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American Native Press Archives and Sequoyah Research Center |
Shorey W. Ross's Memories of the Cherokee Nation [a machine-readable transcription] |
Carolyn S. Conway and Kelly E. Houston
Edited by Carolyn S. Conway and Kelly E. Houston
"The literature of the Cherokees and the State loses many gems because of the natural reticence of one of Nature's noblemen; Shorey W. Ross." This statement by Emmet Starr was true until 1837, when many of Ross's "gems" were taken down, most by his sister Elizabeth, and preserved in the Indian-Pioneer history, a WPA oral history project undertaken during the depression.
Emmet Starr, in his History of the Cherokee Indians, called Shorey W. Ross the "ablest literary individual of the Cherokee Nation." A descendent of Chief John Ross, Shorey was born near Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation on March 9, 1871; the oldest of six children. The son of Lewis Anderson and Nellie Potts Ross, Shorey attended private schools in his area including the Presbyterian mission school at Park Hill and the Cherokee Male Seminary. Ross earned respect for writing beginning in his teens with his work for the Indian Arrow and continued with editorials for The Daily Oklahoman among other newspapers. Ross's historical contributions include many recollections for publications such as The Chronicles of Oklahoma and Indian and Pioneer History. Ross also spent a portion of his life as a school teacher. By the time of his death in 1960, Ross had become noted for his numerous literary contributions.
The recollections of Shorey W. Ross are valuable to the study of Cherokee and Oklahoma history. Many of these recollections are compiled here for the use of future generations. Ross's sister Elizabeth took down his statements for inclusion in the Indian-Pioneer History Collection.
Sources for the selections are as indicated. Source texts have been followed faithfully except for silent emendations to correct obvious printing errors and to regularize the form of attributions. No attempt, however, has been made to follow typographical idiosyncrasies or to produce a facsimile edition. All footnotes are the editor's unless otherwise indicated.
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
In Civil War times the Union Indian Brigade was in command of Colonel William A. Philips, a native of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, where he was born in 1824. William A. Philips was brought to the United States as a youth. He lived a while in Ohio, but removed to Kansas Territory and was there during the exciting period preceding the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1857 he became the founder of the present city of Salina, Kansas. Upon formation of the Union Indian Brigade he became its commander, performing the duties of a Brigadier General, though holding the rank of colonel until the close of the conflict. After the return of peace and during a number of years afterward, Colonel Philips served the Cherokees in the capacity of attorney at Washington, D. C.
In connection with the service of Colonel Philips in the Civil War period many anecdotes were once related by his acquaintances in the Cherokee Nation. One of such stories related to an incident which occurred rather early in the wartime, that is, after the organization of the Union Indian Brigade.
Having occasion to spend a night in what was then the Saline District of the Cherokee Nation, Colonel Philips found accommodation at the home of a Cherokee woman who has been referred to as "old Mrs. Conseen." Her given name cannot be learned, but she was the mother of Frank Conseen, a Cherokee Union Soldier, who served as one of Colonel Philips' orderlies. During a number of years after the close of the War, Frank Conseen served as a member of the National Council, or as a member of the Cherokee Senate, from Saline District.
Upon sitting down at the table for breakfast on the morning after he had arrived at the Conseen home, Colonel Philips remarked that he had experienced a peculiar dream during the night. The dream, he said, was that he suddenly lost one of his teeth. Old Mrs. Conseen, as was related, immediately became downcast in countenance and said to her guest that the dream portended trouble. Something bad had occurred, the old woman asserted, and advised Colonel Philips that he should return to his home in Kansas. But he apparently gave little thought to the matter and soon rode away with his men.
Some days later a message arrived to the effect that the oldest son of Colonel Philips, a youth of perhaps fourteen years of age, had been overtaken by a blizzard in Kansas and was frozen to death. The youth, it was related, attempted to overtake a party of men who had started out to give chase to some wolves. The pony ridden by the boy had not sufficient speed to come up with the party, members of which were unaware that the boy was following them. Then the blizzard arose and in the freezing wind the boy lost his life.
Old Mrs. Conseen, when she heard the account of the tragedy, was convinced that the "sign," that is the dream concerning the tooth, was given Colonel Philips as a warning that tragedy had occurred in his home. Many of the old time Indian people were firm believers in signs and omens. The above incident was related by Miss E. Jane Ross, Park Hill, long ago deceased.
The above story was told to Elizabeth Ross by her brother S. W. Ross of Park Hill, Oklahoma.
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
When a large party composed of warriors of the eastern and western Cherokee Nations advanced against the Osages in May, 1818, there came a day when it seemed that a battle would soon ensue. The Osages were known to be but a short distance away but eventually they (the Osages) retired and several days elapsed before the battle was waged. But on the occasion when the battle was not fought a number of the Cherokees hurried to the medicine man or conjurer who accompanied the warriors and requested that their fortunes be forecast. In the event they were going to be killed or wounded the warriors wished to be informed in advance.
The medicine man complied with the request of the warriors and called upon each to present himself in turn. As each man came forward, the medicine man pressed his thumbnail against a small, white and almost transparent stone. In case the surface of the stone remained clear under pressure from the thumb of the medicine man, the meaning was that the warrior in whose behalf the conjuring was done would not be injured during the progress of battle. But in the event a small, blood-red streak of thread-like size appeared upon the white surface the meaning was that the warrior would be badly wounded or fall in action. Those for whom the stone remained clear naturally felt more cheerful than did those for whom the red streak appeared.
The hotly contested battle in which the Osages and Cherokees engaged several days after the fortunes of the warriors were told, was often spoken of by those who had been participants in after years. But as the Cherokee alphabet was not yet in existence, no written account of the contest was made. Consequently no one knows whether all those warriors for whom a streak appeared in the conjure stone were slain in the progress of the battle or whether some or all of them escaped.
In ancient times the priests of the Cherokee religion are said to have possessed "white stones" in which leaping flames were sometimes visible, but after extinction of the priesthood the white stones seem to have disappeared altogether. But that similar stones were known to the Cherokee of nearly one hundred and twenty years ago would seem to indicate that some of the original stones may have been in existence.
The spot upon which the medicine man stood when he indicated to the group of Cherokee warriors the fate of each in battle is in a rugged section of the present Cookson township, Cherokee County.
In seeking relics among the Cherokees in recent years no one, so far as is known, has ever found one of the conjure stones. What disposition was made of those once the property of the medicine men is not known.
Note: This article is based upon an account given by Archibald Campbell, Park Hill, once a speaker of the Cherokee Council, to the Reverend W. A. Duncan, when the latter was a young man in the early forties of the last century.
Hattie Turner, Interviewer, Wagoner, Oklahoma
Park Hill, Oklahoma, April 9, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
The odd and strange superstition that burning of sassafras wood brings bad luck or misfortune is yet prevalent in localities of northeastern Oklahoma. Somewhat recently a man of good education and much intelligence had occasion to purchase several ricks of stove wood. Upon going in his wagon to the place where the wood had been corded this man discovered a number of sticks which had been split from a sassafras tree. He at once collected all the sassafras wood and cast it aside, leaving it to decay upon the ground unless utilized by some other person who held no superstitious belief concerning that variety of wood. Neither the man in question, nor others who have exhibited similar beliefs, are able to give any explanation concerning the origin of the belief but the use of the wood would be productive of ill fortune they say. "The old people," say some, "never believed in burning sassafras wood," though it is probable the old people could have given no tangible reason, or any explanation of their opposition to the use of the wood. However, there are others who have no hesitancy in using sassafras wood, especially when it is well seasoned, for it creates a satisfactory fire and is useful in kindling fires on cold mornings.
By S. W. Ross
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
One of the most eventful incidents in Cherokee history is the battle of Claremont Mounds in 1828. Of this fierce contest between Cherokees and Osages many have written, but left unsaid numerous facts of importance, for the reason, no doubt, that the writers were not in possession of such facts.
In the beginning let us go back into the history of the Cherokees for some four-score and ten years and more, including the years from about 1807 to 1819. We find that during these years numbers of Cherokees left the old Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi and journeying west, made a settlement on the Arkansas River in the vicinity of the Dardanelle Rock. These early Indian settlers were known as the Western Cherokees, while the much larger number remaining in the old nation were denominated the Eastern Cherokees.
By the terms of a treaty with the government the Western Cherokees gave up their lands down on the Arkansas for land farther west in the vast primeval region later known as the Indian Territory. When the Western Cherokees moved into their new country they found themselves confronted and harassed by the Osages, who laid claim to all the country west of the Grand and Arkansas rivers, who regarded the Cherokees as intruders, waxed defiant and gave fight to the newcomers. Owing to their comparatively small number of fighting men, the Cherokees saw that they would not be able to gain a victory over their nomadic enemies. So they fell back some distance east, held a council and decided to ask their countrymen east of the Mississippi for assistance. Messengers were then at once dispatched all the way to the far away old Eastern Cherokee Nation asking for aid in subduing the Osages. Assistance was readily granted and soon a strong war party was on its way west. As this party proceeded on its long journey many interesting incidents transpired and the route of the warriors could be traced for years thereafter by the Cherokee names of places where camps had been made or where something of more than ordinary interest had taken place.
At one point on the Arkansas a party of the Cherokees were sitting and talking of a dangerous looking whirlpool in the river near a rocky bluff. The opinion was generally expressed that no man could swim through the turbulent water. Quietly one of the young men slipped away, then soon dashed through the crowd minus his clothing, and with a loud whoop, sprang headlong into the foaming whirlpool. He dived deeply and came up far down stream behind a bend of the river. Long his companions gazed into the water, but no trace of the rash warrior was to be seen. They then gave him up for lost, when clothed and uninjured, the supposed dead man reappeared in their midst. The spot where this spectacular leap was made was thereafter known in the Cherokee language as "The place where he jumped in the river."
Again, at another place, a braggart who had been loudly telling of his bravery, when it appeared that a battle was imminent suddenly became very sick. When it became known that he had made himself sick by chewing and swallowing tobacco, thinking no doubt to escape taking a part in the fight, which, however, did not occur. This place also received a name indicating the cause of the fellow's sudden illness.
Yet again, the medicine man of the party, as the Osages neared, began to conjure so as to ascertain who of the Cherokees would fall in battle. The medicine man used a small stone, thin, of a whitish color and almost transparent. He held this stone against his thumbnail, and in case the warrior was to die, a small blood red streak it is averred, appeared on the surface of the stone. Otherwise the stone was clear. The spot where the medicine man performed this service for the fighting men was long known as the "place where he conjured."
At a point not far distant from the present flourishing city of Muskogee and quite near the site of the old Confederate Fort Davis of early civil war days, the Osages were encountered, and a skirmish ensued, but the Osages fell back and continued to do so until the Claremont Mounds were reached. Upon the largest of these mounds a stand was made, the last stand that the Osages ever made against the Cherokees.
Grand and picturesque, the lofty mounds stand out in the broad prairies of Rogers county--in the days of the Cherokee Nation in what was known as the Cooweescoowee District--and from miles away their imposing outlines may be seen. Not far distant is the Verdigris river, its course outlined by the deciduous trees along its banks--a most striking scene. By some it has been claimed that the mounds derive their name from "Chief Claremore" of the Osages, but when it is known that early French explorers away back in the years when what was one day destined to become the Indian Territory was embraced in Louisiana Territory gave the name Claremont Mounds--they are so designated in old geographies--it seems that "Claremore" is only a corruption of the original French name and that "Chief Claremore," like some other heroes of early days, is mythical, at least as to name.
Anyway, on the largest of these great prairie hills the feathered and painted Osages in war paraphernalia assembled and waited the coming of the Cherokees. These hardy warriors, many of whom had fought under Gen. Andrew Jackson in the fearful campaigns of the war of 1812, came on in confidence and courage. By a well-executed movement they soon came to close quarters and the battle was on. In the fierce contest the warriors met in hand to hand struggles. War whoops and cries of defiance rang out over broad and far-stretching prairies and the blood of many a warrior reddened the slopes and summit of the great mound, while the clash of tomahawks and knives, and the crack of flintlock rifles added to the din of battle. Hard the Osages fought, but the war god was against them and at length with their war chief dead and many warriors forever silenced, they fled and retreated toward the west and stopped not until far away in the forest and mountains of the region which is yet the Osage country. Prominent among the leaders of the Cherokees at the great battle was the noted "Captain Dutch"--how he received his appellation no one knows--a lean-faced man of aquiline nose and spare build, whose portrait by Catlin shows a warrior of grim determination and indomitable will. Another noted fighter was Archibald Campbell, at one time Assistant Chief of the Cherokee Nation who in his old age was quite jealous of his fighting record and bravery. Asked by a distinguished pioneer minister of the old days whether Rev. John F. Boot, a noted Cherokee minister, who was also a member of the Cherokee war party, was not "a very brave man," Campbell somewhat sourly replied, "He was no braver than me."
The Cherokees received no further molestation from the Osages nor from any other tribe following the battle, and soon the members of the Western "Old Settler" Cherokees were settled in their homes along the Verdigris and on the prairies stretching away in every direction from the mounds. To this day an occasional tomahawk or rusted fragment of knife may be picked up on the old battle ground, and like many another old scene of battle, it is thought by some of the superstitiously inclined that spectral warriors sometimes wander "in the noon of the night" across the summit and down the slopes of Claremont Mounds.
At the time of the battle the Osages were strong in numbers and had many warriors and some have wondered why it was that the relatively small number of Cherokees were able to so signally defeat their enemies. The answer is easy. The Osages, a tribe of the west, fought after the manner prevalent among them from early times, knowing naught of military skill and trusting to number and strength to win them the victory. The Cherokees, on the other hand, though most of them were full blood Indians, had a larger knowledge of the art of fighting according to military standards than those unfamiliar with their history would suppose. Being in contact with the white race from early colonial times, sometimes fighting against the settlers, often as allies engaging with the colonists to punish other hostile Indian tribes, the Cherokees were no mean antagonists to be encountered by trained soldiers of the white race, and when they set out to fight the Osages they made use of the military knowledge gained on many a hard fought field east of the Mississippi.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, January 6, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
One of the largest and tallest persimmon trees, in what is now Cherokee county, stood for unknown years near the banks of the Illinois river, about two miles northeast of the Park Hill Post Office. The tree was in the low-lying bottom land, about two hundred yards north of a rocky bluff on the south. That its age was very great was evidenced by its unusual height and size.
Old residents of the locality bordering upon the Illinois River recalled of having noticed the big persimmon tree in the early years of the Tahlequah district of the Cherokee Nation. In all probability, the tree would have stood during many years of the future had it not been felled before the year of 1936. The trunk was sawn into three sections so that it could be hauled to a sawmill. At a distance of two feet from the ground, the stump of the old persimmon tree measured twenty-four inches in diameter. Two logs, each of which measured fourteen feet in length, and a third sixteen feet in length were secured from the trunk. The upper portion, more slender and covered with limbs, was not used, but its length, added to that of the three logs, approximated sixty-five feet. A persimmon tree sixty-five feet in height is very unusual. This tree stood alone, no other tree of the species being in its vicinity.
In the place where the limbs of this tree divided into a fork, nearly fifty feet above the ground, a large nest built by a hawk was visible for a considerable period. This nest was built of slender sticks and remained unaffected by weather conditions during several seasons.
In the vicinity of the persimmon tree, the ground lay level and smooth, covered in the spring and summer time with green grass, that is, in earlier years. In this grassy spot, beneath the shade of the large elm and hackberry trees was once a picnic ground, sometimes referred to as the "old May party ground," for the reason that the students of the Cherokee high schools held their annual Mayday celebration at the place on one or two occasions toward the close of the eighteen-seventies.
Only one other more than ordinarily tall and large persimmon tree has ever been known to have grown in the settlement along the Illinois River, east of the Park Hill Post Office. This other tree once stood where Barren Fork emptied into the Illinois River before its channel became changed following a high water stage, many years ago. This persimmon tree was apparently equally as tall and large as the tree in the bottom land of the Illinois River.
On uplands and in valleys, persimmon trees are numerous in sections of Cherokee County, but none of them are of extraordinary size nor more than ordinarily tall.
Elizabeth Ross, Investigator
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
There were two boats on the Illinois River during the eighteen hundreds which had distinctive names. One of these boats, the larger of the two, was a ferry boat which once plied the river near the confluence of the Barren Fork with the larger stream. The ferry boat, composed of yellow pine lumber, was built by George Keys, Senior, and was the property of Riley Keys, Junior, who lived in the vicinity of the present hamlet of Welling in Cherokee County. This ferry boat was given the name of the "Ada Archer" by its owner.
At the time Miss Ada Archer, member of a prominent family of the Cherokee Nation, was a member of the faculty of the Cherokee National Female Seminary, then situated in the Park Hill locality. The ferry boat was operated for several years at intervals.
The smaller boat was named the "D.H. Ross," for the editor of the "Cherokee Advocate" at Tahlequah. It was a skiff in which Caleb W. Starr, a compositor in the office of the Cherokee National Newspaper, and Samuel Schable, a German shoemaker of Tahlequah, made a trip down the Illinois into the Arkansas, and down that stream to the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The "D.H. Ross" was launched one morning at the old May party grounds on the bank of the Illinois, some two miles southeast of Tahlequah. The occupants of the skiff reached their destination in safety after spending a night in camp on the bank of the Illinois, some distance above the confluence of the Illinois with the Arkansas, near the present town of Gore. A full account of the trip was printed in the "Cherokee Advocate." When they camped for the night the travelers by water roasted some fish which they had encased in tenacious mud and placed in the fire. After reaching the Arkansas they made easy progress to Fort Smith, landing at the foot of Garrison Avenue. There was as yet no railroad connection with the Arkansas city and consequently the stream was not bridged. Those who visited Fort Smith in vehicles or horseback were ferried across.
No one familiar with long past history of traveling down the Illinois ever recalled that any other boats on that stream bore distinctive names. There were some boats upon the sides of which the names of their owners were painted, but no one else seems to have considered giving the name of a woman or of a man to any of the small crafts. And no one else so far as known, ever named a ferry boat, though such boats were in operation on the Illinois from an early period. The first ferry boat was built and placed in the waters of the river soon after the establishment of the Cherokee Nation in the present Oklahoma, in probability. The Illinois was frequently at too high a stage to be forded and as there was much travel from eastern points, as well as from western sections, the necessity of a ferry boat at a convenient point along the stream was realized and the traveling public accommodated.
The spot where the "Ada Archer" was launched is less than a half mile downstream from the present Frisco Railway bridge, and just above the "old mouth of the Barren Fork." This latter stream changed its channel some years ago and now enters the Illinois several hundred yards below its original confluence.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, March 9, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
During the 80's of the last century, there stood in the north part of Tahlequah a church which was called the Boyles Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. This building had been erected through the efforts of Savelon S. Boyles in memory of a young son, William Boyles, who died at Tahlequah a comparatively short time before the church was built.
Savelon S. Boyles, a tall, long-bearded man, operated a blacksmith and wood-working and wagon-making shop for some years in Tahlequah. In Civil War days he had served in a Union regiment from Kansas. He married a Cherokee several years after the close of the Civil War and spent the rest of his life in Tahlequah, being a member of the G. A. R. post 1of Tahlequah and for a number of years a notary public. The church was built at a place not far from his home and place of business. It was a substantial wooden building with seating capacity for large congregations and was equipped with a good-sized bell, which hung in the belfry.
The membership of this church which was usually referred to as the "North Methodist Church," was fairly large for several years and there were several pastors who filled its pulpit before its final closing. Among the pastors whose names are now recalled by older residents of the city may be mentioned the Reverend G. T. Morrison, who, sometime after leaving Tahlequah, was charged with fatally poisoning his wife, in Texas, in which state he was tried and executed. It is remembered that Mrs. Morrison was a large, handsome woman of attractive personality. The Reverend C. P. Brewer, the Reverend Peter O. Matthews, and the Reverend Henry Cloud also served as pastors of this church. Of these men the Reverend Peter O. Matthews was of part Indian blood, member of a small Nation living in a distant section of the United States. This minister had served as a soldier in a Union regiment in the time of the Civil War. The Reverend Henry Cloud was a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, who had attended the Cherokee National Orphan Asylum, at Salina. It is possible that there were some other pastors preceding those mentioned, but no one now recalls the name of any earlier pastors.
After some years, the membership of the Boyles Memorial Church became greatly reduced. Sunday school and church work were discontinued. No more pastors were called and the building stood vacant. Eventually the building was sold, and it was remodeled for use as a store house. The belfry was torn down, the building reduced in height and a new entrance built. Since then several persons have occupied the building, usually it has been grocers, though general merchandise has been sold there.
Few of the people of today know that the building, probably built of yellow pine lumber from sawmills in the Cherokee hills, was once a church. Few of those who once attended services within its walls now live in the vicinity of Tahlequah, and the majority, are probably dead. Savelon S. Boyles, who named the church and aided in its completion, has been dead for a number of years.
When the Boyles Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church was built and completed, the north section of Tahlequah was sparsely populated and for a considerable period of time only a few business houses were operated in the vicinity. The church doors opened directly on the principal street, at the intersection of another street leading from east to west. There are now a number of business houses in the vicinity of the former church.
Hattie Turner, Interviewer, Wagoner, Oklahoma
Park Hill, Oklahoma, April 9, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
In Indian Territory days there was an old man named Solomon Bragg, who lived in the Illinois District of the Cherokee Nation. This man built and operated a small grist mill near his home. In course of time a railroad was built down the Arkansas Valley, the Iron Mountain Railway, and one of the stations was established not far from the grist mill. This station was called Bragg Station in honor of Solomon Bragg and the name was retained for a number of years, but after a small town arose the name became, not Bragg, but Braggs.
On May 20, 1886, a post office was established in the store of John J. Patrick, who lived in the locality in which Bragg Station was later changed to Braggs. There are yet living a number of persons who remember the old miller, Solomon Bragg, for whom the place was really named. In bygone times, Braggs was the scene of a number of serious difficulties when men were shot to death at intervals. It was quite a trading point during many years and at this time is a place of considerable importance, with nice business buildings and residences.
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
There are now living a few persons who personally recall the appearance of a man of a bygone time who was referred to as Captain Moses Price. Of medium height, spare of build, bewhiskered, Captain Price dropped in on his friends occasionally toward the close of the seventies and early in the eighties of the last century. This was in a section lying south and southeast of Tahlequah. Captain Price, whose home was not distant from the town of Fort Gibson, in a wooded region, made his trips about the country on horseback. No one recalls having seen him in a horse-drawn vehicle or afoot. Invariably he was seen mounted on his trusty bay horse.
Captain Price was a veteran of the Civil War. His title of Captain was genuine, he having commanded a company in the Union Indian Brigade, and he is said to have been a brave and dependable officer. During a portion of the Civil conflict he is related to have ridden a mule. So did Santa Anna, the noted Mexican general. In a hot contest one day an officer was conspicuous in the front line of battle, exhibiting both courage and daring. This officer is said upon reliable authority, to have been Captain Moses Price. He escaped serious injury upon the battle fields and was honorably mustered out at Fort Gibson on the last day of May, 1865.
In his youthful days Moses Price attended the historic Dwight Mission school near Sallisaw Creek, in the present Sequoyah County. In reminiscing on day, the Civil War veteran recalled a great and sudden rise of water in Sallisaw Creek. There had been much rainfall and finally it would seem that there was a cloud-burst among the valleys, for the streams with great suddenness rose to unprecedented depth and turbulence. The water came tumbling down, as Captain Price related, in two great "rolls" or vast waves, quite overflowing the corn field in the lower ground below the mission houses, and covering the pasture. With several of the other boys, Moses Price went into the water and caused the mission cows to swim to higher ground.
Greatly interested in deposits of valuable metals or minerals, Captain Price often talked interestingly about the lead which he declared existed in great quantity at several places in the Cherokee Nation. In the bottom of a stream in a rugged section the lead was of such high grade, he said, that a "gig" or fish spear would penetrate to a depth of an inch or so when thrown with force. Persons engaged in gigging fish sometimes missed the buffalo, trout or other fish, whereupon the "gig" became fast in the lead over which the waters of the stream flowed.
Captain Moses Price was an interesting talker. Seated near an open and glowing fireplace in winter time, he liked to smoke his clay pipe and recall and relate anecdotes concerning people and things of the long past years and seemed reluctant to retire for the night. He had personally known many of the notable men of the early days of the Cherokee Nation in the Indian Territory, as also of the Civil War period. Also he had knowledge of many of the customs of the native Cherokees, and was familiar with various incidents of more than ordinary interest and importance. Very strong physically, though of slender figure, Captain Price once lifted a 125-pound blacksmith's anvil in either hand and clanged the two heavy instruments together above his head, so he related in speaking of his muscular attainments when he was somewhat younger.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, April 28, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
Public schools established and maintained at the expense of the Cherokee Nation were situated at various points in the nine districts of the Nation. In the beginning there were eleven schools established, but there was a gradual increase during following years. One of the first schools was placed in operation at Tahlequah in 1841. The first teachers were both white and Cherokee, but when a sufficient number of Cherokee citizens were available, they were given preference as teachers, except that white men or white women who were citizens by marriage received appointments. One of the early day white teachers was a Miss Esther Smith who had taught many years in the mission schools of the American Board among the Cherokees. Miss Smith once taught at Peavine School, in old Goingsnake District, now Adair County, after leaving the employ of the Missionary Board in the 1850s. When the Civil War was being fought, Miss Smith went to Fort Gibson 2 as a matter of safety and after some time was attacked by illness which proved fatal. She was buried in the grounds in which burials were made not greatly distant from the military post. The grave was not marked with an inscribed stone. Several years after the close of the War the present National Cemetery, east of Fort Gibson, was laid out and the graves of soldiers who had served in the United States Army were transferred to the new cemetery. The coffin of Miss Smith was among many which were taken to the cemetery and she now lies among the unidentified dead. The headstone at the grave bears the single word, "Unknown."
Teachers in the Cherokee public schools received small compensation in comparison with the salaries paid teachers in Oklahoma schools of today, (1938). Usually the Cherokee teachers were paid the sum of about $35.00 a month. Out of this sum they paid their board and other expenses. Nevertheless, a number of men and women taught many years. A specified number of pupils were required to attend the terms of school. Unless an average was maintained during the year, the school could be, and was, sometimes discontinued and re-established in some other locality. This was in accordance with the laws governing the national public schools.
In case there was an attendance above the average, the teacher received $1.00 for each additional pupil. A man who taught for a considerable period took advantage of the law when he applied for and was appointed teacher of a largely attended Negro school. There were several such schools in which the pupils were children of former slaves of Cherokee citizens. The former slaves and their descendants had been granted the rights of Cherokee citizenship, according to an article of the Treaty of 1866, between the United States and the Cherokees. Consequently public schools were provided by the Cherokees for the Negroes. The man who engaged in teaching Negro pupils, in a locality in which there were many colored people, enrolled sixty pupils, and instructed forty-five of the youthful Negroes for which instruction he received $1.00 for each pupil. But eventually, only Negro teachers were employed in the Negro schools.
White children occasionally attended Cherokee public schools. In some localities there lived white families, the men usually employed in farming land belonging to Cherokees. Such persons could send their children to the Cherokee school upon paying a small sum, monthly, usually $1.00, to the teacher, after permission had been granted by the Board of Directors, three in number.
Among the oldest Cherokee schools outlying from Tahlequah were those known as the Hungry Mountain School and the Caney School. Appointments of teachers were made by the Superintendent of Education, or by the Board of Education which was composed of three members. The Board of Education was more often in authority, but at intervals only a Superintendent of Education had charge of schools.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, January 31, 1938
Taken from Indian-Pioneer History, edited by Grant Foreman
More than seventy years ago the printing of the text books in the English and Cherokee languages was suggested. The Reverend John B. Jones, for some years engaged in preaching and teaching among the Cherokees as a Baptist missionary, made the suggestion.
It was the belief and contention of the Reverend Mr. Jones that full blood Cherokee pupils would more readily learn their lessons if the text books were printed in the language with which they had been familiar from their earliest years of understanding. With the lessons so printed, with the English opposite, progress would quickly be made.
Eventually the Reverend Mr. Jones laid his plans before the Principal Chief and leading members of the Cherokee Senate and Council. The result was that an act was passed authorizing the printing of text books after the manner suggested by the missionary.
The National Council decided to, and did, appropriate the sum of $200.00 out of the Cherokee National treasury for the benefit of the Reverend John B. Jones. This sum, it was said by the National Council, was for the purpose of enabling the minister to prepare and have published a text book on the plan of Allendorf's. This book was to contain the text matter in both languages, and it was designed for use in the Cherokee National Public Schools. The Principal Chief was authorized by the National Council to issue a warrant to the amount of $200.00 payable to the Reverend John B. Jones.
The book printed was an arithmetic. It was prepared by the Reverend John B. Jones who was a scholar of fine attainments and was thoroughly familiar with the difficult Cherokee language. The printers in the office of the Cherokee Advocate 3 set up the type and the Cherokee Arithmetic was printed and bound in that office.
The act authorizing the printing of the Arithmetic and appropriating the sum of $200.00 was passed at the regular annual session of the National Council set at Tahlequah, in November, 1866. The act was approved and signed by William P. Ross, Principal Chief, on the 27th day of November, 1866. John Ross, for many years Principal Chief, had died August 1, 1866, and William P. Ross, his successor by action of the National Council, served until November, 1867.
The Cherokee Arithmetic, a few copies of which are probably still in existence, was intended by the Reverend John B. Jones to be the fore-runner of other text book similarly arranged. But later officials seem to have exhibited small interest in the text books as suggested by the author of the Cherokee Arithmetic, and no other books were authorized by the Council to be printed. The Cherokee Arithmetic received small attention, and the English text continued to be used, so far as all books used in Cherokee schools were concerned.
Cherokees of scholarly attainment in later years have agreed that the plan of the Reverend John B. Jones was excellent and that full blood Cherokee pupils would have, through the use of English-Cherokee text books, made more rapid progress.
In a volume of Cherokee Laws printed in 1867 there is a reference to the text books suggested by the Reverend John B. Jones.
An Interview with Mr. S. W. Ross
Park Hill, Oklahoma, January 26, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
As early as 1819 the Cherokee National Council, in session at New Echota, Cherokee Nation, in Georgia, passed a resolution to the effect that any white man who should thereafter marry a Cherokee woman should be required to be married legally by a minister of the Gospel, or if not married by a minister, by some other legally authorized person. The person desiring to marry was also required to procure a license from the National Clerk.
There had been marriages long before 1819 between Cherokees and whites, but that was before the keeping of written records was begun. The resolution of November 12, 1819 was approved by John Ross who was then President of the National Committee or Senate; by Major Ridge, Speaker of the Council; and by Pathkiller, Principal Chief; and by Charles R. Hicks, Assistant Principal Chief.
At a later date, in the Cherokee Nation in the Indian Territory at Tahlequah, which was the capital, a law concerning intermarriage was passed on the 28th day of September, 1839. This law authorized clerks of courts, judges, and ministers of the gospel to perform marriage ceremonies. The clerks were required to register all marriage licenses.
Four years later, or in 1843, the law of 1839 was repealed, that is, in the matter of the clerks of courts issuing licenses. Provision was made that application would be made to the National Council, the clerk of which was authorized and directed to issue marriage licenses.
A number of years later, in 1875, the law provided that each applicant for a marriage license would make an oath on application that he had no living wife from whom he had not been divorced. The same law applied to white women in so far as having a living husband was concerned, and it was also required that applicants present a written certificate of good moral character. These citizens must have known the applicant for a period of six months or longer. All applicants were required to pay the sum of $5.00 as a fee for the license and to subscribe to an oath to submit to and uphold the laws of the Cherokee Nation.
In the event of the death of the Cherokee wife of a white man, the latter continued as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and the white woman whose Indian husband had died remained a Cherokee citizen. That is, unless in case of remarriage a white man or white woman was selected by the widow or widower. Inasmuch as neither possessed Cherokee blood, neither of them could adopt a person of white blood as a Cherokee citizen. Only the National Council had authority to adopt white persons into the Cherokee Tribe and the number thus adopted was not large.
The clerks of the nine districts of the Cherokee Nation were furnished books in which to register the names of applicants for marriage licenses, the numbers of the licenses and the race or nationality of the applicant.
At the present day, in 1938, there are old citizens who recall having called upon Cherokee friends and acquaintances for the purpose of securing signers for applications for marriage licenses.
These marriage laws are referred to in acts and laws passed by the Cherokee National Council at various dates. They are included in a compilation of laws made from 1808 down to 1852, as well as in later laws down to 1875.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, January 17, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History collection, Grant Foreman, editor
At the beginning of November, 1890, there was temporarily established, at Tahlequah, a daily newspaper. Publication was made in the office of the Indian Arrow, 4 which had been published at the old Cherokee Capital since the summer of 1889. The daily newspaper was printed during the duration of the sessions of the Cherokee National Council. There were many people about the town, during the period when the legislative bodies were assembled, and a number of subscribers were secured for the daily paper. Besides the regular subscribers, there were some citizenship lawyers who bought a considerable number of the papers each day.
The citizenship lawyers were men who realized good-sized sums of money from persons who sought to have their names placed on the rolls of Cherokee citizens. During the eighties, and a portion of the nineties, many persons from various states were claimants. But comparatively few were enrolled, the rest being unable to prove that any of their ancestors had possessed Cherokee blood. As a matter of fact, a number realized that they had no rightful claim to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation, and others who thought themselves rightfully entitled to admission could not make definite proof.
The National Council was empowered to admit such claimants as proved Indian ancestry. 5 The possibility of allotment of Cherokee lands, at no distant period of the future, had become apparent, and at the time it was thought that each Cherokee citizen would receive a good-sized sum of money upon dissolution of the Cherokee government; consequently, the number of persons endeavoring to secure rights as Cherokees was large. Some of the citizenship attorneys were unscrupulous and, realizing opportunity of making money easily, went about among the people of several southern states seeking clients. Upon learning of the possibility of securing fertile tracts of land and payments of Cherokee money, many persons hastened to place their claim in the hands of the attorneys, as they were called. Each claimant usually paid the attorney fifty dollars, whereupon the latter promised to place the names before the National Council for action. Upon admission of the claimant to citizenship an additional fifty dollars was to be paid to the attorney.
Having secured payments, the attorneys, when council convened, presented lists of names of claimants each day. Such names, as were to be presented on a certain day, were printed in the daily newspaper. Copies were mailed by the attorneys to each claimant in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and other states, and the claimants no doubt rejoiced, believing that soon they would be informed that they had been accepted as Cherokee citizens by the National Council. But those who were accepted were but few. The attorneys knew that the majority would be rejected when the claimant paid the fifty dollars. During the council of 1890, the number of claimants was unusually large. Of one citizenship lawyer, it was said that he made only a brief visit to the old states and realized $1,000.00 from claimants.
The patronage of the citizenship attorneys was of considerable aid to the publishers of the daily newspaper. Immediately after the National Council adjourned, the daily suspended publication until the next annual meeting of the Cherokee legislative body.
Hattie Turner, Interviewer, Wagoner, Oklahoma
Park Hill, Oklahoma, April 9, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
Some six to seven miles southeast of Tahlequah lies a small valley between rugged ridges which old-time people referred to as the Coldweather Hollow. The name was not given in connection with weather conditions but had reference to an early day settler. Coldweather was one of the native Indian settlers and liked the situation of the hollow. He built his log-walled home there and spent his lifetime there as far as known, that is, the remainder of his lifetime after arriving from the Old Nation east of the Mississippi River. It is possible the old man is buried somewhere in the hollow, but in these days no one knows where his house stood. Coldweather was living in the time of the civil War, and was a determined old man who, in case of necessity, was ready to use his muzzle-loading rifle without much hesitancy. The name of the hollow was often heard in bygone times but in these days there are not many persons who know anything concerning Coldweather or the isolated spot in the hills in which he made his home.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, January 28, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
There was completed in 1886 the Tahlequah District Courthouse. In the same year courthouses were built in the other districts of the Cherokee Nation. The National Council had authorized the erection of the courthouses and had made an appropriation of money with which to defray expenses. All the courthouses were built upon the same plan.
In the earlier years of the Cherokee Nation, the courthouses were usually built of logs, and for some time after the close of the Civil War log houses were seen. But eventually all the old courthouses were demolished or abandoned and the new buildings completed.
After completion of the brick capitol building at Tahlequah, at the beginning of the 1870s, court was held in that building. The Council Chamber, a long and wide room on the lower floor, was utilized as soon as the new courthouse was finished, and no other terms of court were held in the capitol building. That is, except sessions of the Supreme Court which were held in the Supreme Court room on the second floor of the brick building.
The courthouse, which was completed in 1886, was built of pine lumber and was two stories high. On the first floor was the courtroom. There was a partition across the lower room, a railing three feet in height. In the inside, thus partitioned off, were the desk and chair of the judge, the clerk's desk or table, seats for jurors and for attorneys-at-law. The remaining space, on the outside of the railing, was available for those who attended court as onlookers.
On the second story of the courthouse was the office of the clerk of the Tahlequah district, and of the Solicitor, or Prosecuting Attorney. The clerk, elected every two years, attended to various matters. He issued marriage licenses, permits for non-citizens to enter the employ of citizens, and served as a police judge when persons creating disturbances in the town limits were brought before him. The clerk also served as clerk of the court when trials were being held. He was required to be in his office each week day.
The courthouse was painted white outside and inside and was substantially built, but its rooms, even the courtroom, were rather small and became overcrowded when trials of more than ordinary interest were being held.
The judge of the Tahlequah district often held court in the building, and at intervals a circuit judge presided. As in these days, 1938, numbers of persons were to be seen in and about the courthouse when terms of court were held.
When the Cherokee laws became obsolete, 6 the courthouse stood vacant for a rather brief period and was then demolished. On its site now stands the Carnegie library. At one time a large grove of red oak and blackjack trees surrounded the courthouse and many of the Cherokees hitched their horses to the trees upon coming to town from the country. Within recent years many of these trees have been cut down and removed. Many stones have been removed and a grassy lawn now appears instead of the rocky tract of land of years long past.
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, March 17, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
There are old pictures of the Cherokee Capitol at Tahlequah, which show the front of the building draped in black and white mourning emblems. In connection, it is recalled that in December of 1891 both the Principal and Assistant Principal Chiefs succumbed to severe illness.
In the election held on the first Monday in August, 1891, Joel B. Mayes, then Principal Chief, was elected to serve a second term of four years. Mr. Mayes was the candidate of the Downing Party. 7As a candidate for the position of Assistant Principal Chief, the Downing Party had nominated Stephen Tehee, while the National Party candidate was Henry Chambers, who had served four years as treasurer of the Cherokee Nation. When the votes were counted, Henry Chambers was found to have a majority over Stephen Tehee. So, upon the convening of the National Council on the first Monday in November of 1891, Joel B. Mayes and Henry Chambers were sworn in as Principal and Assistant Principal Chiefs, respectively.
It was in December of this year that an epidemic of la grippe 8 prevailed in Tahlequah. Many persons were prostrated by the malady, hitherto unknown, and there were many deaths. Assistant Principal Chief Henry Chambers was soon prostrated. The malady was often complicated with pneumonia, and as Mr. Chambers was 68 years of age his condition, after a rather brief period, became critical. And as Mr. Chambers lay in his room, Principal Chief Mayes, likewise, became afflicted with la grippe. A tall and large man weighing 280 pounds, and 58 years of age, Mr. Mayes was soon in a very serious condition. Both the chiefs received the best medical attention available, but they failed to rally and near the 12th of the month Henry Chambers died, and on the 14th day of the month Joel B. Mayes succumbed. Assistant Principal Chief Chambers died in a house which stood adjacent to the National Hotel, oldest building of its kind in Tahlequah, while Principal Chief Mayes died in a room at the Fuller Hotel. Both buildings were demolished some years ago.
The body of Assistant Principal Chief Chambers was taken to Claremore for interment, the casket being carried overland to Fort Gibson on the afternoon of the day of the "second chief's" death.
Funeral services for Principal Chief Mayes were held in the senate chamber in the brick capitol, a large number of officials and citizens being present. Burial was made in the Tahlequah Cemetery, where a fine granite monument marks the grave.
Never before in the history of the Cherokee Nation had both the principal and the assistant principal chiefs been removed by death. As a token of respect and mourning the National Council decreed that the front of the capitol bear mourning emblems for a period of thirty days.
As provided by Cherokee law, the president of the senate became acting principal chief until a successor to the late principal chief was selected and appointed by joint vote of the senate and council. So Thomas M. Buffington became acting principal chief, from December 14th until the 23rd day of the same month.
In considering a successor to Chief Joel B. Mayes, the council decided upon Colonel J. Harris, then occupying the position of Cherokee National Treasurer. Mr. Harris, whose full name was Colonel Johnson Harris, was confirmed as principal chief on the 23rd day of December, 1891. On the same day the council in joint session selected and confirmed as assistant principal chief, Stephen Tehee.
The assistant principal chief was usually referred to as the second chief upon the death, resignation, removal or inability of the principal chief to fulfill the duties of his office. The assistant principal chief succeeded until such time as the national council met and selected a successor to the principal chief.
Park Hill, Oklahoma, January 18, 1938
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History collection, Grant Foreman, editor
According to persons who some years ago personally recalled events of the past, there were several fox hunters of Tahlequah and Park Hill who participated in the sport before the Civil War time, and some of the same men, following the close of the conflict have been referred to as taking part in the chase.
One of the largest packs of hounds was owned by Major George M. Murrell of Park Hill, some of the men of a long past period have related. There were several other fox hunters in the locality and all rode together on occasion. The country for miles around was unobstructed by fences, and foxes were more plentiful than in recent years. Consequently, some great races were had, in the course of which large sections of country were ridden over between the beginning of nightfall and daybreak. There were occasions when the hounds pursued the fox far down in the hills along the Illinois River, getting completely out of hearing of the hunters.
A very strange occurrence was once related, in connection with a chase, in which George M. Murrell, James E. Latta, and others of the Park Hill locality participated.
The hounds, as the story said, gave chase during a number of hours but never overhauled the fox, as the object of pursuit was thought to be. Midnight came and hounds could be heard in the distance in full cry. The hunters followed far behind. Then the hounds circled about in wide detour. Time continued to pass until the gray light of early dawn appeared. At that time the hounds passed at no great distance from the hunters. From their excited baying the fast-running animals were apparently quite near their object of pursuit. The hunters urged their horses to speed and soon were directly behind the hounds. Major Murrell and Mr. Latta were close together, and upon coming near to the hounds saw, running at great speed, immediately in front of the foremost hounds, a dwarf-like being with long black hair streaming in the early breeze, ran on a short distance and then suddenly vanished, leaving no trace nor track. Immediately the hounds lay down, panting and weary.
The men with Major Murrell expressed great astonishment. One of the men declared that never again would he visit the section on a fox hunting expedition. But Major Murrell was unimpressed. "There are some things we do not understand" he is reputed to have said, as he blew his horn and rode away for home, followed by his companions and the hounds.
At "Hunter's Home," previously the home of Major George M. Murrell at Park Hill, there hung in the large dining room a series of colored scenes depicting the English Fox Hunt, which scenes were a source of pleasure and imagination to visitors, both old and young. Mrs. Arminta Vann, a sister-in-law to Major Murrell, lived for some years at Hunter's Home, where friends and relatives received a cordial welcome. Major Murrell and family never returned to live at "Hunter's Home" after the period of the Civil War. At the beginning of the war, the family had removed to Lynchburg, Virginia.
In the early days there were no red foxes among the Cherokee hills, but gray foxes were to be found in various sections. They were of the variety to which the pioneer hunters often gave chase. Today, 1938, there are both gray and red foxes among the Cherokee County hills. Both varieties are now protected by the state game laws and may not be killed. Veteran fox hunters have noted that great antipathy exists between the gray and red foxes, and between the sections in which they live, there is a sort of neutral strip.
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
The Indian Arrow, a newspaper which was established at Vinita, Indian Territory, where the first issue appeared on Friday, February 10, 1886, was published for a number of years. Before the close of 1886 the office was removed to Fort Gibson, and in 1889 to Tahlequah. Several editors served during a rather brief period. One of these was a man whose home was in the Caney locality, some miles east of Tahlequah. This man, whose name was William J. Largen, was becoming somewhat advanced in age. In his more young and active days he had been employed in large printing offices in cities like Memphis, Tennessee, and Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a practical printer and a writer of considerable ability. For several months Mr. Largen was employed in the office of the Indian Arrow in the year 1892, but upon completion of his temporary task in the office he returned to his home in the hill country of the Tahlequah District.
The Indian Arrow in course of time required a new editor. Several had resigned, and the principle owner of the newspaper in considering whom he should select as editor decided to appoint William J. Largen, who was sometimes referred to as "Uncle Bill" or "Old Bill." For a number of years after ceasing to work in large printing offices Mr. Largen had traveled through portions of Indian Territory as a "drummer," or salesman. He visited rural stores, two of which were operated a few miles apart in the Caney locality, so called because the Caney Creek flows through the section.
One of the stores was operated by L. and L. Keys. The members of the firm were Levi and Lucinda Keys, an old and highly respected couple of Cherokee and white nationality, whose home was near their store, in which was maintained the Wanhillau post office of which Levi Keys was postmaster. Upon retiring from his position as a traveling salesman William J. Largen, who had relatives living at Fort Smith, Arkansas, boarded for some time in the Keys' home. Sometimes he assisted Mr. Keys, who was often called "Uncle Levi," in the store.
After staying in the Keys' home for some time, William J. Largen surprised the Caney neighborhood people one day when he married a young Cherokee woman, who was a full-blood, or practically so. A veteran of the Confederate states army, Mr. Largen was old enough to be the young woman's father. They lived in a house in the old neighborhood. It was from this house that William J. Largen went over to Tahlequah to become editor of the Indian Arrow.
Upon reaching the Cherokee Capital Mr. Largen busied himself in the printing office, setting some of the type himself, but having the assistance of two other compositors for awhile. He rented a house for he contemplated bringing his wife and infant daughter to Tahlequah. In the interval he stayed in the house at night, having a mattress spread upon the floor, with blanket and comforter. There was a heating stove in the room, and upon this stove William J. Largen partially roasted portions of beef steak and boiled coffee. His bread was procured from the bakery. He would live differently, he said, when he moved his family and household effects to Tahlequah, which however, he failed to do. After a brief tenure as editor of the Indian Arrow, Mr. Largen's services were dispensed with by the man who held the largest interest in the newspaper. This man became dissatisfied with the manner in which the affairs of the office were being conducted and consequently declared a vacancy in the editorial chair. So the erstwhile editor returned to his home in the wooded region near the Caney Creek and thereafter had no connection with printing offices.
After several years the wife of William J. Largen died. Their family consisted of two daughters and two sons. Other years passed and Mr. Largen, now old, finally returned to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he remained until his death a number of years ago. He was the only man of the Caney Creek locality who was a printer, and the only person from that section who became editor of an Indian Territory newspaper.
Taken from the Indian-Pioneer History Collection, Grant Foreman, editor
In the original Park Hill burying grounds, long abandoned and neglected, there is a recumbent slab of brown sandstone upon which there is no inscription. Beneath this stone lies the dust of Elias Boudinot, a notable Cherokee of long past years. Born in the old Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi River in the year 1803, and given the Cherokee name of Gala-gina or Kille-keenah, he eventually realized the opportunity of studying at a school established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions at Cornwall, Connecticut, on the banks of the Housatonie River.
Upon enrolling in the Institution the youth was informed that he would have to discard his Indian name and thereupon adopted for himself the name Elias Boudinot. This was the name of a distinguished citizen of New Jersey, who was a friend of George Washington and had once served as president of the Continental Congress. The honorable Elias Boudinot was greatly interested in the Indian race and is said to have assisted Gala-gina in securing entrance to the school.
Elias Boudinot, the Cherokee, remained in the institution several years and made excellent progress in his studies. During his stay in Cornwall he met Harriet Gold, youngest daughter of a leading citizen of the village and eventually they were married, encountering in the meanwhile great opposition during which time Boudinot retired from the school and returned to his home. Later, he returned to Cornwall, married Harriet Gold, and they then went to the Cherokee Nation in Georgia, where Boudinot assisted in missionary labors and as clerk of the council. In 1828, he was selected to serve as editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Indian newspaper ever established. As first Indian editor he attracted much attention and was regarded as one of the leading men of the Indian Nation.
In course of time there arose a great agitation for the removal of the Cherokees to Indian Territory, but the majority of the Cherokees stood firmly opposed to the desires of the white people of Georgia. They refused to agree to a treaty which would extinguish their title to their lands. During this time Elias Boudinot retired from the editorship of the Cherokee Phoenix and was succeeded by Elijah Hicks, and later Hicks was succeeded by Richard Taylor. The Georgia state guard finally confiscated the printing press and materials and the first Indian newspaper ceased to exist in 1834.
When the majority of the Cherokees remained unmoved in their opposition to a treaty, the Reverend John S. Schermerhorn, commissioner on part of the