a Delaware Indian. + + He reports that the expedition traveled to the Neosho River in + southern Kansas where they halted a few days. From thence they marched + in a southwest direction seventeen days to the leased district in + Texas, they then traveled up the Wichita River, one day to the + neighbourhood of the Wichita Agency. Simon then sent Spies and Scouts + to the Agency who reported two hundred Indians well armed at the + Agency in the Service of the Southern Confederacy. On receiving this + intelligence the Delawares & Shawnees immediately proceded to the + Agency which they reached about sundown. On arriving at the Agency + they surrounded the buildings when the Agent a man large sized with + black hair came out of the house and asked them what was wanting. + Simon replied to him that he was his prisoner. At the same instant the + Indians rushed into the house when one of the Delawares was shot dead + and a Shawnee wounded--there was four white men at the Agency; when + the Indians saw their comrades killed and wounded they killed the + three men in the House and Agent Leeper who Simon had hold of at the + door--the Indians then took possession of the Property and papers + belonging to the Agency and burned the buildings. On the next morning + they found the trail of the Indians who had escaped from the Agency + and followed it to a grove of timber and found as they supposed about + one hundred & fifty Indians a part of whom was women and children whom + they attacked and report they killed about one hundred the Ballance + making their escape. The Delawares and Shawnees then turned homewards + with their Booty which consisted of about One hundred Ponies, Twelve + hundred Dollars in Confederate Money, the papers correspondence etc. + which is wrapped in a rebel Flag taken at the Agency Among the papers + taken I would respectfully call your attention to the treaties in + manuscript entered into between Albert Pike Commissioner on the part + of the Confederate States and the diferent Tribes of Southern Indians + as also the commission of Mathew Leeper Indian Agent from James + Buchanan President of the United States dated 1st of February 1861. + + These Indians few in numbers marching upon a point more than five + hundred miles distant furnishing their own transportation forage and + provisions without cost to the Government certainly exhibits a great + degree of Loyalty daring and hardihood. + +[591] J. J. Stuerm, commissary for the Indians of the Leased District +[Rector to Stuerm, July 1, 1861]. On Oct. 3, 1861, Stuerm reported to +Leeper: + + I arrived here over a week ago, and have been waiting for Maj. Rector, + who is absent making a Treaty with the Cherokees, and other Tribes at + Telequa.... No talk of anything but war here. Price has taken + Lexington, Mo., he took and killed over four thousand of Abe's men, + with a great deal of war material.... + +[592] These two brief communications have a bearing upon Leeper's case: + + You are hereby ordered to remain at Fort Smith Arkansas from 10th. + January 1862 untill further ordered by the undersigned, as a witness + in the case of the Confederate States of America against M. Leeper, + Ind. Agt. on certain charges preferred.--JAMES P. SPRING, + commissioner, to J. J. Stuerm; dated Fort Smith, Ark., December 22, + 1861. + + Spring may not be able to begin on Leeper's case before Jan. 20--Is + obliged to leave city. If Leeper wants while Spring is away, [to go] + to Fayetteville, he may & Spring will telegraph him upon his + return.--SPRING to Leeper, dated Fort Smith, Ark., December 23, 1861. + +[593] William Quesenbury to Leeper, dated Fort Gibson, C. N., Nov. 28, +1861. + +[594] H. P. Jones, late lieutenant-commanding to Brigadier-general A. +Pike, commanding Indian Territory, dated Washita Agency L. D., May 8, +1862. + +[595] H. P. Jones to Pike, dated Washita Agency, May 8, 1862. + +[596] Indian Office, Land Files, _Upper Arkansas, 1855-1865_, C1749. + +[597] James Deshler to Leeper, dated Little Rock, Sept. 28, 1862. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}. + +The original text includes several blank spaces. 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