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JAMES H. MALONE
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THE
CHICKASAW NATION
A Short Sketch of A Noble People
By
JAMES H. MALONE
JOHN P. MORTON tt COMPANY
Ineofponn*
LovHTiu^ Kbmtvcky
1922
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Copyright, 1922
By JAMES H. MALONE
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To My Dear Wife
ESTELLE VERNEY MALONE
To whom I owe so much, these
pages are inscribed
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CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I — As to the Origin of the American Indians i
Chapter II — As to the Origin of the Chickasaw Nation 14
How the Indians Preserved Historical Events 16
Traditions of a Western Origin 16
Did the Separation Take Place in the West? 20
The Indians Were the Mound Builders 23
Traditions Also Point to an Asiatic Origin 26
Conclusion 27
Chapter III — The Dawn of History for the Chickasaws 29
De Soto Lands in Florida 31
De Soto Reaches the Chickasaws 34
The Original Chickasaws as They Were 36
Battle with the Chickasaws 40
What Caused the Conflict 48
Chapter IV — Topography of the Country Between the Chick-
asaw Country and Chickasaw Bluffs 52
Dr. Rowland Has Shifted the Bulwark of His Defense . . 53
How Language Should Be Interpreted 55
The Trails of the Chickasaw Indians 57
The Short-Cut Trail, or Pigeon Roost Road 64
Pigeon Roost Creek and the Pigeons 70
The Trail from Holly Springs to New Albany 75
Chapter V—The Four De Soto Narratives Quoted and
Compared 79
The Text of the Gentleman of Elvas 81
How the Governor Went from Quizquiz, and Thence
to the River Grande 82
The Text of Biedma 83
The Text of Ranjel 85
Opinion of Professor Lewis Criticized 86
De Soto's Route to the Chickasaw Bluffs 92
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Contents
Page
Chapter VI — De Soto at the Chickasaw Bluffs 104.
The Location of Quizquiz 115
De Soto's Camp Near a River Bank 118
Garcilaso de la Vega, the Inca 122
The Account of Garcilaso de la Vega 125
De Soto at the Mississippi 129
De Soto Crosses the Mississippi 130
The Country Opposite Memphis Dovetails with the
Narratives 132
Chapter VII — Where the Mississippi was Crossed, Contin-
ued, and of the De Soto Memorial at Memphis 138
The Importance of the Discovery of the Mississippi
River 139
The Great Abundance of Fish Taken Points to the
Place of Discovery 144
Lusher's Map as Reproduced by J. Paul Gaines 147
Article of Miss Mixon 151
The Map of Delisle Again 153
The De Soto Memorial Erected at Memphis, May 22,
1919 156
Address of Dr. B. F. Turner 158
The Tomb of De Soto 161
Address of Judge R. M. Barton 162
Address of J. Elmore Holmes Presenting Copy of De
Soto 165
Response of Senor Don Emilio Zapico, the Spanish
Consul 166
Minnesota and Mississippi Honor De Soto 167
Chapter Vlll— The Home Life and Character of the Chick-
asaws 170
Authentic Sources of Information 170
How the Original Chickasaws Appeared 174
Private Character of the Chickasaws 179
Language of the Chickasaws 181
Their Dwelling Houses 182
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Contents
Chapter VIII — Continued Page
Courtship and Marriage i86
The Marital Relation in Other Respects and Chickasaw
Nomenclature 187
The Treatment of Children 193
Food Given by the Indians to Civilization 195
What the Chickasaws Had to Eat 200
Chickasaw Medicine 204
Amusements of the Chickasaws 205
The Chickasaw Hunters and their Endurance 205
Their Government, Religion, etc 208
Making War 220
The Indians Were the Mound Builders 221
What We Might Learn from the Primitive Chickasaws . . 223
Jefferson on Indian Eloquence 227
Montaigne's Opinion of the Indians and their Govern-
ment 229
Chapter IX — TheChickasawsfromtheTimeofDe Soto Un-
til their First Treaty with the United States 232
Iberville and Bienville Meet the Chickasaws 239
Population of the Primitive Chickasaws 242
Chickasaws Friends of the English 243
Causes Leading to the Extirpation of the Natchez . . . 245
The Real Cause of the War made by the French on the
Chickasaws 247
Bienville Makes War on the Chickasaws 249
The Signal Defeat of D'Artaguette 251
The Battle of Ackia 255
A Perfect Chickasaw Day 263
Bienville's Second War upon the Chickasaws 264
Vaudreuil Makes War on the Chickasaws 269
The Chickasaws' Prowess on the Mississippi 271
The English Gain Control of the Gulf States 276
The Prophecy of Adair Fulfilled 278
The Chickasaws Neutral during the Revolution 281
Why Mississippians, Tennesseans, Alabamians and
Kentuckians Should be Proud of the Chickasaw
Nation 282
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Contents
Chapter IX — Continued Page
Why the Chickasaws were Unconquered and Uncon-
querable 283
Historic Chickasaw Country 285
Chapter X — Of the First Treaties between the United States
and the Chickasaw Nation 292
The Right of Title by Discovery Established 293
The Indians Were Not Without Able White Defenders . 296
First or Unofficial Chickasaw Treaty 301
Treaties between the Chickasaws and the United States 305
The Treaty of 1786 306
The Treaty of 1801 308
The Treaty of 1805 309
Indians Encouraged to Contract Debts 311
' The Treaty of 1816 312
The Treaty Preceding the Birth of Memphis 314
,* The Heart-Breaking Treaties of 1832 and 1834 317
Chapter XI — Short Sketch of Piomingo and Sequoyah; and
herein of Men of the South 331
Piomingo, the Great Chickasaw Chief 332
George Washington to Piomingo 339
Piomingo, at the Nashville Conference, 1792 340
Piomingo Left to his Fate 343
Victory for the Unconquerable Chickasaws 346
Piomingo and Governor Gayoso 348
The Last Public Appearance of Piomingo 350
As to Family of Piomingo, etc 354
Sequoyah, the Cadmus of America 358
The Great Invention 362
Sequoyah in the Hall of Fame 366
The Last Days of Sequoyah 367
The South and Intellectual Men 368
The South After the Abolition of Slavery 373
The Fate of Haiti under Negro Rule 374
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Contents
Chapter XI — Continued Pagt
How the South Prospered After Emancipation 378
The Attitude of Southern Men to the Union 380
The Negro in the 1920 Census 388
Chapter XII — The Story of the Chickasaws Continued Since
the Treaties of 1832 and 1834 394
Centenary of Chickasaw Triumphs 394
The Chickasaws Purchase a New Home in the Choctaw
Country 397
Treaty of Washington, 1852 398
Ancient Cemetery at Pontotoc 399
Treaty at Washington, 1855 400
The Chickasaws and the Civil War 402
Treaty of the Choc taws and Chickasaws with the Con-
federate States of America 406
The Desolation of the Civil War 408
The Treaty of 1866 412
The Long Struggle for Racial Purity 415
Constitution and Laws of the Chickasaws 419
The Dawes Agreement •. 420
How Congress Set Aside all Indian Treaties 421
Illogical Argument against Ownership in Common . . . 434
Robbing Indians According to Law 438
The Judiciary Sustains Congress 446
In the Forum of Conscience 450
Chapter XIII — The Chickasaws in the Twentieth Century, . 455
The Chickasaw Guards 456
Competitive Drills 460
Chickasaw Guards in World-Wide War 461
Certain Indians Made Citizens 467
The Chickasaws as Citizens of Oklahoma 474
The Name Oklahoma a Chickasaw Word 478
The Present Chickasaw Population 481
Unsold Tribal Property 484
The Present Chickasaw Officials 487
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Conienii
ChaPtbr Xlll— Continued t>agt
Indian Population of the United States 488
Official Washington vs. Official Washington 493
The Present General Condition of the Indians 500
Children in School 501
Christianity and the Chickasaws 504
Chickasaw and Choctaw Claim vs. United States 507
Chapter XIV— rAc World-Wide War and Herein of Otis
W. Leader 510
Distinguished Service of Otis W. Leader 511
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
James H. Malone Frontispiece
Indian Pictograph Writing I6
De Soto at Chickasaw Bluffs 104
De Soto Memorial 156
Original Chickasaw 174
Chickasaw Hunting Scene 206
Bienville's Fort 256
Historic Chickasaw Country 285
Piomingo 331
Sequoyah 358
Governor D. H. Johnston 455
Otis W. Leader 510
Lusher's Map Redrawn by Gaines Back of Book
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FOREWORD
SOUTENIB EDITION
The first six chapters of this book were printed for private
distribution by the author in May, 1919. In the foreword it
was said:
''During a somewhat protracted experience at the Memphis
Bar, my attention was early called to the treaties of 1832 and
1834 between the United States and the Chickasaw Nation.
"Under these treaties the Chickasaws ceded the last inch
of that vast and splendid domain which they had conquered and
occupied long before Columbus, sailing westward, looked upon
the shores of what was called a new world.
"There are lines of deep pathos in those treaties. From
time to time my attention was called to the early history of the
Chickasaws, and I made some notes, and still later wrote some
fn^;mentary sketches upon the subject, more as a diversion than
otherwise. In assisting with our approaching Centenary Cele-
bration (May 19-24, 1919), I concluded, almost at ^e last
moment, to print what I have already written as a souvenir, and
as a small contribution to local history.
"Should time and opportunity permit, I hope to complete
what I design to call, 'The Chickasaw Nation; A Short Sketch of
a Noble People.*"
When the above was written, I supposed that more than
half my work had been done, and had no proper conception of
the great labor in the way of research into original sources of
information that would be required. It turned out that in-
stead of one half of the subject having been covered by the
souvenir edition, in fact it was only about one fourth of the
completed book.
To the first six chapters small additions only have been
made.
The first chapter was written during a vacation upon the
Muskoka Lakes, of Canada, in 1916, and then laid aside.
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foreword
For a diversion in 1917, I turned from the horrors of the
world-wide war to the subject of this work, and accumulated
considerable material; and while on a vacation in Atlantic City
in the summer of 1918, I put the additional matter somewhat in
order and finally printed it in 19 19, as indicated above.
Subseqaent Chapters—
The seventh and eighth chapters were written in Oakland,
California, while sojourning there in the summer of 1919; and
then, more fully realizing that further researches were necessary,
I spent six weeks in Washington, D. C, in the summer of 1920,
examining authorities in the Congressional Library; and in
Washington I wrote the ninth, tenth, and part of the eleventh
chapters. Although engaged in the practice of the law all this
time, I have taken time from other labors to complete my work^
leaving to others a prosecution of further researches along the
same lines.
Quotations f^om Authorities—
I have made more and fuller quotations from other books
and authorities than is customary in works of this character, and
my reasons therefor have been twofold:
(i) While public as well as private Kbraries have greatly
increased in the South of late years, still the great bulk of our
people have access to but a small number of the authorities
quoted; hence my desire to lay the same more fully before the
reader.
My attention was called to this by letters of inquiry from
various persons desiring to obtain fuller information on the
subjects treated.
There is a working agreement between the larger libraries
which permits one library to loan to another, for a short period,
rare and valuable books, where a patron is engaged in research
work. Through Charles D. Johnston, the efficient Secretary of
the Cossitt Library, I obtained a number of rare books from
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f^oteivord
Washington and St. Louis. At best this system involves COA*
siderable delay, and it is far better to have direct access to the
library.
(2) My own experience has shown that authors frequently
make a broad statement with only foot-note references to some
books, and often when examined, the authorities either fail to
support the text, or in some instances are contradictory thereto.
It would seem the better plan to quote liberally, so that the
reader may be afforded the opportunity of passing his own
judgment upon the deductions made from authorities cited in
support of the text.
Bibliography-
Believing that the average reader will prefer a continuous
narrative without the usual foot notes, I have so written this
book; but a bibliography, alphabetically arranged according to
authors, follows this foreword. That list contains the works
I have examined in the course of my studies of the questions
involved.
The explanatory note preceding the list of authorities shows
my reasons for pursuing this course, and I hope it will be read in
connection with this foreword.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
It will be seen that there are no notes in this book, which is
unusual with works of this character. The purpose was to
present a continuous narrative without interruption to examine
notes, believing that this course will be preferred by the general
reader.
This bibliography is designed mainly for two purposes:
(i) For the critical/ who may desire to examine in detail and
at length the authors to which I refer. For this purpose the
scholar can find in this list of authorities the names of the authors
alphabetically arranged, the title of books and pamphlets, and
when, where, and by whom each was published, including the
edition examined.
I regret that the thought of preparing this bibliography did
not occur to me until after a large part of the work had been
completed; otherwise it would have been more extensive and more
accurate.
(2) Many of the books examined are rare and not to be
found in this section of the country, and believing that there
should be a more critical and extensive research into the original
sources of information respecting our country, it is hoped that
others may be led to make more extensive explorations into the
wealth of material which I have not been able to examine.
From these sources the future analytical and critical his-
torian will find the material ready at hand for a correct and
philosophical history of our Southern Indians, and also for the
early history of our part of the United States.
Memphis, August, 192 1.
Abel, Annie H., "The American Indian as Slaveholder and
Secessionist"; The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland,
Ohio, 1915.
Abel, Annie H., "The American Indian as Participant in the
Civil War"; The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland,
Ohio, 1919*
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BiEDMA, LuYs Hernandez De, "An account of," Vol. II, p. 2,
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pi Historical Society, p. 302; Oxford, Mississippi, 1902.
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people in the year 17 68 ; printed by George Wilson, Nashville,
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Raleigh, North Carolina; pamphlet issued by Indian Rights
Association, Philadelphia, 1896.
Miller, Franus T., "America, the Land We Love"; William
Thomas Blaine, New York, 1916.
Mlcon, Ada, "De Soto's Route West of the Mississippi River,"
Vol. 12 (no. i), p. 70, Americana, The American Historical
Society, Inc., New York City, 1918; also another article,
Vol. 12 (no. 3) on p. 302.
Monette, John W., "History and Discovery and Settlement of
the Valley of the Mississippi"; Harper Bros., New York
City, 1846.
Montaigne, Michael De, "The Works of," by William Haz-
litt, fourth edition, J. W. Moore, 193 Chestnut* Street,
Philadelphia, 1853.
MooNEY, James, "Myths of the Cherokees," in 19th Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1900.
Moore, Charles B., "Aboriginal Sites on the Tennessee River,"
reprinted from the Journal of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. XVI; Philadelphia, 1915.
MooREHEAD, Warren K., "Our National Problem." Member
of the United States Board of Indian Commissioners;
pamphlet, no date, but published about 1913. Copies can
be had of the author at Andover, Massachusetts.
Morgan, Lewis H., "Ancient Society"; Henry Holt & Co., New
York City, 1877.
Murray, William H., "Address in the House of Representa-
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MuRROW, J. S., "The Indian's Side." Pamphlet, no date, but
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missionary in the Indian Territory for fifty-five years.
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Nichols, Irby C, "Reconstruction in De Soto County," ii
Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, University
of Mississippi, p. 295; Oxford, Mississippi, 1910.
NuTTALL, Thomas, "A Journal of Travel into the Arkansas
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Thomas H. Palmer, Philadelphia, 1821.
Ogg, Frederick Austin, "Opening of the Mississippi"; The
MacMillan Co., Ltd., New York City, 1904.
Parker, Gabe E., "Report of the Superintendent of the Five
Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma for the Fiscal Year ending
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Pike, Albert, "A Treaty of Friendship and Alliance," made
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with plenary power of the Confederate States, and commis-
sions on the part of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations.
(Rare.)
Putnam, A. W., "History of Middle Tennessee, or Life and
Times of General James Robertson"; Nashville, Tennessee.
Printed for the author, 1859. (Scarce.)
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Charleston, S. C, 1853. (Scarce.)
Ranjel, Rodrigo, "Diary of," Vol. 2, Trail Makers, edited by
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CHAPTER I
AS TO THE OBIGm OF THE AMERICAN DTDIANS
When Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain in August,
1492, going westward over an unexplored sea, the expectation
of discovering a new world was far from his thoughts.
It had for years been the dream of his life that there must
be land beyond the limits of the Atlantic, and that by sailing
to the West he could discover a nearer route to India than was
at that time in use.
The riches of India were believed to be almost boundless,
and Venice and other centers of commerce had amassed wealth
in trade therewith ; all of which fired the imagination of Columbus,
who was naturally of an adventurous disposition, and withal a
man of great daring and ability.
After some months of sailing it took all the ingenuity and
address of the great sailor to prevent an open mutiny of his
crew, consisting of 120 men, who became discouraged, many of
them fearing that they would be cast away upon what seemed to
them a limitless waste of desolate waters.
Finally when the crew was almost in a state of mutiny, one
night Columbus descried a light and soon land loomed up in
the distance, and then the vessels lay to, until next day, when
they were overjoyed to behold a beautiful forested land from
which friendly savages, perfectly naked, issued forth, looking
upon the white men and their vessels with evident astonishment.
Attired in scarlet Columbus with his principal officers and
men bearing the standards of Ferdinand and Isabella were
soon on the land, when the admiral fell on his knees, kissed the
earth and returned thanks for his safe deliverance with tears of
joy; and his example being followed by his men, he arose and
with sword in hand declared that he took possession of the
country in the name of his king and queen.
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In so doing he ignored the rights of the aborigines, whose
ancestors had possessed the country as their own from time
immemorial.
He claimed the country by what is termed the right of
discovery, or which might otherwise be termed the right of
might.
Long years afterwards in the year 1823, the Supreme Court
of the United States through Chief Justice Marshall solemnly
adjudged that in point of law the Indians had no real title to the
country they occupied, but that European nations secured the
title thereto by right of original discovery, which was the subject
of barter and sale, regardless of the rights and claims of the
aborigines who for ages had occupied, claimed, and owned dis-
tinct and separate parts of the new world. (See the case of
Johnson vs. Mcintosh, 8 Wheaton, 543.)
Columbus named the island on which he landed San Sal-
vador, and thinking that it was a part of India, he called the
inhabitants Indians, and this designation has clung to the
aborigines of America to this day, and will doubtless endure
for all time.
This is but one instance illustrating that, when an error has
once fixed itself in the popular mind, it is next to impossible to
correct it. In this instance the error is harmless; but in other
departments of the many factors which go towards making up
the onward march of civilization, like errors and delusions have
greatly delayed progress in*many of the activities of human life.
This memorable voyage of Columbus was the signal that
soon brought forth many adventurous sailors, who sailed the
seas over in the quest of fortune and fame; but years rolled by
before it was known that in point of fact a new world had been
discovered.
Amerigo Vespucci, among others having crossed the ocean
to the main land of the Western Hemisphere, so impressed his
contemporaries with reports of his discoveries, that the new
world became his namesake, and ever since has been known as
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America, an honor undeserved and that should have been be-
stowed upon Columbus, but instead he was rewarded with
poverty and chains.
It was not until years afterwards that Ferdinand Magellan
succeeded in passing around the southern extremity of America,
and gave his name to the wild and dangerous straits through
which he passed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and the
latter to this day bears the name he gave it.
His dream was to prove that this world on which we live is
a globe, but his dream ended with his life, April 27, 1 521, in the
Philippine Islands which he discovered.
Fortunately his lieutenant, Sebastine d'Elcano, proved a
worthy successor to the great Magellan, and succeeding to the
command, he sailed onward and after discovering many islands,
finally doubled the southern extremity of the African continent
and returned to the port from which he sailed, thereby proving
to be true the theory of Magellan, and which in turn proved that
America was a new world beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Magellan had sailed with five ships, but only one, the San
Vittoria, circled the earth, arriving at St. Lucar near Seville,
September 7, 1522, after a voyage of more than three years.
She had accomplished the greatest achievement in the
history of the world up to that time, for she had circumnavigated
the globe. The tremendous importance of this great voyage,
and its effect upon the intellectual development of mankind lies
far beyond the scope of these pages.
The wise men, philosophers, and especially the ecclesiastical
world, were thrown into a great discussion to account for a new
world, peopled by many tribes and nations theretofore unknown,
and likewise forested with innumerable new trees and plants
through which roamed countless new animals, while the air was
filled with birds and a feathered tribe totally unknown in the
old world.
The question debated was as to when and where all of
these things were created, and especially were they created as a
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part of the acts of that six days' creation set forth in the sacred
writings of the Christian religion.
To doubt that all men were the descendants of Adam and
Eve was to deny the authenticity of the Scriptures, and would
probably have put in jeopardy the liberty or life of one so bold
as to raise such a question.
It is difficult for us now to realize how profoundly the
question as to the origin of the American aborigines affected the
learned men and ecclesiastics of that time, and even in com-
paratively modern days.
One of the early and favorite theories was a suggestion or
argument put forth that when the ark of Noah finally rested on
Mount Ararat that by unknown means some of its passengers
became shipwrecked, so to speak, and in due course of time some
of them reached the new world, and that the Indians were their
descendants. Volumes were written to sustain this view.
Other authors called attention to the fact that in the re-
mote past Diodorus Siculus relates that the ancient Phoenicians
discovered a large island in the Atlantic far beyond the pillars of
Hercules, which abounded in all kinds of riches. Plutarch
mentions what Plato said as to the information given in respect
thereto by Egyptian priests. This is what is sometimes called the
fabled Atlantis. Many believe even to this day that there was
such an island known as the Atlantis, which formerly adjoined
other islands, so that America might have been peopled from
Europe by persons going from one island to another until the
American continent was reached. The Azores islands are sup-
posed by some to be the tops of the mountains on the Atlantis
island at the time a great submergence took place in some
prehistoric period. I was in the Azores in 191 2, and to me the
island had a mountainous aspect.
Another theory, and the one probably most written of and
advocated by learned writers, is to the effect that the Indians
were the descendsmts of the lost tribes of Israel; that is, that they
are the lineal descendants of the Jews. Among these writers I
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read only one, viz. : that of James Adair, who published a lengthy
account of the American Indians in London in 1775, which has
never been republished and is a rare book.
Adair was an English trader and commenced to trade with
the Indians in 1735, and first traded with the Chickasaws in
1744, among whom he wrote the greater part of his book.
The book contains 404 pages, of which 220 pages consist
of what he denominates * 'arguments" in proof of his theory that
the Indians are descendants of the Jews. There are twenty-
three of these ''arguments," each being about the usual length
of an ordinary chapter. Adair was as perfectly conversant with
the marriage, divorce, inheritance, burial, and all other rites, laws,
and customs of the Chickasaws and neighboring nations, as
a white man could well be; and at the same time he was perfectly
conversant with the Old Testament; and the ingenuity dis-
played by him in an endeavor to show a similarity between the
ancient customs and laws of the Jews with those of the Indians
is worthy of admiration.
John R. Swanton, of the Bureau of American Ethnology,
wrote me on March 21, 191 7, that by all odds the best account
of the Chickasaw Indians was the work of Adair, even though
it was marred by his "arguments" in favor of his favorite theory,
for he knew the Chickasaws at first hand, and wrote what he saw
and heard.
In addition to the above theories there are two documents,
one of Chinese and the other of Scandinavian origin, which
undertake to relate the discovery of a country, the first by the
Chinese early in the Christian era, wherein the kingdom of
Fu-Sang was established, and it is claimed Fu-Sang was upon
American soil, hence the descent of the Indians from the Chinese.
The Scandinavian \^kings early discovered Iceland, and it
is recorded in the sagas that about the year 981 A. D., Eric the
Red, an outlaw of Ireland, discovered Greenland, and the same
sagas or written legends which set forth these discoveries also
relate that subsequent thereto the ^^kings made frequent visits
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to the south to a land which had been discovered there by one
Bjarni» and which was given the name of Vinland about the
year 985 A. D.
There is much diversity of opinion as to the trustworthiness
of either the Chinese or Scandinavian accounts.
There is a theory also that America was settled by Japanese,
as many Japanese junks have drifted to the American coast,
some empty, and some with men, but it is said there is no evidence
of a Japanese woman having ever arrived in this way.
A cold current flows from the arctic regions down southward
by China, hence it is said no Chinese wreckage has ever reached
American soil. On the other hand, what we call the Japanese
current flows northwestward near the Japanese islands, and as
the current runs at the rate of some ten miles an hour, wreckage
could well reach America.
While the origin of our Indians is by no means definitely
known, still I am strongly inclined to believe that their original
ancestors came across Bering Strait from Asia to Alaska at
some very remote period. The straits dividing the continents
are variously estimated to be only from thirty-six to fifty-six miles
across, and in addition there are in it two islands of some con-
siderable extent, and these are about midway between the shores of
the two continents and are known as the Diomede Islands, and are
inhabited by Eskimos. Besides, the straits are often frozen over in
winter, so that the hardy natives would find no difficulty what-
ever in crossing on the ice from Siberia to Alaska.
In 1906, my wife and I were in Nome, Alaska, and after
going upon the steamer Olympia to sail for Seattle, a large open
boat came alongside containing a jolly family of Eskimos with
the peculiarity that the heads of the men were shaved on top;
and upon calling attention to this I was told these people were
from the Diomede Islands, it being the custom of the men there
to shave the top of the head, and that these people often came
down the coast several hundred miles to visit at Nome and further
down the coast.
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Previously on the same trip, after landing at Skagway, we
crossed over the coast mountains on the Yukon and White Pass
Railroad, and we reached White Horse, on the Thirty-mile River
at the foot of the White Horse Rapids, where we took a steamer
for Dawson City, the commercial and political capital of the
Yukon territory, where we remained about one week.
Taking another vessel, we continued our voyage down the great
Yukon River to Fort Gibbon, where we changed to another
steamer which carried us to St. Michaels, in the Bering Sea, and
which is the entrepot for the Yukon River country. There we
stopped a few days with the family of a friend, Walter Chidester,
a very capable and observsmt man, then the agent for a great
commercial concern in that distant part of the world.
I had been much interested in the long voyage of 2,000 miles
down the Yukon to observe what I could with respect to the
native Indians, though not many were to be seen. As we ap-
proached the sea, say for about 150 miles from the mouth of the
river, it was extremely interesting to me to observe how the
Indians gradually shaded off into the Eskimo type. The
change appeared in the native garments, especially in the parka
of the Eskimo, and in the little igloos shaped like beehives and
well known from pictures we so often see.
Mr. Chidester informed me that there were several en-
campments of Eskimos on the seashore near his house, and that
these hardy natives came from Asia along the Arctic Sea, and
thought nothing of crossing Bering Strait and coming down the
coast of Alaska, a distance of 500 miles, on a kind of summer trip.
Next morning we went down to view the encampment. The
boats they came in did not contain a piece of metal, and doubtless
were of the same pattern and kind used from the most remote times.
The boats were, according to my estimate, some forty feet long,
and wide and deep in proportion to the length. The framework
consisted of driftwood lashed together with rawhide, and the
sides or hull was rough walrus rawhide, and, of course, entirely
waterproof.
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On leaving their homes in Siberia, all they had to do was to
launch their boat, pile in it their children and dc^s with such
provisions and cooking utensils as they had, and nothing re-
mained except to paddle across the straits, and thence enjoy as
happy a voyage down the coast as is given to the children of
Nature.
The Eskimos have the slanting eyes of the Japanese and
Chinese, and are generally plump, very pleasing in their de-
meanor, and many of them were very good looking, some of the
women having a dignified, matronly appearance; and it was said
no Eskimo was ever seen to strike a child.
We arrived at Nome on Saturday and that night, under the
electric lights of that outpost of civilization, the streets were
full of Eskimos of all sexes and ages, dressed in varicolored furs,
and these with miners and prospectors from many parts of the
earth presented one of the most picturesque scenes I ever looked
upon.
As is well known, the Laps inhabit the northern arctic
regions of Norway, Sweden, and a portion of Russia, their country
being usually denominated Lapland. While they succeeded in
domesticating the reindeer, still they have no organized govern-
ment, and owe allegiance to the various countries in which they
live.
All ethnologists agree that the Laps are in no way connected
with the Eskimos, but are probably related to the Finns, both
being a branch of the Asiatic Mongolian race, about whose
origin little is known.
The best theory seems to be that the Laps in remote ages'
lived further south and were gradually driven north by their
more powerful neighbors, and in course of time the only asylum
that could afford them protection was the frozen North, which
accordingly became their permanent home.
On the shores of Arctic Asia the Eskimos commence and
continue not only across the Bering Strait, but they inhabit all
of the Northern shores and islands of North America, and
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extend as far as Greenland, which is far out in the Atlantic
Ocean. It was once a question how the Eskimos could get to
Greenland, but it seems to be now well agreed that they could
cross on the ice, and if need be, aided by their water craft.
The Eskimos stretch over a distance of some thousands of
miles, counting from those who live in Asia on eastward to Green-
land, the Arctic Islands, and lands in the far frozen North; and
it seems to be agreed that their speech shows a common origin.
No other uncivilized people have ever been known to inhabit a
country so extensive in length, and in all probability there is no
intercourse between those separated by great distances. It
would seem, therefore, that the Eskimos on the arctic shores of
Asia were driven there by their Mongolian neighbors in the
south, which finally became their home, as the Laps found a
home on the northern shores of Arctic Europe. The features of
the Eskimos are of the Mongolian type and I do not think there
can be a reasonable doubt that they are of Mongolian origin.
It is true that they have their peculiar characteristics, but their
mode of life for ages in the arctic regions, with the intense
struggle for existence peculiar to that life would necessarily show
variations from the original type.
All the Eskimos I have seen appeared to better advantage
both in person and general deportment, as well as in the souvenirs
of their own make which they offered for sale, than did the Laps
whom I saw in northern Norway in 1912, on a visit we made
that year to the North Cape, commonly called the land of the
midnight sun.
Those Laps had a scrawny, dirty appearance, and the
trinkets offered for sale seemed to me far inferior to the handi-
work of the Eskimos.
That the Indians of North America are either the descend-
ants of Eskimos or Asiatics I scarcely think is doubtful. While
the great Yukon River flows for the most part through a great
plateau, with considerable forests on its banks, still these
trees gradually fade away into mere scrub, within, say, one
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hundred miles of the mouth of the river. The evident reason
IS that trees can not grow on the desolate tundras near the
sea, precisely as no trees are to be found on the shores of the
Arctic Ocean.
I was told that Eskimos lived on the desolate lower reaches
of the Yukon, and in fact saw their igloos and could distinguish
them by the parkas they wore. As is well known, Elskimos
depend upon the seals, the walrus, and an occasional whale, and
other denizens of the sea; whereas the Indian proper depends
upon the creatures of the land for a subsistence.
The struggle for existence in either mode of life is severe and
would necessarily produce many variations from the original
type.
All travelers report that the greatest antipathy exists
between Elskimos and the Indians, who sometimes stray upon
the hunting grounds of each other. The Eskimos are often at
enmity, the one tribe with another. Nothing is better known
than that neighboring tribes of Indians were constantly at war,
which is the case with practically all uncivilized peoples, and
also the practice is not unknown among those nations who claim
to be the leaders of civilization.
It is well known that uncivilized peoples who depend upon
the chase for sustenance, are nearly always nomads, spending
months at a time on distant journeys, following up the game
which furnishes them food and raiment.
How easy would it be for a tribe forced up the Yukon by
its enemies, or which should take a notion to spy out a happier
hunting ground, to go in their canoes to the upper reaches of the
Yukon in the summer time. Here they would find not only an
abundance of fish in the river and its tributaries, as well as water
fowl, but at certain seasons of the year there were to be found
millions of caribou, as well as the lordly moose, not to mention
other game. It is true the caribou migrate and at times go to
the south, but it is well known that savage people follow migrat-
ing animals, and by following these to their winter homes it
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would be but a short step to find the countless herds of North
American buffalo or bison, which stretched from Arctic America
to the Gulf of Mexico.
Again it is but 112 miles from the upper point of navigation
on the headwaters of the Yukon to Skagway on the Pacific
Ocean, where the sea never freezes over, and how easy would it
be for the aborigines to cross the intervening range of mountains
is shown from the fact that it is now crossed on a railway train.
The Peace River country now in British Columbia, though
far north, has a comparatively mild climate, owing to the warm
Chinook winds which blow over the Japan currents of the Pacific
and reach that country. This country would be a kind of half-
way house between the arctic regions and the warmer parts of the
country stretching toward the far South, for migrating bands of
savages.
In considering the possibility or probability of the settle-
ment in America of the Indians, first coming across by way of
Bering Strait, we should not consider the subject from the
standpoint of a few hundred years, but upon the assumption that
in all probability it took some thousands of years for the settie-
ment of the American continents.
Given sufficient time the dispersion might well cover the
whole continent; and as a climate, the productions of the soil,
and other conditions which make it easier to subsist and give
leisure for thought and reflection have always been the means
by which men have first discarded savagery and laid the founda-
tion stone for ultimate civilization, we can realize why it was
that there once existed in Peru and Mexico a civilization un-
known on the North American continent.
The warm climate and other favoring conditions in those
parts of America where there once existed a prehistoric civiliza-
tion have often been compared to like climatic conditions in the
valley of the Nile and of the Euphrates and Tigris, where, so far
as we know, our civilization had its beginning.
It may be remarked here that the Natchez Indians who
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gave their name to the city of Natchez in southern Mississippi
on the banks of the great river of that name were further
advanced in their form of government and an organized society
than any other tribe of Indians who dwelt within the boundaries
of the United States. No doubt the warm climate and favoring
conditions of life were prime factors in the elevation of this
unfortunate people, who were almost exterminated by the French,
and as we will see, the remnants of that once noted tribe found
an asylum and a home among the intrepid Chlckasaws, who
haughtily and successfully defied all the powers of the French
when they demanded the surrender of the Natchez from the
Chickasaws.
I have never seen the ruins of South or Central America that
have been uncovered and so extensively written about and
photographed, especially in these later years.
I passed on the train near the earth pyramids not far from
Mexico City, and saw in that city the great Calendar stone and
other remnants of a past civilization. In the same year (1908)
we went down to the State of Oaxaca, far south of Mexico City,
to see the ruins of Mitla, which are not far distant from Oaxaca.
No one can view these ruins except with feelings of astonishment;
and yet we are told that when Cortez first passed through that
country about 1520, that the half barbarous people who lived
near these ruins had no more knowledge as to who were the
builders of the splendid solid stone edifice which once adorned
that country than have the half naked Indians we saw there.
Between the city of Oaxaca and the ruins of Mitla stands
the celebrated Tule tree, said to be the oldest and largest tree in
the world. It measures 154 feet in circumference and was of
sufficient importance to attract the attention of Alexander Von
Humboldt, who placed a tablet on the tree commemorative of
his visit (as I remember) in 1804, a part of which has been covered
by new growth of the tree, which still continues to grow.
It was on this trip that Humboldt traveled over South
America, and thence northward up through Central America,
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Mexico, and into the United States. He traveled over most of
the world, especially through the remote and uncivilized coun-
tries, was learned in almost every branch of knowledge and was
one of the greatest intellectualities of the nineteenth century.
Probably no man was better capacitated to express an opinion as
to the origin of the American Indians than Humboldt.
In Vol. I, p. 13, of The Great Republic by Master His-
torians^ Humboldt is quoted as saying:
"It appears most evident to me that the monuments,
methods of computing time, systems of cosmogony, and many
myths of America, offer striking analogies with the ideas of
eastern Asia — analogies which indicate an ancient communica-
tion, and are not simply the result of that uniform condition in
which all nations are found in the dawn of civilization."
When Cortez with fire and sword and a savagery rivaling
Attila, "The Scourge of God," destroyed the Montezumas of
Mexico City, at the same time and under the plea of destroying
piaganism and extending the Christian religion he likewise
destroyed all the the records of the civilization which he found
in Mexico. In all probability the loss caused by this destruc-
tion robbed mankind of the only clue which might have led to
a knowledge of the origin of the American aborigines.
In the present state of knowledge, the conclusion of Hum-
boldt is about all that can now be said with any degree of cer-
tainty upon this most interesting subject.
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CHAPTER II
AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE CHICKASAW NATION
As we have seen, the origin of the race of the American
Indian is wrapped in mystery, so likewise when we endeavor to
trace the early history of the Chickasaw nation as an integral
part of the Indian race, we will likewise find that we are without
authentic history and must depend upon legends and traditions
as our only sources of information.
I am by no means unmindful of the weakness, not to
say untrustworthiness, of this kind of evidence; nevertheless,
having no other, we will briefly look to these sources as fur-
nishing some slight indication as to the earliest home of the
Chickasaws.
There are several versions as to the manner in which the
Chickasaws reached their home in what is now north Mississippi,
and there found an abiding place. De Soto was the first white
man to enter their country in December, 1540, and there they
were again found, after the lapse of more than a century, by the
first white men who explored their country.
It seems to me that these traditions point to Old Mexico
as the original home of the Chickasaws.
I have referred to Adair as an authority on Chickasaw
history, and next to him, I regard H. B. Cushman as probably
the most reliable of those who have given accounts of the Chicka-
saws. Lincecum is also a good authority.
In 1899 Cushman published a volume of 607 pages, entitled
History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez Indians,
the Greenville, Texas, Headlight Printing House being the
publisher, the paper being very poor but the type good. I had
difficulty in procuring a copy of the book, which I finally did
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through the efforts of my friend, W. W. Alsobrook, who had
resided many years in Greenville, and who was told by a niece of
Cushman that he died in 1904.
Cushman states that his parents left Massachusetts in 1820,
and went to the Choctaw Indians as missionaries, among whom
they labored the balance of their lives, and died the sincere and
admiring friends of the red men of the forest; that he was
reared among the Indians and was intimately acquainted with
them during the vicissitudes of a life extending to near four score
of years; that he had obtained in these years a fund of information
not theretofore published, and he evidently deemed it a sacred
duty to place it in permanent form for the benefit of posterity,
and especially in justice to the Indians whom he admired and
loved so much.
The wrongs and injustices towards the Indians by white
men evidently so oppressed the mind and sympathies of Cushman
that throughout his lengthy book he constantly declaims against
the oppressors of the Indians, and in this way detracts from the
value of his conclusions as an impartial historian. However, his
perfect sincerity and honesty of purpose in stating exactly what
he saw and heard cannot be doubted.
There is no index or even chapters to his book, and it would
seem that the one thought constantly with him was to put in
permanent form not only all he knew about the Choctaws,
Chickasaws, and Natchez Indians but to weave into his book
what he knew of other Indians, together with his conclusions with
respect to the treatment of the Indians in general by the white
men of this country.
The first 414 pages of the book are devoted to the Choctaws ;
the next 115 pages to the Chickasaws, and the remainder to the
Natchez Indians, and various other subjects.
I have thus referred to Adair, Cushman, and Lincecum,
because I intend to quote from them liberally as authentic
sources of information, which I do the more readily as the first
two are practically out of the reach of the general reading public.
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How the Indians Preserved HIstiHrlcal Events—
The impression is general that the Indians were without any
means of recording matters of great interest or import, and that
they depended entirely upon their memories in transmitting
current events to posterity, but Cushman says:
"As aids to memory they used various devices, among which
belts of wampum were the chief. Wampum was truly the
archives of the tribe among all North American Indians. It was
made of dressed deer skin, soft and pliable as cloth, and inter-
woven with various shells cut into uniform size, carefully polished,
strung together and painted in different colors, all of which were
significant; white being the emblem of peace and friendship; red,
the symbol of hostility and war. As the colors of the wampum
were significant, so also were the length and breadth of these belts,
and also the peculiar arrangements of the differently painted
strings attach^, each and all fully understood by the Indians
alone. A belt of wampum was presented to one tribe by another
as a remembrance token of any important event that was com-
municated. They had many and various kinds of wampum;
some in the form of belts of different breadth and length ; some
in strings of various width and length, all reaching back in regular
order to centuries of the remote past, with an accuracy in-
credible to the White Race.
"The wampum was the Indians' history, the chronicles of the
past ; and the leaders of each clan of the tribe, from one generation
to another, were carefully and thoroughly instructed by their
predecessors for that particular business and were held in the
highest esteem by all Indians everywhere.
"Pictures, rudely carved on rocks and trees, were used to
convey information, each figure being a true symbol understood
and fully comprehended by the Indians wherever seen." (See
pages 35-36.)
It is evident that this mode of recording current events was
far from perfect, and was liable to many misinterpretations.
Traditions of a Western Origin-
All agree, however, that the Chickasaws belonged to the
Muskhogean family of Indians, the family name being spelled
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'^^'^^^^^^tg^r
(flvniMjiiiniTiuiii
The above pictograph is taken from Bernard Romanes Natural History of
East and West Florida. He visited the Chickasaws in 1771. Explaining the above
pictograph (p. 102) he says: '*To give an idea of Indian hieroglyphick painting, I
have subjoined the two following cuts ; the first is a painting in the Creek taste, it
means, that ten of that nation of the Stag family came in canoes into their enemy
country, that six of the party near this place, which was at Oopah Ullah, a brook
so called on the road to the Chactaws, had met two men, and two women with a
dog, that they lay in ambush for them, killed them, and that they all went home
with the four scalps; the scalp in the stag's foot implies the honour of the action
to the whole family.
"The second is Chactaw, and means that an expedition by seventy men, led
by seven principal warriors, and eight of inferior rank, had in an action killed
nine of their enemies, of which they brought the scalps, and that the place where
it was marked was the first publick place in their territories where they arrived
with the scalps."
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variously, as Muscogee, Muskogee, Muskhogies, Muscogulgee,
etc.
The principal nations composing the Muskhogeans were
the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creek and Chockchoomas; and
the country occupied by them extended from the gulf of
Mexico up the east side of the Mississippi River, then up the
Ohio to the dividing ridge between the Tennessee and Cumber-
land Rivers, and on eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. East
Tennessee and the mountainous portions of Georgia, Virginia,
and Kentucky were occupied by the warlike and fierce Cherokees,
who constituted a Southern branch of the Iroquois Indians,
whose main country lay further north.
There were included in the above general description of the
Muskhogean country many small tribes who were not Muskho-
geans; such as the noted Natchez Indians, the Biloxis, Tunicas,
Tensas, Yazoos, Koroas, and Pascagoulas, but the members of
these tribes were for the most part inconsiderable, while the
Muskhogeans were much larger and warlike, often fighting each
other.
There appears to have been a well defined tradition among
all the Muskhogeans, pointing to the West, and probably Old
Mexico as their former home. It is of interest here to recall
that the great Cherokee Indian, Sequoyah, conceived the idea
that by tracing out some common idioms in the various Indian
languages, he could eventually determine the origin of the
Cherokees and other Indians; and in his old age he traveled to
the far West and was overtaken by death at the advanced age
of eighty-two, among the mountains of Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Adair says the Choctaws and Chickasaws were the descend-
ants of a people called Chickemacaws; who were among the first
inhabitants of the Mexican empire; and at an ancient period
wandered eastward with a tribe of Indians called Choccomaws, and
finally crossed the Mississippi River with ten thousand warriors.
Cushman supposes that the names Choctaw and Chickasaw
were derived from the above names, and says that in 1820 the
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aged Choctaws related to the missionaries that their ancestors in
a remote period dwelt in the far West, and being conquered and
oppressed by a more powerful people, resolved to seek a new
country, going to the East.
A great council of the whole nation was called, and after
great deliberation and much discussion, the nation started forth
under the leadership of two brothers, Chahtah and Chikasah,
both equally renowned for their bravery in war and their wisdom
in council.
After much prayer and supplication, the Great Spirit had
revealed to their chief medicine men and prophets that they
should erect a pole (Fa-bus-sah in their language) in the midst of
their camp, standing straight up, and that each morning they
should carefully observe the way it leaned and follow in that
direction, and the first morning, as it leant to the east, they
started on their long journey toward the rising sun.
Each night the pole was set up in the midst of the camp,
alternately by the brothers, Chahtah and Chikasah, and each
morning it still pointed to the east, and for months they passed
6ver plains, mountains and through forests, much of the country
abounding in game and inviting the pilgrims to settle there, but
the talismanic pole continued to point eastward and the nation
followed its silent admonitions.
SaysCushman:
''After many months of wearisome travel, suddenly a vast
body of flowing water stretched its mighty arm athwart in their
path. With unfeigned astonishment they gathered in groups
upon its banks and gazed upon its turbid waters. Never before
had they even heard of, or in all their wanderings stumbled upon,
aught like this. Whence its origin? Where its terminus?
This is surely the Great Father, the true source of all waters,
whose age is wrapt in the silence of the unknown past, ages
beyond all calculation, and as they then and there named it
'Misha Sipokni' (Beyond Age, whose source and terminus are
unknown). * * * Is Misha Sipokni to be the terminus of
their toils? Are the illimitable forests that so lovingly embraced
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in their wide extended arms its restless waters to be their future
homes? Not so. Silent and motionless, still as ever before, it
bows to the east and its mandate, 'Onward, beyond Misha
Sipokni,' is accepted without a murmur; and at once they pro-
ceed to construct canoes and rafts by which, in a few weeks, all
were safely landed upon its eastern banks, whence again was
resumed their eastward march, and so continued until they stood
upon the western banks of the Yazoo River and once more en-
camped for the night; and, as had been done for many months
before, ere evening began to unfold her curtains, and twilight
had spread o'er all her mystic light, the Fabussa (now truly their
Delphian oracle) was set up; but ere the morrow's sun had
plainly lit up the eastern horizon, many anxiously watching eyes
that early rested upon its straight, slender, silent form, observed
It stood erect as when set up the evening before, and then was
borne upon the morning breeze throughout the vast sleeping en-
campment, the joyful acclamation! Tohah hupishno Yak!
Fohah hupishno Yak!' (Pro. as Fo-hah, Rest, hup-ish-noh, we,
all of us, Yaky here.)
"Now their weary pilgrimage was ended, and flattering hope
portrayed their future destiny in the bright colors of peace,
prosperity, and happiness. Then, as commemorative of this great
event in their national history, they threw up a large mound
embracing three acres of land and rising forty feet in a conical
form, with a deep hole about ten feet in diameter excavated on the
top, and all enclosed by a ditch encompassing nearly twenty
acres. After its completion, it was discovered not to be erect,
but a little leaning, and they named it Nunih (mountain or
mound) Waiyah (leaning), pro. as Nunih Wai-yah.
"This relic of the remote past still stands half buried in the
accumulated rubbish of years, unknown, disfigured also by the
desecrating touch of Time, which has plainly left his finger-marks
of decay upon it, blotting out its history, with all others of its
kind — those memorials of ages past erected by the true native
American, about which so much has been said in conjecture, and
so much written in speculation, that all now naturally turn to
anything from their modern conjectures and speculations with
much doubt and great misgivings." (See pp. 64-65).
Some years afterwards, Chahtah and Chikasah disagreed on
some question of state, and decided to separate with their re-
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spective followers, the choice of the countries to be decided by a.
game of chance, with the result that the northern part of the
country fell to Chikasah and his people, while the southern part
fell to Chahtah and his followers.
Did the Separation Take Place In the West—
Dr. Gideon Lincecum lived among the Choctaws for years,
and spoke their language fluently, and his autobiography will be
found in VIII Publications, Mississippi Historical Society Papers,
at page 443 ; and page 521 of the same volume there is an interesting
account by Dr. Lincecum of the Choctaw traditions about their
settlement in Mississippi, and the origin of their mounds, the
account extending to page 542.
On page 543 of the same volume, Harry Warren also has an
interesting article on "Chickasaw Traditions, Customs, etc."
While differing as to some of the details, still the accounts given
by these three authors, and also that of Schoolcraft, as quoted by
Warren, agree in the main, one important exception being that, ac-
cording to Lincecum, the separation between Chahtah and Chikasah
took place long before they reached their new home, for he says:
"About thirty winters after they had stopped at Nunih
Waya, a party of hunters who had progressed a little further
north than usual, fell in with a camp of hunters belonging to the
Chickasha tribe. After finding that they spoke the same lan-
guage with themselves, the Chahtahs approached their camp
in a friendly manner, and remained several days. The older
men amongst them being familiar with the traditional history of
the journeyings of their respective tribes, took much pleasure in
communicating to each other an- account of their travels. From
the point where the two tribes separated, the Chickashas diverged
widely to the left, found an extremely rough and scarce country
for some time, but at last, emerging from the mountains on to the
wide spread plains, they found the buffalo and other game plenti-
ful. They continued to travel with only an occasional halt, to
rest the women and the feeble ones, until they came to the great
river, at the place called by them sakti ahlopuUi (bluff crossing) —
'White people call it now Chickasaw Bluffs,' said the old man.
They made shift to cross the great river, and traveling onward,
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the leader's pole came to a stand at a place called Chickasha Old
Town in a high and beautiful country. The leader's pole stood
at this place three winters, at the end of which time the pole was
found leaning to the northeast. They set out again and crossed
another big river (little prairie near Huntsville, Ala.). The pole
remained there erect only one winter. At mulberry time the
ensuing summer, the pole was found leaning almost directly to
the south. They packed up, and crossing many bold running
rivers, the pole still leaning onward, until they came to a large
river, near where it emptied into the great okhuta (ocean).
"At this beautiful country (below where Savannah, Georgia,
now stands), the pole stood erect many winters. The fish, opa
haksum, oko folush (oysters, clams), and all manner of shell fish
and fowl and small game were plentiful. The people obtained
full supplies of provisions with but little labor. In the process
of time, however, the people became sickly, and they were
visited with a very great plague. They called the plague hoita
lusa (black vomit), because the people died, vomiting black
matter resembling powdered fire coals and fish slime. All that
took it were sick but a day or two and died so fast that the people
became frightened and ran off, leaving great numbers of the
dead unburied. They followed the leader's pole back nearly
over the same route they went, until finally they returned to the
place where the pole made its first stand (Chickasha Old Towns).
Here it stood again, and remained erect until it rotted."
Is it not almost a certainty that the great plague referred to
was what in later years was known as the dreaded yellow fever,
which, from time to time, decimated that coast until science
decreed its doom?
There are other evidences that the Chickasaws once lived
near where Savannah, Georgia, now is and the sea coast, and
it is a fact that they laid claim to a scope of country in that
vicinity before Congress as late as 1795.
It is also true that the Chickasaws, or a part of them, once
lived at the Mussel Shoals, now in north Alabama, a fact stated
by Piomingo at the Great Conference in Nashville in 1792, in
giving the boundaries of the Chickasaw country.
There is one other interesting feature of the above quotation
from Lincecum, and that is, that the Chickasaws first crossed the
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great river at the Chickasaw Bluflfs, presumably where Memphis
now stands.
Since the foregoing was printed, I became acquainted with
Honorable Charles D. Carter, through a correspondence, he
being a Chickasaw by birth, and a member of Congress for
many years from Oklahoma, of whom I will hereafter have
occasion to refer with more particularity.
Mr. Carter sent me the version which he heard many years
ago, but I regret that space forbids its insertion here as an en-
tirety. It is interesting to note, however, that, according to the
legend of Mr. Carter, the bones of the dead already referred to
were deposited west of the Mississippi, where the parting of the
Chickasaws and Choctaws took place. That when the traveling
hosts first saw the great river, they were amazed, one of the oldest
and wisest prophets exclaiming, "Misha Sipokani," literally
translated "beyond the ages," but figuratively meaning "the
father of all its kind," distorted in its pronunciation by the
white man, in all probability, into the name "Mississippi," with
a free translation as meaning "the father of waters." Mr. Carter
then closes the legend in these words:
"They camped for the night on the banks of the great river,
and since the leader's pole still leaned toward the east, the young
men began to make rafts and canoes for crossing the river and
proceeding on their journey. When the crossing was finally
attempted, the little white dog which had so faithfully kept his
course toward the rising sun was drowned, and upon reaching
the opposite bank of the river, the sacred pole, after wobbling
around and pointing in many directions, finally stood erect,
and the medicine men interpreted this as an omen that the
promised land had been reached.
"Scouting expeditions were sent out by nearly all the clans in
search of game and other food and to ascertain the exact char-
acter of country to which the Great Spirit had led them. Finally
the head man of a certain clan, the members of which were de-
scribed as taller and of fairer skin than the rest of the tribe,
appeared before the general council and asserted that, according
to his best information and judgment, the promised land had not
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yet been reached, that a much better country, more productive
in soil, more bountiful in game, fruit, and fish, lay somewhat to
the north and still farther toward the rising sun. After debating
the question for many hours a vote was taken as to whether the
move should be made, and it was decided by a large majority
that the desired place had been reached and that no further
move was necessary. Upon hearing the vote, the leader of the
taller and fairer clan rose up and, striding majestically out of
the council, dramatically uttered the following words:
"'All those who believe the promised land is further towards
the rising sun follow me.*
"His entire clan arose and went with him, but few others.
Upon seeing this the Choctaw warriors and some of their head
men grabbed their spears, tomahawks, and bows and arrows as
if to restrain this clan by force. But the old head minko arose,
extended his hand above his head, palm out, and exclaimed:
"'Hamonockma, ikia ahnishke, chickasha!' (Halt, follow
them not, they are rebels!)
"Thus the division of the Choctaws and Chickasaws into two
separate tribes came about, and on account of the old chief's
reference to them as 'rebels,' this taller and fairer tribe were
ever thereafter known as 'Chickasha.'"
I must confess that I was much impressed with this version
as to the circumstances under which it is said this parting of the
Chickasaws and Choctaws took place. It is at least in keeping
with the known after characteristics of the two nations.
As far as authentic sources of information extend, the
Chickasaws have always been a comparatively small nation,
but imperious, warlike, and, as many of the earlier travelers say,
overbearing and aggresive. We know that the Choctaws, while
always far exceeding them in numbers, feaied them, and that the
Chickasaws were inclined to treat them with disdain.
According to the version of Mr. Carter, the name Chickasaw, I
or as written in the legend Chickasha, means rebel, and is some- (
what descriptive of Chickasaw characteristics.
The Indians Were the Mound Builders-
There is one feature of the migration legends treated at
Inegth by Lincecum that seems to have been overlooked or not
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treated by Cushman; and that is, the bringing by the Indians of
vast quantities of the bones of their deceased ancestors to their
new home.
According to Lincecum, who claimed to have derived all
of his information from the wise men of the Choctaws, the
migration covered a period of forty-three years, and the people
were loaded down with the bones of their ancestors to such an
extent as to make further progress almost impossible.
A safe depository for the repose of these bones was one of
the chief reasons for building the great mound in their new home,
as well as to raise a monument to their triumphant march and
successful settlement towards the rising sun.
Commencing at page 529, Lincecum says:
'*Men were then appointed to select an appropriate place
for the mound to be erected on, and to direct the work while in
progress. They selected a level piece of sandy land, not far
from the middle creek; laid it off in an oblong square and raised
the foundation by piling up earth which they dug up some dis-
tance to the north of the foundation. It was raised and made
level as high as a man's head and beat down very hard. It was
then floored with cypress bark before the work of placing the
sacks of bones commenced. The people gladly brought forward
and deposited their bones until there were none left. The bones
of themselves had built up an immense mound. They brought
the cypress bark, which was neatly placed on, till the bone sacks
were all closely covered in, as dry as a tent. While the tool
carriers were working with the bark, women and children and all
the men, except the hunters, carried earth continually, until the
bark was all covered from sight, constituting a mound half as
high as the tallest forest tree." (See pp. 529-530.)
In a note to page 530, he says:
"I visited this celebrated mound in 1843. I found it rounded
off, oblong square, 200 yards in circumference at its base, eighty
feet in height, with a flat space on the top fifty-two yards in
length by twenty-five yards in width. The whole mound was
thickly set with large forest trees; 200 yards to the north of it is a
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lake, which I suppose to be the place whence they carried the
earth to construct the mound."
Lincecum further set forth that he further learned that, in
the remote past, the Chickasaws were threatening an invasion of
the Choctaw country, when a great council was called, which
resolved to and did build a great wall around their two principal
mounds, also enclosing a space sufficient to contain all the
women and children, as well as the aged and infirm, in case they
were besieged. The wall was built of the height of two men,
and had in it only two openings, one on the east and the other
on the west, of five steps each in width, for the egress and ingress
of the people until Nunih Waya should be actually invaded by
the enemy.
In a note to page 542 Lincecum says:
"I went all round this earth wall in 1843. It seemed to be
a complete circle, and from one and a half to two miles in circum-
ference, the southeastern portion cutting the bluff of Nunih
Waya Creek. Many places in the wall were still eight feet in
height. The two gaps in the wall had never been filled up."
Both Cushman and Lincecum attest that even in their day
there were professional bone pickers, whose duties consisted in
removing all the flesh of deceased Choctaws from the bones,
which were carefully and religiously stored away in mounds, or
rather, they were laid away in the common mausoleum of the
Choctaws, each addition being carefully covered with earth until
the mounds often reached large proportions.
Quoting his Choctaw informant, Lincecum says:
"Now, my white friend, I have explained to you the origin,
and who it was that built the great number of mounds that are
found scattered over this wide land. The circular conic mounds
are all graves, and mark the spot where the persons for whom
they were built breathed their last breath. There being no
bone pickers at the hunting camps to handle the dead, the body
was never touched, or moved from the death posture. Just as
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it lay, or sat, as the case might be, it was covered up, first with
either stones, pebbles or sand, and finished off with earth. In
this way the custom of mound graves originated from the great
mound graves, Nunih Waya, and it prevailed with the Choctaw
people until the white man came with his destructive sense-
killing 'fire water' and made the people all drunk." (See pp.
533-534)
Of course there were other structures erected for defensive
and warlike purposes, such as the construction of the wall
described by Lincecum. •
Trsdltlons Also Point to an Asiatic Origin—
I will here quote at lai^e from Cushman, which indicates an
Asiatic origin for the Chickasaws, according to tradition, as fol-
lows:
"The ancient traditions of the Cherokees, as well as the
ancient traditions of the Muscogees (Creeks) and the Natchez,
also point back to Mexico as the country from which they, in a
period long past, moved to their ancient possessions east of the
Mississippi River. But whether they preceded the Choctaws
and Chickasaws, or came after, their traditions are silent.
"Milfort (page 269) says: Big Warrior, Chief of the Chero-
kees, as late as 1822, not only confirms their traditions that
Mexico was their native country, but goes back to a more remote
period for their origin, and claims that his ancestors came from
Asia, crossing Behring Straits in their canoes; thence down the
Pacific Coast to Mexico; thence to the country east of the Mis-
sissippi River, where they were first known to the Europeans.
"Mr. Gaines, United States Agent to the Choctaws in 1810,
asked Apushamatahaubi (pro. Ar-push-ah-ma-tar-hah-ub-ih), the
most renowned chief of the Choctaws since their acquaintance
with the white race, concerning the origin of his people, who
replied: 'Ahattaktikba bushi-aioktulla hosh hopald fehna
moma ka minti' (pro. as Arn (my) hut-tark-tik-ba (forefather)
hush-ih ai-o-kah-tuUah (the west), mo-mah (all) meen-tih (came)
ho-par-kih (far) feh-nah (very).
"And the same response was always given by all the ancient
Choctaws living east of the Mississippi River, when the inquiry
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was made of them, Whence their origin? By this they only re-
ferred to the country in which their forefathers long dwelt prior to
their exodus to the east of the Mississippi River; as they also had
a tradition that their forefathers came from a country beyond the
'Big Waters' far to the northwest, crossing a large body of water
in their canoes of a day's travel, thence down the Pacific coast
to Mexico, the same as the Cherokees.
"In conversation with an aged Choctaw in the year 1884
(Robert Nail, a long known friend) upon the subject, he con-
firmed the tradition by stating that his people came first from
Asia by way of the Behring Straits. He was a man well versed in
geography, being taught in boyhood by the missionaries prior to
their removal from their eastern homes to their present abode
north of Texas. The Muscogees, Shawnees, Delawares, Chip-
peways, and other tribes also have the same traditions pointing
beyond Behring Straits to Asia as the land whence their fore-
fathers came in ages past. Some of their traditions state that
they crossed the Strait on the ice, the Chippeways for one, but
the most, according to their traditions, crossed in their canoes.
But that the ancestors of the North American Indians came at
some unknown period in the remote past from Asia to the North
American continent, there can be no doubt." (See pp. 66-67.)
Conelnslon—
From the foregoing, I think it may be safely concluded that
the Chickasaws, Choctaws, and in fact the entire Muskhogean
family, in remote times came to the country now comprising the
Gulf States and reaching to the Atlantic Ocean, from the far
west, and in all probability from what is now the Mexican
republic, and more remotely from Asia.
The legends and traditions to this effect had become a part
of the religious history of the Indians. The wanderings of the
Indians, under the leadership of Chahtah and Chickasah in quest
of a new home, and their many privations and sufferings were not
only as real, but as sacred to them, and of as deep a religious
signification, as is the forty years of wandering in the wilderness
of the Jews under Moses and Joshua, to the Israelites and the
Christian world at the present time.
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A great national event of such a character sinks deep into the
consciousness of a people and will persist through ages.
In addition to the wampum device, already noticed, for the
preservation of historical facts, it was the custom of the Chicka-
saws and Choctaws to select, say, about twenty youths of each
generation, who were carefully instructed by their wise men in
their past history as well as in all things deemed advisable for the
public well being.
If it be said that there are too many variations or differences
in the traditions so handed down from generation to generation,
then it may be truly replied that such variations are inseparable
attendants upon all efforts to preserve records of past events.
Thus, the four gospels recording the life and teachings of
Jesus of Nazareth vary in many particulars, although he spoke
as never man sp)ake. However, taken as a whole, the gospels are
complete.
While Indian traditions fall in rank far below the written
history of any civilized people, still my conclusion is as indicated
above.
The suggestion of Cushman that the Muskhogeans were
driven from Mexico by the fire and sword of the marauder
Cortez is entirely untenable, when we reflect that the expedition
of De Soto was only some twenty years later than that of Cortez;
and that when De Soto passed the winter of 1540-1541 with the
Chickasaws, they appear to have been well seated at their homes,
and there was nothing to indicate that they had recentiy been
driven from Mexico.
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CHAPTER III
THE DAWN OF HISTORY FOB THE CHICKASAWS
The sixteenth century opened with the dawn of brighter
days for civilized man throughout the world. A new world
had been discovered, a quickening impulse had been given to art,
sdence was awakening, and the diffusion of knowledge becoming
more general, the renaissance was flowering into a fuller fruition.
The shackles of ignorance and superstition which had bound the
minds and hearts of mankind with far more rigor and cruelty
than the iron which bound their bodies were being gradually
unloosened; still centuries were to elapse before men were to be
indeed really free, a consummation not even yet fully realized.
The spirit of adventure and discovery, like a young Hercules,
was rejoicing in its vigor and achievements.
Soon Pizarro in Peru, Pedrarias in Central America, and
Cortez in Mexico had overrun and devastated these countries;
and returning to Spain brought enormous wealth, which excited
the imagination, and it may be added the cupidity, of mankind.
There had been born in Xerez (otherwise Jerez), in Spain,
of a noble family, but without fortune, a boy named Hernandez,
sometimes written Fernandez, and which is the equivalent for the
English Hernando. It appears he lived at a place in Spain
called Soto, and following the customs of those days he was, in
after years, called Hernando De Soto; that is Hernando of Soto.
He possessed talents more valuable than wealth, having a clear
and vigorous understanding, a quick apprehension, and courage
of the highest order, which niade him a born ruler of men. He
enlisted as a soldier of fortune in the Peru and Central American
Expeditions; was a captain in Nicaragua, lieutenant-general in
the conquest of Peru, and returning to Spain it is reported he
brought with him, as his part of the spoils, one hundred thousand
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peso de oro, equivalent to about three hundred thousand dollars,
an almost incredible fortune for those days.
He was liberal and lavish of his wealth, lending a large sum
to the emperor, and drew around him many of the most daring
and ablest young noblemen and adventurers, some of them
also of great wealth.
Being now in the vigor of life De Soto appears to have resided
in Xerez, and at court, probably, he met the widow of Pedrarias,
with whom he had been acquainted in Nicaragua, first cousin to
the celebrated Marchioness of Moya, lady-of-honor and life-long
favorite of Ysabel of Castilla. With her he contracted for a
love marriage with her daughter, named after her, Ysabel de
Bobadilla, and De Soto sent her a wedding gift of six thousand
ducats.
As showing the devotion of the young wife, it may be re-
marked that she accompanied De Soto on his ill-fated expedition
to Florida as far as Cuba; that after waiting in vain for three
years in expectancy of a happy reunion, she died of a broken
heart in three days after hearing of the death of her lord in
the wilds of America, and his burial in the great Mississippi River,
which is inseparably linked with his name.
Having achieved his highest ambitions in the land of his
nativity, De Soto looked with longing eyes again to the new world ,
and dreamed of the acquisition of still greater wealth and the
building of a new empire in Florida, a name denoting a vast and
unexplored country, of indeterminate boundaries, co-extensive,
probably, with one-half of the North American continent.
In Florida Ponce de Leon had sought in vain for the fountain
of youth, finding instead his own grave.
Soon thereafter Cabeca de Vaca returned from Florida,
stating that he and four others were the only survivors of the
armament sent out under the command of Panfilo de Narvaez, to
whom the **island of Florida** and the adjacent country had been
granted, upon his successfully exploring and subduing the same.
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Like Ponce de Leon, de Narvaez found death in his at-
tempted subjugation of Florida; but these failures but fired the
imagination and strengthened the purpose of De Soto to achieve
the conquest of Florida.
The details of this great enterprise is outside the scope of
this sketch. Suffice it to say that, in consideration of the fitting
out of an armament and the conquest and colonization of Florida,
the emperor was to grant many concessions to De Soto, who
was then made governor of Florida, and when successful in his
enterprise, he was to be governor and captain-general, with the
dignity of Adelantado for life, and high sheriff in perpetuity to
his heirs, over a part of the conquered country.
De Soto Lands In Florida—
On Friday, May 30, 1539, De Soto disembarked his ex-
peditionary force, which consisted, according to Biedma, of 620
men, 223 horses, besides many hogs, and equipments necessary for
such an extensive expedition, the landing being made in the
vicinity of the present Tampa, Florida.
Quite soon after the expedition began its journey, it was so
fortunate as to find with the Indians a Spaniard named Juan
Ortiz, who had been captured nine years before while a member
of the Narvaez expedition. He was entirely naked, brown, and
in appearance an Indian, speaking their language fluently, which
made him almost invaluable as an interpreter. His duplicity
when the expedition reached the country of the Chickasaws was
one of the causes that came near destroying the entire army.
The one thing that led the expedition ever onward, further
and further, was the expectation of finding gold and silver and
other treasures; in short they were seeking a new El Dorado.
They had only gone a few leagues on their journey when
they came to the Province of Paracoxi, and the Gentleman of
Elvassays:
'They were asked if they had knowledge or information of
any country where gold and silver might be found in plenty; to
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which they answered yes; that towards the sunset was a Province
called Cale, the inhabitants of which were at war with those of
territories where the greater portion of the year was summer, and
where there was so much gold that when the people came to
make war upon those of Cale, they wore golden hats like casques.
**As the cacique had not come, Gallegos, reflecting, suspected
the message designed for delay, that he might put himself in a
condition of safety; and fearing that, if those men were suffered
to depart, they might never return, he ordered them to be
chained together, and sent the news to camp by eight men on
horseback. The governor, hearing what had passed, showed
great pleasure, as did the rest who were with him, believing what
the Indians said might be true.*'
This naive statement of the untutored red men furnishes
an example of the manner in which the Indians sought to get rid
of their unwelcome visitors; or in the lingo of the cantonments
in these war times, they were simply "passing the buck" to
De Soto and his men.
From the four narratives it is next to impossible to mark
out with any degree of precision the route followed by De Soto
in his wanderings; but it is reasonably certain, speaking in
present day geographical terms, that he passed northward from
Florida into Georgia and possibly into South Carolina; thence
northwest, and in crossing upper Georgia, De Soto sent two
Spaniards with Indians northward to the Province of Chisca, for
he was told by the cacique of Acoste that in the Province of
Chisca there was a forge
"for copper or other metal of that color, though brighter,
having a much finer hue, and was to appearances much better,
but was not so much used for being softer; which was the state-
ment that had been given in Cutifachiqui, where we had seen
some chopping-knives that were said to have a mixture of gold"
(Elvas, p. 77.)
It is generally agreed that this Chisca was in Tennessee;
but it was not in middle Tennessee, where the map Bourne attached
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to Vol. 2 of his Trail Makers places it. The pioneers in east
Tennessee found near what is now Ducktown, in Polk County,
an extremely rich copper district, which for years and now is
being worked with great profit. Of course no gold was found, a
fact not referred to by the two Spaniards, though they did report
that the mountains were so high, '*it was impossible the army
should march in that direction"; and the same mountains stand
this day, barring the approach to the copper district from the
south, precisely as they did to the army of De Soto, now near
four hundred years ago.
The expedition then went southwestward until it came to
Mauilla, near where Mobile, Alabama, now is; and there a great
battle with the Indians was fought. It was the most disastrous
to the expedition up to that time, the results of which are stated
by Elvas:
"They who perished there were in all two thousand five
hundred, a few more or less; of the Christians there fell eighteen,
among whom was Don Carlos, brother-in-law of the governor;
one Juan de Gamez, a nephew; Men Rodriguez, a Portuguese;
and Juan Vazquez, of Villanueva de Barcarota, men of condition
and courage; the rest were infantry. Of the living, one hundred
and fifty Christians had received seven hundred wounds from
the arrow; and God was pleased that they should be healed in
little time of very dangerous injuries. Twelve horses died, and
seventy were hurt. The clothing the Christians carried with
them, the ornaments for saying mass, and the pearls, were
burned there ; they having set the fire themselves, because they
considered the loss less than the injury they might receive of the
Indians from within the houses, where they had brought the
things together.
"The governor learning in Mauilla that Francisco Maldonado
was waiting for him in the port of Ochuse, six days* travel distant,
he caused Juan Ortiz to keep the news secret, that he might not
be interrupted in his purpose; because the pearls he wished to
send to Cuba for show, that their fame might raise the desire of
coming to Florida, had been lost, and he feared that, hearing of
him without seeing either gold or silver, or other things of value
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from that land, it would come to have such reputation that no
one would be found to go there when men should be wanted; so
he determined to send no news of himself until he should have
discovered a rich country.*'
This was a fatal decision for De Soto in his search for riches.
He had lost up to this time 102 of his faithful followers, and was
eventually to lose his own life in the wilderness.
However, as he was seeking fame, he soon found it; for in
the discovery of the Mississippi River he more surely enrolled his
name in the annals of fame than if he had discovered mines of
silver and gold richer than all his dreams of avarice.
De Soto Beaches the Chlckasaws—
With both interest and pleasure we come now to follow in the
footsteps of De Soto to the land of the Chickasaws. By some
strange imperfection in the histories which have covered the
countries where the Chickasaws formerly dwelt, scant notice has
been given to that noble nation; and the debt of gratitude due
to them from the English-speaking world has never been duly
acknowledged. Some historians are like less learned people in
at least one respect; and that is, they sometimes copy or repeat
what others have said, without an inquiry into original sources
of information. Error thus becomes self-propagating. Of this
the Chickasaws have a right to complain, as well as cill who are
interested to know where De Soto discovered the Great Missis-
sippi River, an event of world-wide importance.
We are indebted to Edward Gaylord Bourne, professor of
history in Yale University, for the narratives of De Soto pub-
lished "in the Trail Makers Series"; but he has fallen into errors
which have been followed by others, as will appear more at large
hereinafter.
On the first page of his preface, and speaking of the im-
portance of De Soto's discoveries, he said :
"It was the first extensive exploration of at least six of our
Southern States, and their written history opens with the narra-
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tives which tell its story; these same narratives contain the
earliest descriptions which we possess of the life and manners of
the Southern Indians so famous in literature and history — the
Choctaws, the Cherokees, the Creeks, and the Seminoles; these
narratives also record the discovery of the Mississippi River and
the story of the first voyage upon it by Europeans."
I commend what is said as to the historical value of De Soto's
discoveries; but if Bourne is that careful and dependable his-
torian which some would have us believe, then why did he omit
in the above statement to mention the Chickasaw Indians, the
only tribe mentioned in the De Soto narratives which can be
identified by the name attributed to them by the I>e Soto nar-
ratives, and which they bear to this day?
Elvas and Ranjel wrote their name Chicaca; Biedma and
Garcilaso, Chicaza; Adair, who knew them in 1735, and lived with
them, wrote it Chickkasah; the great John Wesley in 1736 wrote
it Chickasaws, while we now write the name Chickasaw, the
name thus identifying this tribe, and this tribe only by name, of
all those visited by De Soto, who found them at precisely the
same place, where they continued to live until their removal to
the Indian Territory in 1836.
The De Soto narratives will be searched in vain for any
of the names Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, or Seminole, or any near
approach thereto. Why omit to mention not only the Indian
nation which we know positively De Soto visited but which by
its valor and superiority deserved especial notice; which en-
tertained De Soto and supplied all his wants during a most
severe winter; and when insulted and mistreated came near
destroying the entire expedition?
Does not such an omission and mistakes hereafter to be
noted awaken a doubt as to the conclusions reached by those
who make them as to matters of great moment, where others
equally learned have come to a different conclusion?
De Soto had lost up to the time he left Manilla 102 of his
faithful followers, and he turned northward, and on December 14,
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1540, he came to the River Chucaca, evidently named for the
Chickasaws, and now known as the Tombigbee.
When De Soto indicated his purpose to cross the river, the
Chickasaws disputed his passage; whereupon De Soto sent an
Indian messenger to the cacique
"to say that if he wished his friendship he should quietly
wait for him; but they killed the messenger before his eyes, and
with loud yells departed.
*'He crossed the river the seventeenth of December, and ar-
rived the same day at Chicaca, a small town of twenty bouses.
There the people underwent severe cold, for it was already winter,
and snow fell; the greater number then were lying in the fields,
it being before they had time to put up habitations. The land
was thickly inhabited, the people living about over it as they do
in Manilla; and as it was fertile, the greater part being under
cultivation, there was plenty of maize. So much grain was
brought together as was needed for getting through with the
season." (Elvas, p. 100.)
The Original Chickasaws as They Were—
We have followed De Soto into the land of the Chickasaws.
He and his followers were the first white men to visit their
country and to look into their faces. They were great travelers
and ever on the alert, and the news that De Soto had put other
Indians into chains and captivity, as well as the news of the
battle at Manilla, had doubtless reached the Chickasaws long
before the expedition had reached their country. Biedma says
the expedition was detained at the river three days before a
passage was effected, which was finally accomplished and the
expedition installed for the winter as shown above.
It seems to me as this is the dawn of history for the Chicka-
saws, and that history not written by them, but by the Spaniards,
who delighted to call themselves christians, it is highly im-
portant to inquire what manner of people were the original
Chickasaws who roamed the forest when first seen by white men.
Here is a brief pen picture of that splendid race now almost extinct
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in the course of a few years. The average citizen believes that
our Chickasaws were a shiftless kind of savage, wandering ov^r
the country, living in bark or skin tepees and depending entirely
upon the chase and fishing for a living. This is a very great
mistake. They were a self-reliant, self-respecting people; and
it may be added they required others to respect them. They
had good houses, suitable to their conditions and means of build-
ing, to live in, those for the summer months being somewhat
different from those they lived in for the winter, which were so
constructed as to be warmer and more comfortable.
Their houses were not only clean, but their lives pure, and
their women were gracious, many of them very handsome; and
what is more important, they were chaste and pure, for Haywood,
r^arded as the father of history in Tennessee, assures us that
no Chickasaw girl was ever known to give birth to a child before
wedlock. Of how many so-called civilized people can this be
said?
And, moreover, there were no orphans in the Chickasaw
nation ; nor was there need for an orphan asylum.
It is true that fathers and mothers died, leaving little children,
and the fathers were often slain in battle, but under their system
of laws governing these matters, when a child became motherless
and fatherless, then that child was immediately placed with
some near designated relative able to care for the child, who
became thereby adopted into this new family, and was as much
a member thereof, and received the same love and care as the
children bom to the p)arents of the family. And the Chickasaws
made no difference between these adopted children and those of
their own blood. Are not these matters of family purity, and
the loving care and solicitude lavished upon helpless orphanage,
evidences of a nobility of character worthy of imitation even
among the most civilized and refined people on this globe?
At the same time the Chickasaw warriors were the bravest
of the brave, and for fidelity of character they were the peers of
any nation of ancient or modern times. There was compara-
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tively speaking, but a handful of them, estimated by various
authorities, and at various times from 2,000 to 4,000 souls.
The Choctaws, Creeks, and Cherokees mentioned by Bourne
in the excerpt quoted above, each one of them, had as many
warriors as the Chickasaws had warriors, women, and children,
aged and infirm put together, and yet the Chickasaws were more
than a match for any of these tribes, and defied all comers.
Their home country and hunting grounds comprised the
vast and splendid domain described by Piomingo hereinbefore
quoted, over which they were the acknowledged overlords, and
no Indian nation, however large, dared dispute their overlord-
ship.
As to their form of government, it was one of the purest
democracies. There was a chief, sometimes called by writers a
King, because his duties and prerogatives resembled those of a king.
However, they were never guilty of the folly of having a hered-
itary ruling king, or other hereditary rulers or classes. A
Chickasaw became chief or a subordinate chief, by the choice
of the nation solely because he had achieved that distinction
by deeds for the nation that entitled him to leadership. He
enjoyed that distinction only so long as his merits entitled him
thereto.
They never went to war except after the most careful
deliberation of all the warriors, followed by fasting and prayer
to the "Beloved One that dwelleth in the blue sky," for his aid
and protection in the impending conflict. In war they neither
gave or expected quarter, and would die at the burning stake
without uttering a word of pain or a request for mercy.
They were of a deeply religious nature, but superstition was
a stranger to them.
Unlike most uncivilized peoples, the appearance of a comet
or an eclipse or an earthquake brought no terrors to them.
These they regarded as a part of natural phenomena, under
the guidance of the "Beloved One," who governed all things,
and bestowed upon his children all of the good things which
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their merits deserved. When that great philanthropist, General
James Oglethorpe, about 1733, procured permission of King
George to come to America and found a colony for the poor and
oppressed people of England who could not make a respectable
living for themselves and families, he took care soon after set-
tling at Savannah, Georgia, to seek out and make a league of
friendship with that small and distant nation, the intrepid
Chickasaws, though they lived nearly a thousand miles in the
western wilderness near the great Mississippi. The Chickasaws
proved a bulwark of strength to Oglethorpe and his infant
colony.
When General James Robertson, that conspicuous character
in the settlement of middle Tennessee, was striving to lay the
foundation for his colony at the French Lick, he likewise sought
out the intrepid Chickasaws and made a league of friendship
with them; and but for their valor and fidelity his settle-
ment would doubtless have been wiped from the face of the
earth.
When the Revolutionary war was over, and the North-
western Indians beyond the Ohio and about the Great Lakes
were carrying fire and destruction to the outposts of civilization,
and "Mad" Anthony Wayne was striving to raise an army to
succor civilization in the wilderness, President George Wash-
ington, "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his
countrymen," appealed to the Chickasaws to aid the United
States, to which they cheerfully responded.
It was a proud saying of the Chickasaws that they never
raised the hatchet against the English-speaking people; and if /
nobility of character and fidelity in the execution of every league ,
of friendship and treaty ought to be rewarded, then there was noth-
ing too good for the people and the government of the United States
to bestow upon the Chickasaws, but it has been said, and some-
times I think with some truth, that republics are ungrateful; at
least such has been proven to be the case so far as the Chickasaws
are concerned.
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Battle with the Chlekasaws—
It should be borne in mind that the appearance of white
men, clad in coats and other vestments of metal armor, and
mounted on horseback generally struck terror to the hearts of
the Indians when they first looked upon white men, armored and
mounted.
In Mexico, upon tlie first appearance of Cortez and his
followers, the Indians thought the mounted men and the horses
on which they rode were unearthly, gigantic monsters which had
come to destroy them and their country and that resistance
would be useless. But we have seen that the Chickasaws were not
to be so easily frightened, and though their weapons were inferior
to those of the Spaniards; and though the latter had upon them
coats-of-mail and were mounted on horses which were likewise
protected by armour, still we shall see the Chickasaws gladly
matched their prowess with that of the Spaniards in three
separate contests. They did not ask the aid of other Indians,
feeling themselves self-sufficient for any emergency that might
arise.
Three of the four narrators do not mention the name of the
cacique or chief of the Chickasaws; but there is a sentence in
Ranjel (p. 132) which, though somewhat involved, gives the name
of the principal chief as Miculasa; while the Gentleman of Elvas
gives the names of his two subordinate Chiefs as Alimamu and
Niculasa.
It frequently happens that the narrators give different
names both to persons and places; but this is not strange when
we remember that they had no guide as to the spelling, and
guessed at spelling from the sound of the words, as best they could.
Having taken possession, evidently against the will of the
Chickasaws, De Soto sought to open up communications, seizing
certain of the Indians and among them one that was much
esteemed by Miculasa, the chief, who came to see De Soto on
January 3, 1541, being borne upon the shoulders of his warriors.
Biedmasays:
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"He gave us deer skins and little dogs (of which the Spaniards
were fond). The people returned, and every day Indians came
and went, bringing us many hares and whatever else the
country supplied."
According to Elvas when Chief Miculasa came to see De
Soto,
"He came, and offered him the service of his person, territories,
and subjects; he said that he would cause two chiefs to visit him
in peace. In a few days he returned with them, they bringing
their Indians. They presented the governor 150 conies, with
clothing of the country, such as shawls and skins.
"The name of one was Alimamu, of the other Niculasa."
I have quoted from Elvas hereinbefore that "so much grain
was brought together as was needed for getting through the sea-
son.
Or, stated in one sentence. Chief Miculasa offered to De
Soto his personal services, those of his people and territories, and
actually supplied everything necessary for man and beast of the
entire army, consisting of some 250 men (Biedma, page 21) and at
least 100 head of horses, hogs, etc.
That this was a heavy burden to be suddenly placed upon an
uncivilized people, does not admit of question, and at least shows
that the Chickasaws were good livers.
When the expedition had fairly settled down. Chief Niculasa
asked De Soto to aid him in the suppression of his vassal, the chief of
Saquechuma (or Sacchuema-Ranjel), who had rebelled against
Niculasa. De Soto, taking thirty cavalry and eighty infantry,
went to the province said to be in rebellion and found the houses
deserted, which were burned up. Ranjel states that thereupon
peace was made, and does not hint of any trick or dissimulation
on the part of the Indians. However, the Gentleman of Elvas
states that the whole affair was a dissimulation on the part of
Niculasa, who wished to separate the army into two parts so
that it could be the more easily destroyed; but that, owing to the
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vigilance of the governor, his men were at all times on guard
and no opportunity was afforded to make the contemplated
attack.
However this may be, it is certain that the governor was
sending for the chief, and sending a horse upon which the chief
was to ride in making his visits to dine with the governor, and
we may well believe that the governor took occasion to make many
fair and flattering speeches to the chief.
The Gentleman of Elvas gives a very clear and the best
account of the causes which led to the sanguinary conflict between
the army of De Soto and the Chickasaws, on March 4, 1541, and
the results thereof; and I do not think I can do better than to
quote from him, beginning at page 102, as follows:
"The governor invited the caciques and some chiefs to dine
with him, giving them pork to eat, which they so relished,
although not used to it, that every night Indians would come
up to some houses where the hogs slept,a cross-bow shot off from the
camp, to kill and carry away what they could of them. Three
were taken in the act; two the governor commanded to be slain
with arrows, and the remaining one, his hands having been cut
off, was sent to the cacique, who appeared grieved that they had
given offense, and glad that they were punished. This chirf was
half a league from where the Christians were in an open country,
whither wandered off four of the cavalry, Francisco Osorio,
Reynoso, a servant of the Marquis of Astorga, and two servants
of the governor — the one, Ribera, his page, the other, Fuentes,
his chamberlain. They took some skins and shawls from the
Indians, who made great outcry in consequence and abandoned
their houses. When the governor heard of it, he ordered them
to be apprehended, and condemned Osorio and Fuentes to death,
as principals, and all of them to lose their goods. The friars, the
priests, and other principal personages solicited him to let Osorio
live and moderate the sentence; but he would do so for no one.
When about ordering them to be taken to the town-yard to be
beheaded, some Indians arrived, sent by the chief to complain
of them. Juan Ortiz, at the entreaty of Baltasar de Gallegos
and others, changed their words, telling the governor, as from
the cacique, that he had understood those Christians had been
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arrested on his account; that they were in no fault, having of-
fended him in nothing, and that if he would do him a favor, to
let them go free; then Ortiz said to the Indians that the governor
had the persons in custody, and would visit them with such
punishment as should be an example to the rest. The prisoners
were ordered to be released.
"So soon as March had come, the governor, having de-
termined to leave Chicaca, asked 200 tamemes of the cacique,
who told him that he would confer with his chiefs. Tuesday, the
eighth, he went where the cacique was to ask for the carriers,
and was told that he would send them the next day. When the
governor saw the chief, he said to Luis de Moscoso that the
Indians did not appear right to him; that a very careful watch
should be kept that night, to which the field marshal paid little
attention. At four o'clock in the morning the Indians fell upon
them in four squadrons, from as many quarters, and directly as
they were discovered, they beat a drum. With loud shouting,
they came in such haste, that they entered the camp at the same
moments with some scouts that had been out; of which, by the
time those in the town were aware, half the houses were in flames.
That night it had been the turn of three horsemen to be of the
watch — ^two of them of low degree, the least value of any in the
camp, and the third a nephew of the governor, who had been
deemed a brave man until now, when he showed himself as great
a coward as either of the others; for they all fled, and the Indians,
finding no resistance, came up and set fire to the place. They
waited outside of the town for the Christians, behind the gates,
as they should come out of the doors, having had no opportunity
to put on their arms; and as they ran in all directions, bewildered
by the noise, blinded by the smoke and the brightness of the
flame, knowing not whither they were going, or were able to find
their arms, or put saddles on their steeds, they saw the Indians
who shot arrows at them. Those of the horses that could break
their halters got away, and many were burned to death in the
stalls.
"The confusion and rout were so great that each man fled
by the way that first opened to him, there being none to oppose
the Indians; but God, who chastiseth his own as he pleaseth, and
in the greatest wants and perils hath them in his hand, shut the
eyes of the Indians, so that they could not discern what they
had done, and believed that the beasts running about loose were
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the cavalry gathering to fall upon them. The governor, with a
soldier named Tapia, alone got mounted, and charging upon the
Indians, he struck down the first of them he met with a blow of
the lance, but went over with the saddle, because in the haste it
had not been tightly drawn, and he fell. The men on foot,
running to a thicket outside of town, came together there; the
Indians imagining, as it was dcU'k, that the horses were cavalry
coming upon them, as has been stated, they fled, lea\ang only
one dead, which was he the governor smote.
"The town lay in cinders. A woman, with her husband,
having left a house, went back to get some pearls that had re-
mained there; and when she would have come out again the fire
had reached the door and she could not, neither could her hus-
band assist her, so she was consumed. Three Christians came
out of the fire in so bad plight that one of them died in three
days from that time, and the two others for a long while were
carried in their pallets, on poles borne on the shoulders of Indians,
for otherwise they could not have got along. There died in this
affair eleven Christians and fifty horses. lOO of the swine re-
mained, 400 having been destroyed, from the conflagration of
Mauilla.
*'If, by good luck, anyone had been able to save a garment
until then, it was there destroyed. Many remained naked, not
having had time to catch up their skin dresses. In that place
they suffered greatly from cold, the only relief being in large fires,
and they passed the night long in turning, without the power to
sleep; for as one side of a man would warm, the other would
freeze. Some contrived mats of dried grass sewed together, one
to be placed below and the other above them; many who laughed
at this expedient were afterwcU"ds compelled to do likewise.
The Christians were left so broken up that, with the want of the
saddles and arms which had been destroyed, had the Indians
returned the second night, they might, with little effort, have
been overpowered. They removed from that town to the one
where the cacique was accustomed to live, because it was in the
open field. In eight days' time they had constructed many
saddles from the ash and likewise lances, as good as those made
in Biscay.*'
Gcu-cilaso de la Vega gives substantially the same account as
the Gentleman of Elvas, but adds some additional particulars,
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among them that the Chickasaw chief chose a dark and
cloudy night when a north wind was blowing furiously to make
the attack.
That the chief divided his forces into three bands, so as
to make the attack simultaneously in three several places, the
chief leading in person the force which attacked in the center.
He adds:
''Immediately the air resounded with the blasts of conch
shells, the rumbling of wooden drums, and the yells and war
whoops of the savages, who rushed like demons to the assault.
Many had lighted matches, like cords, made of a vegetable
substance, which, whirled in the air, would blaze up into flame;
others had arrows tipped with the same. These they hurled upon
the houses, which being of reeds and straw, instantly took fire,
and the wind blowing strongly, were soon wrapped in flames."
Ranjel says that the Indians
"entered the camp in many detachments, beating drums
as if it had been in Italy, and setting fire to the camp, they
burned and captured fifty-nine horses, and three of them they
shot through the shoulders with arrows."
He added:
"If the Indians had known how to follow up their victory,
this would have been the last day of the lives of the Christians
of that army, and made an end of the demand for carriers."
We also learn from Garcilaso that the woman who was
burned up was the wife of a worthy soldier, and that she was the
only white woman that had accompanied the expedition from
Spain. That she was a white woman is not stated by any of the
other three narrators, and it will be seen that the sentence from
Elvas in reference to her death is obscure, but not in conflict
with Garcilaso.
Her husband had left her behind when he rushed forth to
fight, and she had escaped from the burning house, but returned
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.to save some pearls; and was cut off by the flames from her
second retreat and was found burned to death.
The loss of the Spaniards, according to Elvas, was eleven
Christians and fifty horses; according to Ranjel, twelve Chris-
tians and fifty-nine horses; while Garcilaso says forty Spaniards
fell in combat and fifty horses perished and many more were
wounded ; that the darts had been skillfully aimed at the vital parts
of the horses. One horse had two shafts through the heart, shot
from different directions. Another horse, one of the heaviest
in the army, was killed, sped by such a vigorous arm that the
arrow had passed through both shoulders and four fingers'
breadth beyond.
Biedma in his usual laconic style, says:
'The Indians did us very great injury, killing fifty-seven
horses, more than three hundred hogs, and thirteen or fourteen
men; and it was a great, mysterious providence of God that
though we were not resisting them, nor giving them any cause to
do so, they turned and fled; had they followed us up, not a man
of all our number could have escaped. Directly we moved to a
cottage about a mile off.*'
In the last conflict between the Spaniards and the Chicka-
saws, as will be seen in the next chapter, the number of Spaniards
who then lost their lives in battle is stated in a rather equivocal
way; but it seems certain that at least fifteen died on the forward
march, and I am inclined to the opinion that as many Spaniards
perished in the last as did in the first battle.
The loss in the first battle of so much of De Soto's weapons,
armor, horses, hogs, etc., was probably as great a weakening
of the army as the loss of the lives of the Spaniards.
We must always bear in mind that our source of informa-
tion comes from the Spaniards, who no doubt colored their
accounts to their advantage, and doubtless to the disadvantage
of the Chickasaws.
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It will be noted that all four of the narratives state the
loss of some 300 head of hogs, which were greatly prized by
De Soto. How he contrived to carry with his army so large a
number of these slow-moving and easily-wearied animals through
the wilderness, and to so keep them that they constantly mul-
tiplied, is one of the marvels of this extraordinary expedition.
He saved enough, however, for stock, for after his death. May 21,
1542, his personal effects were sold at auction, and among these
his h<^, which brought 200 cruzados per head, to be paid at
the end of the expedition, upon a division of the fruits thereof,
or if none, then within one year. From that time forward most
of the people raised hogs and ate freely of pork.
In an interesting article published by Mr. E. T. Winston,
of Pontotoc, in his paper, The Advance, November 22, 191 7,
he reviews this episode in the travels of De Soto with respect
to the loss of so many of his hogs, many of which escaped into
the wilds and became the progenitors of multitudes of wild
hogs found by the earliest settiers in Mississippi.
Mr. Winston felicitates the State of Mississippi as the
place furnishing the time, the place, and the occasion when
"hog and hominy" first met, although the meeting was destined
to give rise to the near destruction of the De Soto expedi-
tion, which furnished the hogs while the Indians furnished the
hominy.
It is well known that maize, or Indian corn, was a gift of
incalculable value from the Indians of the new world to civili-
zation, more of that grain being now raised in the United States
that any other cereal, the crop for 1917, being 3,247,512,000
bushels, valued at $4,871,268,000, a sum so great as to stagger
the imagination. Lye hominy, so much used throughout the
South before the Civil War, and now put up in cans by large
corporations for general distribution through the channels of
trade and commerce, is a very wholesome and nourishing article
of diet, a gift of the Indians to the world, which the Chickasaws
called "Tom-fuUa."
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What Caused the Confllet-
It is perfectly evident from the account of the Spaniards
that the attack by the Chickasaws upon the Spaniards was
brought about by two causes which justly incensed the Indians.
In the first place the Spaniards had appropriated corn and
other provisions belonging to the Indians worth probably ten
times the value of all of the Spanish hogs. Doubtless the Indians
thought that a fair exchange was no robbery; and conceding that
some of these hogs were taken without permission, still it does
seem a harsh and cruel punishment to have put two Indians to
death therefor; and furthermore to have cut off the hands of a
third one and sent him to his people. While I am well aware
that the men at that day and time are not to be judged by the
standards of the present, still the duplicity of Juan Ortiz turned
the retributory sentence pronounced by De Soto on his fellows
who had robbed the Indians into a perfect mockery of justice.
It is true that De Soto had decreed the same punishment on
his own followers, that he had visited on the Indians for a like
offense; but he was deceived, and the ends of justice defeated by
the deception of Ortiz and his confederates; but we may be as-
sured that his falsehoods did not deceive the ever vigilant and
intelligent Chickasaws. The most unfortunate phase of the
matter is that in all probability the Indians were never made
aware of the deception practiced upon De Soto by his own fol-
lowers.
In the next place the demand made by the Spaniards for
porters was probably the immediate cause for the attack made
by the Chickasaws upon the expedition. Nothing could escape
the vigilance of the Chickasaws, for the smallness of the nation,
surrounded by hostile neighbors, so much more numerous than
themselves, made the trite saying, "eternal vigilance is the price
of liberty," a part of the very warp and woof of their existence.
I doubt not that they had a complete history of the treatment
of the Spaniards towards the Indians before reaching their
country; and if so, they knew that if a tribe once furnished the
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desired porters, they were not only compelled to carry burdens
all day, but were compelled to make camp, and when camp was
made, it was their duty to feed the stock, do the cooking, and in
short, do all menial work; they were secured by chains in order to
prevent escape, and carried as virtual prisoners, either to death,
or so far from their people that they could never return again to
their beloved country.
Evidently the Chickasaws preferred death to such a fate,
and were ready to stake their all on an unequal contest. This
they did not only in the manner set forth above, but in a few days
they renewed the attack, but without success. De Soto was
almost completely cast down by the terrible assaults of the fear-
less and intrepid Chickasaws. He had become convinced from
appearances that the Indians were contemplating a battle,
saying to his followers: "To night is an Indian night. I shall
sleep armed and my horse saddled."
He charged Luis de Moscoso, master of the camp, that he
should take extra precautions that night in regard to the sentinels,
since they were to start on their journey next day. Moscoso put
on the morning watch three of the most useless men, mounted on
the poorest horses in the camp. For his gross negligence in this
regard De Soto deposed Moscoso, and appointed Baltazar de
Gallegos in his place.
In the next chapter I will take up the line of march from the
Chickasaw country to the place where De Soto discovered the
Mississippi River, and then we will see that the Chickasaws made
a third attempt to destroy the Spaniards. As that chapter will
deal particularly with the place at which the great river was
discovered and is intended as an answer to those who contend
that it was discovered in Tunica County, Mississippi, and who
also affect to reject the narrative of Garcilaso de la Vega, "the
Inca," I will not in that chapter quote from or say anything upon
the authority of GcU-cilaso, though I consider his narrative an
extremely valuable contribution to our knowledge of what really
occurred during the De Soto expedition.
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However, as showing the bravery and indomitable spirit of
the Chickasaws, Garcilaso tells at length of the complicated and
well-built fort the Chickasaws had constructed near a rapid
river which we now call the Tallahatchie, and of the sanguinary
conflict which there took place.
I select these two excerpts (p. 306) as showing the prowess
and intrepidity of the Chickasaws:
"At the first discharge, Diego de Castro, Luis Bravo, and
Francisco de Figueroa, were brought to the ground, mortally
wounded. All three were pierced in the thighs with arrows barbed
with flinty for the savages^ having gained some experience during
their warfare with the Spaniards, always aimed at the thighs
which was never guarded. The Spaniards, seeing their companions
fall, shouted to one another to rush in, and leave the Indians no
time to gall them with their arrows. They charged furiously,
and drove the enemy before them to the very portals of the
fortress.
"While Juan de Anasco and Andres de Vasconcelos attacked
the savages on the flank, De Soto with twenty horses, charged
upon the other. As the governor was spurring onward, an arrow
struck him upon his casque with such force that it rebounded a
pike's length in the air, and De Soto confessed afterwards that
it made his eyes flash fire. Pressed by the united shock of horse
and foot, the Indians made for the entrance of the fort, but
these were so narrow that a great number were slaughtered with-
out the walls. The Spaniards rushed in, pell-mell, with them.
* * *
"One of the savages who had escaped, desirous of showing
his skill with the bow and arrow, separated himself from his
companions, and shouted to the Spaniards, giving them to
understand, by signs and words,. that he challenged any archer
to come out and have a shot with him, to prove which was the
better marksman. Upon this, Juan de Salinas, a brave Austrian
(Asturian?) hidalgo, who with some companions had sheltered
himself among trees from the arrows, stepped forth, and walking
down to the bank of the river, took his stand opposite to the
Indian. One of his companions called to him to wait until
he should come to guard him with his shield ; but Salinas refused
to take any advantage of his enemy. He placed an arrow in his
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cro86-bow, while the Indian also selected one from his quiver,
and both drew at the same moment.
"The dart of Juan de Salinas took effect, and pierced the
Indian's breast. He would have fallen, but was received in the
arms of his companions, who bore him away, more dead than
alive. The Indian's arrow pierced the Spaniard in the nape of
the neck and remained crowed in the wound. Salinas returned
with it in this state to his comrades, well pleased with his success.
'^The comrades of the fallen Indian allowed him to depart
without molestation, as the challenge had been man to man."
The bravery thus displayed, not only by the Chickasaws
as a nation, but by the Chickasaw warrior who defiantly chal-
lenged any archer of the De Soto army to single combat, com-
mands the admiration of all who respect valor, and those who
willingly offer their lives upon the altar of their country that
their countrymen may enjoy the priceless privilege of freedom.
Can any Mississippian, Tennessean, Kentuckian, or Ala-
bamian whose home once lay within the domains of that splendid'
territory over which the Chickasaws were the acknowledged
overlords, read the simple story left by the Spaniards of the
fight for liberty made by the Chickasaws, and not be thrilled
with emotions of admiration for those who first occupied their
homes?
Claiborne, the greatest of Mississippi historians, after
giving an account of the battle of the Chickasaws with the
Spaniards for freedom, eloquently concludes:
"History records no bolder enterprise. A fortified camp,
defended by the best soldiers of Europe, armed with what the
Indians called thunder and lightning, attacked by naked savages
with bows and war clubs: All honor to this noble race of war-
riors— these native Mississippians who subsequently, in defense
of their homes and fireside, defeated and disgraced three French
armies sent to subdue them. And may this ever be the fate of
the invader of the territory of a free people."
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CHAPTER IV
TOPOGKAPHT OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN THE CHICKASAW
COUNTRY AND CHICKASAW BLUFFS
On February i8, 191 7, Dr. Dunbar Rowland, Director of
the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, published
a paper in the Commercial Appeal, the purpose of which was to
show that De Soto discovered the Mississippi River in Tunica
County, Mississippi, at a point he cannot locate; and it may be
added, nor can any one else.
Soon thereafter Judge J. P. Young, author of the History of
Memphis and other works, replied to Dr. Rowland in a very
vigorous manner, insisting that De Soto discovered the great
river at the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, named after that intrepid
and splendid nation, the Chickasaws; these bluffs being their
entrepot or landing, from which, on the bosom of the Father of
Waters, they traveled in their water craft to the northern-
most parts of their princely domains, which stretched up the
Mississippi, then up the Ohio beyond the mouth of the Tennessee
to the dividing ridge between it and the Cumberland River, in
what is now the State of Kentucky. Memphis is built on the
Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, and if Judge Young is correct, it was
here that the great river was first discovered in May, 1541.
Centenary Vol. II, Publications of the Mississippi Historical
Society, so ably edited by Dr. Rowland, has just come to hand,
and contains the two papers referred to, together with a second
paper by Dr. Rowland in reply to Judge Young.
These papers having thus been put in permanent form, the
purpose of this paper is to meet Dr. Rowland on his favorite
arena, as disclosed in his last paper, and to show beyond a
reasonable doubt that De Soto discovered the Mississippi, the
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longest river in the worid, at the point whereon Memphis is now
situated.
Like Judge Young, from childhood to young manhood I
lived in Mississippi, in De Soto County, fifteen miles southeast
of Memphis, and love that State; but the question is at what
point was the river discovered, and this question must be an-
swered according to the facts as they were, and not as we would
have them to be.
Dr. Rowland Has Shifted the Bulwark of His Defense—
The discussion between the two eminent authors as disclosed
in the papers is pitched on high ground, as become men of their
character, and I would not have it supposed that in what I may
say I desire in any way to make invidious criticisms, for my
only purpose is to throw light on this most interesting question,
and contribute, if I can, to its proper solution.
That Dr. Rowland has shifted the main bulwark of the
defense of his theory I think is quite plain, for in his first paper
on page 145 of the work referred to, he says:
"I freely admit in the outset that the claim of Memphis as
the place where the great river was discovered has been accepted
by some Memphians but that acceptance has, no doubt, been
based on the narrative of Garcilaso de la Vega, *the Inca,' which
careful and complete investigation has shown to be unreliable,
and not in accord with the narrative of the facts as given in all
contemporary accounts."
Further on I will challenge this conclusion as to the **Inca."
But for the present mark that he says the claim of Memphis has
been accepted "by some Memphians," the plain implication being
that only "by some Memphians" claim that the river was dis-
covered here, and that the claim has no other support.
Judge Young met this claim of Dr. Rowland and utterly
destroyed it, by showing that many historians, through a series
of many years, had designated the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff as the
place where De Soto discovered the Mississippi. What is of
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prime importance is that among these authors cited by Judge
Young, and from whom he quoted, was Bancroft, whose repu-
tation as an accurate and accomplished historian is nation-wide,
and I think it may be said he has international reputation, and
greater than that of all the historians cited by Dr. Rowland, if
it were possible to combine their several reputations in one.
And, moreover, Judge Young also quotes from J. F. H.
Claiborne, in Mississippi as a State and Territory, easily the
most noted of all Mississippi historians, for Claiborne likewise
supports the claim that the river was discovered where Memphis
now stands.
Evidently the idea that the claim of Memphis has been
accepted only "by some Memphians" was exploded.
In his second paper (p. 159) Dr. Rowland says that the most
reliable source of information is found in original records. Next
in importance, he insists, comes the topography and geology of
the country through which the expedition passed. To these
views I give my hearty assent, and upon this arena which Dr.
Rowland has thus chosen, I wish to meet him.
His statement that the geology of the country is the same
is entirely correct; but his further statement that the topography
is the same is only partially correct, for the Indian villages and
forests are not only gone, but a large part of the hills on the
route have been so gullied and gutted by rains and the elements
since the country was denuded of its forests, the valleys so filled
with sand, and the rivers and creeks so choked up and dwindled
away, as to present only a faint topographical resemblance to
the time of De Soto, now (1919) 378 years ago.
The late Ab Myers, of Byhalia, Mississippi, speaking to
me on this subject many years ago, said that he had all the works
of De Tocqueville, the noted French philosopher and writer, and
that De Tocqueville in his travels through that part of the state,
noticing the great quantities of sand in the soil, predicted that
in 100 years after the settlement of the country, it would become
a howling wilderness. It must be admitted that the prophecy
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has been to some extent fulfilled, but quite enough remains for
the present discussion.
I hasten to add, parenthetically, that in recent years less
cotton is being planted in the Mississippi uplands, while more
livestocks of all kinds are raised, and these changes, coupled with
diversification in farming, are working a transformation in the
state.
In a recent letter to me by W. T. Ross, cashier of the Holly
Springs Bank, who has been connected therewith for forty
years, he says:
"Holly Springs was named for the beautiful spring sur-
rounded by holly trees, but the sand has covered up the spring,
and not a holly tree is to be seen. My father told me that when
he came here in 1836, the spring was about thirty feet wide and
ten feet deep, and would swim a horse. This spring formed a
bold creek that emptied into Tallaloosa, southwest of the town."
When Mr. Ross was a lad, the spring was still running pretty
strong. On July 21, 1918, he walked with me over and through
back yards to show me the spot where this beautiful spring once
flowed, not a vestige of it or its beautiful trees being left, its site
being in what appeared to be a back yard for cattle !
How Lsnguage Should be Interpreted—
We all know that there is no direct communication between
the minds of men, and that our thoughts, conceptions, and ideas
must usually be conveyed by words, written or spoken. The
frailty of human speech or written language to correctly convey
what we wish others to know has often been lamented, and we
are frequently forced to resort to rules of interpretation. Inter-
pretation may be defined as the art of finding out the true sense
of any set of words; that is, the sense which their author intended
to convey. In order to do this we must view the situation of the
party who wrote the words, as well as all his surroundings, so as
to place ourselves in the position which he occupied. Applying
the principle to the subject of this discussion we must inquire
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what was the topography of the country through which the
writers had to pass; what roads or trails, if any, could be made
available, and their respective difficulties, and generally to put
ourselves in their places so as to ascertain the true meaning of the
language used. This leads us to a consideration of the topog-
raphy of the country, and what was the most available route to
pursue for the objects of the expedition. Manifestly, likewise,
all that the narrators say must be considered and construed to-
gether, and not quoted in part, much less garbled, as I think has
been done.
In Lieber's Hermeneuiics, or the principles of interpretation
and construction (p. 71), it is said:
**In the first place it must begin with what is likewise the
first rule of criticism.
"We must convince ourselves that the text be genuine, that
is that it has proceeded from the utterer from whom it purports
to have proceeded, or from whom others assert it to have pro-
ceeded; or that it belongs to that period at which it is maintained
that it originated. This is a rule of paramount importance in all
departments, and not the least so in politics, whether it refer to
documents issued by the highest authority, or to reports of
speeches, or to conversational sayings of a political char-
acter."
The correctness of these principles is so obvious that it
would seem unneccessary to appeal thereto; nevertheless, we will
see further on a flagrant violation of the foregoing elementary and
paramount rule, in that the texts of the narratives have been
misquoted and garbled to a degree that is surprising. We need
not impute any improper motive, and indeed may assume that
everything has been written in the utmost good faith; never-
theless, the question remains as to what is the true interpretation
of the language used by the various narrators; and fidelity in
strictly quoting the exact language as written lies at the very
threshold of this discussion, and can not be evaded if we would
rather pursue another course.
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The Trails of the Chickasaw Indian*—
In the celebrated conference between the Chickasaw, Creek,
and Cherokee Indians at Nashville in 1792, and Governor Blount,
James Robertson, and others, Piomingo, the great Chickasaw
chief, thus described the boundaries of their lands:
"I will describe the boundaries of our lands. It begins on
the Ohio at the ridge which divides the waters of Tennessee and
Cumberland, and extends with the ridge, eastwardly, as far as
the most eastern waters of Elk River; thence across the Tennessee,
and a neck of land, to Tenchacunda Creek, a southern branch of
the Tennessee, and up the same to its source; thence to the waters
of the Tombigby; that is, to the west fork of Long Leaf Pine
Creek, and down it to the line of the Chickasaws and Choctaws,
a little below the trading road."
In 1794 President George Washington gave to the Chicka-
saws a certificate confirming to them their right to the territory so
described by Piomingo.
The expression often used with respect to the condition of
this country at the time of its discovery, as being a pathless
wilderness, has in it scarcely a vestige of truth. The trails or
traces of the Indians extended hundreds of miles in all directions
and they criss crossed each other over the whole continent, and
over these the Indians constantly traveled on continuous trips
thousands of miles. The Chickasaws were great travelers, and
thought nothing of going to the far West, over their trails to
Mobile on the Gulf, to Savannah and Charleston on the Atlantic,
and to the Great Lakes in the far North, where they waged
furious warfare with the Iroquois.
The Indians, and the Chickasaws in particular, were past-
masters in all woodcraft and knew the topography of the country
and all its conditions almost by instinct; and as a general rule
what may be termed their principal trails or highways ran along
the crest of ridges in such manner as not only to avoid crossing
water courses but passing over stony places or through thick
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scrub and briars or dense timber, so as to protect their footgear,
their clothing, and their flesh as well.
Their trails or traces were far superior to any the white man
could locate, and the early use by white pioneers of these Indian
trails was a constant source of friction, for the Indians resented
that use. As soon as state governments were organized, roads
were laid out over these traces; and the United States govern-
ment made these trails available. Thus, the Chickasaws had a
trail leading from about where Natchez, Mississippi, now is on
to the Cumberland River where Nashville is now situated, and
the trail led thence onward to the Atlantic seaboard, over which
the Chickasaws traveled. It became very necessary both for
military and civil purposes to have a road over which wagons
could pass from the growing settlement on the Cumberland to
the settlement at Natchez on the Mississippi, and after long
negotiations and much difficulty, the United States finally in-
duced the Chickasaws, at the Chickasaw BFuffs, to enter into
the treaty of October 26, 1801, by which the Chickasaws granted
to the President of the United States, permission
"to lay out, open, and make a convenient wagon road through
their lands between the settlement of Mero District in the State
of Tennessee, and that of Natchez in the Mississippi Territory,
in such way and manner as he may deem proper; and the same
shall be a highway for the United States and the Chickasaws."
The ferries crossing all streams were reserved by the Indians,
as these at that time were valuable.
General Andrew Jackson laid out the road, following the
Indian trail, which remained in use until superseded by the
advent of railroads and steamboats.
This celebrated Natchez trail was crossed by the no less
important trail to the Chickasaws than that commencing at the
Chickasaw Bluffs on the Mississippi River, and running thence
southwardly to the Gulf coast where Mobile, Alabama, now is,
and this great Chickasaw highway will next be noticed.
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If you look into the history of James Adair, published in
London in 1775, and their best early historian, or nearly any
book of reference, you will see it stated that the Chickasaws were
seated in north Mississippi, near where Pontotoc now is, 160 miles
from the Mississippi River, some of them saying, from the river
at the Chickasaw Bluffs. In a direct line it is not 100 miles from
Memphis to Pontotoc, and I was puzzled for some time to under-
stand how the Indian trail could be 160 miles long between those
points.
The explanation is that the old chroniclers in giving the
distance computed it according to the great trail of the Chicka-
saws, which could be used at all seasons of the year, and of
course along high ground and the crest of a ridge nearly all the
way. Thus, by leaving the Chickasaw Bluff and crossing Wolf
River near Memphis at Raleigh, where the high land comes
down in an abrupt precipice to the water, or even nearer Memphis,
you can travel almost dry shod to Hardeman County near Boli-
var; and thence taking the crest of the well known Pontotoc
ridge southward you will pass over the highest ground in all
Mississippi, about 700 feet above the sea, lying in Tippah County;
and thence on to Pontotoc, and during all this journey you will
scarcely cross a stream, a distance of about 160 miles.
In Vol. I, Centenary Series (p. 467), George J. Leftwich has
an interesting article entitled **Some Main Traveled Roads,
Including Cross-Sections of Natchez Trace"; and speaking of the
Chickasaw highway trail from the Chickasaw Bluffs to their
home in north Mississippi, and leading onward to the Gulf of
Mexico at Mobile, he says:
"On the attached map is plainly marked out also the
Bolivar Indian trail, which ran from Memphis to Mobile, by way
of the Chickasaw towns in Lee County, and down the Tombigbee
River to St. Stevens and Mobile; from the Chickasaw towns
near Tupelo, it passed northwest by Ripley, by Bolivar, Tennes-
see, on to the Chickasaw Bluffs. The Bolivar trail was the route
of travel followed by the Indians and pioneers, leading from the
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Tombigbee country by way of Bolivar to Fort Adams (now
Memphis) on the Mississippi; and afforded access for the
Chiclcasaws and Choctaws to west Tennessee, which was known
as the common hunting ground for the Indians who lived in
Kentucky on the north, and the Chickasaws and Choctaws on
the south. Williams, in his Old Times in West Tennessee^ says
that this road was pursued circuitously in order to avoid the
crossing of the streams so numerous in the country farther south,
which largely trend westward towards the Holly Springs country,
which were harder to cross; Indians always avoid as much as
possible water courses."
Note that it is said the waters trend westward towards the
Holly Springs country, and this is correct, for the headwaters
of both the Tallahatchie and Coldwater Rivers commence in the
Tippah Highlands. It should also be noted that the highlands of
Tippah, the highest in the state, extend an elbow or a spur down
into Marshall County, embracing Holly Springs, and over this
high elbow or spur and across adjacent streams and their bottoms
the Chickasaw short-cut, or dry weather trail, ran, this trail
running in almost a straight northwest direction from the seat
of the Chickasaws in what is now Pontotoc County to the Fourth
Chickasaw Bluff, the entrepot of that nation. Here a neck of
high land projects itself to the edge of the river, making a high,
precipitous bluff, the high land stretching back in the shape of a
fan, making the bluffs an ideal place for a permanent landing of
rare value to the Indians, and a place whereon to build a great
city; hence the subsequent location of Memphis here, often
called the Bluff City.
These short-cut trails were indispensable to the Indians, for
the news of an invasion or other matter of great importance
could only be carried by a messenger running on foot, and the
Chickasaws were celebrated in this respect. Thus, Adair tells of
a young Chickasaw, who, on an emergency, and being pursued,
ran from where Mobile, Alabama, is now located (a distance of
300 computed miles) in forty- two hours; whereas Adair says
he could scarcely make the same trip in 140 hours, though
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riding a very superior saddle horse. This Indian carried no pro-
visions, depending upon such herbs as he could snatch up on
the way for sustenance, and yet not allowing him a moment to
eat or to sleep, he traveled night and day at an average rate ol
over seven miles an hour for forty- two consecutive hours!
When D'Artaguette came from Canada down the Mississippi
in 1736, with his French and Indian army, for the avowed
purpose of joining Bienville's army coming from the south to
annihilate the Chickasaws, he landed his army at the Chickasaw
BlufiFs, and proceeded thence to the seat of the Chickasaws in
north Mississippi, where both armies suffered an inglorious
defeat at the hands of the invincible Chickasaws.
In the discussion of any subject it is well to have correct data
as a foundation on which to proceed; and as this has been some-
what difficult to obtain with respect to the topography of the
country in question, I will set it down for the benefit of those who
may prefer accuracy to mere speculation or rhetoric.
In a letter to me of date October 3, 1918, Dr. E. N. Lowe,
the efficient geologist of Mississippi, says:
"i. The annual rainfall in the latitude of Holly Springs is
fifty inches, pretty evenly distributed over the region of Marshall
and adjacent hill counties.
"2. From my own measurements the highest point in
Mississippi is at Blue Mountain, the Bald Knob, a few hundred
yards northeast of Mississippi Heights School, rising to 690 feet
above sea level. I have been informed that a point near luka
rises to more than 700 feet, and I am inclined to believe this,
though I do not know that it is true. Dr. F. T. Carmack of luka
claims to have seen the altitude taken by government engi-
neers.
"3. The highlands about Holly Springs seems to be inde-
pendent of the Tippah Highlands, separated from that ridge at
the nearest point by about twenty miles of lower intervening
regions.
"4. Altitude of railroad station at Holly Springs is 602 feet;
a mile south of the station the railroad track rises considerably
higher."
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To the same effect I received a letter from Dr. W. T. Lowrey,
the well known president of Blue Mountain College, which was
founded by General M. P. Lowrey, the father of W. T. Lowrey,
in 1873. The large hill called Blue Mountain acquired that name
in the remote past, and long before the college was located there.
Dr. Lowrey says he was told that the name originated with the
young people of Ripley before the Civil War, when they drove
through the country from Ripley to visit Colonel Brougher's
family, who lived in a palatial residence which was located
where the main dormitory of Blue Mountain College is now
situated, commanding a fine view of the surrounding country.
It is almost needless to add that the name Blue Mountain
originated from the beautiful blue mountainous view here
afforded. As might be expected, the adjacent country abounds in
many bold springs of clear freestone, wholesome water, making
the country very attractive and healthful, and an ideal location
for an educational institution.
C. C. Pashby for many years was connected with the
engineer's office of Memphis, and for some time has been the city
clerk, and is a man of accurate information, and in a recent
letter he says:
"Replying to your inquiries concerning the altitude of
Memphis above the river and above the gulf, annual rainfall,
etc.:
"I beg to advise that the following points are given, together
with their elevation above the zero point on the river gauge,
and the elevation above the mean level of the Gulf of Mexico:
Above Zero Above Gulf
River Gauge of Mexico.
Madison and Front 88 270
Jackson Mounds (De Soto Pk) 102 284
Bellevue & K. C. Junction 136 318
Mississippi & Trigg 138 320
Tri-State Fair 134 316
S. W. Comer Overton Park 100 282
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'The zero gauge referred to is the lowest point where the river
is supposed to have reached, at a date back in the eighteen-
seventies; though I have heard that it went some two or
three feet lower since then.
"I have consulted some of the United States reports in an
effort to find the elevation of Holly Springs, but have been
unable to do so. However, I did learn the elevation of the fol-
lowing cities:
Tupelo 279 feet
Jadcson, Tenn 396 feet
Grand Junction 582 feet
"The rainfall in this locality varies from about thirty-three
inches to a record of something like seventy-two inches, with an
average of about forty-five."
It will be noted that there are considerable differences in the
altitude of nearby places in Memphis, a fact to which I will refer
further on, when I will show that the criticism of Prof. Lewis as
to statements made by Garcilaso de la Vega with reference to
the topography of the country where De Soto discovered the
Mississippi, has no foundation upon which to rest.
But to return to a consideration of the Chickasaw country,
we find that the Chickasaws were located on the Pontotoc ridge,
which increased in altitude going north, reaching its highest point
in the Tippah Highlands and extending still further northward
into Tennessee. This high land or ridge divides the waters
flowing into the Mississippi from those flowing into the Gulf of
Mexico; or it may be termed the height of land between these
two great watersheds.
All of the country to the west of this height of land quite
uniformly slopes downward toward the Mississippi River; and,
as might be supposed, the streams flow westward, those in Mis-
sissippi taking a trend southward as they approach the river.
We thus have these natural conditions: a warm climate; a
heavy annual rainfall, and a gradually descending watershed,
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the soil of which has in it much sand, some of it impalpably iSine,
nevertheless sand. The rain and sunshine operating upon this
country as the seasons succeed each other could not fail to wear
down the country into a broken appearance, with almost in-
numerable small streams and many more or less considerable
streams, and with very rich alluvial bottoms. The sandy soil
washing down with leaves and vegetable matter gradually ex-
tended these bottoms, and from this rich soil spring giant white
oaks, red oaks, and many other oaks, besides immense gums,
hickories, ash, poplar, cypress, and many other varieties of the
finest timber to be found in any country.
This was precisely the character of country over which
De Soto passed.
The Short-Cttt Tratl, or Pigeon Boost Boadr-
Having referred to the long trail which could be used to the
best advantage at all seasons of the year and in all kinds of
weather, I will now call attention to what, for want of a better
name, I will call the short-cut trail, which was the shortest
route or way between the Chickasaws' home in north Mis-
sissippi and the Chickasaw Bluffs.
Under the Chickasaw treaties of 1832 and 1834, all of the
Chickasaw cession was laid off into sections, and the roads in
Mississippi run on section lines, except where the roads of the
white man adopted the Indian trails, and the Pigeon Roost Road
falls into the excepted class, because it follows the ancient
Chickasaw trail. It will now be described.
This road was laid out by the Shelby County Court in 1828,
when there was scarcely a handful of people in the then village of
Memphis, and it ran along the Chickasaw short-trail or trace.
The description of the road, as officially laid off, commences
where Adams Street intersects Bayou Gayoso, the then
corporate limits of the village, and after proceeding in a
southeasterly direction with various calls and courses, it
proceeds thus;
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"Thence with said line of blaze bearing southeastwardly to
the old Chickasaw trace on top of a ridge; thence with the said
trace, occasionally straightening the same on good ground, to
the northeast side of a lagoon in the bottom (the lagoon eviden-
tly being in Nonconnah bottom), thence with a line of chops
and blazes to the creek (evidently Nonconnah) a short dis-
tance below the ford on the old trace; thence up the bank of the
creek to the old trace, and with it cutting across some lands as
above to where the same crosses the State Line."
By actual measurements recently made, Nonconnah bottom
b^ns eight miles from Second and Adams Streets, opposite the
courthouse in Memphis, passing along the old Chickasaw trail,
as near as that can be now traveled in the city, and then along the
line of the present Pigedn Roost Road. Nonconnah is, a con-
siderable creek, and was much larger before the country was
settled. In high water, even at this day, the creek is often a
mile wide, and anciently its bottom was filled with lagoons and
C3rpress brakes, and difficult to cross, except under most favorable
conditions. To my knowledge during the Civil War the four
long bridges over the sloughs, and the one over the main stream,
were down, at least the most of them were, and a ferry was
maintained across the main stream, over which I often passed.
In the winter the road became so out of repair that for days and
days no vehicle could pass over it. Nonconnah bottom was then
infested by robbers, and three Federal soldiers were court-
martialed and shot for committing rape in that dreaded bottom,
my father. Dr. Franklin J. Malone, being a witness at the trial in
Memphis. My father died January 24, 1873, and I rode from
Memphis to the old home just across the line in De Soto County
on horseback, as no vehicles were then passing over the road, it
being difficult to pass on horseback, that winter being an excep-
tionally bad one.
On July 21, 1918, 1 rode in my auto from Memphis to Holly
Springs, a distance of forty-seven and nine-tenths miles, carefully
noting the water courses crossed by the Pigeon Roost Road, and
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I do not think that it can be surpassed for its many windings*
turnings, and constant changes of courses, thus demonstrating
its Indian origin.
Leaving the court house at Memphis, Nonconnah bottom
was reached at eight miles, after descending Brown's Hill, formerly
rising abruptly to high land, and this high land extends to Mem-
phis. The bottom is a little over one mile wide, and emerging
from this bottom the land is not high for some miles, but low,
and formerly swampy. This low level land may be designated,
according to local description, as second bottom lands, and
extends from the true or low bottom lands, about two miles,
passing through the village of Oakville (formerly called Shake-
rag), to a small creek or large branch with a good sized
bottom, and then the road goes up on rolling land. Further on
Ten-Mile Branch is crossed, its name implying its distance from
Memphis. Capleville is reached at thirteen miles, and by it, or
rather where it now stands, there flowed in 1859, and for years
thereafter to my knowledge, a beautiful creek with delightful
fish in it. Today what is left of it forms a big ditch not made by
nature, but by the hand of man, about one-eighth of a mile to
the north, in which you may sometimes see a muddy conglom-
erate to which the phrase may be applied, "as dull as ditch
water." The fate of this stream, on the upper waters of which,
three miles distant, in my boyhood days I swam and sported,
catching beautiful fish, is the common fate of all the streams
through this section of the country. A few hundred yards beyond
Capleville another creek is crossed.
I will now give the small creeks and distances crossed from
Memphis to Holly Springs from this point.
At the State Line, 15.5 miles; 17.6 miles; 18.3 miles (Olive
Branch passed); 20.8 miles; 23.8 miles (at Miller's); 25.6 miles
(this is Coldwater River, with a bottom one mile wide); 29.3
miles; (Byhalia passed, 30.1), and at 30.9 miles (Byhalia Creek),
and 31.7 miles (Byhalia Creek again crossed, at least this was the
name given me); 34 miles; 34.7 miles, good sized creek near
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Victoria; (passing Red Banks at 39 miles); 40.4 miles; 41.8 miles;
42.8 miles (good size); 43.7 miles (good size); thence to Holly
Springs, 47.9 miles, from the point of beginning, which was
opposite the court house in Memphis.
I need scarcely add that every stream crossed has its bottom
more or less wide, according to its size, and the abruptness of the
hills rising from its bosom.
These bottoms were veritable wildernesses to anyone com-
pelled to cross them before the country was settled up.
One of the most notable features of the landscape that
could not fail to attract the attention of any observant person
was the beautiful view afforded about two miles from Holly
Springs, approaching that city on the Pigeon Roost Road from
the northwest. The road leads up to the brow of a long hill, and
the outlines of the city can be faintly seen in the distance
apparently with a mountainous background, and with inter,
vening lowlands between the observer and the city. Or, expressed
in other words, the city was apparently silhouetted upon the
horizon, with a mountainous background; a very pleasing view
to those who live in a comparatively flat country. This feature
of the landscape will be found to be very important when we
come to carefully consider the descriptions given by the various
narratives of the country over which De Soto marched his army.
It is also an undeniable fact that upon the ridges and little
plateaus throughout this region there were numerous depressions,
locally called ponds, which are well described in the words of the
Gentleman of Elvas as "pondy places," "basins or lakes.*'
Sometimes these pondy places covered, say, only an acre, with
aquatic plants and shrubs in them, drying up in midsummer;
while others were deeper, and covered some acres, were clear of
all trees or shrubs and could be designated as lakes; and on
these, numerous ducks and other wild fowl found feeding places,
and they never dried up. The river and larger bottoms were liter-
ally covered with lagoons, and what are locally called cypress
brakes, many of them containing deep water throughout the
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year, having soft mud bottoms over which it was extremely
difficult to pass.
In reference to the cypress brakes, as they are locally called,
it may be stated that they abounded in all the bottoms similar to
that of Nonconnah, and deserve further notice. There are in the
old world, as well as in America, many species of cypress, but the
discovery in the Southern states of this country of what is called
"Swamp Cypress," or "Bald Cypress," was a distinct surprise
to botanists and naturalists in general. It is one of the loftiest
trees, grows to a height of 170 feet, and of such massive trunks as
to be sometimes from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, and usually
grows in or near water, or on low land subject to frequent inun-
dations. More than 100 years ago Bartram said of it:
"This cypress is in the first order of North American trees.
Its majestic stature is surprising. On approaching we are struck
with a kind of awe at beholding the stateliness of its trunk,
lifting its cumbrous top towards the sky and casting a wide
shadow on the ground, as a dark, intervening cloud, which from
time to time excludes the rays of the sun. The delicacy of its
color and the texture of its leaves exceed everything in vege-
tation."
It is said to be remarkable in that it is little affected by the
dryness or excessive moisture in the atmosphere, for on the same
tree different forms of branches and foliage will sometimes be
found to exist, which are capable of either aiding or preventing
the escape of moisture.
Another remarkable thing about this Southern cypress is
a large conical excrescence which rises from the roots of the trees,
called cypress knees, the cause or reason for their growth being
unknown, and as to which much speculation has been indulged.
They are hollow, and where the tree grows in water, the knees
rise above the surface, there sometimes being as many as one
hundred under a tree. Where the tree grows on land not sub-
merged, there are no knees. Some cypress brakes in large bottoms
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were miles long and wide; and it can be readily seen that wher^
the ground was submerged and with knees interspersed, it would
form an almost impassable barrier.
The wood of this cypress was and is extremely valuable for
shingles, which last for forty years; besides, it was much used for
fencing, interior paneling for doors, windows, etc., hence it was
one of the first giants of the forest to fall under the woodman's ax,
and now, alas, they have nearly disappeared from the bottoms
of our upland country.
There is one lone sentinel, like a spectre of the past, growing
out of the north bank of Nonconnah, a few inches from the west
side of the iron bridge on the Pigeon Roost Road, and evidently
spared because the bridge would lodge against it, in cafie it should
be moved by a great flood. It is a double or twin tree, and while
not one of the giants of its tribe, still gives some faint idea of
what those monarchs of the forest were like.
A few feet below this same bridge there will also be seen a
miniature island in midstream, on which small trees are growing.
The passing throng would never suppose that as late as during
the Civil War there was not only no island there but in its place
there was a wide expanse of water, on whose bosom a ferryboat
crossed and recrossed, carrying wagons, buggies, horses, men,
and everything that traveled, for which the traveling public were
compelled to pay exorbitant ferriage fees. Now a man could
jump from one side of the creek to the other side almost, without
wetting his feet; and still Dr. Rowland thinks the topography of
the country is the same. I can scarcely ever cross the bridge
referred to without casting a glance at the lone tree-sentinel and
the little miniature island; and mute witnesses though they be,
yet to me they speak in trumpet tones of the mutability of all
wordly things, and of the infinite future to which we are fleeing
with such incredible swiftness that even the scenes of our child-
hood days seem like phantoms of the past!
Some time since application was made to convert all of
Nonconnah and its bottoms into a drainage district, and some
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technicality has delayed the proceeding; but, sooner or later, the
Gordian knot will be cut, and a dull ditch will be all that is left
of the majestic stream once known as Nonconnah.
In the fall of 1917, and previous thereto, I rode in an auto
from Holly Springs in the main southeastward direction, to-
wards Pontotoc, and crossed Chewalla Creek (quite a stream),
the main branch of Tippah Creek, sometimes called Tippah
River, and crossing to the southwest of the Frisco road at Potts
Camp, we then crossed another affluent of Tippah; these consid-
erable creek bottoms have the main characteristics of the
country from Holly Springs to Memphis, and in addition the
country had a more mountainous and picturesque appearance,
owing to the many hills rising abruptly from the bottoms.
Since the foregoing was written, viz: on December i, 1918,
again I went over the same road, Honorable C. H. Curd, long
time editor of the Holly Springs Reporter^ being a member of
the party.
After we had crossed the Kansas City or Frisco Railroad at
Potts Camp, going southwest, and then crossed quite considerable
creek bottoms, we ascended some high hills, rising abruptly
from the bottom land.
After going some two to three miles further, the ground
was still higher, and Mr. Curd pointed out to us the top of a
distant ridge, which he said was fourteen miles from us, and
was the site of Holly Springs.
He went with us to a high hill one mile west of Holly Springs,
locally called Rocky Mountain, because of its height and the
presence on its top of large sand stones, some ten feet in length
and nearly as wide, a very unusual geologic feature for that
section.
Pigeon Roost Creek and the Pigeons—
The names. Pigeon Roost Road and Pigeon Roost Creek,
carry with them a meaning with respect to the country which
furnished these names, if we but consider attentively those words.
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At the risk of being charged with a digression, I will linger to
consider these names and what they imply; especially as this
digression will involve characteristics of the Chickasaw country,
now our country; for it is unfortunately true that we give more
attention to the histories, appearances, and stories of foreign
countries than to that of our own, it matters not how interesting
our own country, past and present, may be.
The disappearance of the vast hosts of wild pigeons, whose
flights in the heavens once dmost obscured the light of the sun
at noon, has proven one of the mysteries of nature.
Their sudden disappearance from the face of the earth in
modem times remains an unsolved problem. I remember as a
small boy to have seen in 1859 innumerable numbers of these
wild pigeons in flight, and they appeared to be fond of lighting
in the large oak trees, especially white oaks, and I was told that
they were feeding upon acorns. They chose the largest and
strongest trees for a roost, because their great weight would tear
down and strip the strongest monarchs of the forest.
In Lincecum's autobiography already referred to, he de-
scribed the great destruction to the timber in the Choctaw
country, just south of the Chickasaw country, wherever the
pigeons had a roost. As like causes produce like results, the
immensity of these pigeon roosts and the consequent destruction
produced thereby at one place furnishes a description where other
roosts took place; and I will here insert excerpts from famous
nature writers, the accuracy of whose observations cannot be
doubted :
'The associated numbers of wild pigeons, the numerous
flocks which compose the general swarm, are without any other
parallel in the history of the feathered race; they can indeed
alone be compared to the finny shoals of herrings, which, de-
scending from the Arctic regions, discolor and All the ocean
to the extent of mighty kingdoms. * * * The approach of
the mighty feathered army with a loud rushing roar and a stirring
breeze, attended by a sudden darkness, might be mistaken for a
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fearful tornado about to overwhelm the face of Nature. For
several hours together the vast host, extending some miles in
breadth, still continues to pass in flocks, without diminution.
The whole air is filled with birds; * * * they shut out the
light as if it were an eclipse. At the approach of the hawk their
sublime and beautiful aerial evolutions are disturbed like a
rufHing squall extending over the placid ocean; as a thundering
torrent they rush together in a concentrating mass, and heaving
in undulating and glittering sweeps towards the earth, at length
again proceed in lofty meanders like the rushing of a mighty
animated river. * * *
"In the Atlantic States, where the flocks are less abundant,
the gun, decoy, and net are put in operation against the devoted
throng. Twenty or even thirty dozen have been caught at a
single sweep of the net. Wagonloads of them are poured into
market, where they are sometimes sold for no more than a
cent apiece. * * * The Honorable T. H. Perkins remarks
that about the year 1798, while he was passing through New
Jersey, near Newark, the flocks continued to pass for at least two
hours without cessation; and he learned from the neighboring
inhabitants that, in descending upon a large pond to drink, those
in the rear, alighting on the backs of the first that arrived (in the
usual order of their movements on land to feed), pressed them
beneath the surface, so that tens of thousands were thus drowned.
They were likewise killed in great numbers at the roosts with
clubs." (Nuttall, Vol. II, pp. 3, 4, 6.)
Audubon estimated the number of birds in one of these
flocks at eleven hundred millions, and calculated that they would
require more than eight millions of bushels of seeds and grains
for feed each day. Another flock seen by Wilson was greater
still. He judged them in flight to extend over two hundred and
forty miles. He concluded that they must have numbered more
than twenty-two hundreds of millions, and consumed above
seventeen millions of bushels of seed and grains daily.
"As the sun begins to decline, they depart in a body for the
general roost, which is often hundreds of miles distant, and is
generally chosen in the tallest and thickest forests, almost
divested of underwood. Nothing can exceed the waste and
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desolation of these nocturnal resorts. * * * The tall trees
for thousands of acres are completely killed, and the ground
strewed with massy branches torn down by the clustering weight
of the birds which have rested upon them. The whole region for
several years presents a continued scene of devastation, as if
swept by the resistless blast of a whirlwind. * * *
"The breeding places, as might naturally be expected, differ
from the roosts in their greater extent. In 1807, according to
Wilson, one of these immense nurseries, near Shelbyville, in
Kentucky, was several miles in breadth and extended through
the woods for upwards of forty miles. * * * Wilson often
counted upwards of ninety nests in a single tree, and the whole
forest was filled with them. * * * But their most destructive
enemy is man; and as soon as the young are fully grown, the
neighboring inhabitants assemble and encamp for several days
arouiid the devoted pigeons with wagons, axes, and cooking
utensils, like the outskirts of a destructive army. The perpetual
tumult of the birds, the crowding and fluttering multitudes, the
thundering roar of their wings, and the crash of falling trees, from
which the young are thus precipitated to the ground by the axe,
produces altogether a scene of indescribable and almost terrific
confusion. It is dangerous to walk beneath these clustering crowds
of birds, from the frequent descent of large branches broken
down by the congregating millions; the horses start at the noise,
and conversation can only be heard in a shout."
To the foregoing extract from Nuttall's book is appended
the following note:
"The most important of recent contributions to the bio-
graphy of this species is Mr. William Brewster's article in The
Auk for October, 1889. He tells there of a 'nesting' in Michigan
in 1877 that covered an area twenty-eight miles long and three
to four miles wide, and says: Tor the entire distance of twenty-
eight miles every tree of any size had more or less nests, and
many trees were filled with them." (Nuttall's Birds of the United
States and Canada, Vol. II, pp. 4, 5, 7.)
L. B. Jones, an intelligent citizen somewhat advanced in
years, and who lives near Holly Springs, informed me that his
grandfather settled on Pigeon Roost Creek at a very early date;
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that he often heard both his grandfather and father relate their
experiences with the wild pigeons which, in the years long passed,
roosted in the forests of Pigeon Roost Creek, from which circum-
stance the creek derived its name. From them he learned the
pigeons came in vast flocks, lighting on the limbs of the trees,
while belated ones perched on the backs of those who arrived
first; and by thus piling or perching on the backs of each other,
the weight of the pigeons became so great as to strip and tear
down some of the largest trees of the forest.
The people of that vicinity would go to the roost and bring
back wagon loads of the pigeons, whose numbers seemed to be
almost infinite.
Beaumont M. Stratton, though a Confederate veteran with
many scars of that great conflict on his body, is still youthful of
heart and vigorous of body, and, as might be supposed, having
reached the reminiscent age, is found of recalling his early recol-
lections. His father. Major Thomas Stratton, moved from
middle Tennessee to the southern part of Shelby County, in the
early fifties, and at that time the most of the country was in
woods and was a wilderness.
Mr. Stratton says that, when a boy, he had often gone south
in Mississippi to the bottoms of Coldwater River, and there saw
the destruction wrought by the wild pigeons to the great forests
springing from the rich alluvial soil. Many of the smaller trees were
stripped of their limbs and broken down, while many monarchs
of the forest had lost great limbs and were so stripped of their
branches as to present mere shadows of their former proportions.
Mr. Stratton further states that in those early years the
wild pigeons were still passing over the country in great flocks of
incredible numbers, so that at times their numbers were so great
as to obstruct the rays of the sun, the shadow of the birds falling
upon the earth so as to give the appearance of twilight, or the
shades of evening.
From L. B. Jones and C. H. Curd, mentioned above, I also
learned that the north branch of Pigeon Roost Creek had its
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head in the once famous springs which, with the adjacent holly
trees, gave to Holly Springs its name. The main branch of the
creek, however, originates beyond or south of Holly Springs.
From these gentlemen and Judge J. P. Young, of Memphis,
I learned that going south from Memphis on the Pigeon Roost
Road, it deflects at Byhalia from the present Holly Springs road,
trending in a more southward direction, leading on to Chula-
homa, where Judge Young was born, and leaving Holly Springs
about six miles to the east of its course opposite that dty .
This is in entire accord with Lusher's map.
On Lusher's map of 1835 (hereinafter more particularly re-
ferred to) the streams in the Chickasaw country are laid down
with more deta'l and accuracy than upon any other map before
or since that time; and while nearly all the streams have Indian
names only, Pigeon Roost Creek forms an exception, and had on
this map the same name it bears to this day.
The fact is that the creek was so named on account of the
vast pigeon roosts which formerly formed a conspicuous feature
of its heavily timbered bottoms; and bear in mind that this giant
timbered country was the country to attract the pigeons for a
roosting place. This roosting place must have been famous far
and near, for it gave not only its name to the large creek in
question, but to one of the most important thoroughfares leading
to Memphis, a distance of some fifty miles.
Lusher's map also shows that the short-cut Indian trail or
trace crossed the headwaters of the Pigeon Roost Creek. This
roost was undoubtedly known to the Chickasaws, for nothing of
this character escaped their notice; and, moreover, it was doubt-
less a great asset to them, where, at least in certain years, they
found an unlimited supply of most palatable and wholesome food.
Indeed, the existence of this roost may have been one of the
reasons for the trail passing through that vicinity.
Tbe Trail from H0II7 Springs to New Albany—
Not having personally traveled over the former Chickasaw
trail from Holly Springs to New Albany, I wrote to Judge
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Charles Lee Crum, of New Albany, for a description of that part
of the country and received the following answer:
"Before describing the country directly from New Albany
to Holly Springs, I will say that I was bom in 1867 where the
village of Hickory Flat now is, which is fourteen miles northwest
from New Albany, and twenty miles southeast from Holly
Springs. My grandfather, Eli Crum, moved onto his farm at
the very place where Hickory Flat now is, in December, 1837, at
which time my father, W. A. Crum, was an infant three months
old. This was before the Indians left. My father owned this
place until his death in A. D. 19 10. So you can understand that,
having for years held this as the paternal home, and on account
of its being nearly midway between New Albany and Holly
Springs, and having lived for twenty-five years at the former place,
I have had opportunity to know this country. Besides being a
lawyer by profession, I have since my boyhood hunted wild game
considerably and traveled over all this country, horseback and
otherwise.
"I have heard my father say repeatedly that the public road
from Memphis to Pontotoc was originally laid out along what was
an Indian trail. This highway ran from Memphis via Holly
Springs, Potts Camp, and Winborn, about three-fourths mile north
of where Hickory Flat now is, crossed Tallahatchie River about
three-fourths miles southwest of the courthouse in New Albany,
and thence to the town of Pontotoc and covered high ground,
except in crossing the following streams: Chewalla, Tippah
River, headwaters of Okalimetah, Ayers Creek (a very small
stream), Big Creek (sometimes called Hell Creek), and Talla-
hatchie. The crossings at the time of the earliest recollections
of white settlers on Tallahatchie River, before bridges were built,
were only two. One was at Rocky Ford, where Etta postoffice
now is. The other was three-fourths mile southwest of New
Albany courthouse, on what is now my farm property and im-
mediately in the rear of my present residence, which is known as
'Riverside.'
"There is a bluff immediately west of the ford at Rocky Ford,
and there has been to my personal knowledge for forty years a
very large rock just below this ford, which is nearly round in top
appearance and which projected several feet above the low
water forty years ago. The rock appears to have been a boulder
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which rolled down from off this bluff. The hill which projects
to the river here and makes this bluff has numerous such rocks
on it now. It is about twelve miles on an air line from New
Albany to Rocky Ford. I am not advised whether there was
an Indian trail that crossed here, but it was a ford where the road
crossed as early as the white settlers now living know. The
river here runs on the south side of the low bottom, which low
land is about one mile wide and many years ago was very slashy
on north half. It is conceded that De Soto fought a battle with
the Indians who had a village where New Albany now is, after
leaving the Indian settlement east of Pontotoc. From New
Albany to' Rocky Ford, to travel south of Tallahatchie, would, in
De Soto's time, have required covering a distance of twenty or
thirty-five miles, for down the river in the low lands it was very
swampy, even as late as I can remember, and covered with thick
canes, rattan, and other vines and much undergrowth. Besides,
there are several large creeks that run into Tallahatchie from the
south that he would have been obliged to cross.
'Tallahatchie bottom at New Albany is less than 400 yards
wide, and the crossing was at a swift place with a solid rock bot-
tom, and Esq. Reaves, who was for many years the mayor of
New Albany, has told me that an Indian ford was there before
the white man used it in the early settlement for a public high-
way. Here is where the Memphis and Pontotoc road first
crossed TallahatcMe.
"From all I have heard and read on the course taken by De
Soto I am convinced that, after fighting the Indians here at New
Albany, he crossed Tallahatchie at the rock bottom ford south
of the town, traveled in a northwest direction along the tndl via
Hickory Flat (where there was an Indian village on my grand-
father's place in 1837), Potts Camp, Holly Springs, and on to the
Chickasaw Bluffs at Memphis. * * *
"On each side of the river near this ford with rock bottom at
New Albany were evidently Indian camps of minor importance.
They were near large lakes which then existed and between them on
high back-bones or ridges. These ridges are now in my farm and
hundreds of arrow heads, tomahawks, pestle and mortar rocks
and other relics have been found. My son, now sixteen, has
several hundred arrow and spear heads of all sizes. At these
minor camps the Indians evidently camped, fished, and hunted
in good weather when the river was low,"
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Attention is called to the words in italics stating that the
old Indian camps "were near large lakes which then existed and
between them on high back-bones or ridges." These lakes, or
pondy places, were scattered over the hill country of the Chicka-
saws, as all observant persons know to have been the case, be-
fore the country was deforested.
In a subsequent letter Judge Crum says:
"The channel of the old Tallahatchie River adjacent to the
point in the river where the rock-bottom ford anciently existed,
which is about three-fourths of a mile southwest from the court
house at New Albany, was (until as late as 1898, at which time I
purchsLsed the land), very deep, with the banks of the river on
the east side very high and perpendicular. In fact I live now on
this high point that projects into where the old channel was then.
"The topography then agreed very well with the description
which the Spaniard, Garcilaso de la Vega, gave of it in his diary,
considering the time that has elapsed.
"As attorney for the Tallahatchie District I had a canal dug
down the bottom for a distance of thirty miles. The width of
the canal is thirty feet or more at its top end to sixty feet or
more at its mouth at the west line of Union County. There
is no place in the river where there was a solid rock bottom,
except at New Albany, and although the canal is eighteen feet
deep in places, we encountered no rock in digging it."
It will thus be seen that the main topographical features of
the country from Pontotoc on to the Chickasaw Bluffs are quite
similar; and these features should be borne in mind when we read
the various narratives.
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CHAPTER V
THE FOUR DE SOTO NABRATITES QUOTED AND
COMPABED
We come now to consider the four separate narratives of the
De Soto Expedition. Dr. Rowland, following in the footsteps of
Prof. Lewis, adopts the three narratives of the Gentleman of
Elvas, Rodrigo Ranjel and Hernandez de Biedma, as edited by
Edward Gaylord Bourne in the Trail Makers. They reject
altogether the narrative of Garcilaso de la Vega.
For the present I will follow their selection, because these
three narratives so selected by them, when examined, especially
in the light of the topography and geology of the country and the
conditions surrounding the expedition, demonstrate that the
Mississippi was discovered at the Chickasaw Bluffs.
Later I will show that Garcilaso's is entirely worthy of
credit, and if this is so, then they admit they are out of court.
I will now briefly refer to the time each of the four narratives
appeared in print, following exactly the order observed by
Bourne as set forth in his preface.
First: "The Gentleman of Elvas."
This narrative purports to have been written by a Portuguese
gentleman (not a Spaniard), and was first published at £lvora,
Portugal, in 1557. The narrative also purports to have been
written by one who accompanied De Soto, but the writer did not
reveal his name, and it is not known to this day. Some who
reject Garcilaso, also reject the Gentleman of Elvas, but not so
Bourne and his followers, who put great reliance thereon.
Second: Bourne admits that "next in order of publication
and equal in fame comes" Garcilaso, which was first published
in Lisbon in 1605, or only sixty-two years after the death of
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De Soto, and again re-published in Madrid in 1722. It is ad-
mitted that Garcilaso was of noble birth, and that he was a
historian of distinction, aside from his De Soto narrative.
His narrative is rejected by some after the lapse of some
hundreds of years, because he states that he was not a member
of the expedition, but got his information from a nobleman, who
did accompany the expedition and who, for a lifetime, had been
Garcilaso's bosom friend and constantly related the incidents of
the expedition, and these were supplemented by notes taken
down by two privates in the expedition; so that the narrative is
based on the testimony of three witnesses.
Third: The narrative of Hernandez de Biedma, the king's
factor, was drawn up in 1544, t>ut not published until 1841, and
then in French, by the French scholar, Ternaux-Campons, the
first English edition appearing in 1850. On page XV, Bourne
commends Biedma's narrative as an official account, though
giving few details, "except as to directions and distances"; or in
other words he is said to be accurate in giving details ''as to di-
rections and distances," which is an important admission, as
shown further on.
Fourth: Rodrigo Ranjel was the private secretary of
De Soto, and his narrative did not come to light until 1866, when,
according to Bourne, it was revealed in Oviedo's Hisioria General
y Natural de las Indias. Bourne says also that he was convinced
that Oviedo's account had imbedded in it Rodrigo Ranjel's
journal in the same way as the joumd of Columbus of his second
voyage was preserved by Las Casas in his Historia de las India.
It can readily be seen that the Ranjel account may have
suffered important changes through the channels it has reached
us; nevertheless, by the authors mentioned it is given first rank
for accuracy, followed next by the Gentleman of Elvas, then by
Biedma, while they reject altogether Garcilaso.
We now meet them on their chosen ground.
When doing this, however, I will quote the text of these
three narratives, word for word, and I will decline to accept the
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versions thereof by Prof. Lewis and followed by Dr. Rowland,
for important words are not only left out, but interpolations are
made without the least regard to the originals. These quotations
will begin with the departure of De Soto from near the seat of the
Chickasaw nation, in what is now Pontotoc County, for it seems
to be now conceded that the expedition crossed Tallahatchie
River near New Albany, where there is for that country a very
unusual geological formation, namely a solid rock bottom for the
river, the meaning of the Indian word Tallahatchie being rock
river.
The Text of the Gentleman of Elvas—
^'From some prisoners taken, the governor informed himself
of the region in advance. On the 25th day of April (1541) he left
Chicaca and went to sleep at a small town called Alimamu. Very
little maize was found; and as it became necessary to attempt
thence to pass a desert, seven days' journey in extent, the next day
the governor ordered that three captains, each with cavalry and
foot, should take a different direction, to get provisions for the
way. Juan de Anasco, the comptroller, went with fifteen horse
and forty foot on the course the governor would have to march,
and found a staked fort where the Indians were awaiting them.
Many were armed, walking upon it, with their bodies, legs, and
arms painted and ochred, red, black, white, yellow, and ver-
milion in stripes, so that they appeared to have on stockings and
doublet. Some wore feathers, and others horns on the head, the
face blackened, and the eyes encircled with vermilion, to heighten
their fierce aspect. So soon as they saw the Christians draw nigh,
they beat drums, and, with loud yells, in great fury came forth
to meet them. As to Juan de Anasco and others it appeared well
to avoid them and to inform the governor, they retired, over an
even ground in sight, the distance of a cross-bow shot from the
enclosure, the footmen, the cross-bow men, and targeteers putting
themselves before those on horseback, that the beasts might not
be wounded by the Indians, who came forth by sevens and eights
to discharge their bows at them and retire. In sight of the
Christians they made a fire, and, taking an Indian by the head
and feet, pretended to give him many blows on the head and cast
him into the flames, signifying in this way what they would do
with the Christians.
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"A message being sent with three of the cavalry to the
governor, informing him of this, he came directly. It was his
opinion that they should be driven from the place. He said that
if this was not done, they would be emboldened to make an
attack at some other time, when they might do him more harm;
those on horseback were commanded to dismount, and, being
set in four squadrons, at the signal charged the Indians. They
resisted until the Christians came up to the stakes; then, seeing
they could not defend themselves, they fled through that part near
which passed a stream, sending back some arrows from the other
bank; and because, at the moment, no place was found where the horses
might ford, they had time to make their escape. Three Indians were
killed and many Christians wounded, of whom after a few days,
fifteen died on the march. Everyone thought the governor com-
mitted a great fault in not sending to examine the state of the
ground on the opposite shore, and discover the crossing-place
before making the attack; because, with the hope the Indians
had of escaping unseen in that direction, they fought until they
were broken ; and it was the cause of their holding out so long to
assail the Christians, as they could, with safety to themselves.
How the Governor Went from Quixqulx, and Thence to the
River Grande—
** Three days having gone by since some maize had been sought
after, and but little found in comparison with the great want
there was of it, the governor became obliged to move at once,
notwithstanding the wounded had need of repose, to where
there should be abundance. He accordingly set out for Quizquiz,
and marched seven days through a wilderness, having many pondy
places, with thick forests, fordable, however, on horseback, all to some
basins or lakes that were swum. He arrived at a town of Quizquiz
without being descried, and seized all the people before they
could come out of their homes. Among them was the mother of
the cacique; and the governor sent word to him, by one of the
captives, to come and receive her, with the rest he had taken.
The answer he returned was that, if his lordship would order them
to be loosed and sent, he would come to visit and do him service.
"The governor, since his men arrived weary, and likewise
weak, for want of maize, and the horses were also lean, determined
to 3aeld to the requirement and try to have peace; so the mother
and the rest were ordered to be set free, and with words of kind-
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ness were dismissed. The next day, while he was hoping to see
the chief, many Indians came, with bows and arrows, to set upon
the Christians, when he commanded that all the armed horsemen
should be mounted and in readiness. Finding them prepared^ the
Indians stopped at the distance of a crossbow shot from where the
governor was, near a river bank, where, after remaining quietly
half an hour, six chiefs arrived at the camp, stating that they
had come to find out what people it might be; for they had
knowledge from their ancestors that they were to be subdued by
a white race; they consequently desired to return to the cacique,
to tell him that he should come presently to obey and serve the
governor. After presenting six or seven skins and shawls brought
with him, they took their leave, and returned with the others who
were waiting for them by the shore. The cacique came not, nor
sent another message.
'There was little maize in the place, and the governor moved to
another town, half a league from the great river; here it was found in
sufficiency. He went to look at the river, and saw that near it
there was much timber of which piraguas might be made, and
a good situation in which the camp might be placed. He directly
moved, built houses, and settled on a plain a crossbow shot from
the water, bringing together there all the maize of the towns
behind, that at once they might go to work and cut down trees
for sawing out planks to build barges. The Indians soon came
from up the stream, jumped on shore, and told the governor they
were the vassals of a great lord, named Aquixo, who was the
suzerain of many towns and people on the other shore; and they
made known from him, that he would come the day after, with all
his people, to hear what his lordship would command him."
The Text of Bledma—
"We remained here perhaps two months, getting ready what
were necessary of saddles, lances, and targets, and then left,
taking the direction to the northwest, toward a province caUed
Alibamo.
"At this time befell us what is said never to have occurred to
the Indians. In the highway over which we had to pass, without
there being either women to protect or provisions to secure, and
only to try our valour with theirs, the Indians put up a very
strong stockade directly across the road, about 300 of them
standing behind it, resolute to die rather than give back. So
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soon as they observed our approach, some came out to shoot
their arrows, threatening that not one of us should remain alive.
When we had surveyed their work, thus defended by men, we
supposed they guarded something — ^provisions perhaps — of
which we stood greatly in need, for we had calculated to cross
a desert of twelve days' journey in its extent, where we could
have nothing to eat but what we carried. We alighted some
forty or fifty men, and put ourselves on two sides, arranging that
at the sound of the trumpet we should all enter the barricade at
one time. We did accordingly, carrying it, although at some
cost, losing on our side seven or eight men, and having
twenty-five or twenty-six more wounded. We killed some
Indians, and took others from whom we learned that they
had done this to measure themselves with us, and
nothing else. We looked about for food, although at great
hazard, that we might begin our journey into the
wilderness.
**We traveled eight days with great care, in tenderness of the
wounded and the sick we carried. One mid-day we came upon a
town called Quizquiz, and so suddenly to the inhabitants, that
they were without any notice of us, the men being away at work
in the maize fields. We took more than 300 women, and the few
skins and shawls they had in their houses. There we first found
a little walnut of the country, which is much better than that
here in Spain. The town was near the banks of the River EspirUu
Santo. They had told us that it was, with many towns about
there, tributary to a lord of Pacaha, famed throughout the land.
When the men heard that we had taken their women, they came
to us p)eacefully, requesting the governor to restore them. He
did so, and asked them for canoes in which to pass that great
river. These they promised, but never gave; on the contrary,
they collected to give us battle, coming in sight of the town where
we were; but in the end, not venturing to make an attack, they
turned and retired.
*'We left that place and went to encamp by the riverside, to put
ourselves in order for crossing. On the other shore we saw num-
bers of people collected to oppose our landing, who had many
canoes. We set about building four large piriguas, each capable
of taking sixty or seventy men and five or six horses.
We were engaged in the work twenty-seven or twenty-eight
days."
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The Text of Kanjel—
**Tuesdayt April 26, in the year aforesaid, 1541, the governor,
Hernando de Soto, set out from the plain of Chicaca, and arrived
at Limamufor the night; and there they searched for corn, because
the Indians had hidden it, and they had to pass over a desert.
And Thursday they came to another plain where the Indians had
taken the position, having made a very strong barricade, and
within it there were many Indian braves, painted red and deco-
rated with other colors which appeared very fine (or rather, very
bad, at least it meant harm to the Christians). And they entered
the barricade by force, and with some loss by death and wounds
on the part of the commander and his army, and with a loss
greater beyond comparison on the part of the conquered; and
it would have been still more if the Indians had not taken
flight.
*' Saturday, the last day of April, the army set out from the place
of the barricade and marched nine days through a deserted country
and by a rough way, mountainous and swampy, until May 8th,
when they came to the first village of Quizquiz, which they took by
assault and captured much people and clothes; but the governor
promptly restored them liberty and had everything restored to
them for fear of war, although that was not enough to make
friends of these Indians. A league beyond this village they came
upon another with abundance of corn, and soon again after
another league, upon another likewise amply provisioned. There
they saw the great river. Saturday, May 21, the force went along
to a plain between the river and a small village, and set up
quarters and began to build four barges to cross over to the other
side. Many of these conquerors said this river was larger than
the Danube."
It may be thought that my quotations are entirely too
lengthy for the few sentences of pertinent matter, as compared
to that which is not pertinent. My excuse is, first, I wish the
reader to see the entire context, and thus at the same time do
entire justice, and so that no one may say anything was omitted.
It is almost unnecessary to add that all the italics in this article
are my own, which I use in order to direct the attention of the
reader to such parts as I deem pertinent to the points at issue.
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Opinion of Professor Lewis Criticized—
Dr. Rowland states that Theodore Hayes Lewis is a learned
antiquarian, archeologist and historian, and that no historian
has thought it wise to question his conclusions; but we have seen
that Judge Young, a real historian, has sharply questioned the
conclusions of Prof. Lewis. Moreover, though I am not an
historian, or antiquarian or archeologist, still I am here and now
to pointedly question the conclusions of Prof. Lewis, believing
that no one, whatever may be his acquirements, has a right to
preempt the discussion or an exclusive right to express an opinion
on a matter so plain that any man of ordinary understanding
can easily form an intelligent opinion. In point of fact, I believe
that the phrase, "much learning doth make thee mad," which
was so misapplied near two thousand years ago, to one of the
greatest men the world ever heard, in the High Court of Appeals
in a kingly palace, can be well applied to the two learned authors,
in relation to this discussion.
Let us see —
On page 146, Centenary Series, No. II, Dr. Rowland quotes
Prof. Lewis as stating the route of De Soto, after crossing the
Tallahatchie, in these words:
'*0n Saturday, April 30, the army left this enclosed place,
turning to the westward."
The three narratives will be searched in vain for any state-
ment that the expedition turned at all, and least of all, westward.
The statement is a complete interpolation.
This is not by any means all, for it will be recalled that their
favorite author, Bourne, commends Biedma's short narrative
for accuracy "as to directions and distances." Now Biedma's
narrative is the only one which undertakes to give the direction
that De Soto took after leaving the Chickasaw nation; and as
the two other narratives are silent on this point, certainly when
the third one, commended for accuracy in this particular, gives
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the direction, it must be accepted as true. What does Biedma
say?
"We remained here two months, getting ready what was
necessary of saddles, lances and targets, and then left, taking the
direction to the northwest^ towards a province called Alibamo/'
Why was this direction, which so plainly and unmistakably
pointed to the Chickasaw Bluffs, omitted; and why were the
words "turning to the westward" interpolated, which so plainly
pointed to Tunica County?
Having thus airily and neatly constructed a paper-turning
for the expedition in a paper direction westward, so as to reach
"somewhere" in dear old Tunica, the next thought of the guide,
philosopher, and friend of Dr. Rowland seems to have been to
neatly construct a companion paper-route for the De Soto ex-
pedition, especially adapted to the canebrakes, lakes, ted fast-
nesses of the Mississippi delta.
However, acquitting the learned author of any intentional
purposes to warp the plain story of the narratives, still, when
examined, his account exhibits an almost perfect adaptation of a
means to an end.
Immediately following the sentence above quoted and
criticized, Prof. Lewis says:
" 'According to Elvas, the country they were now passing
through was a wilderness of thick forests, having many marshy
places that were fordable, and some basins and lakes (sluggish
streams) that were not.* In another place he says: 'The land
is low, abounding in lakes.' Ranjel says they passed over bad
roads leading through woods and swamps."
It would be difficult to more incorrectly misstate what was
really said by the two narrators than is found in the above
quotation from Prof. Lewis. Elvas will be searched in vain for
the sentence ascribed to him in quotation marks, "the land was low,
abounding in lakes." Where, then, did this sentence come from?
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Here is what Elvas said:
"He accordingly set out for Quizquiz, and marched seven
days through a wilderness, having many pondy places, with thick
forests, fordable however, on horseback, all to some basins or
lakes that were swum."
The sentence is involved and not well worded, although
Elvas is especially claimed to be the best scholar among the
narrators; still just how the Professor is able to interpret the
above language to mean that there were some basins and lakes
that were not fordable, when the narrator expressly states the
reverse, I am unable to see.
Moreover, it will be noted that the Professor uses the con-
junctive "and" between basins and lakes; whereas Elvas uses
the disjunctive "or" between them. As explained hereinbefore,
in treating of the topographical feature of the small plateaus in
the country southeast of the Fourth Chickasaw Bluffs, they
abounded with marshy places, basins, or lakes. Elvas wrote
basins or lakes; or as he had just said, "pondy places," evidently
meaning that these places scarcely arose to the proportions of
what we understand to be a lake. The Professor not only
eliminates the qualified langus^e of Elvas, but makes him convey
the idea that the lakes were so large that they were not fordable,
thus evidently pointing to the Mississippi swamps.
But if the Professor erroneously and improperly stated what
Elvas said, then he is worse than erroneous in quoting from
Ranjel who, it will be remembered, is declared to be the most
accurate of all the narrators.
The Professor quotes Ranjel thus:
"Ranjel says they passed over bad roads leading through
woods and swamps."
Ranjel said no such thing. What he recorded is in these
words:
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"Saturday, the last of April, the anny set out from the place
of barricade and inarched nine days through a deserted country
and by a rough way, mountainous and swampy," etc.
I ask by what principle of interpretation or fairness did the
Professor omit the word mountainous^ which Ranjel used and
which with marked precision described the Tippah Highlands,
which reached down into Marshall County and over which the
Chickasaw trail passed? He knew there was no mountainous
country leading from where New Albany now is to the im^inary
point in Tunica County where he was laboring to land De
Soto.
Indeed, after eliminating the word mountainous from Ranjel's
account, he used the garbled statement to point his argument
that the discovery was made in the Mississippi swamps; for he
immediately adds:
"This part of the route lay wholly within the State of Missis-
sippi for, had it been toward Memphis, they would have passed
through a hilly region instead of one of swamps."
Yes, indeed, the country through which De Soto really did
pass was in point of fact not only hilly but, to use the exact word of
Ranjel, "mountainous," at least in appearance; and to use his
other word there were parts of it "swampy." Paradoxical as it
may seem at first blush, nevertheless, Ranjel perfectly described
the two main features of the country traversed by the Chickasaw
trail, when he used the words "swampy and mountainous."
That is to say, the bottoms of Nonconnah, Coldwater, Tippah,
and numerous other smaller streams which were crossed were
filled with swamps, cypress brakes, pondy places, l^oons,
morasses, and almost impenetrable thickets and forests, so as to
make them veritable wildernesses; while the abrupt high hills
of the Tippah Highlands, reaching down into Marshall County,
gave that part of the country a mountainous aspect, and this top-
ographical feature of the country remains to this day. And still
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Dr. Rowland is surprised that any one should have the temerity
to question the conclusions of Prof. Lewis!
It is amusing to read the sentence of the Professor locating
the point where the great river was discovered, the ipse dixit
characteristic being its main feature. He says:
''The crossing was made either at Council Bend or Walnut
Bend, in Tunica County, in a straight line some twenty-five to
thirty-eight miles below Memphb."
That thi i is a guess pure and simple, without one line of sup-
port in any narrative, is perfectly apparent. There are dozens of
bends on the river similar to these, and there is no pretense of a
physical feature at either point to identify it as the landing place.
There is likewise a significant silence on the part of Prof.
Lewis with respect to the several Indian villages and the fields
of growing maize, not to mention the hundreds and even thou-
sands of Indians who had a permanent home at the place where
the great river was discovered.
The one thing that appears to have burdened the Professor's
thoughts was to drive De Soto and his small army through the
well nigh impenetrable swamps, morasses, cane brakes, sloughs,
and lagoons of Tallahatchie and Coldwater River bottoms, not
to mention that of the Mississippi, which are worse than those of
the Yalobusha, the word "Yalobusha" in the Indian language
meaning tadpole place. Apparently, in the opinion of the Pro-
fessor, any old place in the Mississippi swamps, even a tadpole
place, was quite eligible for a permanent home for the Indians.
And £^in the Professor and his friend, Dr. Rowland, seem
oblivious to the fact that it is actually a little farther, on an air
line, from Pontotoc in the northeastern part of the state to the
ubiquitous place in Tunica County where they claim the river was
discovered than it is to the Chickasaw Bluffs, leading to which
were well known and well traveled Chickasaw trails, affording a
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far better road to the river; whereas no one pretends that there
was any trail of the Chickasaws, or of any one else, leading to
Tunica County.
And finally, on this feature of the discussion, can the Professor
and Dr. Rowland name any river that flows into the Mississippi
in Tunica County? It is certain no mention is made of such a
river by them, and it is an undeniable fact, resulting from purely
natural causes, that no river flows into the Mississippi River on
the east side, after Nonconnah, at the south end of the Chicka-
saw Bluffs, until the mouth of the Yazoo is reached, 300 miles
to the south. In fact the surface waters of Tunica and even those
of I>e Soto, Marshall, and Benton Counties, bordering on Tennes-
see, flow into Coldwater River, which deflects southward, and
joins the Tallahatchie, after which their combined waters, with
those of the Yalobusha further south, are known as the Yazoo
River, entering the Mississippi near Vicksburg.
Another thing is equally undeniable, and that is their
favorite author, the Gentleman of Elvas, plainly states that
while the Indians were menacing the expedition at the villages
of Quizquiz, and before the expedition pitched camp by the
great river, De Soto drew up his horsemen near a river-bluff to
confront the Indians. This river formed then and forms now an
unmistakable, and may I not add a controlling, feature of the
country, forever destroying the Tunica County theory, and
stamping the Fourth Chickasaw Bluffs, with Wolf River flowing
into the Mississippi at its north terminus, and Nonconnah
(almost a little river) flowing into the great river at its south
terminus, as the place where white men first gazed upon the
Father of Waters?
Did the learned historians pass over this unmistakable
feature of the country where the discovery was made sub sUenlio^
because they were not conversant with the topography of the
country; or because they read Elvas so inattentively as to over-
look this important matter? I know not. Certain it is that when
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further on Prof. Lewis undertook to disparage the claims of Mem-
phis, he was alive to physical features, for he commented on the
conformation of the plateau at the bluffs, in order to make a point
for his argument, and in this I shall show that he was mistaken.
It is also a little amusing that, after the learned historian
lands De Soto over in the Arkansas swamps opposite Tunica
County, and started him in a course northward and practically
parallel with the great river, the suggestion is made that possibly
some earthquake may have changed the topography of the
country; and still Dr. Rowland, in his last paper, appeals to the
topography of the country as unchangeable!
From this short review I believe the impartial reader will
.conclude that eltrich and eerie and strange must be the mythical
place in Tunica where, in the imaginations of the learned histo-
rians, De Soto discovered the Mississippi; and, moreover, that
they must appeal to the miraculous in order to conjure up even
a shadow of support for their favorite theory. Indeed, the supposed
place where the discovery was made is an arbitrary conception,
as destitute of objective characteristics as the tropic of Capricorn.
De Soto's Route to the Chickasaw Bluffs—
Irrespective of any criticism of the theory of Prof. Lewis
and Dr. Rowland, let us endeavor now to place ourselves near
the home of the Chickasaw nation in April, 1541, and with the
De Soto expedition when it was about to move forward in search
of the new El Dorado, reminding us of the quest for the fabled
golden fleece. Where were they and what roads lay before them?
The Chickasaws had chosen as their home and the seat of
their government the country lying now in and adjacent to
Pontotoc County, Mississippi, as the very best for health, for
abundance of everything necessary to their sustenance, as well as
for beauty, and as being without a rival in the vast territory
of which they were the acknowledged overlords.
Their home was on the well known Pontotoc ridge, which
runs north and south, the waters to the east running into the
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Tombigbee, and those on the west of the ridge running into the
Tallahatchie and Coldwater Rivers and thence into the Yazoo
and on into the Mississippi. Of the home of the Chickasaws
Bancroft speaks of it as a land
"where the grass is verdant in midwinter; the blue-bird
and the robin are heard in February; the springs of pure water
gurgle up through the white sands to flow through natural
bowers of evergreen holly; and if the earth be but carelessly
gashed to receive the kernel of maize, the thick corn springs
abundantly from the fertile soil. The region is as happy as
any beneath the sun; and the love it inspired made its occu-
pants, though not numerous, yet the most intrepid warriors of
the South."
Evidently the Chickasaws exercised that sagacity for which
they were noted, in the selection of their home; and being great
travelers with a large territory to guard and defend against all
intruders, they had well defined trails leading to all important
points, and especially to the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, which was
their entrepot on the great river, for they were at home upon its
bosom, Adair saying that they appeared almost amphibious.
The trails of the Chickasaws leading in various directions
were perfectly well known. De Soto had been wandering amid the
wilds of the southern wilderness since July 15, 1539; besides, he
had wandered in the tropical forests of South and Central America,
and probably no man then living knew as much as he did about
the difficulties of such traveling, or better how to choose the best
way. It was scarcely necessary for the Gentleman of Elvas to
inform us that "From some prisoners taken, the governor in-
formed himself of the region in advance." We know he diligently
sought information from every source, for this was necessary for
self-preservation, the first law of nature.
That, while he was for months living with the Chickasaws
on the most friendly terms, he learned from them of the great
river which, with its tributary, the Ohio, formed their western
boundary and their highway for a thousand miles, no one can
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doubt. For seventy-five years Cushman lived among the Choc-
taws and Chickasaws, having been raised in their nations, their
language being his language, and he says they "named it (the
Mississippi) 'Misha Sipokni' (beyond age, whose source and
terminus are unknown)." They knew all about the situation
of this great river with respect to their country and every foot
of their vast domains, and had highways suitable to their wants
to all parts of it. De Soto necessarily learned the lay of the
country before him and of the Indian trails which were unmis-
takably marked out on the face of the earth. The Chickasaw long
trail for winter as well as for summer, on top of ridges going
almost directly north as far as where Bolivar, Tennessee, now is,
then turning west and on to the Chickasaw Bluffs, was much out
of the way; and moreover De Soto was moving the last of April,
when presumably the short-cut route, approximately by way of
where Holly Springs now is and onward northwestwardly along
where the Pigeon Roost road now runs, was comparatively dry,
and he had this road, or rather Indian trail, over which to travel.
The long trail appears on Lusher 's map of 1835, as well as
the short-cut trail. This article was mostly written before I
knew there was such a map, which I will explain further on.
There is also marked on Lusher 's map of 1835 an inter-
mediate trail, running with the long .trail a short distance north
from where New Albany now is; thence diverging westward
where it crosses the headwaters of the Tallahatchie and Cold-
water Rivers higher up than the short-cut trail, and still bearing
northwestward follows the top of the ridge dividing the waters
of Wolf River from those of Nonconnah Creek, the result being
that it crosses neither Wolf nor Nonconnah, and does not pass
over as large streams as the short cut. The disadvantages of this
route consist in the fact that it is longer than the short cut, and
being higher up towards the Tippah Highlands, it is more
"mountainous." I went over this route some years ago and again
in October, 191 7, going from Memphis out Poplar Street Boule-
vard, by CoUierville, there turning southward into Mississippi,
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and some eight to ten miles from CoUierville we crossed a very
low, flat expanse, the soil being evidently retentive of water and
while in timber wet and swampy, and partly so even to this day,
and of a pondy character. While for the most part the road is
on high ground, still we passed over several streams, including
Chewalla and Tippah, before reaching Potts Camp, beyond Holly
Springs. The windings of the road and its characteristics un-
mistakably stamp it as of Indian origin.
There is a bare possibility that De Soto traveled this trail
rather than the short cut, but I do not think that probable,
Lusher'smap also shows what I have denominated the short-
cut route or trail, leading from Memphis along approximately
what is now the Pigeon Roost Road, over which, in my opinion,
De Soto passed ; but it is due to say that this trail does not appear
to cross Tallahatchie at New Albany, but further down and quite
near where the Tippah flows into the Tallahatchie, running thence
southwardly to one of the very few places marked on the map,
Olacopotoo, which appears to be the modern Toccopola, a village
of some 233 inhabitants in Pontotoc County.
Here the trail forks; one fork runs almost due east, only
twelve miles on section lines, to Pontotoc, which, of course, is
marked on the map; while the other fork runs much further
southward. I am frank to say that I do not believe that De Soto
passed over this southern part of the short-cut trail, and my
opinion is that he followed the main trail northwestward, crossing
Tallahatchie where New Albany now is, on the rock bottom of
the river. This is the conclusion also of Prof. Lewis.
My opinion is that not far northward of New Albany, there
was a trail connecting the main trail with the short-cut trail,
precisely as the intermediate trail is shown on the map to diverge
westward from the main trail, only about one mile northward
from New Albany; or it may be that the divergence was from the
intermediate trail to the short cut, thus making a saving of dis-
tance of some twenty to thirty computed miles and crossing
many less high hills. This view is precisely in accord with the
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statement of Judge Crum, as to the route the short cut took from
New Albany on to Holly Springs, and thence on to where Mem-
phis now is, as quoted hereinbefore.
While Holly Springs is not on Lusher's map, still it does
show the short-cut trail as crossing the headwaters of Coldwater
River, Byhalia, Red Banks and Pigeon Roost Creeks, and these
streams are crossed today by the Pigeon Roost Road.
It is due to say, however, that according to my reckoning
the trail did not pass the spot where Holly Springs is now located,
but passed some six miles westward. I feel quite sure that Dr.
Lowe is entirely correct in saying that the high land whereon
Holly Springs is located stands off to itself, and is entirely dis-
connected with the Tippah Highlands, though some modern maps
show otherwise. Lusher's map corroborates this statement of
Dr. Lowe, in that it shows no streams passing over the immediate
vicinity of Holly Springs, but does show streams radiating in
various directions from that vicinity; from which I infer that the
uplift or spur whereon the little city is located furnishes, at least
in part, the origin of adjacent creeks.
It is well here to note that the Indian trails or traces on
Lusher's map are uniformly represented by continuous faint lines,
and that none of the many Indian trails or traces are designated
by a name.
There is one trail, and one only, that forms a marked ex-
ception to all other trails; and it consists of a dotted line, commenc-
ing on the west side of the Mississippi River (with two dots on
the west side thereof), the commencing point being opposite the
name ''Helena," evidently the present Helena, Arkansas, this
being one of the few places on the map with an English name.
This dotted line on the east side of the river trends east by
north, passing near the southern end of Beaver Dam Lake, until
it nearly reaches Coldwater River, where it is joined by another
dotted line, commencing on the east side of the Mississippi River,
about opposite the north end of Beaver Dam Lake, running
thence eastward to where the two dotted lines meet; and thence
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\ the dotted line crosses Coldwater and runs northeastward until
it ends with joining a regular Indian trail about six computed
miles from the point where the short-cut Indian trail crosses
Pigeon Roost Creek, and about twelve computed miles southwest
of where Holly Springs now is. This dotted line is plainly marked
"Helena Trace;" whereas none of the many Indian traces or
continuous lines have any names marked on them.
It is evident that this "Helena trace" was of recent origin,
and a pathway made by the white man; and being the only trace
trending east and west through the Mississippi swamps, it gives
emphasis to the fact that there was no Indian trace or trail that
led to the Mississippi River at any point, except to the Fourth
Chickasaw Bluff, to which three Indian trails led from the Chicka-
saw home, where Pontotoc now is.
And now as to maps in general and Lusher's map in particu-
lar, I will say that I give scant credit thereto unless the maps
were made upon actual survey. Thus, why should anyone put
any great confidence in the favorite map of Prof. Lewis, viz: that
of De L'Isle, published in 1718, or 177 years after De Soto discov-
ered the Mississippi; and this map, according to the Professor,
was the first that undertook to locate the place where the river
was discovered?
Simply because a man is a cartographer, he is not inspired
with the gift of location; for at last the accuracy of the map must
depend on the knowledge of the cartographer as to the real
location of any place which he undertakes to place on a piece of
paper. What source of knowledge did De L'Isle possess as to
where the river was discovered that we have not? Probably he
had not so much information as we, for the Biedma and Ranjel
narratives have only recently come to light; and it is practically
certain he knew absolutely nothing as to the topography of the
country. Prof. Lewis rejects as worthless most of the maps
relative to this matter.
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To illustrate the utter worthlessness and unreliability of
some of the work of cartographers, consult the Atlas, Vol. lo,
p. 4, of the Century Dictionary, which undertakes to show the
route pursued by various discoverers on this continent, and
among them the route of De Soto. According to this map De Soto
did not go far enough north in Mississippi to reach the Chickasaw
country, and crossed the great river about where Vicksburg now is.
Probably more money and talent were bestowed on bringing
out that great dictionary than on any other in the history of this
country, still no one who has carefully studied this matter can
defend this so-called map, showing the route of De Soto through
Mississippi.
A word as to Lusher's map. The copy I examined belongs
to Captain J. D. Fontaine, nestor of the Pontotoc bar, who
kindly lent it to E. T. Winston of Pontotoc to send to me for
examination, with many injunctions for safe keeping and its safe
return. From outside to outside it is 18x24 inches, of fine
workmanship, is on quite thin, but good paper, folds up book-like,
with extra good binding, so that it can be carried in the coat
pocket. This is the inscription on it:
"Map of the land ceded by the Chickasaws to the United
States in 1832 and 1834 from actual survey by Henry M. Lusher,
draughtsman in the office of the Surveyor General of lands in
Missis. Ceded by the Chickasaws, 1835. Approved John Bell,
Surveyor of land in Missis. Ceded by the Chickasaws, Benja.
Reynolds, Chickasaw Agent."
Beneath the above in small print there is this: ''Pendleton's
Lithography, Boston Eddy, del t. on stone." Of course there was the
usual display of capitals, etc., but I have made a literal copy of the
verbiage ; from which I think it appears that the map is as authentic
and correct as one could be made in 1835. The Indians had not
then left Mississippi, but were still occupying their ancestral homes.
In a letter Mr. Winston called my attention to what he
termed the main Chickasaw trail, a part of which is indistinctly
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shown on Lusher's map, and which, coming from the south,
intersected the Tombigbee on the east, where Columbus now is.
Winston then quotes from Claiborne, saying that De Soto
followed an Indian, trail or buffalo path some five miles up to
Lincecum's shoals, just above the mouth of the Tibbee and a
little below the present town of Waverly. The Tombigbee here
is bifurcated by an island, the first obstruction below Butahatchie.
The gravel discharged from this stream lodged against the island
and rendered both channels fordable a great part of the year, and
this is the only point where the Spaniards could have forded in
December. It was the crossing used by the Choctaws when
going to their villages and hunting grounds east of the Tombigbee.
The trail struck here a stretch of prairie between Tibbee and
Hanging Kettle Creeks, and crossed the present Mobile and Ohio
Railroad at Lookhattan, thence a little west of the railroad by
Muldon, Prairie Station and Egypt.
The early settlers of this portion of Mississippi remember
the well worn, beaten trail, long disused but distinctly defined,
and can to this day trace it from plantation to plantation.
On leaving Egypt the trail tended northwest up the ridge
known as Featherston's Ridge, through a series of glades three or
four miles west of Okolona and up the second bottom on the east
side of Suquatouchee Creek. There it struck Pontotoc Ridge
four miles east of the ancient Chickasaw Council House. Near
this point stood the first Chickasaw town, and in the vicinity the
Spaniards went into winter quarters.
Winston then gives the route of De Soto as passing thence
up the Pontotoc Ridge to New Albany and thence (as he thought)
along the short cut to the Chickasaw Bluffs; and this in the opinion
of Mr. Winston was the route over which De Soto traveled, and
discovered the great river where Memphis now is. For years he
has studied this matter very carefully from every angle, and
being on the ground and undertaking the topography of the
country thoroughly, his opinion is entitled to great weight.
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Remember, there was no Indian trail towards Tunica County,
or in that direction. If the Indians, going single file, found it
impracticable to have a trail through these swamps, how could
De Soto expect to cut out a way for his horses, army, their bag-
gage, etc.? All Indian trails wind in and out in a tortuous
manner, because they knew not only the impassable, but the
bad places and these they went around. Although the Pigeon
Roost Road has been changed and partially straightened out,
first by order of the public authorities, then by the Pigeon Roost
and Chulahoma Turnpike Company, chartered October 31, 1853,
when the road was rebuilt and made into a plank road, still it is
today one of the crookedest roads leading from Memphis, thus
bearing the unmistakable impress of its Indian origin.
Why attribute to De Soto the monumental folly of refusing
to travel any one of three well defined trails leading to the
greatest and best known headland in all the lower Mississippi
valley on the great river, and on the other hand deliberately
choosing to go through the impenetrable swamps where the
Indians dared not make a trail for themselves?
Bear in mind also that there was high land across the river
from Memphis, where there are even to this day Indian mounds,
where Mound City now is, evidently named after the mounds,
and from which the Indians unquestionably had trails leading
northward and westward.
Looking now to the three favorite narratives of Prof. Lewis,
we find that they point with unerring accuracy to the short
Chickasaw trail as the one used by De Soto.
Biedma is commended for giving the details for directions
and distances, and he says,
"we remained here two months (meaning near the Chicka-
saws), getting ready what were necessary of saddles, lances, and
targets, and then left, taking the direction to the northwest^
towards a province called Alibamo."
Mark, they went northwest, which accurately described the di-
rection of the Chickasaw Bluffs, and is in accord with Lusher's map.
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As the expedition started in the direction we claim, the
next inquiry is as to the character of the country over which it
passed, upon which so much stress is laid by Professor Lewis.
He says Ranjel is the most accurate of all the narrators and we
will quote not in part but the exact words used by Ranjel as follows :
"Saturday, the last of April, the army set out from the place
of barricade and marched nine days through a deserted country
and by a rough way, mountainous and swampy, until May 8, when
they came to the first village of Quizquiz, etc."
Mark, in the first place, that they went "by a rough way,"
which implies that they were traveling over a "way," which
means, I think, along an Indian trail, for in common parlance the
trail might very well be termed "a rough way," as no doubt it was.
But the important feature is that this rough way was
"mountainous and, swampy." At first blush the words "moun-
tainous and swampy" might seem contradictory; but when
reference is had to the topography and character of the country
over which the expedition actually passed, I insist no other two
single words could more accurately describe the road De Soto
traveled. The abrupt hills on both sides of Holly Springs, being
spurs from the Tippah Highlands, even to this day rear their
heads skyward, as silent witnesses or sentinels attesting the
verity of Ranjel's statement when he says the country was
mountainous. This no man, however learned, can deny.
It is equally certain that no mountainous country could be
encountered by De Soto had he turned westward on leaving
where New Albany now is, as Professor Lewis says he did.
Was the Professor impressed with this important fact, when, in
quoting RanjeU he omitted the word "mountainous?"
But it may be asked, what of the word "swampy" used by
Ranjel; and I answer it very correctly fits the river and creek
bottoms over which the Chickasaw trail passed.
In view of the fact that the narrative of the Gentleman of
Elvas seems to be much relied upon in this connection, I will
next quote from that, which is as follows:
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"He accordingly set out for Quizquiz, and marched seven
days through a wilderness, having many pondy places, with
thick forests, fordable, however, on horseback, all to some basins
or lakes that were swum."
The original sentence may have been in good Spanish; if so,
the last part has not been happily translated into English.
Nevertheless the import of the text is clear, and the only ques-
tion is. Did parts of the trail lead over or through places as
above described? Unquestionably they did.
The very fact that the Chickasaws had a long trail on top of
the Pontotoc Ridge going directly north near to Bolivar, Tennes-
see, and turning thence abruptly west, and that they also had
the intermediate trail, both of which were so roundabout, and
so much further to the bluffs than the less used Chickasaw short
trail, of itself is a demonstration that the Indians regarded the
short trail as a swampy, boggy, and dangerous trail, and not fit
for use, except in dry seasons or in emergencies.
Any observant man seventy years old, who knew or passed
over the river and creek bottoms on this trail, or over the inter-
mediate trail in his early years, will, without hesitation, state
that they were covered with thick forests, and interpersed with
canebrakes, lagoons, sloughs, cypress brakes, and the like,
which made them near impassable and veritable wilder-
nesses. Where is the man described that will dispute these
facts?
As stated by E. T. Winston, the Indians knew every foot of
these trails, through the bottoms especially; knew the solid
ground from that which appeared solid, but in reality was a
quagmire; knew the shallow water from the deep water; the
hard bottom from quicksand bottom; and knew when and where
to cross the streams or lagoons, sloughs, etc., and could pass
over almost dry shod where De Soto and his men, burdened with
armor and baggage, and with his horses, would find an almost
impassable way.
Who doubts the correctness of these deductions?
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View the situation from another angle. J. J. Rawlings died
in Memphis in I900,aged ninety-two years, and was then the oldest
inhabitant, an honored man, and altogether a picturesque charac-
ter and in the evening of life he wrote some of his reminiscences,
which are preserved in pamphlet form. He was born in 1808,
came to the Bluffs in 1824, before Memphis was incorporated;
and says that in 1826 or 1827, he and Marcus B. Winchester
(the first mayor of Memphis) and W. D. Dabney (soon to be a
very prominent man) went down into Mississippi to visit the
Chickasaws, and be there when the Indian agent made his dis-
bursements, so they could collect what the Indians owed. After
dancing all night, for more than one night, with the dark-eyed
beauties of the forest, these three hardy young pioneers started
home, when Rawlings relates this incident:
"On nearing home we were pressing our horses to reach a
house we thought was ahead ; we never found it. We got lost in
Cold Water Bottom, a dark and dismal place. We worried about
in .the dark until we found it was no use. Our horses being very
tired, we stripped them and turned them loose to eat pea vines.
We commenced preparing to stay in that horrible place all
night. Our first effort was to get a light — ^no matches in those
days. We had spunk and steel and with all our efforts we could
never get a fire. We gave it up for a bad job and spread our
saddles on the ground. Sleep was not expected. Foxes and wolves
were barking all around us, owls hooting — plenty of music;
that was not the worst of it, there were millions of mosquitoes to
the square inch and it was as much as we could do to save our
lives from the infernal pests. Next day we reached home, after
a sleepless night. On looking in the glass we did not know our-
selves. You could not put the point of a pin on our faces and
hands where there was not a mosquito bite.''
And still Professor Lewis would have us believe that it was
almost a picnic trip for De Soto, in 1541, to go through these
swamps with his army and horsemen, without a guide, where
white men never trod before, and where even the Indians did not
venture, except in dry weather or in great emergencies.
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CHAPTER VI
DE SOTO AT THE CHICKASAW BLUFFS
We now come to a consideration of the topography and
general lay of the land at and adjacent to the Fourth Chickasaw
Bluffs whereon Memphis is enthroned, and declared by some of
the most eminent historians to be the place where the Mississippi
River was discovered by Hernando De Soto.
The point where Madison Avenue intersects Front Street is
locally considered about the center of the city, though not quite
midway between the north and south extremities of the bluff
where it intersects the Mississippi; and, moreover, this point is
only about 400 to 500 feet from the water's edge; and doubtless
for these reasons it is the first point mentioned by Pashby in stating
the altitude of various places in the city.
The bluff rises at Madison and Front eighty-eight feet
above low water; and further below, at the Indian Mounds,
called Jackson Mounds, and now forming De Soto Park, the
bluff is one hundred and two feet above low water. Before
the advent of the white man there sprang from the tops of these
bluffs a giant forest, many of the trees being over one hundred
feet high, so that the tops of this great forest rose over two
hundred feet above low water.
To any one passing the bluffs on the river, which flows
through a flat alluvial delta, this great headland could not fail
to make a deep and pleasing impression. And, moreover, the
bluffs were but an extension or an elbow from the Pontotoc
Ridge or Tippah Highlands, on the southern projection of which
the Chickasaws had their home.
Wolf River rises in Tippah County, flows first northward,
then westward, and enters the Mississippi at the north end of the
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bluffs; and in this connection it is well to remember that for miles
up stream from its mouth an abrupt bluff rises from its eastern
and southern shores.
Nonconnah was first called Chickasaw Creek, and would in
Europe, be called a river. With its meanders it is probably fifty
miles long. Its headwaters also commence in the Tippah High-
lands, but lower down in Marshall County, Mississippi; and
first trend a little north of west and then westward, flowing into
the Mississippi at the southern end of the Chickasaw Bluff, only
about four or five miles from the mouth of Wolf River. C. D.
Johnson, secretary of the Cossitt Library, called to my attention
a quaint small volume, entitled The Navigator, the first edition
of which appeared in 1801, written by a riverman for rivermen
navigating the Mississippi and some of its tributaries, and having
wood cuts of the Mississippi, very creditable for that early day.
In reference to the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff the author says:
"Wolf (called by Hutchins), Margot River. This is a hand-
some little river on the left side. The French had a fort here
just below the mouth of the river, called Assumption Fort,
built in the year 1736, during their wars with the Chickasaws,
but in the year following a peace ensued, and the fort was
demolished. A good landing may be had at Wolf River, by pull-
ing over after you pass the four islands above.
"Fort Pike formerly stood just below Wolf River, but a better
situation was pitched upon, and a fort built two miles lower
down the bluff called Fort Pickering.
"It occupies the commanding ground of the Fourth Chickasaw
Bluff, on the left bank of the Mississippi.
"The United States have a military factor here, with a few
soldiers. The settlement is thin and composed of what is called
the half breed, that is, a mixture of the whites and Indians, a race
of men too indolent to do any permanent good either for them-
selves or for society. A landing may be had a little above Fort
Pickering, but it is not a very good one.
"The fourth bluff affords a commanding, airy, pleasant, and
extensive situation for a settlement, and the soil is remarkably
fertile. Opposite the bluff or Wolf River, on the right bank of
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the Mississippi, there used to stand a Spanish fort, now demol-
ished. When this post was in possession of the Spaniards, the
commandant had a road cut in a straight line from the mouth
of Chickasaw Creek (a small creek two miles below Fort Picker-
ing) to Wolf River for the purpose of taking exercise on horse-
back."
Thus we see the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff was a conspicuous
headland, Wolf River and Nonconnah being conspicuous streams
entering the river at the north and south sides of the bluff
respectively. These bluffs run back forming a backbone or ridge
for many miles, and constitutes the watershed between Wolf and
Nonconnah, the ridge extending back to the Tippah Highlands
or Pontotoc Ridge, and being an elbow or arm therefrom.
I learn from J. Paul Gaines, a well known civil engineer,
that this ridge is called to this day Poplar Ridge, on account of
the splendid trees which abounded thereon, locally miscalled
poplars, and which furnished one of the most valuable timbers
on this continent. In point of fact the. so-called poplar is the
tulip tree. In the flowering season the tulip tree bursts radiantly
into bloom, with exquisitely scented and strangely colored
flowers. Having a lofty gray stem and crown of beautiful leaves the
tulip tree is one of the most notable trees of our forests, and at-
tains in the South a growth of great luxury.
It was on this ridge that the Chickasaws sometimes traveled
from their home to the ChickaJsaw Bluff; and which I have
denominated the intermediate trail, and which crosses few,
streams, and which plainly appears on Lusher's map.
It is possible that De Soto came over this trail, but not
probable; for I believe he traveled over the short-cut trail,
already fully described. That he came over one or the other is
the important consideration, and this, I believe, appears beyond
a reasonable doubt.
Professor Lewis wrought out an argument against the sup-
position that De Soto discovered the Mississippi River on the
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Chickasaw Bluffs, based mainly on alleged quotations from
Gardlaso de la Vega, one purpose of which, even if not so in-
tended, served the purpose to discredit that eminent historian.
Later I will undertake to show that he misquotes Garcilaso,
called by him the "Inca"; but at this juncture my purpose is to
show that the Professor was entirely ignorant of the topography
and geology of the country in question; otherwise I believe he
would not have made the statements he did.
Bear in mind that his friend. Dr. Rowland, very correctly
points out that an accurate knowledge of the topography and
geology of the country is very essential to a right understanding
of the matters involved.
In order to have a clear understanding of the question here
at issue I will quote that part of the Professor's alleged quotation
from Garcilaso in the precise words of the Professor, as follows:
"Because of many streams around there, they could not use
their horses."
The Professor then adds:
"It will readily be seen that this description does not apply
to Fort Pickering."
The Professor evidently places reliance in the statement
attributed to Garcilaso that there were "numerous streams"
adjacent to the point of discovery. That there were numerous
streams all over the bluffs cannot be successfully denied.
As stated, what is called Poplar Ridge is a narrow ridge of
land extending from the Tippah Highlands some fifty miles west-
ward, stopping abruptly at the Mississippi River, the west end
of the ridge consisting of what from time immemorial has been
called the Chickasaw Bluffs. What was and is the character of
the soil or ground of these bluffs? It is what is called a loess for-
mation, consisting of a fine siliceous loam of a pale yellow color,
having in it considerable sand, almost impalpably fine. Beneath
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this formation there is to be found different colored sands of
varying thickness, laying in different strata, and likewise there are
strata of gravel.
It may be added (though not pertinent to the present dis-
cussion) that some three hundred feet below the surface a thick
blue clay, impervious to water, is found, which when pierced, is
found to lay upon a very fine white water-bearing sand, and from
this sand gushes up the inexhaustible supply of pure artesian
water with which the city is supplied.
With a given high, narrow ridge of ground composed as
above indicated, with an annual rainfall of about fifty inches,
how could it be otherwise than that this ridge would, in course
of time, be furrowed with numerous streams?
And with a primeval forest, cane, and underbrush springing
from the soil, and over the ground decayed vegetation holding
water almost like a sponge, how could it be otherwise than that
a part of the rainwater would percolate the loess, and flow along
lower horizontal strata of sand or gravel, finding an outlet as
springs, where these strata were cut by the streams, locally
called bayous?
This is precisely what took place.
It would be a great mistake to suppose, as apparently as-
sumed by Professor Lewis, that the lay of the land at the top of
the bluffs and backwards towards the east was a flat expanse,
for to the contrary it was much broken by numerous small streams.
Even present appearances show this in part, but we must
remember that the most of these small streams, hills, smd hollows
have been obliterated in the building of the city. Thus, my
office is in the Cotton Exchange Building, a twenty-story sky-
scraper, fronting Madison, Second, and South Court Streets
opposite Court Square. No one now would ever suppose that
formerly a small stream flowed where it now stands; and yet,
when some years since the foundations of this building were laid,
some bridge timbers, roots of trees, and the bed of a small stream
were found twenty feet below the surface.
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Very little of the storm water ran or runs now westward from
the bluff into the river, because on an average not exceeding one
i,ooo feet from the water's edge, the surface slopes eastward,
canying the water into Bayou Gayoso, which is about one-
quarter of a mile from the river going east on Madison, the bed
of the bayou being about forty feet lower than the bluff at
Madison and Front.
The bluffs were crisscrossed by numerous streams, the chief
one being Bayou Gayoso, some five and a half miles long, run-
ning in a main north by west direction, emptying into Wolf
River about 2,500 feet from its junction with the Mississippi, and
with its east and west forks, the Little Betty and De Soto, drains
the southern and central divisions of the present city. The main
affluent of Bayou Gayoso is Quimby Bayou, something less than
four and a half miles long from its head to where it empties into
Bayou Gayoso, and with its tributaries drains the northern part
of the city.
Probably there is not one person in ten thousand in Memphis
today who is aware of the fact that as late as 183 1 Bayou Gayoso
spread out into a large lake just north of the old Louisville &
Nashville depot adjacent to Second Street; still such was the
case, and it was known as Catfish Bay, because of the abundance
of fish, and especially catfish, to be found in its waters.
Flat boats, fishing house boats and other water craft in the
early days came from the Mississippi up Wolf and then into
Gayoso for good fish and safe anchorage in Catfish Bay; and many
fishermen built little shanties on the shores of this bay. A
movement was set on foot to clear them away, as unsightly and a
nuisance, which fired the wrath of these Catfish Bay inhabitants.
Old Ike Rawlings was considered a fixture in the mayor's chair
and advocated the removal, but a young lawyer lately from
Kentucky, named Seth Wheatley, took up the cudgel for Catfish
Bay and its inhabitants and defeated Rawlings for mayor in
1831. The end of Catfish Bay is thus set forth by Keating (p.
184):
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"Two nights after Wheatley's election as mayor, a perfect
sluice of tan-ooze and filth, from Carr's tannery, was sent into
the bayou, and thus found its way to the bay; the waters of
which were so polluted that the fish were killed and the water
could no longer be used for any domestic service. Great in-
dignation followed, much of it expressed in the adjectives and
expletives usual to the orators of Pinch, but Catfish Bay was
ruined, and the people quickly left it and its shores. Some of
the boats were floated out, others were broken up, and the shanties
were taken down and moved to other localities. The merchants
and citizens were very liberal, and the change was effected in a
very short time and at last with the best of feeling. After a
few days all were quieted down, and the names Catfish Bay and
Pinch Gut were dropped."
Probably there are not a half dozen people in Memphis who
know that the site of Carr's Tannery referred to was on a large
bayou in the present Southern Railroad yards between Madison
and Adams Avenues, bounded on the west by Lauderdale, and
that this large bayou flows now through brick culverts under the
surface since the building of the first railroad into Memphis in
1857.
Speaking of fish it may be mentioned that in the early days
numerous cool springs were dotted all along the course of these
bayous, which cut deep down into the soil so that there was cool
running water in the bayous all the year round. The veteran
and retired banker. Miles S. Buckingham, in his reminiscent
moods, is fond of telling how in early days, when the dogwoods
were in blossom, he would take his hook and line any day and
bring home a long string of the finest game fish, caught from the
cool waters of the bayou south of Vance Avenue.
What a beautiful, nay, was not the Chickasaw Bluff country
an ideal place for a home of the children of the forest? Might
we not expect permanent Indian villages on the bluffs proper and
the adjacent country?
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But we are not entirely left to conjecture as to the impres-
sion which the Chickasaw Bluffs and the surrounding country
would naturally make upon any stranger who first looked upon
its primeval beauty.
After the foregoing was written and printed, I read for the
first time the History of Louisiana by Monsieur Le Parge Du-
Pratz, first published in 1858. Not long after 1720 DuPratz
made a trip from his home, then at Natchez, to the Chickasaw
country, the first part of the journey being by land and the last
part by water up the Mississippi, landing at the Chickasaw "Cliffs."
The place of landing is not only described but also shown
upon a map attached to the history, on which it is stated that it
was made by the author in 1757, the map being an unusually
fair representation of the adjacent country, and particularly
shows the high ground bordering the river, thus very clearly and
accurately representing the Chickasaw Bluffs, with the words
"The Chickasaw Cliffs" printed opposite.
After landing at the bluffs DuPratz states that they hid
their boats, making an excursion into the adjacent country,
where they found numbers of buffaloes, elk, deer, and other game,
and likewise wolves, tigers, and catamounts, and describing it as
a charming country. On page 150 he says:
"I could have wished to end my days in these charming
solitudes, at a distance from the tumultuous hurry of the world,
far from the pinching gripe of avarice and deceit. There it is,
said I to myself, one relished a thousand innocent delights, and
which are repeated with satisfaction ever new. It is there one
lives exempt from the assaults of censure, detraction, and cal-
umny. In those delightsome meadows, which often extend far
out of sight, and where we see so many different species of animals,
there it is we have occasion to admire the beneficence of the
Creator. To conclude, there it is that, at the gentle purling of
a pure and living water, and enchanted with the concerts of
birds, which fill the neighbouring thickets, we may agreeably
contemplate the wonders of nature, and examine them all at our
leisure."
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As we have seen, the old Chickasaw trail came from the
southeast after crossing Nonconnah and along the line of the
present Pigeon Roost Road, then passed up Brown's Hill, thus ab-
ruptly ascending from the low to high land ; and in a short distance
there commences a beautiful expanse of almost level country,
some six or seven miles from the courthouse in Memphis.
In my opinion this was the vicinity of Quizquiz, the first
village reached by De Soto near the great river.
It must not be supposed, however, that Poplar Ridge
afforded the only country adapted to permanent villages for the
Indians. Quite to the contrary, the country north of Wolf
River and south of Nonconnah furnished ideal conditions for
permanent villages for the Indians; and, moreover, at one time
how remote no one knows, they lived in the vicinity of the present
Capleville, Tennessee, some twelve miles from Memphis, where
there were in early days abundant springs, but now, alas! the
most of them are gone, or else so shrunken as to be scarce shadows
of their former proportions.
Nearly due east of the Ila Douglass homestead, say eleven
miles from Memphis and one mile from the Pigeon Roost Road,
and across Little Nonconnah Creek, there is to this day in a culti-
vated field, the remnants of a salt lick, covering about one-fourth
of an acre of ground; a geologic feature of the country as rare as
it was valuable to the Indians.
About a mile in a southeasterly direction from the lick there
were in my boyhood days two old Indian fields surrounded by
dense forests, about one-quarter of a mile apart. It was the
custom of the Chickasaws to live apart to a large extent, doubtless
being taught by experience that this contributed to their good
health and general well being. One of these Indian fields is on
the estate of my late sister, Mrs. Mary Lou Malone Ellis.
About one mile west of the Pigeon Roost Road and some two
miles west of the salt lick, there is upon the estate of the late
George R. Tuggle, a considerable Indian mound, formerly having
large trees standing thereon. These trees have been cut long since.
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and the adjacent g^round put in cultivation. Near this mound
and on top of a high ridge there were two pondy places, such as re-
ferred to by the Gentleman of Elvas. When I was a boy, these
pondy places were of considerable extent; in fact, were miniature
lakes, having clear water in them the year round, and in winter
I have often seen them covered with wild ducks and other wild
fowls. One of them has been drained for agricultural purposes,
and the other is much shrunken in size. George M. Douglass
owns the property on which the salt lick can now be seen. His
parents were among the early settlers, he now being on the shady
side of seventy, but hale and hearty. He well remembers being
shown when a boy a large tree, with low, heavy limbs, in which he
was told the Indians sought a perch from which they could easily
kill deer and other game (with their bows and arrows) which
came to the lick for salt.
Milton Blocker was born and has lived all his life at the
pretty little village of Olive Branch, Mississippi, some seven
miles southeast of the salt lick referred to, he now also being
on the shady side of seventy, but very active and alert for his
years. His father and mother settled on a large estate while the
Indians were still in Mississippi, a part of which he now owns.
He readily recalls hearing his mother, who lived to an old age,
speak of the salt lick referred to, and its great value to the
Indians, in drawing to it the abundant game of the country from
far and near.
As showing the uses to which the Indians put these rare
salt licks, and the dangers attendant thereon, I will here insert
an excerpt from Cushman (pages 486, 487) :
"When watching at a deer lick at night by the light of the
full-orbed moon, in which the writer has indulged years ago
in the Mississippi forests then untouched by the ax, the hunter
found as his rival in the same sport, the panther or the cata-
mount, sometimes both; and whose presence was made known
by the moving shadow cast upon the ground by moonlight, as
he was preparing to leap from his perch upon a deer that had.
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unconscious of danger, walked into the lick. An incident of this
kind happened to a hunter in Oktibbihaw County, Mississippi,
shortly after the exodus of the Choctaws. He had found a deer lick
in Catarpo (corruption of the Choctaw word Katapah, stopped;
referring to the obstructions in the creek by drifts) swamps,
which was much frequented by the deer. He built a scaffold
fifteen or twenty feet high on the edge of a lick, and on a beautiful
night of the full moon, shortly after sundown, took his seat
thereon. About ten o'clock at night a deer noiselessly entered
the lick a few rods distant from his place of concealment, and
began licking the salty earth ; he was just in the act of shooting
it, when his attention was attracted from the deer to a moving
shadow upon the ground between him and the deer; he at once
looked up to ascertain who his neighbor was, and was not a little
surprised to see a huge panther standing on a projecting limb of
a tree that reached nearly over and just behind him, and pre-
paring to spring upon the unsuspecting deer. He thought no
more of the deer, and gave his undivided attention to his rival,
who had unceremoniously and clandestinely taken his seat a
little higher and nearly over his head, without so much as say-
ing 'by your leave.' Not being very fastidious just then, he
quietly yielded the right of precedence to his fellow hunter
above in all things pertaining to the deer quietly licking the
salty earth below. For several minutes he gazed upon the huge
beast as it maneuvered upon the limb, seemingly doubtful as to
making a successful spring. Finally the panther made a tre-
mendous leap from the limb, passing almost directly over the
hunter's head, and lit directly upon the deer's back. The bleat-
ing of the helpless deer momentarily broke the stillness of the
forest, and then all was hushed. The panther pulled his victim
to the outer edge of the lick, stood a moment, and then with
mighty bounds disappeared in the surrounding forests. During
all this the hunter sat quietly upon his perch, cogitating over the
novel scene. But his reveries were suddenly interrupted by a
wild and terrible yell, seemingly half human and half beast,
fearful enough to awaken all the denizens of the forest for miles
away; then came an immediate response from a distant point
in the swamp. That was enough to bring the hunter's cogitations
to a fixed determination, which was clearly manifested by the
agility displayed in descending the scaffold, and the schedule
time on which he ran towards home, leaving the two panthers
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to enjoy their unenvied supper of venison in their native woods
undisturbed. Often the hunter found the panther had preceded
him at the deer licks; in all such cases, having previously resolved
never to dispute precedency with any gentleman of that family,
he quietly left him to the undisputed possession of the chance of
venison for that night, particularly."
As might well be supposed, the Chickasaw Indians well
knew and appreciated the great value of salt licks; and in the
ttreaty by which they ceded their possessions in West Tennessee,
vhey especially reserved for their own use, and the emoluments
expected therefrom, a considerable salt lick near Paris, Ten-
nessee; out of which quite a scandal grew up and was fully aired
in heated debates in Congress between the most eminent con-
gressmen of that day.
It was charged that certain politicians of high and low
degree, closely connected with President Jackson, had taken
advantage of their official positions to exploit and develop these
salt mines for their own account; for salt wells were sunk there
and considerable salt turned out in the early days, but not
sufficiently abundant to justify continued operations.
In Volume 9, page 252, of the American (Tennessee) His-
torical Magazine, under date of July, 1904, there is a very
interesting article by the late Governor James D. Porter, giving
a good account of this salt formation, and the heated con-
troversy to which the Chickasaw treaty in reference thereto
gave rise.
No one can doubt that at some former prehistoric period
Indians had a permanent home near Capleville; but who the
Indians were, or when they lived there, will probably remain a
shrouded mystery, though the probability is they were Chickasaws.
The Location of Qoliqnls—
What was the site of Quizquiz, the first Indian village
taken by the De Soto expedition, just before the discovery of
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the Mississippi? This has to me been an interesting question,
and I will now state my conclusions in reference thereto.
It will aid the reader to turn back to the fifth chapter, in
which appears verbatim the accounts given by the three narra-
tives which have received the commendation of Professor Lewis
and Dr. Rowland. No two of them agree as to the details, nor
does the narrative of Garcilaso agree in its details with the other
three.
This is not surprising for obvious reasons.
On the other hand, the main, or determinative, facts can be
grasped from a consideration of the three narratives taken
together and construed as one whole.
From these it appears that the approach to the river was
quite gradual; and that the expedition first came to a village
called Quizquiz, then to another not named, and then to a third,
where **they saw the great river"; that is, the Mississippi.
Rodrigo Ranjel is much commended for his accuracy of state-
ments, and as he more succinctly and clearly states the details
connected with the discovery of the river, it is here repeated for
convenience:
"Saturday, the last of April, the army set out from the
place of the barricade and marched nine days through a deserted
country, and by a rough way, mountainous and swampy, until
May 8, when they came to the first village of Quizquiz, which
they took by assault and captured much people and clothes;
but the governor promptly restored them to liberty and had
everything restored to them for fear of war, although that was
not enough to make friends of these Indians. A league beyond
this village they came upon another with abundance of com, and
soon again after another league, upon another, likewise amply
provisioned. There they saw the great river."
How near the last village was to the river is not stated;
but presumptively it was not far.
It appears quite certain that Quizquiz was at least two
leagues from the river; and while we understand that a league is
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considered in this country to be three EInglish miles, the real in-
quiry is what was the length of a Spanish league; for presumably
the narrators had reference to the Spanish league.
The Century Dictionary gives the Spanish league as 4.214
miles, and the Spanish judicial league as being 2.634 miles long.
Which kind of the two Spanish leagues the narrators had in mind
we have no means to determine; but I think we may safely as-
sume that the two leagues which lay between Quizquiz and the
river covered a space of from six to eight miles; and following
the ancient Chickasaw trace, which is now the Pigeon Roost Road,
Quizquiz was somewhere not far from Brown's Hill, named for
Dr. Robert Frierson Brown, a pioneer land owner in that vicinity
and an eminent physician.
From Brown's Hill on to the old Bethel place, about or a
little over a mile, there is an unusually level expanse of country,
with barely enough inclination to drain the waters falling there-
on; no doubt its beauty attracted the attention of P. C. Bethel, a
man of great wealth, who built a palatial residence there
before the Civil War, and though for over a generation it has been
sadly neglected, it still rears its lofty roof towards the sky.
As usual, Biedma is very laconic, saying that *'the town
(Quizquiz) was near the banks of the River Espiritu Santo";
that is, the river of the Holy Ghost, the name given it by De
Soto.
It is manifest that the word neaff as used here, has no
definite significance; but under the surrounding circumstances I
think it may safely be said that at a distance of from six to eight
miles, the town may have been very properly described as being
near the great river. The Gentleman of Elvas, after mentioning
the capture of Quizquiz, and the negotiations and circumstances
attendant thereon, only mentions one and not two towns visited
before reaching the Mississippi, but there is no real conflict here
between him and Ranjel, for the supposition is that he omitted to
mention the other town, either by inadvertence or because it was
deemed an unnecessary detail. He does say, however.
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"there was little maize in the place, and the governor moved
to another town, half a league from the great river (meaning the
Mississippi), where it was found in sufficiency."
This was doubtless the third village mentioned by Ranjel,
who did not state its distance from the river. It would seem
therefore, that Quizquiz was approximately two and one-half
leagues from the Mississippi.
De Soto's Camp Near a Bifer Bank-
There are some other details which dovetail into our in-
sistence that the Mississippi was discovered on these bluffs, to
which no reference is made by those who deny the correctness
of our conclusions.
All the narratives agree that the Spaniards came upon the
Indians suddenly, and Biedma says the men were away from the
village working in the maize fields, and we know that at that
time of the year the young corn must have been well advanced,
though it was before roasting ears were ready for the table.
However, in the various villages there was plenty of maize, that
is, old corn, both for the little army and all the horses of
De Soto. This shows a fruitful country, sufficient and more
than sufficient to supply the permanent Indian villages; in fact
the very best farming lands stretched out in many directions far
beyond the necessities of the Indians. Why should we not expect
permanent Indian villages in this stretch of the country so per-
fectly adapted to their comfort and well being?
De Soto captured all the women in Quizquiz, numbering,
according to Biedma, 300, and among these was the mother of
the cacique; and De Soto held these as hostages, sending word
to the chief by one of the captives to come and he would turn his
mother and the captives over to him, but the wily Indian evi-
dently scented treachery, and declined the invitation.
The after developments are not stated with clearness as to
time or the exact place; nor is it anywhere stated what place
De Soto pitched camp after taking into custody all the people in
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Quizquiz. The cacique very properly demanded the uncon-
ditional release of the captives, to which De Soto finally agreed,
because his men had arrived weak and weary for the want of
maize, and his horses were also lean. How long these negotiations
were pending does not appear, but the probability is they
covered at least one or two whole days. After stating these ne-
gotiations, Elvas adds:
"The next day, while he was hoping to see the chief, many
Indians came, with bows and arrows, to set upon the Christians,
when he commanded that all the armed horsemen should be
mounted and in readiness. Finding them prepared, the Indians
stopped at the distance of a crossbow-shot from where the
governor was, near a river bank, where, after remaining quietly
half an hour, six chiefs arrived at the camp," etc.
It is evident that De Soto had drawn up his cavalry at his
camp near a precipitous bank, in order to protect his rear. It
is not said that he was near a river, but "near a river bank,"
from which expression I am inclined to the opinion that De Soto
had pitched his camp upon the brow of Brown's Hill, or in that
vicinity, where the descent from the high to the low ground was
sufficiently abrupt as to afford protection to his rear, and un-
questionably such conditions then prevciiled, though much
changed since then by the effacing finger of the white man, of
time, and the elements.
If it be said Nonconnah is not a river, then my answer is
that it all depends on the opinion of the person writing the nar-
rative as to what constitutes a river. Usually the word river is
understood to mean a considerable body of water flowing in a
channel with a certain definite course, and with a perceptible
current throughout the year. At that time Nonconnah unques-
tionably came up to this definition of a river. But it is well
known that in arid states like southern California and southern
Texas, and doubtless in the arid portions of Spain, many streams
which have no current for months at a time are called rivers.
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It is perfectiy possible that in the time of De Soto, now near
400 years ago, Nonconnah may have run at the foot of Brown's
Hill, for the precipitous character of the hill or bluff indicates that
anciently the stream washed its base, and such streams flowing
through alluvial soil often change their courses.
Today Nonconnah bottom proper is one mile wide, and
going south after emerging from the bottom proper there is a
low expanse over a mile long that must have abounded in pondy
places and thickets, and must have been extremely bad to cross in
the days of De Soto. Evidently Nonconnah bottom formed to
some extent a natural barrier and protection to the Indians living
on the Chickasaw Bluffs at that time, from incursions coming from
the south. The narratives all agree that there were no natives then
living in the country traveled over by the expedition, between
Alibamo and Quizquiz, because of a war between the Indians.
All agree that when the expedition appeared at Quizquiz, the
Indians were taken by great surprise, the men being at work in
the maize fields.
If De Soto came over the short-cut or direct trail, his sudden
ascent from Nonconnah bottoms up and upon high land, sub-
sequently called Brown's Hill, with the seizure of all the inhabi-
tants of the first village he reached, very naturally took the In-
dians by complete surprise. It could not be otherwise. The
conditions of the surrounding country demonstrated how it
was the natural result for the Indians to be taken by surprise;
thus dovetailing into the details of the story as given by the three
narratives.
If I was inclined to be dogmatic, I might here enter my ipse
dixit, but I leave that course for others more learned, leaving
the reader to draw his own conclusions.
While I have stated my opinion as to the locality of De Soto's
first camp after seizing all the inhabitants of Quizquiz, I am by
no means dogmatically wedded to that opinion. However, there
are certain main facts which loom up so plainly that they can
not be mistaken.
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(i) De Soto suddenly appeared and by surprise seized all
the inhabitants of Quizquiz, including the mother of the cacique
or chief, and this carried consternation to the Indians and called
for a rescue.
(2) De Soto, apprehending an attack, pitched his camp near
a river-bank^ and drew up in battle array all his cavalry, knowing
that their appearance usually struck terror to the savages, who
knew nothing of horses, and both men and horses being encased
in armor, gave them the appearance of supernatural monsters,
something on the order of the fabled centaurs of the ancient
Greeks. This array had the desired effect, for, instead of fighting,
the Indians, through the six chiefs sent to De Soto's camp,
effected a release of all their people and agreed to supply the
Spaniards with provisions. Thus hostilities were averted.
(3) After all this had transpired, the Gentleman of Elvas
says:
'There was little maize in the place, and the governor
moved to another town, half a league from the great river, where it
was found in sufficiency. He went to look at the river, and saw
that near it there was much timber of which piraguas might be
made, and a good situation in which the camp might be placed.
He directly moved, built houses, and settled on a plain a crossbow-
shot from the water, bringing together there all the maize of the
towns behind, that at once they might go to work and cut down
trees for sawing out planks to build barges."
(4) It thus cle2U"ly appears that after the first camp on the
river bank, De Soto moved to another town half a league from
his previous camp; and from this second camp he went and for
the first time looked upon the Mississippi, after which he pitched
his third or last camp within bow-shot of the water, and began
building boats to cross the river.
That De Soto pitched his first camp for defensive purposes
"near a river-bank," is undoubtedly true. It is equally true
that if he did not pitch that camp at or near the bluffs in the
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vicinity of Brown's Hill, then the river banks of Wolf River were
both sufHciently high and precipitous to furnish protection to
the camp and could readily be reached by reconnoitering cavalry
in less than an hour from Brown's Hill.
It thus appears that there is not a single detail in the three
narratives, that is not accounted for and in complete accord with
the physical appearances or topographical features of the country
at the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff.
GarcIUso de la Vega, the Inca—
It will be noted that I have referred only to the three nar-
ratives upon which Professor Lewis and Dr. Rowland have
placed the seal of their approval, and I might safely leave the
matter here.
The learned historians, knowing full well that if the work of
Garcilaso de la Vega is considered, they would not have the
pretense of a defense for their Tunica theory, affect to discredit
his narrative, and, not satisfied with this, misquote what he said
in an important particular. Both from inclination and in justice
to the truth of history I propose to look a little more deeply into
the matter.
If it be said that this is wandering somewhat from a sketch
of the Chickasaws, I answer that the name and fame of the
Chickasaws are wrapped up with that of De Soto and the dis-
covery of the great river; and, moreover, that I am writing this
as much for my own diversion as for any other purpose; sup-
posing that it will be of more interest to my immediate family
and personal friends than to the public at large.
In the preface to his book. Conquest of Florida, brought out
in 1 85 1, Theodore Irving (the nephew of Washington Irving)
said:
''Garcilaso de la Vega was a man of rank and honor. He
was descended from an ancient Spanish stock by the father's
side, while by the mother's he was of the lofty Peruvian line of
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the Incas. His narrative was originally taken down by himself
from the lips of a friend, a cavalier of worth and respectability,
who had been an officer under De Soto, and for whose probity we
have the word of the Inca as a guarantee. It was authenticated
and enriched by the written journals or memoranda of two
soldiers who had served in the expedition. He had the testi-
mony, therefore, of three eye-witnesses. The Portuguese narra-
tive, on the other hand, is the evidence of merely a single eye-
witness, who gives himself out as a cavalier, or gentleman ; but
for this we have merely his own word, and he is anonymous.
There is nothing intrinsic in his work that should entitle it to
the exclusive belief that has been claimed for it. It agrees with
the narrative of the Inca, as to the leading facts which form the
framework of the story; it differs from it occasionally, as to the
plans and view of Hernando de Soto; but here the Inca is most
to be depended upon — the Spanish cavalier from whom he de-
rived his principal information being more likely to be admitted
to the intimate councils of his commander than one of a different
nation, and being free from the tinge of national jealousy which
may have influenced the statements of the Portuguese.
"The narrative of the Portuguese is more meagre and concise
than that of Garcilaso, omitting a thousand interesting anecdotes
and personal adventures; but this does not increase its credibility.
A multitude of facts, gathered and gleaned from three different
persons, may easily have escaped the knowledge, or failed to
excite the attention, of a solitary individual. These anecdotes
are not the less credible because they were striking and extraordi-
nary; the whole expedition was daring and extravagant, and
those concerned in it men who delighted in adventure and ex-
ploit."
It may be added that the authors of the three narratives
referred to are wholly unknown, except through their respective
narratives; while Garcilaso was one of the most distinguished
authors of his age, dying in 1616, the same year Shakespeare died
in England, and his countryman, Cervantes, the author of Don
Quixote, died in Spain ; Garcilaso being a worthy contemporary of
those two immortals in the literature of the world.
His history of Peru is declared by a competent authority to be
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"A source from which all subsequent writers on the subject
have largely drawn, and still continues to be one of the diief
authorities on ancient Peru."
While he is chiefly remembered through this history, he
was the author of other books which passed through various
editions, some being translated into French and English;
and as late as 1800, or nearly 200 years after his death, an
edition of his works, in seventeen volumes, was brought out in
Madrid.
He was admired by his countrymen as a man of piety, virtue,
modesty, and of devotion to letters, and held in the highest
esteem as a historian. He was buried in the Cathedral of
Cordova in one of the chapels called Gardlaso in his honor;
where monumental inscriptions on each side of the altar record
his valor (for he was at one time a gallant soldier), his virtues, and
his literary merits.
And this is the author whose narrative is rejected, admittedly
superior to all the others in literary style, and the most famous;
its rejection being upon the charge that it is spurious; that this
good and distinguished man, without any motive therefor,
palmed off a gigantic literary fraud upon the world!
Garcilaso realized that absolute accuracy in all its details
was impossible under the circumstances, and Irving quotes him
assaying:.
"I cannot hold myself responsible for the accuracy of the
distances I give, for although I have spared no exertions, and
have used all the diligence to arrive at the truth, yet I have been
unavoidably compelled to leave much to conjecture. The
Spaniards had no instruments with them by which they could
compute distances; their main object was to conquer the country,
and seek for silver and gold ; consequently, they gave themselves
little trouble to note the route."
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Nor is it a strange thing that Garcilaso should ''have set
down/' as it was then phrased, the story of the three members of
the De Soto expedition, when we recall the almost universal
illiteracy of the times, as well as the custom for a man of some
literary attainments to write the adventures of those who were
unable to perform that service for themselves. There was then,
as there are now in illiterate countries, many professional letter-
writers, all of which is very natural when we recall the conditions
which led to such customs, long since without any existence in
highly developed countries.
It was also a strange custom of those times for authors
to withhold their identity; as witness the fact that no one to this
day knows who was the author of the narrative of "The Gentle-
man of Elvas" ; on account of which some say it should be rejected ;
but when we consider the customs of those days, as well as the
internal evidence in the narrative, its rejection would be an act of
folly.
I will now reproduce the narrative of Garcilaso as it appears
in Young's History of Memphis , beginning on page 22, where we
read that the account there appearing is from the French, con-
tained in Richlet's version of Garcilaso, brought out in 1731.
Robert B. Goodwin, a very accurate and scholarly member of
the Memphis bar, made the translation for Judge Young, and
kindly looked over and confirmed his translation at my request;
and I have every reason to believe it is entirely correct, and it
is here given.
The Aecomii of Garcilaso de la Vega—
"The Spaniards in leaving Alibamo mgu-ched across a waste
country, bearing always towards the north in order to get further
and further away from the sea, and at the end of three days
they came in view of the capital of Chisca, which bears the name
of its province and of its ruler. This town is situated near a river
which the Indians called Chucagua, the largest of all those
encountered by our people in Florida. The inhabitants of Chisca,
unaware of the coming of the troops, by reason of the war which
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they were waging with their neighbors, were taken by surprise.
The Spaniards plundered them and took several of them prison-
ers. The rest of them fled, some into a forest between the village
and the river, and others to the house of the cacique, which
stood upon a high mound commanding a view of the whole place.
The cacique was old, and then sick upon his bed, in a condition
of great weakness. He was of such small stature and of such
meagre visage that in that country the like had never been
seen. Nevertheless, at the sound of the alarm and being sur-
prised that his subjects were being plundered and being taken
prisoners, he arose, walked out of his chamber with a battle axe
in his hand and made the threat that he would slay all who
might enter his lands without his leave. But as he was about to
go forth from his house to confront the Spaniards, the women of
his household, aided by some of his subjects who had made
their escape from the Spaniards, restrained him. With tears in
their eyes they reminded him of the fact that he was feeble,
without men at arms, his vassals in disorder, and not in condition
for fighting and that those with whom he had to do were vigorous,
well disciplined, great in number and, for the most part, mounted
upon beasts of such speed that none could ever escape them.
"That it was necessary then to wait a favorable occasion for
their revenge and to deceive their enemies in the meantime by
fair appearances of friendship, thus preventing the destruction
of himself and his subjects.
"These considerations caused Chisca to pause, but he was
so chagrined by the injury which the Spaniards had done him,
that, instead of being willing to listen to the envoys of the general
in their demands for peace, he declared war upon them, adding
that he hoped within a short while to cut the throat of their
captain and all those with him.
"De Soto, however, was not astonished at this, but sent
others and they made excuses for the disorder created upon their
arrival, and repeated the demand for peace.
"For it was clear to De Soto that his men were discouraged
on account of the constant skirmishing, and were encumbered
with sick men and sick horses; that in less than six hours there had
come to the side of the cacique not less than four thousand men,
quite well equipped ; that in all probability he would get together
a very much larger number; besides, that the lay of the land tvas
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on account of the thicket surrounding the town, which would make it
impossible to use his cavalry; that finally, instead of making
progress by fighting, the Spaniards were working their own
destruction from day to day. These were the considerations which
induced the general to offer peace.
"But the larger part of the Indians who were assembled to
deliberate upon the subject had quite contrary views. Some
were for war, believing that to be the only means of recovering
their goods and delivering their companions from the power of
the Spaniards. They declared that there need be no fear of such
people; that such earnest demands for peace as the Spaniards
made afforded certain proof of their cowardice; finally, that it
was fitting to apprise them of the courage of those whom they
had just attacked by giving battle in turn, to the end that no
stranger in future would have the temerity to enter their domain.
But the other side contended that peace was their only means
of getting back their property and their imprisoned countrymen ;
that if there should be a battle, their misery would only be in-
creased by reason of fire and the loss of their crops (which were
still unharvested), resulting in ruin to the entire province and
the death of many of their people.
"For they said inasmuch as their enemies had come as far as
their country, through so many trials and perils and through so
many fierce tribes, their courage could not be fairly doubted.
"Thus they said without any other proofs, peace ought to be
made, and that if they were afterwards dissatisfied, they could
break the truce to a much better advantage than they could on
that day make war. This opinion prevailed and the cacique,
dissembling his resentment, asked the envoys what they thought
to gain by peace, which they seemed to desire so much. They
answered, their lodging in the town, together with supplies for
passing on. Chisca agreed to all on condition that they should
set at liberty those of his subjects whom the Spaniards held
prisoners, return all the goods that they had seized, and not
enter into his house; and he warned them that the only alter-
native would be war of extermination.
"The Spaniards accepted peace on these conditions and
released the subjects of Chisca, for they had no lack of Indian
servants, and returned all the booty — consisting only of some
sorry deerskins and clothing of small value. Thereupon the
inhabitants abandoned the town with the supplies which they
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had and the Spaniards remained six days, treating their sick.
On the last day De Soto got leave from Chisca to visit him in his
house, and after he had thanked him for the favor done his
troops, he withdrew, proceeding the next day upon his journey
of discovery."
The italics are mine, and designed primarily to call attention
to two matters which attest manifest errors on the part of the
learned historians in question.
(i) It will be recalled that Professor Lewis stated that after
the expedition left the Chickasaw country, it turned west, not
only without any support in any narrative therefor but in direct
contradiction to Biedma, who says it went to the northwest.
And now we see that Garcilaso states the course as "bearing
always towards the north (not due north), in order to get further
and further away from the sea."
(2) It will be recalled also that the Professor quotes
Garcilaso as saying that De Soto could not use his cavalry —
**because of the many streams around there, they could not use their
horses"; whereas we now see that what he really said was:
"Besides, that the lay of the land was very favorable to the
Indians, and very unfavorable to the Spaniards, on account of
the thicket surrounding the town^ which would make it impossible to
use his cavalry."
As no one visited the Mississippi River after the De Soto
expedition, for a period of 132 years, how else was it possible for
Garcilaso to obtain the information that a mound was located
on the Mississippi where its discovery was made, except through
members of that expedition? To assume that his narrative was
a fiction necessarily concedes also that the author had more
than a prophetic vision, or a prescience unknown to the children
of men.
It is not strange, therefore, that the ablest historians and
the public at large have long since accepted the Fourth Chicka-
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saw Bluff as the point of the discovery of the great Mississippi
River.
De Soto at the Mississippi—
"High on a bluff they stood ; anear its base
The Mississippi rolled its mighty flood.
The lordly river, half a league in breadth,
And flowing gently, parted in two streams
Around a verdant island to the south.
Titanic in his grandeur, yet serene
And placid with a godlike majesty,
The King of Rivers to the Christians' hearts
Brought admiration, awe, and reverence.
"De Soto viewed with fascinated eyes
The scene before him. Into his troubled soul
There came, he knew not why, a holy calm ;
A deep yet tranquil joy surged through his heart,
As with a great thanksgiving hymn to God.
Faint in his ears, a whisper from afar
Assured him that this river with his name
Would be entwined forever; that this stream.
More stately than the Danube or the Nile,
Would be the artery, in a distant age.
To some illustrious empire, more august
Than that which centered on the Tiber's shore.
Here would be giant cities, splendid halls.
The homes of Commerce, Learning, Wealth, and Power.
Here Art and Science would be honored ; here
Would be the haunts of Story and of Song —
Renowned in lays of poets yet to be, —
Surpassing in romantic legendry
The dome-crowned Arno or the vine-clad Rhine.
He called it The River of the Holy Ghost.
Long after all his men had sought the camp.
Intent on little tasks that closed their day,
De Soto, silent, mused upon the banks
Of the Great River, that, with sacrifice
Of toils and tears, his prowess now had won.
Recumbent in a dim, secluded spot,
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As in a sanctuary, he was lulled
Into benign repose. Far to the west,
The setting sun in benediction hung,
And burnished heaving waves with melted gold ;
Above the vast, deep western wilderness
He paused, then sank, and left the quiet world
To rest, to meditation and to sleep.
The brilliant gold of sunset deepened slow
To orange; then the fragile floating clouds
Took chastened tints of faded rose and pearl.
The chirp of crickets bieat with drowsy notes;
The cadence of cicadas, like a dirge.
Sighed through the unillumined forest gloom;
The requiems of lone thrushes pined and yearned
At rustic altars of umbrageous woods, —
Soft evensongs at gentle evenfall
For euthanasia of departing day.
Through haunts sequestered and forsaken stole
The sundown shadows ; from its rich maroon
To ashen twilight waned the afterglow.
Soon melancholy purple dimmed the skies.
And through the vesper gloaming, tremulous.
The fair-faced, timid stars came one by one.
The gray-winged gulls wheeled slowly, homewardbound.
Then solemn Nightfall, like a sibyl, came.
And in one great libation, from her urn
Outgushed the darkness over earth and heaven;
But still De Soto mused beside the stream.
Immovable — in silence, — ^lost in thought."
Walter Malone,
In Hernando De Soto.
De Soto Crosses the Mississippi—
It will be recalled that in the fifth chapter I referred' to the
fact that after Professor Lewis had, in his imagination, landed
De Soto in the swamps of Arkansas, opposite some imaginary
point in Tunica County, Mississippi, he suggested that some
prehistoric earthquake may have changed the face of the earth
in that vicinity.
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This suggestion was the offspring of necessity, for it evidences
the fact that the Professor must have realized all too well that
there was not a single physical feature of that country which
would dovetail with any one of the three narratives to which he
gives his allegiance. Hence an appeal to some supposed or imag"
inary cataclysm in nature to supply the want of solid facts; an
appeal which makes it difficult to suppress a smile of incredulity.
But, however this may be, one who merely searches for the
real place at which the Mississippi was discovered by De Soto
has no need to appeal to the miraculous, when he reads the three
narratives of those who are acclaimed as credible witnesses, to
see.and understand that the discovery was made where Memphis
is now enthroned. What are the undisputed facts?
We have seen that the eastern shores of the river where
the discovery was made sustained a teeming population of
aborigines, and that the physical features of the Chickasaw
Bluffs, with its splendid hinterland, afforded almost an earthly
paradise or happy hunting grounds for the red children of the
forest. And so, likewise, the opposite or western shores of the
Mississippi supported an equally large aboriginal population,
and we have only to consider the physical features of the western
hinterland to observe how well it fits in with the three narratives
referred to.
Biedma says (p. 26) :
"On the other shore we saw numbers of people collected to
oppose our landing, who had many canoes. We set about building
four large piraguas, each capable of taking sixty or seventy men
and five or six horses. We were engaged in this work twenty-
seven or twenty-eight days. During this time, the Indians every
day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, would get into two hundred
and fifty very large canoes they had, well shielded, and come
near the shores on which we were; with loud cries they would
exhaust their arrows upon us, and then return to the other bank."
Ranjel (page 137) estimated the number of Indians on the
opposite shore to oppose the passage at seven thousand, and that
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all of them had shields made of canes joined, so strong and
closely interwoven with such thread that a cross-bow could
hardly pierce them.
The Gentleman of Elvas says (page 113) that the barge in
which the cacique came had an awning at the poop under
which he sat; and there from under the canopy where the chief
man was the course was directed and orders issued to the rest.
They were painted with ochre, wearing great bunches of white
and other plumes of many colors, having feathered shields in
their hands, with which they sheltered the oarsmen on either
side, the warriors standing erect from bow to stern, holding
bows and arrows.
He added they were fine looking men, very large and well
formed ; and what with the awnings, the plumes, and the shields,
the pennons, and the number of the people in the fleet, it ap-
peared like a famous armada of galleys.
The Country Opposite Memphis DoYetalls
With the NarratlYes—
With such a large population and splendid types of Indians
inhabiting the western shores of the river where De Soto crossed,
what should we expect but a fine country fit to produce and
maintain such a people? Such was the country then and now
opposite the Fourth Chickasaw Bluffs.
It is a well known topographical feature of this section of
the delta that there was an almost continuous ridge of high land,
commencing from about where Mound City now is, and running
in a westward direction to Crowley's Ridge, the high ground
about forty miles from Memphis; that is, the delta is about forty
miles wide opposite Memphis, and this high ground an almost
continuous way across the Mississippi delta, with some occasional
breaks therein.
Of course, there were breaks in the ridge, and there were
occasional lakes, bayous, and some rivers to cross, but there was
sufficiently continuous high ground or ridges as to make it of
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great importance to all who wished to cross the delta, and this
was such a marked feature of the country that the United States
made it available before the day of railroads for the construction
of a military road over which to transport troops.
Taking advantage of this feature of the country, the United
States government long before the Civil War constructed a
military road from the vicinity of Mound City, Arkansas, across
the bottoms to Little Rock, Arkansas. As the name implies,
there were Indian mounds at the site of that ancient village, and
the mounds gave the place its name, and they are there today,
silent witnesses to the fact that De Soto crossed the Mississippi
where Memphis now is.
When the Chickasaw Indians were moved across the river in
the thirties, thousands of them were ferried from Memphis to
Mound City, under the supervision of Marcus B. Winchester,
who had been the first mayor of Memphis.
There they commenced to cross the delta on their long
journey to their new home, then in the far West. There was a
considerable section around Mound City that was not subject
to overflow, and in the early days there was a settlement and
village there, for it was then a rival of Memphis for the supremacy
of the valley. The Spaniards fully appreciated and well under-
stood the value of such high land, and located grants around
Mound City when they were the overlords of the country. It
s also interesting to recall that only twelve to fifteen miles north
from Mound City the traveler anciently and now may view the
beautiful and well known Wappanocca Lake, famous for its un-
rivaled fisheries, and myriads of ducks and waterfowls of all kinds.
It has an outlet leading to the river, called Wappanocca
Bayou, while another outlet leads to the Tjn-onza River. These
bayous of the delta bear a great resemblance to canals, and these
bayous are doubtless what the De Soto narratives called canals
leading to the river from certain lakes. Indeed, some writers
have insisted that these bayous were in fact canals constructed
by some prehistoric people for the drainage of the country; and
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I have heard men learnedly arg^c to this effect, and viewing these
bayous as they appeared years ago, I could but feel the force of
their arguments, though I was not convinced of the correctness
of the theory.
A recent map of Crittenden County, Arkansas, before me,
prepared by the Rhodes Abstract Company, shows the country
adjacent to Wappanocca Bayou and Lake plastered over with
old Spanish grants; and it may be added that the ground there is
higher and the Indian mounds more numerous than at Mound City.
It may be also added that, as you go north from Crittenden
County, there is higher ground, and that Mississippi County,
lying immediately north of and adjoining Crittenden, is regarded
by many as the best county in the delta, owing not only to the
fertility of its soil, but to its rolling and well-drained surface.
Such is the goodness of this part of the delta that Professor
Lewis in his article finally leads, or lands, De Soto in Miss-
issippi County, though it is a thing to me incredible that he
could have floundered his way so far north from a point some-
where opposite Tunica County, Mississippi.
Anciently, and as we all know until within recent years, in
its approach towards the Chickasaw Bluffs, after the Mississippi
passed Mound City, its direction was eastwardly, and op-
posite the northern section of the Bluffs it turned abruptly
southward around Hopefield Point. From the window of my
office on 'the eleventh floor of the Cotton Exchange Building,
facing Court Square, I can almost see the location of old Mound
City. For many years the river has been gradually shifting its
bed eastward at and beyond Mound City, and within the last
two or three years it has cut a new channel, running almost south,
by the old Hen and Chicken Islands just north of Memphis, and
leaving Mound City far from the main channel of the river.
With these unquestioned topographical features of the
western country across the Mississippi from the Chickasaw Bluffs
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before us, can any reasonable man doubt that De Soto was
ignorant thereof, or failed to acquaint himself with the lay of the
land, when ignorance in respect thereto might lead to the de-
struction of every man in the expedition?
What do the narratives disclose as to the route that was
taken and the character of the country beyond the Mississippi?
The river was high, bringing down many trees with its cur-
rents, the Gentleman of Elvas (p. 115) stating that the river
was near a half league wide; adding that a man standing on the
shore could not be told whether he was a man or something else,
from the other side. The stream was swift and very deep,
always flowing turbidly, bringing down from above much timber
driven by the force of the current.
Biedma says (p. 26) that the river was near a league wide,
and nineteen or twenty fathoms deep.
On account of the swiftness of the current, Elvas says that
they went up along the river about a quarter of a league, and
landed about opposite the camps, and from this statement I
suppose the landing place was about Hopefield Point. Having
located De Soto on the west side of the river, how far did he have
to travel to reach the Indian mounds, now the location of Mound
City?
The Gentleman of Elvas (p. 1 16) says :
"The Rio Grande being crossed, the governor marched a
league and a half to a large town of Aquixo, which was abandoned
before his arrival. Over a plain thirty Indians were seen to draw
nigh, sent by the cacique, to discover what the Christians in-
tended to do, but who fled directly as they saw them. The
cavalry pursued, killed ten, and captured fifteen. As the town
toward which the governor marched was near the river, he sent a
captain, with the force he thought sufiicient, to take the piraguas
up the stream. These, as they frequently wound about through
the country, having to go round the bays that swell out the river,
the Indians had opportunity to attack those in the piraguas,
placing them in great peril, being shot at with bows from the
ravines, while they dared not leave the shore, because of the
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swiftness of the current; so that, as soon as the governor got to
the town, he directly sent cross-bow men to them down the
stream for their protection. When the piraguas arrived, he
ordered them to be taken to pieces, and the spikes kept for
making others when they should be needed."
Anyone familiar with the country will unhesitatingly
state that the Indian mounds adjacent to Mound City are
about four to five miles from Hopefield Point, and any properly
scaled map will show the same distance, and thus we have a
verification of the estimate made by Elvas that it was a les^^ue
and a half from the landing place to the first Indian village
reached in the Province of Aquixo.
Biedma says (pp. 27, 28), with respect to customs of the
Indians across the river:
"Arriving there as it is the custom of the caciques to have near
their houses a high hill, made by hand^ some having houses placed
thereon, we set up the cross on the summit, and we all went on
bended knees, with great humility, to kiss the foot of the cross.
The Indians did the same as they saw us do, nor more, nor less;
then directly they brought a great quantity of cane, making a
fence about it, and we returned that night to our camp."
From the context, I think this took place in Casqui.
Who can doubt that the first village reached by De Soto
across the river in the province of Aquixo stood where the Indian
mounds at the ancient village of Mound City now rear their
worn proportions above the surrounding plain, mute witnesses
to the verity of the De Soto narratives, and which have stood
there from that time "whereof the memory of man runneth not
to the contrary?'*
From the province of Aquixo, De Soto next visited the
provinces of Casqui and Pacaha, and speaking of these Ranjel
(p. 140) says:
"In Aquixo and Casqui and Pacaha, they saw the best
villages seen up to that time, better stockaded and fortified, and
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the people were of finer quality, excepting those of Cofitachequi.
The commander and the soldiers remaining some days in Pacaha,
they made some incursions further up country."
From these statements we learn two things, that the country
possessed the capabilities of producing the numerous and fine
specimens of aborigines who were menacing the expedition
while camped on the Chickasaw Bluffs; and that De Soto heret
as was the case long before he reached the Mississippi, made
"incursions" or side trips, and did not follow continuously in
any one given direction.
It is a difficult matter to follow in the footsteps of the De Soto
expedition, unless that path crosses some great and imperishable
landmark like the Mississippi River, or describes or refers to
such commanding topographical and indestructible features of
the country through which it passed as to fix the route pursued
with reasonable certainty.
That De Soto discovered the Mississippi River on the Fourth
Chickasaw Bluffs, the present site of the city of Memphis, I
submit appears beyond a reasonable doubt.
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CHAPTER VII
WHERE THE MISSISSIPPI WAS CROSSED, CONTINUED; AND OF
THE DE SOTO MEMORIAL AT MEMPHIS
The foregoing six chapters were published almost at the
last moment prior to the Memphis Centenary in May, 1919,
and as a souvenir thereof. I had at that time no intention of
adding anything more with respect to where the Mississippi
was discovered by De Soto, but, somewhat to my surprise, the
general impression seemed to be that my main purpose in
The Chickasaw Nation was to prove that De Soto discovered the
Mississippi at the present site of Memphis. John R. Swanton,
one of the learned doctors of the Bureau of Ethnology, wrote me
regretting the title of the booklet, because, while the subject of
the place of the discovery of the great river was of especial
interest to scholars and students of history, he feared they would
fail to see the booklet, owing to its title; that is, they would be
mislead by the title. But I am too much imbued with the duty
of paying a belated tribute to the original Chickasaws to change
the title of this little book; and, moreover, when I commenced to
write on the place where the river was discovered, I merely
intended to write a short newspaper article in answer to my
friend, Dr. Rowland; but the matter grew to such proportions
that I concluded to incorporate it with some previous fragmen-
tary sketches on the Chickasaws; hence the appearance of the
souvenir.
Nor have I, upon reflection, the least inclination to change
the title, believing that the name and fame of De Soto, the
discoverer of the Mississippi, are inseparably wrapped up with
that of the intrepid Chickasaws, who controlled its shores and
those of the Ohio for a distance of some two thousand miles;
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and because what is here set down is as much for my own di-
version as otherwise.
I am well aware that the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff was not
at its discovery in the possession of the Chickasaws, for it was a •
prize of such strategic importance that, from time to time, it
changed hands; and as noted hereinbefore, a part of the Chicka-
saws once lived on the shores of the Atlantic near Savannah,
Georgia, and afterwards at the Mussel Shoals in North Alabama;
but eventually, with the aid of the Cherokees, they swept the
Shawnees and all Northern tribes from south of the Ohio and east
of the Mississippi, and became the overlords of the splendid
domain hereinbefore described.
The Importonee of the DlscoYery of the Mississippi Blyer—
Living upon the shores of this great river we often lose
sight of its vastimportanceand value; not only for the means of
transportation furnished by it and its great network of tribu-
taries, and the inexhaustible stores of food sporting beneath its
waves, but of its great valley, the cream jug of the continent,
and capable of producing more for the sustenance of both man and
beast than any other valley upon the globe.
Why should not its discovery and the place of the discovery
be of worldwide interest?
One arm of the Missouri River, the great affluent and main
stem of the Mississippi, rises in the far-away Rocky Moun-
tains of Wyoming, in the Yellowstone Lake of the Yellowstone
National Park, and this park with its many geysers, lakes,
rivers, and mountains constitutes a wonderland without a
replica on the globe.
The other great arm of the Missouri, the Milk River, arises
in northwest Montana, in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains,
in Glacier National Park, the child of the everlasting glaciers,
and after flowing across the boundary line for some distance in
British Columbia, returns to the United States and finally finds
its way to the great Mississippi, and rolls with its billows ever
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onward and southward, passing Memphis, until finally it reaches
the Mexican Gulf, and there flings its fond heart into the ocean,
the great mother of all waters. The headwaters of the Milk
River constitute the real source of the great Mississippi, there
being a continuously flowing stream from this source, 8,000 feet
above the sea, to the Mexican Gulf, a distance of 4,221 miles,
making it the longest river in the world.
Another stem of the Mississippi has its origin in Lake
Hernando De Soto, Minnesota, 2,553 miles from the Gulf of
Mexico.
We are accustomed in thinking or speaking of the far sources
of the Mississippi to have in mind only the western sources
mentioned ; but who ever thinks of its eastern sources, or reflects
that the waters of the beautiful and famous Lake Chautauqua,
whose northern afiluent arises only eight miles from the waters
of Lake Erie, pours through its southern outlet, the Chadakoin
River, thence into the Conewango, the Allegheny, the Ohio, the
Mississippi and Anally into the Mexican Gulf 3,796 miles from
the point of beginning?
And yet this is true.
This was the well known route which the Indians traveled
over, from what is now Canada to the far shores of the Mexican
Gulf; long before Columbus reached this country; and as it was
the route over which the primitive Chickasaws traveled in their
forays into the far North, some account thereof may not be out of
place here.
It is a significant fact that the first definite mention made of
Piomingo is that he was on the Ohio River in 1770, at the head
of a company of Chickasaw warriors, on his way to chastise the
Seneca Indians, who then lived in what is now western New York.
I am indebted to Elwood Lloyd of Memphis and formerly
of New York, for a copy of a most interesting address he delivered
before the Louisiana Historical Society on August 5, 1916, giving
an account of the travels of Etienne Brul6, in whose memory,
at the solicitation of the Chautauqua Society of Natural Science,
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Lloyd and a companion made a canoe voyage from Lake Chau-
tauqua to the Gulf of Mexico, commencing the voyage on
November 23, 1915, that being the three hundredth anniversary
of Brul6's voyage on the same lake, he being the first white man
to navigate its waters.
According to Lloyd, when Champlain came from France to
Canada and founded Quebec in 1608, Brul6, then a lad of sixteen
years, was a member of his party; after being left as a hostage
with the Huron Indians, he learned their language, assumed
their dress and became a subordinate chief, living with them
for years. He was the first white man to see Lakes Superior,
Him)n, and Erie; and in 1615 Champlain sent Brul6 with twelve
HuroYi warriors in two canoes to the country of the Adastes,
whose home was then in what is now northern Pennsyl-
vania.
The route taken by Brul6 was from beautiful Lake Simcoe
in Canada, across Lake Erie, landing at what is now known as
Barcelona Harbor, New York; then a portage of eight miles over
the hills and again launching into the waters of Lake Chautauqua,
thence following its outlet through the Chadakoin, then into the
Conewango, the Allegheny, and then, as Lloyd verily believes, as
far south on the Mississippi as the mouth of the Arkansas, if
not to the mouth of the Mississippi. It is more than probable that
Brul6 was the first white man to navigate the upper waters of
these sources of the Mississippi, and Parkman concluded that he
went as far south as the mouth of the Arkansas, which was by no
means improbable.
Lloyd's license to navigate the Vagabond is probably the
only one of its kind ever issued, and leaving out the formal
caption is as follows :
"District of New York,
Port of Mayville.
"These are to certify all whom it doth concern :
"That Elwood Lloyd, master or commander of the Canoe
Vagabond, burden 100 pounds or thereabouts, mounted with two
repeating guns, navigated with Jolly Folk, American built, and
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bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, via Lake Chautauqua,
Chadakoin, Conewango, Alleghany, Ohio, Mississippi Rivers,
having on board joy potentialities, good dieer, happiness, con-
tentment, and sundry articles needed in the pursuit of real life
in the open — ^also a thorough appreciation of the nature, harmony
and the worth of our fellow-men with whom the cruise shall
bring us in contact. Hath here entered and cleared his said
vessel, according to law. Given under our hands and seals, at
the City Hall of Mayville, New York, this twelfth day of
November, one thousand nine hundred fifteen, and in the one
hundred thirty-ninth year of the independence of the United
States of America.
Lewis M. Smith, W. S. Patterson,
City Clerk. Mayor of Mayville."
I think Lloyd is entirely correct in saying:
"This ancient route of Lake Chautauqua was known and
used by the Indians for a period before the coming of the French
to America. It is referred to on Captain John Smith's map of
Virginia of 1612 (by inference) from data obtained four or five
years before; also in his General History of Virginia, 1642, from
the same early information. And in 1610, Lescarbot, in his
La NauveUe France also mentions this great circuit made for the
purposes of trade. From Butterfield. (Appendix XII, also page
76, Note I)."
I give these details as to this great prehistoric route so
frequently traveled by all the Indians, including the Chicka-
saws, for men have looked at me with incredulity when I referred
to the Chickasaws taking this and like long journeys by land,
for they were almost amphibious, swimming like ducks, and on
land they could travel far faster than the best rider on the best
horse, covering several hundred miles on a single run, as we will
see further on.
Their near and numerous kinsmen to the south, the Choc-
taws, could not swim, nor did they take kindly to the water or
go to war with distant tribes; but they would fight like lions when
their country was invaded; and it is almost ludicrous to read of
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an invading foe when defeated by the Choctaws fleeing to the
nearest river, because they knew the Choctaws could not swim,
and must perforce halt on the river banks.
It is believed that Lloyd is the only white man who ever
made a continuous canoe trip from Lake Chautauqua to the
Mexican Gulf, and he computed the distance covered by his
canoe, christened Vagabond^ at 3,796 miles, explaining that he
was unable to travel the same course followed by steamboats in
navigable waters, which made his canoe course somewhat
longer, though he computed each day the distance traveled, and
entered it in the ship's log at night before retiring.
I will note parenthetically that Lloyd's character and
experiences are unique, and coupled with a pleasing personality,
render him extremely companionable. His father was from Wales,
his mother from Scotland, and while on a visit to Canada, she
crossed the border into Michigan, where Lloyd was born. His
parents took him to East India when he was four years old, his
father being in the English diplomatic service, and there he
remained until he was fifteen. He later became special corre-
spondent for the London News traveling through Japan, China,
and other oriental countries; also through Australia, New Zeal-
and, the Fiji Island, and South America, and spent many months
living with and among the Hopi and Navajo Indians on our
Western plains, and when the world-war broke out, he was in the
South Pacific Islands, and coming to Memphis on his way to
navigate some Arkansas affluents of the Mississippi, he met his
destiny in the person of Miss Anna Mary Marshall, a charming
girl, married and settled down at the Memphis suburb, Neshoba,
a beautiful Chickasaw word which means wolf in English.
Let us return to the Mississippi River. ^]^^
This lordly river flows through belts of barley, flax, wheat,
corn, cotton, sugar, and oranges, and with its tributaries affords
sixteen thousand miles of navigable water, and its basin is capable
of supporting a population of two hundred millions, or twice the
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present population of the entire United States. Its valley has
been called the trough of the continent. The south wind sweep-
ing up from the tropical waters of the Mexican Gulf mingle with
others coming from toward the Pacific, and together they course
northward to precipitate their waters, not only to create the
sources of the Mississippi but the headwaters of the Red River
of the North and the Saskatchewan flowing into far-away Hudson
Bay, as well as those of the great McKenzie River, which empties
into the frozen sea of Arctic North America. The average alti-
tude of this vast sweep of country is not great and combined with
the generous rainfall referred to makes it a fairly tillable country
up to near the arctic circle. The Mississippi Valley has no
equal or counterpart upon the globe; and it and the lordly
Mississippi River flowing therethrough form a combination that
challenges admiration.
And it is worthy to be remembered that the great river was
discovered by De Soto in 1541, or seventy-nine years before the
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and sixty-six years before the
settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English
settlement in America.
And likewise it should always be borne in mind that the
Chickasaws, in their cypress bark canoes, commanded the
navigation of the great river for some two thousand miles, which
of itself gave them a mastery not only of their own country but
far beyond the limits thereof.
The Great Abundance of Fish Taken Points to the Place of
Discovery—-
All of the De Soto narratives call attention to the vast
number of fishes taken by the natives in waters adjacent to their
villages and near the river and some connected therewith, one
being called an estuary.
Elvas and Ranjel are in conflict as to the dates of the cross-
ing and the villages reached across the river. While Ranjel
states that the river was crossed June 8, Bourne (note 2, p. 138)
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says the date should be June i8. However this may be, we know
that there is a lake adjacent to Mound City, the first village
reached as I insist, and it is a well known topographical feature
of this country that the highest land lay on the borders of these
lakes, and on these the mounds were built. As soon as the river
was crossed, the narratives speak of presents of fish made the
expedition, and the vast number taken, Elvas (p. 123) saying
that however great the number taken, ''there never was any lack
of them."
He then describes such fish as he said were not to be found
in Spain ; and in the description of one, the fish he said was called
"bagre," weighing from 100 to 150 pounds, we readily recognize
the great Mississippi catfish, and in the smaller the delicious
channel catfish; in the one he calls "peel-fish" he describes with
accuracy the great Southern or blue sturgeon, which, until re-
cently, in our ignorance we called the shovelbill cat and fed to
the hogs as worthless. This fish is now recognized as one of the
most valuable fishes in America; from its eggs caviar is made,
rivaling the famous Russian caviar, and has sold for $3.00 per
pound, one fish sometimes producing thirty pounds. When the
meat of this fish is smoked, it readily sells in Eastern markets at
sixty to seventy cents per pound, and is in much request.
In still another fish described by Elvas, but not named, we
readily recognize the great Mississippi alligator gar, or more
properly called the gar pike, which he correctly described as being
the size of a hog and having teeth.
There are two other native varieties of sturgeon, one the
rubber nose, usually weighing when dressed from seven to twenty-
two pounds; but there was shown to me by H. J. Conrad in
Memphis in the spring of 191 8, one five feet long which weighed
when dressed 150 pounds; and there hung by its side a great
Mississippi gar pike which weighed up to 250 pounds, the most
voracious fish that swims our waters, and justly termed the wolf
of our rivers and lakes. The other sturgeon is called the hack-
leback and weighs from three to five pounds, and is a most ex-
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cellent fish. Many other fish are to be found in these waters,
such as the delicious salmon trout, bass, croppie or speckle perch,
bream, sun fish, buffalo, etc.
But there are other foods in our Southern waters besides
fish, and among these may be mentioned loggerhead and moss-
back snapping turtles, the dressed meat of which sells from
fifteen to twenty cents per pound. Then there are several
varieties of the terrapin family taken in our waters, such as
juniatas, mobilianers, sliders, cooters, etc., and these are practi-
cally all shipped west to Oregon and California, or to New York,
Chicago, and other Eastern markets, where they command
ready sales at high prices as substitutes for the celebrated dia-
mond back terrapins of Chesapeake Bay.
Where was the De Soto expedition when it reached this
piscatorial paradise, if not on the banks and in the vicinity of
Wapanocca, Hatchie Coon, Blackfish and adjoining waters,
some of these emptying into the upper reaches of the St. Francis
River, and altogether making such a network of fishing and game
preserves as were without a rival in Arkansas or elsewhere?
Where is there a real sportsman, or any man within a thou-
sand miles of Memphis, who ever wet a line or shouldered a gun,
and who has not heard of these famous fishing waters, which are
covered as soon as the snow flies with myriads of ducks and all
the water fowls so dear to the heart of the sportsman?
These lakes begin in the upper part of Crittenden County
(which is opposite Memphis), extending thence northward, all
in easy reach.
As might be expected, their attractiveness made of them
prizes which were eagerly sought, and they were acquired by
hunting and shooting clubs whose members came for hundreds
and even thousands of miles to enjoy the rare sport there to be
had. Many of these, in fact the most of them, being non-resi-
dents of Arkansas, served to engender strife between the care-
takers of these clubs and residents in their vicinity; which led in
some instances to bloody conflicts; and then the state legislature
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took a hand, enacting statutes designed to bar out non-residents
from these preserves, the constitutionality of which was assailed in
the courts through a series of years, finally reaching the State and
Federal Supreme Courts.
All agree that at the date the river was crossed, it was at
flood tide, which was not unusual at that season of the year.
Judge J. P. Young states as a fact, from a lifetime of experience
and observation, that in olden times, before the era of the
Mississippi levees, when the river was in flood opposite Memphis,
the lower Arkansas delta north of Helena and opposite Tunica
County, Mississippi, would be so inundated as to have made it an
impossibility for De Soto, had he been alone, much less with his
army, to have marched through it or up it, unless they were
amphibious and could swim like fish.
At such a flood time the Arkansas delta north of Memphis
must have been bad enough for travel, Ranjel (p. 138) saying it
was the worst encountered in all Florida; but to the south of
Memphis it would have been impossible to have moved the army
of De Soto on either side of the river.
Lasher's Map as Reproduced hf J. Paul Gaines—
In Chapters IV and V Lusher's map is referred to, and my
opinion as to maps in general is expressed, while Lusher's map is
commended for accuracy and its history given.
At the time those pages were written J. Paul Gaines, a very
capable civil engineer, had charge of public works in the way of
road construction and drainage projects of considerable magni-
tude in the country adjacent to Pontotoc, Mississippi; and read
what I had written with respect to the topography of the country
under review. Being pleased with what he read, he called to see
me, saying that the descriptions given were accurate to a sur-
prising degree; but that in order for the non-professional man and
people unacquainted with the topography of the country to
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grasp the situation, Lusher's map should be so redrafted as to
bring into plain view the trend and direction of the Indian
trails, which, taken in connection with the natural drainage of
the country, would furnish an object lesson easily understood, and
he proffered to redraw the map as indicated, as his contribution
to a clear understanding of the situation. I gladly accepted his
offer, and he redrew the map precisely as the original, with the
exceptions that he left out the section lines, and showed the
location of the counties created in the Chickasaw cession since
the map was made in 1835, and indicated the Indian trails by
heavier lines than in the original, so as to bring them into plain
view, but not otherwise altering them in any respect whatever.
In order to obtain a map small enough not to encumber this
volume, the redraft was necessarily reduced in making a cut
thereof; the map will be found at the end of this volume, for
careful examination. In indicating the boundaries of the new
counties, Mr. Gaines drew some of the county lines rather large
in yellow, which, when reproduced, gives a black appearance; but
as these lines usually run at right angles, whereas the Indian
trails are continuous straight or curved lines, they can be easily
distinguished.
In the process of reduction some of the names of rivers and
places are very faint, but they can be easily read with an ordi-
nary magnifying glass.
Before I knew of the existence of Lusher's map, I had de-
scribed the three Indian trails leading from the vicinity of
Pontotoc to the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff.
The topography of the country indicated that these well
known trails had been in existence from time immemorial, and
this was the foundation upon which I grounded my opinion as
to the route taken by De Soto. It was gratifying, when, almost
by chance, my attention was called to Lusher's map, which cor-
roborated in every particular my prior statements with reference to
these well known Indian trails, and attention is now called to
this map at the back of this volume. Lusher did not name a
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single Indian trail. I will now call attention to the three Indian
trails in question as they appear on the map.
(i) The most westerly trail, leading from the vicinity of
Pontotoc to the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, is the shortest trail,
used in great emergencies or under unfavorable traveling con-
ditions.
This I have designated and described as the short-cut trail ;
and leading out from Memphis it is almost coterminous with the
present Pigeon Roost Road, and almost parallel with the Frisco
Railroad track, indicating that the Indians well understood how
to select the best road between two distant termini.
{2) The next trail to the northeast of the one just referred
to is what I have designated and described as the intermediate
trail, leading out from the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, on top of
what is locally called Poplar Ridge, practically coterminous with
the present Poplar Boulevard, out to ColHerville, Tennessee, and
parallel with the Southern Railroad track. At ColHerville it
curves more southward, and thence onward it threads in between
the headwaters of Wolf River and Nonconnah, and further on
those of Coldwater, and joins the next trail to be described in the
present Union County, Mississippi.
(3) The third trail I have described and designated as the
all-the-year-around trail, leading north from Pontotoc and its
vicinity f forking with the intermediate trail in the present Union
County, and threading its way on top of the well known Pontotoc
Ridge between the headwaters of the streams flowing into the
Gulf of Mexico on the east and those flowing into the Mississippi
on the west. Shortly after entering Tennessee the trail trends
westerly, and soon intersects near the present Lagrange, Tennes-
see, another trail running north, which terminates abruptly,
because Lusher was only mapping the Chickasaw Cession, and,
of course, this did not extend into Tennessee. But it is well
known that this trail ran northward to approximately where the
present town of Bolivar, Tennessee, now is, and that it then
turned westward, running along the ridge dividing the waters of
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Wolf River from those of Hatchie River, and crossing Wolf near
the present city of Memphis, where the high land comes down to
the edge of the water.
Although this was the longest of the three trails, being about
i6o miles in length, still as it led over the height of land, or the
top of ridges dividing the waters of various streams, it could be
passed over almost dry shod at any season of the year; hence the
designation I have given it.
Having called attention to the three trails leading to the
Fourth Chickasaw BluflF, attention is now called to the fact that
there is not a single Indian trail leading west from the vicinity of
Pontotoc to the Mississippi River in Tunica County or elsewhere.
As pointed out heretofore, the only trail leading westward to
the river is the dotted line, marked Helena Trace, having one
western terminus at Helena, Arkansas, and another a little above
on the east bank of the river, at a place marked "Mrs. Mc-
Kinney." These two dotted lines soon converge and meet, and
trending eastward join the Indian trail just above Chulahoma
and disappear. It is the only dotted trace on the map, and the
only one having a name given it, and for reasons given herein-
before is not an Indian trail, but that of the white man and, of
course, of recent years.
There are other things shown on this map which emphasize
the fact that there were no Indian trails leading through the
swamps and morasses of the Mississippi River, and among them at-
tention is called to the abrupt termination of the Indian trail run-
ing south from Panola County to Nelson's Bluff on the Talla-
hatchie River, where it comes to an abrupt termination. Why
this abrupt termination? Evidently the hill land terminated at
this bluff, and that automatically worked a termination of the
trails.
I doubt not that as the Chickasaws were at home on the
bosom of any stream, and as we well know they commanded
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navigation on the Mississippi and its tributaries, where these
waters formed the boundaries of their country, we may safely
assume that when they had occasion to go upon the broad waters
of the Mississippi in a westerly direction, they went to it in their
water craft, upon the waters emptying into the Mississippi.
So likewise we observe on this map lower down that some
three separate trails running southward converge and unite not
far north of Grenada, and after turning west, abruptly terminate
on the banks of the Yallobusha River. Mr. Gaines informs me
that this point marks the termination of the hill land and the
commencement of the low, swampy country. Can any one
doubt that this overland Indian trail abruptly terminated here,
because at this point, where the Mississippi swamps began, the
Indians embarked in their water craft as the only feasible manner
or way in which to reach the Mississippi?
While in his wanderings the narrative of the De Soto ex-
pedition often speaks of occasions when De Soto constructed
boats for use on various rivers, no one pretends that when he
discovered the river he approached it by water.
To insist that De Soto refused to travel overland from his
encampment in north Mississippi, over any one of the three
well known and used trails described above, and that he led his
small army, encumbered with its armor for both men and horses,
not to mention his drove of hogs, through the well nigh impene-
trable Mississippi bottom with its rivers, swamps, lagoons,
cypress breaks, and morasses, where the Indians never ventured
to blaze a trail for traveling Indian file, is to ascribe to him a
piece of monumental folly too great for the most credulous.
And, moreover, it was a task no one like situated could have
accomplished.
Artlele of Miss Mlxon—
Among the many notices of the souvenir edition referred to
was a lengthy editorial from the pen of Honorable J. N. Heiskell,
one of the editors and proprietors of the Arkansas GazeUe, the
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oldest and one of the ablest journals of this section, having
reached its centenary in 1919. This editorial contained the
longest, most comprehensive, and accurate summary of the sub-
ject treated of all the articles that came under my notice; and
was followed by another editorial in which attention was called
to a previous article in the Gazette by Miss Ada Mixon, of Wash-
ington, D. C, who claimed that the Mississippi was discovered
"a day's journey" south of Helena (wherever that may be); and
I was given the privilege to state my views on the subject (and
which appeared) in the Gazette^ August 31, I9i9» followed by a
well written article from Miss Mixon the following September
28th.
I do not deem it necessary to make any reply to the article of
Miss Mixon further than to say she quotes only in part what
Bancroft and Winsor are supposed to have said with respect to
Garcilaso de la Vega, and in fact she ascribes to Winsor what in
point of fact he never said, but was said by John Gilmary Shea.
It would appear that she fell into this error by assuming that
Justin Winsor was the author of that great work in eight volumes
entitled Narrative and Critical History o/ilw^ica, whereas he was
its editor only, being the author only of certain subjects, while
many other distinguished writers were the authors of other parts
of the work. Thus John Gilmary Shea is the author of the
article entitled. Ancient Florida^ found in Vol. 2, page 23, and
the language quoted by Miss Mixon can be seen at page 290, and
is the language of Shea and not Winsor.
I regret that she did not quote Shea in full, but the purport
of what she claims this author and Bancroft said was a criticism
of Garcilaso de la Vega that a spirit of exaggeration prevails
throughout the volume, though (as she adds), it was accepted by
Irving and others.
The main point for which I referred to Garcilaso was that he
states as a fact that there was a high mound near the Mississippi
River where it was discovered, on which the Chief Chisca lived,
and which Garcilaso describes. There is not a word in any of
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the other three narratives contradicting this statement of fact,
they simply not mentioning the mound.
The statement of a fact, such as the existence of a mound,
can not be said to be an ''exaggeration" such as was meant by the
authors referred to, who were referring to the elaborate details
sometimes given by Gardlaso of events which were also men-
tioned by the other narratives in a few words, and without any
elaboration; both of them stating that his book was a very
valuable contribution in working out the details of the De Soto
expedition.
Shea was not only the author of the chapter quoted from,
but also of the Critical Essay on the Sources of Information,
appearing at page 231, as shown by a facsimile of his autograph
attached thereto. In this article (p. 291) Shea says: "As to
the point of De Soto's crossing of the Mississippi there is a very
general agreement on the lowest Chickasaw BluflF," citing Ban-
croft in a note as an authority.
However, Winsor was the author of the well known historical
work, the Mississippi Basin, and at page 6 he says, "De Soto
crossed the river at the Chickasaw Bluffs."
Bancroft and Winsor stand preeminent as American his-
torians, and Claiborne stands equally preeminent among local
Mississippi historians, and all three agree that De Soto crossed
the Mississippi at the Chickasaw Bluff.
The reason for their preeminence is that each was naturally
gifted with good judgment and an analytical mind, and these
natural gifts were accompanied by a lifetime of painstaking
study upon the subjects each respectively treated.
The Bfap of Deltsle Again—
It will be recalled that in Chapter V ante I gave my want of
faith in maps generally, and in the Delisle (sometimes spelled
De L'Isle) map in particular. At that time I had not seen a
copy of this map, but recently a copy of it was called to my
attention at page 472, Vol. 2, of The New and Complete History
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of the United States of America by Ridpath» to which is attached
this note:
"Route of De Soto and Moscoso, as worked out by the great
French geographer Guillaume Delisle, and published in Paris
about 1705. It is of course impossible to identify the course
with exactness, and there are many divergent opinions as to
different halting places, but this probably comes near the
facts."
A casual glance at this Delisle map shows it to be almost
ludicrous as a representation of the country which it proposes to
delineate.
First: It represents the river Tombigbee (called by its
French name Tombeckbe) as rising in the mountains of
western Kentucky, whereas we all know that its headwaters
arise in northern Mississippi.
Second: The map is supposed to show the route of De Soto
in 1540, or the year before the river was discovered, and it
represents De Soto as approaching the Mississippi approxi-
mately within a day's journey, and reaching the village of
Chisca. It then represents De Soto as turning back and re-
tracing his steps until he had recrossed the Tombigbee, after
which he turned southwest and went down to Manilla (variously
written as Mobilia, Mauvilla, Mavilla, etc.), where a great battle
was fought, near the present Mobile, Alabama.
Who is there so credulous as to believe that De Soto was
within a few hours' march of the Mississippi River in 1540, and
then deliberately turned his back to it, and retraced his march as
indicated above, traveling out of his way over a thousand miles,
which consumed a year's time of toilsome wanderings through
the wilderness, before he reached the river in May, 1541?
Third: The map shows the villages of the Chickasaws
(written Chicachas) on the west side of the Tombigbee and north
of the three mouths of the St. Francis River, and north of where
Memphis now is.
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Where is the man that will now claim that this Delisle map
correctly shows the location of the Chickasaw nation, or that the
St. Francis has, or then had, three mouths?
Seemingly not content with this location of the Chickasaw
village, the map again locates the Chicachas (Chickasaws)
down somewhere in what is now Mississippi, but there is nothing
to indicate the presence of villages at this point, as is the case
with the above location in what is now west Tennessee.
Fourth: The map represents the route of De Soto as cross-
ing the Mississippi River at some undesignated point south of
where the St. Francis River empties into the Mississippi River,
by way of three separate and distinct mouths or branches. It was
news to me, and, I believe, to the people of this section of the
country, that the St. Francis has or ever had more than one
mouth emptying into the Mississippi.
As stated, there is absolutely nothing on the map to indicate
that the crossing was in what is now Tunica County, Missis-
sippi, or that the crossing was below where Helena, Arkansas,
now is.
No one pretends, not even Delisle himself, that he had ever
visited this section of the country; and doubtless he was never in
America. How any reasonable man can pin his faith to such an
imaginary map, or can attach the least importance thereto, I
confess I am unable to comprehend.
And yet it is upon such insubstantial and so-called historical
data, that we are asked to accept the theory of Prof. Lewis,
viz: that De Soto discovered the Mississippi River (to
quote his language) "either at Council Bend or Walnut Bend
in a straight line some twenty-five to thirty-eight miles below
Memphis."
There are dozen of bends in the river similar to those men-
tioned, and there is no pretence of a single physical feature at
either point to identify it as the place of discovery, and the very
language used suggests a mere guess as to where the river was
discovered.
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fh^ Ife Soto Memorlttl Erected it Memphis, May ISZ9 191^ '
The week of May 19th to the 24th, 1919, was set aside by the
Memphis and Shelby County Centennial Celebration Association
to properly celebrate the centenary of the city and county which
occurred that year.
The officers and members of the executive committee were
as follows: B. A. Bogy, President, Frank N. Fisher, Vice-
President, Henry C. Loeb, Treasurer, E. O. Bailey, Secretary,
Roy C. Moyston, Executive Secretary; B. A. Bogy; James H.
Malone, Judge J. P. Young, E. O. Bailey, H. C. Loeb, Frank
N. Fisher, R. L. Jordan, H. R. Chears, R. R. Ellis, C. W. Miller,
George B. Coleman, Walk C. Jones, J. B. Edgar, T. A. Robinson,
C. A. Gerber, Bishop T. F. Gailor, W. R. Herstein, E. P. Mac-
Nicol and Roy C. Moyston, members.
The foregoing executive committee set aside May 22, 1919,
for the De Soto Memorial Exercises, and forwarded to his Ex-
cellency Juan Riano, at Washington, D. C, the Royal Spanish
Embassador to this country, an invitation to be preisent, and to
accept on behalf of their Majesties, the King and Queen of Spain,
a handsomely bound copy of Walter Malone's Epic, Hernando
De Soto, to be presented on behalf of the citizens of Memphis on
the date mentioned. His Excellency finding it impossible to be
present, on account of previous engagements, named Sen. Don
Emilio Zapico, Spanish Consul at New Orleans, to represent
Spain and his Excellency, and he attended. The volume,
Hernando De Soto, was specially bound according to the latest
book-binding art, at a cost of I250; the inscription therein to
their Majesties was the work of A. A. Andrews of Memphis,
Tennessee, and its beauty and artistic execution were equal to
the binding and the handsomest I have ever seen, such being also
the opinion of all who saw it.
As to the De Soto Memorial, it was not what we desired it to be,
but what the funds at the command of the committee would allow.
I well remember that when the sub-committee, composed of
Dr. B. F. Turner, Chairman, Judge J. P. Young and James H.
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Malone, reported the character of the memorial to be erected,
Bishop Thomas F. Gailor feelingly and earnestly inquired if
that was all that could be done, adding that a proper memorial
should cost at least $50,000.
The situation being explained to the Bishop, I added that it
was our earnest hope and expectation that his vision would in
due time be realized, and that when the year 1941 dawned upon
Memphis, the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the
great river here, there would indeed be a great celebration in
Memphis; that an equestrian bronze statue of De Soto, of heroic
size and with proper allegorical figures below, would be unveiled
to replace the one now to be erected.
The Bishop acquiesced, but with evident regret.
It affords me pleasure to add that, since the foregoing was
written, Bishop Gailor was unanimously elected president of the
Executive Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States of America, being the first person to hold that
exalted position, and it is almost needless to add with universal
satisfaction to the great Church over whose councils he presides.
The memorial consists of a considerable ledge of rough dark
grey granite, with bronze tablets thereon, containing these in-
scriptions:
North side. "Near this spot Hernando De Soto discovered
the Mississippi River in May, 1541."
On top. "When first visited by the white man, this spot was
the site of the fortress of Chisca, the chief of the Indian tribe
which inhabited this region, and whose principal village stood a
short distance eastward. The nearby eminences are mounds
which were constructed by aboriginal inhabitants and are of
unknown antiquity."
East side. "The Chisca mound was utilized in 1863 during
the Civil War as an artillery redoubt and magazine fortress, Fort
Pickering; and the top of the mound was excavated for that
purpose."
West side. "This park, comprising eleven acres, was pur-
chased in 1912 by the Board of Park Commissioners, composed
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of Robert Galloway, J. T. Willingham and Dr. B. F. Turner, and
dedicated to the use and pleasure of the citizens of Memphis; in
perpetuity; and this memorial stone has been erected to com-
memorate its interesting traditions and historic associations."
The memorial rests at the base of the larger of the two
Indian mounds, a picture of which was taken for the Chamber of
Commerce, and is here reproduced preceding this subtitle.
Judge J. P. Young presided, and Dr. B. F. Turner made the
first address, which follows :
Address of Dr. B. F. Tomer--
"Fellow Citizens:
"We are assembled today to affix the stamp of our appre-
ciation upon one of Memphis' choicest possessions; and to
dedicate a memorial, in material as nearly imperishable as
possible, to the extraordinary combination of associations,
legendary, prehistoric, and historic, which are identified with this
spot. Other places there may be upon which Nature has laid
her hand as caressingly as she has done here to produce the
beautiful and the picturesque. Other places may possess the
halo of romance and legend equal with this. Others still may
bear the impress of man's activities before the date of written
history. And others still may have the marks of history of the
recent past. But where else find we the picturesque and the
beautiful in Nature, the romance of legend, the indubitable
evidences of the prehistoric, and the stern realities of rugged
history of events of yesterday associated together to invest one
spot with such rare interest and charm. It is not inappropriate,
therefore, that I should take occasion at this moment to men-
tion briefly the combination of associations which renders the
spot upon which we stand today one of unusual interest and
which we propose to perpetuate in bronze and granite.
"In the upward progress of the human race certain spots
favorable to its activities become the center of accounts more or
less accurate, more or less mythical, of these primeval struggles.
Such a spot is this. Situated favorably for tribal development,
offensive and defensive, this very spot gives evidence of having
been the center of a teeming population from a remote antiquity.
The inhabitants who were found here when first the white man
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set foot upon these bluffs possessed accounts of races ante-
cedent to themselves. Archeological researches reveal evidences
of successive flourishings and extinctions of primitive races at
this very place. We push aside the curtain which separates
the present from the past, hoping to secure a better vision of the
mysteries behind the obscuring veil. But little is revealed.
A vista of events long past stretches before us in ever deepening
twilight to terminate in the gloom of the unreal and the legendary.
And, so, round this spot the imagination lingers and repopulates
it with the savage man who once disputed the possession of this
ground with the wolf, the panther, and the bear, and whose crude
stone weapons are still occasionally revealed by the upturning
spade or the wash of the summer shower.
"Again in the upward march of human development a
point is reached where the hand of man has fixed upon the face
of Nature monuments indicative of his tireless energy and con-
structive genius. All up and down the Mississippi valley are to
be found huge mounds of earth erected, it would seem, with
infinite labor and always at what would seem to be points of
especial advantage for one purpose or another. Such a point is
this. Here one, upon the slope of which we stand, and out
yonder scarce a hundred yards another, stand two such struc-
tures, erected by a vanished race; by hands long since returned
to dust. The people whom the white man found here were using
them, but it is not at all certain that they erected them. Indeed
there are competent archeologists who assign their origin to far
earlier and quite different races. If so, who then were they and
when passed they this way and whence departed? Nor are the
purposes for which these ancient monuments were erected posi-
tively ascertained. If for defense, then what a story of conflict,
strife, victory, or defeat might they unfold, could they but speak
today. If incidental to some savage worship, some primitive
religion, then what sacrificial orgies, what fantastic and myster-
ious rites may have transpired where we stand today. If they
be tombs, then what memento of some long-forgotten headman,
chief, or savage potentate may still remain enclosed within their
mysterious depths.
"Here they have stood in silent majesty to our certain
knowledge for four hundred years or more: And by ample
archeological evidence for a period vastly longer than that;
with infinite dignity impressing us with the durability of some of
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man's achievements as well as the ephemeral character of
things he regards as stable. And long after we, too, have gone
our way, they still will stand, mysterious sentinels along the high-
way of human achievement.
"Then came a day when out of the forest across the valley
yonder and from over the ridge to the eastward beyond, along the
age-old trail that led from this spot to the regions of the sources
of the Tombigbee, came an intrepid band of warlike wanderers,
a handful of adventurers led by one of the boldest spirits identified
with our country's history, the great De Soto. With unflinching
courage they had dared the dangers of a trackless ocean in
vessels hazardously inadequate to our eyes. Arrived upon an
unknown shore they had plunged into forest, morass, lagoon, and
the currents of mighty rivers, intimidated neither by the fierce
inhabitants of the jungle, the deadly miasmas of the swamp, nor
the ambush of opposing savages. Along this trail they came, up
to this very spot, where sat in all barbaric regalia old Chisca,
the chief of a sturdy but uncivilized race. Here, upon this spot,
the imperious De Soto, animated by a patriotism no less exalted
than the courage which sustained him, planted the flag of Spain
and claimed the region all about for his beloved king and queen.
And here he gazed across the reaches of the mighty current
flowing at his feet to the vast forests beyond and became inspired
to further conquests westward. And here the haughty Chisca
demanded the occasion of such intrusion by a stranger and
disputed any other sovereign right to his domain. And there,
on the slopes below us, eastward, they met in sanguinary struggle,
and the haughty chieftain bowed in submission to his foe. And
here somewhere, within the murky depths of the Father of
Waters, all that was mortal of the great explorer awaits the call
that some day will assemble friend and foe together.
"A full three hundred years pass by, and with them vanishes
a race. The followers of the mighty Chisca no longer seek
their sustenance upon their hunting grounds. Wide fields of
corn and cotton have replaced the forest; and where once stood
wigwams now are seen the dwellings of an industrious and
happy people. The ancient trail has been replaced by a railroad
system. And then a great upheaval tears the nation asunder and
brothers stand deadlocked in fratricidal strife. Here, on this
spot, a Federal army guards the reaches of the Mississippi.
Over there, to the south and east, scarce out of sight from here,
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Confederate forces scan their every move and vigilantly await a
possible opportunity to attack. And this old mound, hoary with
the passing centuries, awakens from its age-long sleep to witness
scenes of martial activity. Its top is excavated. Up its slopes
cannon are dragged. Its side is perforated with an ammunition
magazine. It becomes an artillery redoubt. And soldiers ma-
neuver on the spot whereon we stand today, awaiting the on-
slaught of the foe or perfecting the formation for attack.
"Small wonder then that, as we stand here today, beneath
the shade of these tremendous trees, gazing across the great river
flowing at our feet to the vast forest beyond, the sun's rays glint-
ing on the murky waters with a sheen of bronze, we dream, as
did the great De Soto, of an almost infinite past of human ac-
tivity enacted on this spot; of an imperishable empire limited
only by the waves of the two great oceans.
"And so we give today this memorial stone whereon are
recorded on tablets of bronze, the various incidents and events
associated with this remarkable spot, to you, our fellow citizens,
and to our children and all future generations, that they may hold
sacred the evidences of that struggle upward which untold gen-
erations in the past have made toward the sublime heights
upon which they dwell. And may this spot, which bears the
evidence of so much human achievement, be consecrated to
their use and pleasure for all time to come.
"Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, and while we stand here in
sight of the great river which was discovered here by that great
and intrepid explorer, Hernando De Soto, in whose bosom his
mortal remains were buried, and whose waves were his winding
sheet, I deem it appropriate to repeat some lines from Hernando
De Soto:
The Tomb of De Soto—
"De Soto sleeps beneath his river's waves;
No prouder, no more lasting monument
Hath any being of terrestrial birth.
The dying Theban, crowned with victory.
For mausoleum had his battlefield.
And childless, yet exclaimed exultingly :
'Two fairest daughters leave I unto Thebes —
Leuctra and Man tinea, deathless names!'
The giant Alps, where sleep eternal snows,
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Where rush wild tempests everlastingly,
Where raging torrents leap, where eagles soar,
And rocky summits blend with clouds of heaven,
These make a tomb for Wingelried and Tell,
Stout-hearted patriots of their mountain land.
Magellan — ^he who sought to round the world —
Who gave his life to prove the earth a globe —
The stormy ocean shouts his glorious deeds,
Spreading his fame from pole to pole.
De Soto's mighty river, leading on
Ten thousand tributaries to the sea —
A tomb as lordly as a demigod's.
Magnificent and everlasting — bears
From Norland snow-peaks' fountain-urns of i<ie
To the far sunland vales of plumy palms.
The name of him who gave it to the world.
— ^Walter M alone."
Judge R. M. Barton, representing Mayor Monteverde, was
next called on by the chairman. Judge J. P. Young.
Address of Judge B. M. Bftrton—
"Mr. Chairman, Dr. Turner, Ladies, and Gentlemen:
*'Our mayor finding at the last moment this morning that
conflicting duties would prevent his presence at these cere-
monies, delegated to me the honor and duty of representing him
and authorized me to speak for him and the people of Memphis,
and accept this trust.
''So appearing and speaking, it is with pleasure and gratifi-
cation, I assure you, that he and they accept this most fitting
work of the Centennial Committee, this historic monument of
granite and bronze.
"It is accepted in trust, to be protected, maintained and
treasured by the city and people of Memphis, with a deep sense
of appreciation of its lessons and significance. We will treasure it
both because it is a memorial of the valor and heroism of our
immediate countrymen on both sides of the struggle between the
states — ^whose memories we would keep green, and because it is
a monument to that gallant band of Spaniards who were the
'path finders' of modern civilization in this section of our country.
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"They were the first white men to penetrate this then
ssvaige and unknown wilderness, and at this point discovered the
great river on whose banks we now stand.
"Nowhere in the annals of the world do we find a grander
or more sublime exhibition of daring and heroic endeavor and
endurance than that of De Soto and his small force.
"It will forever stand in our history as one of the most
wonderful accomplishments of human courage, valor, and daring.
"It is one of the great climaxes in the development of civili-
zation— the turning point of the currents of life on this great
continent. The light of Eastern civilization was then turned on
this hitherto unknown world — they first brought to this country
the banner and cross of the Christian religion, which we now
claim as the abiding foundation of our own civilization. They
opened the field for the more peaceful messengers of the Prince
of Peace.
"To them, our great predecessors, we owe admiration and
respect; we would honor and perpetuate their feats of valor and
endurance, and remembering, undertake to weave into our own
lives something of their heroic endeavor and courage.
"It is a matter of congratulation and pleasure that we have
with us today and are honored by his presence, Senor Don
Emilio Zapico, the official representative of the great sovereigns
and people of Spain, who is here to participate in these ceremonies
and received for them a testimonial of our respect and admiration.
"And (turning to Don Zapico), I wish to say, Senor, that we
feel it not only an honor to have you with us as the representative
of your honored sovereigns and people but it is a distinct pleasure
to have met such a charming and genial representative, who meets
so fully our ideal of the gallant, courteous Spanish gentleman.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as compared with the illustrious
Spanish nation, and the other great nations of Europe, we, as a
nation, are very young — a mere stripling.
"In our childhood, we must tell the Senor that we cannot
hope to point out any great, beautiful palaces of the olden times,
like his Alhambra. We have no grand old specimens of archi-
tecture, no pictures of the old masters, no relics of ancient great-
ness, culture, and accomplishment.
"I regret to say we cannot at this time even grace our hos-
pitality with an offering of old wine — ^we are young, and the
Senor will find that our ladies are all young — he has already re-
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marked on their beauty. He sees the springtime all round him
in the budding foliage and flowers.
**But notwithstanding our youth, he will find that we are
not unacquainted with nor unmindful of the ancient and present
glories of the Spanish nations. We know the great part the
Spanish rulers and people have taken in the world's history,
discovery, and development, especially on this western continent.
It is familiar to every school boy and girl. We know much of the
beauty and charm of Spanish learning and literature, of the many
noble traits of and graces and beauty of the Spanish character and
people. Many of the Spanish classics have been translated and
read by us and infused into our own literature.
"Our own local poet. Judge Walter Malone, has sung in
imperishable verse of the valor and deeds of the great Spanish
warriors and discoverers, of which you will have witness.
*'Our own writer, Washington Irving, has given us vivid
pictures of the glories and beauties of Spain. Some of your
words we have adopted as our own. Your wise proverbs have
become our common property, Senor Zapico, when we give wings
to our imagination, and have daydreams of wealth, greatness,
beauty, and grace. We speak of them — our dreams — as 'build-
ing castles in Spain.'
"And so, although young and lacking in the ancient glories
and beauties of Spain to offer for your entertainment and pleasure,
we respect your great sovereigns and people, and appreciate your
presence on this occasion, and if I may be permitted to use what
I understand to be a characteristic expression of that so noted and
gracious hospitality of the Spaniards, we say to you, of such as
we have, *It is all yours.*
"And now, Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, while we
as a people are mainly of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic races, and
have inherited their language, laws, traditions, and institutions,
we can and do claim as part of our history some of the traditions
and glories of the Latins of Spain, France, and Portugal. We
honor their achievements and would absorb into our own national
life and character the influence and spirit of their valor, endur-
ance, and accomplishments. We would emulate that Spanish
pride of which we have heard much, that pride which comes from
a consciousness of true gentility, of unfearing manhood, of
untainted honor, which yields to all others that full consideration
which it demands for itself — that birthright of a Spanish gentle-
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man. We will accept, guard, and treasure this monument as an
everlasting memento of them and as an incentive to our coming
generations to study their history and emulate their spirit, and
with this feeling and this purpose, I, on behalf of the mayor, city
and people of Memphis, accept for them this monument so
appropriately erected and presented at this time."
Address of J. Elmore Holmes Presenting Copy of "De Soto"—
"Mr. Chairman, Senor Zapico, Ladies, and Gentlemen:
"We come to this historic bluff, near where the great
Hernando De Soto discovered the Mississippi River, to engage in
this ceremony in honor of him who has blazed the way for our
modem civilization. At the same time we come to honor the
nation he represented and the civilization which sent him on his
mission of exploration.
"We Americans are greatly indebted to Spain for the in-
trepid spirit of her explorers and soldiers who made it possible to
open up this New World.
"It is true that there are many Spanish names which are
household words here. In the first chapter of our American
history their Majesties King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella play
the important part of giving financial aid and support to the dis-
covery of America. Balboa, Ponce de Leon, and Hernando De
Soto occupy unique and important places in our American history.
"The county immediately to the south of us, and in the
State of Mississippi, bears the name of De Soto and the county
seat is Hernando. We have our De Soto Street and our Hernando
Street in this great city.
"The author of the volume which I hold in my hand was
bom and reared in De Soto County, Mississippi, and he received
the inspiration which enabled him to write the great epic poem
in the forests of the Chickasaw Indians, and he has put into song
the undying fame of Hernando De Soto and the greatness of Spain.
"It is no wonder then, Senor Zapico, that on the hundredth
anniversary of our great city we should feel bound to express to
you, and to your great country, and to your great king and queen,
this debt of gratitude which we feel!
"Allow me to read the beautifully executed inscription on
the first page of this book from the artistic pen of our townsman
A. A. Andrews, which is in these words:
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" 'Presented to their Majesties Alfonso and Victoria, King
and Queen of Spain, in commemoration of the one hundredth
anniversary of the city of Memphis and county of Shelby, State
of Tennessee, U. S. A., in memory of the intrepid sons of Spain
who braved so much to open the eyes of the civilized world to
the new America.'
"Senor Zapico, it now becomes my very pleasant duty to
present to you on behalf of Memphis and Shelby County, and
on behalf of the Centennial Committee, this beautifully bound
volume, which tells the story and gives the connecting link be-
tween the prehistoric and the historic, and in presenting this
volume to you, we ask you to transmit it to their Majesties King
Alfonso and Queen Victoria with every expression from us of our
profound sense of gratitude to Spain ; and also as an expression of
our friendship and the friendship of the American people. And
will you permit us also to indulge the hope that the friendship
which now so happily exists between our country and your
country may last not for a day, but that it shall endure through
the ages yet to come?**
Response of Senor Don Emtllo Zftplco» The Spanish Consul—
"Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen:
"I have the honor and pleasure of being present on this
auspicious occasion to represent the government of their Majes-
ties, the King and Queen of Spain.
"As our people treasure the memory of the heroic accom-
plishments of the great Spaniards of the past and of the mighty
part Spain has taken in the history and progress of the world,
we are pleased with the courtesy of your invitation to be rep-
resented on this occasion, and gratified by the spirit of friendli-
ness shown by your people and by the evidence of your apprecia-
tion of the great deeds of our compatriots by the erection of this
monument in granite and bronze. As of old, we still prize that
spirit of dauntless endeavor and courage to which you pay
tribute, and of which their Majesties of Spain are our high
exemplars. We find a touch of kinship in your recognition of
this, and we feel that we can indeed claim to have been and' still
are in accomplishment and in spirit a part of the history and life
of this great country. These things demonstrate that the mighty
impulses and effects of great deeds die not with the immediate
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events and actors, but are immortal, moving down the ages with
ever-widening influence and increasing force. And may our
part in, and your just and generous recognition of, these heroic
events draw our countries still nearer together in purpose, efforts,
and spirit.
"We are glad that not only in this monument of granite and
bronze but in the imperishable verse written by your own great
poet, Judge Walter Malone, you have celebrated the deeds of
which we are justly proud.
'The beautiful copy of the great poem Hernando De Soto
which you have so kindly presented to their Majesties will be
gladly received and will be prized by them for its beauty, for the
spirit which prompted the gift, and for the wonderful poem
itself.
"On behalf of their Majesties and on behalf of the govern-
ment and people of Spain I greet you and again thank you for
the beautiful volume I now hold in my hand, and it will be care-
fully treasured and forwarded to their Majesties, the King and
Queen of Spain."
Mlnnesotft and Mississippi Honor De Soto—
The present adult generation was taught that the Minnesota
branch of the Mississippi River arose in Lake Itasca, but the
rising generation will be taught that the source of this great
branch of the Mississippi is Lake Hernando De Soto, named in
honor of the intrepid explorer of that name, and in so honoring
his memory Minnesota honored herself.
In a letter to me October 24, 1919, Warren Upham, Secretary
of the Minnesota Historical Society, states that Lake Hernando
De Soto is in the north edge of Becker County, two and a half
miles south from the west arm of Lake Itasca, and that Lake
Hernando De Soto is the highest lake sending water, by under-
ground seepage, to the Mississippi. Its area is two hundred and
twenty acres, of very irregular outlines, with numerous arms^
peninsulas, and islands. Its height above Lake Itasca, deter-
mined by leveling, is one hundred and one feet, and its maximum
depth is twenty feet. According to the most reliable information
from leveling by United States surveys, railroads, and a special
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series of levels by J. V. Brown in 1891, the height of Lake Itasca
was ascertained to be fourteen hundred and fifty-seven feet
above mean sea level. Its maximum depth in the southeast
arm is about eighty feet, and its natural range of low and high
water was only about eight inches, but the dams of lumbermen
raised it some two or three feet for a few years, but that was many
years ago.
In 1891 Minnesota established the Itasca State Park,
containing 22,000 acres, about the sources of the Mississippi in
Clearwater, Becker, and Hubbard Counties, dedicated as a
great playground for its people; a wise act.
On February 9, 1836, the State of Mississippi created the
county of De Soto, lying in the extreme northwest comer of the
State, bounded on the west by the Mississippi River and on the
north by the State of Tennessee.
It was so named in honor of the great explorer, and the
county seat was named Hernando, thus giving the full name of
Hernando De Soto to the county and the site of the county
government. A portion of the county lies in the upper reaches
of the fertile Mississippi delta, but the greater part lies in the
high, rolling, plateau region, and though there is considerable
sand in the soil, it is capable of producing most abundant
crops of many varieties, and altogether a delightful place of
abode.
We learn from Saunders (p. 132) that Hernando was first
named Jefferson, and that before the Civil War De Soto County
became the abode of many wealthy and aristocratic families.
Among the prominent men of antebellum days may be men-
tioned: General James R. Chalmers, Judge H. H. Chalmers,
G. D. Shands, Thomas W. White, Col. Felix Labauve, Judge
James Bright Morgan, Dr. Thomas A. Iredale, Dr. Franklin J.
Malone, and his son John T. Malone, Finley Holmes, and his
son Francis Holmes, Dr. J. H. P. Westbrook, R. H. Vance,
and the afterwards distinguished General Nathan Bedford
Forrest.
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In this county my youngest brother, Walter Malone, was
bom February lo, 1866, and there I lived until 1872, when I
removed to Memphis.
So far as my information extends, the naming of the county
and county site in honor of the memory of De Soto is the only
instance in which the public authorities have taken any notice
of the intrepid explorer who spent the winter of 1540-1541 among
the Chickasaw Indians in what is now north Mississippi. We
of the south have given scant attention to the preservation of
local history, while our Northern brethren wisely convert such
matters into a public asset. I was delighted to learn from Judge
Charles Lee Crum that he intended to place a marker or monu-
ment at the rock bottom ford on the Tallahatchie River where
De Soto crossed that river in 1541, only a few days before his
discovery of the great river. On January i, 1920, the Memphis
Historical Society passed a resolution commending the purpose
of Judge Crum, and it is to be hoped that such an example will
quicken a public interest in matters of this kind.
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CHAPTER VIII
THE HOME UFE AND CHARACTER OF THE CHICKASAWS
A history of a people which is confined to the changes in
their forms of government, and those who effect those changes,
including the wars and revolutions experienced by every nation,
fails to give a comprehensive picture of that people.
As we have reached that period when the Chickasaws have
clearly come into the light of authentic history, I will endeavor
to enter into some details, so that it may appear who and what
manner of people they were when first discovered roaming the
forest as the untutored children of nature. This has proven not
an easy task, for the Indians were without a written history,
and much that has been written and said of them has not only
emanated from prejudiced sources but from persons who were
without adequate means of information; and consequently
much misinformation has been spread abroad on this interesting
subject. Manifestly it is desirable to know them in their aborigi-
nal state, and before changes took place from their contact with
the white man, which has wrought many changes in them and
threatens their very existence at a future day.
This is a subject of deep interest to every reflecting man, for
it involves questions with respect to the history of the whole
human race and the final destiny of civilized mankind.
Authentic Sources of Information—
Obviously our first care should be to seek for authentic
information; that is, information from authors who had their
information at first hands, who had the means of seeing and
knowing the Chickasaws as they were in their primitive condi-
tion, and who had the ability and desire to correctly record what
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they saw and heard. Hereinbefore I have given my reasons for
relying upon the works of Adair, Cushman, and Lincecum,
and after the examination of many books I desire to especially
commend the writings of William Bartram, John Lawson, and
Albert James Pickett for accuracy and as bearing internal
evidence of a desire coupled with ability to relate the story of the
Indians as they saw and knew them.
As the works of these authors are comparatively rare books,
and when accessible must be carefully read in order to sift out
those parts relative to the Chickasaws, I deem it not improper to
give a short notice of each of them.
William Bartram was the son of John Bartram, botanist
to the King of Great Britain and Fellow of the Royal Society
under whom the son (William) received his training.
At the request of Dr. Fothergill of London, Bartram sailed
from London in April, 1773, to search the western parts of Caro-
lina and Georgia for the discovery of rare and useful productions
of nature, chiefly in the vegetable kingdom, and he landed in
Charleston, South Carolina, in the spring of 1773, and spent
several years in exploring Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, and
what is now the southern portions of Alabama and Mississippi,
going up the Mississippi and also the Tombigbee short distances,
but did not visit the Chickasaw country, though he often speaks
of them, having seen bands of their men but not their women.
He was a thoroughly equipped botanist, and his descriptions
not only of the flora and fauna but of the aborigines of the
country impressed me as of the first order, while his graceful
style of writing has not been excelled by any of the early ex-
plorers.
He speaks of the Muscogulge (which is now written Musk-
hogean) as the principal tribe inhabiting the country from the
Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida to the Mississippi, and of the
Chickasaws and Choctaws as their confederates.
They were all, in fact, members of the Muskhogean family,
but were often at war with each other.
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John Lawson came to America in 1700, landing at New
York, but after a fortnight stay he put out from Sandyhook and
in fourteen days arrived at Charleston, S. C, where he became
Surveyor General of Carolina, North and South Carolina being
one and the same at that time.
His book consists in part of a journal he kept with a history
of what he saw and learned in Carolina.
Lawson represented the Lords proprietors under the cele-
brated charter of Charles II to Edward, Earl of Clarendon, and
associates, by which that gay monarch granted in 1663 and 1665,
that vast territory called Carolina and vaguely described as
lying within certain degrees of latitude on the Atlantic, and ex-
tending back to the "South Sea," for such was the name by
which the Pacific Ocean was called at that time. Lawson's book
contains a full report to the Lords proprietors, and was first
published in London in 1714, and republished in Raleigh, N. C,
in i860.
Unfortunately Lawson was murdered by the Indians on a
subsequent trip to Carolina.
This rare book was placed in my hands by Judge L. B. Mc-
Farland, veteran and retired member of the Memphis bar.
He had read the first part of this sketch of the Chickasaws,
published as a souvenir to the Memphis Centenary, and becoming
very much interested in the subject and its treatment, he made
many valuable suggestions as to the subject matter of succeeding
chapters.
Albert James Pickett, was an Alabamian (my native state)
and the author of a history of Alabama, and incidentally of
Georgia and Mississippi, the book appearing in 1851, the copy
I read being a republication by Robert C. Randolph in 1896.
Pickett would travel hundreds of miles to verify a single matter
which he deemed of importance, and spent a lifetime in laborious
efforts to present an accurate history from the earliest times.
While he was thus engaged in what he declares was his life work,
he often became despondent, and thought of destroying his
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material; but fortunately persevered to the end, his book now
being regarded as a classic on the subjects treated.
While Pickett was preparing his history of Alabama,
Theodore Irving was preparing his Conquest of Florida, which
revealed to Americans the narrative of Gardlaso de la Vega of
the De Soto expedition, and Irving paid a glowing tribute to the
work of Pickett.
Upon further reflection I have concluded to list with the
three above mentioned authors Captain Bernard Romans, of
the English Army, who traveled extensively through the South-
west, visiting the Chickasaws in 1 77 1 . In 1 775 he brought out his
book, Natural History of East and West Florida, now a rare book,
and though comparatively small, at the last sale a copy brought
«450.
While rather dogmatic, Romans was an unusually intelli-
gent writer, gathering a great mass of information relative to
what are now some of the Southern States. He was also an
artist of considerable talents, and not only drew valuable maps
of the country, with its harbors, bays, and inlets, but also drew
with pen and ink what he termed characteristic warriors and
women of the various tribes of Indians visited by him.
Among these he drew what he called a characteristic Chick-
asaw warrior, which is the earliest attempt I have met with to
portray the appearance of a primitive Chickasaw, who were not
inclined, I infer, to have their pictures taken. This drawing is
reproduced in Chapter VIII.
If it be said that these authors were not treating specifically
of the Chickasaws, still they treated of them in part, and, more-
over, they were treating especially of the great Muskhogean
family of Indians, which comprised the Chickasaws, Choctaws,
Creeks, and Seminoles, and these with the Cherokees occupied
almost exclusively that vast territory stretching from the eastern
shores of the Mississippi, from the Gulf of Mexico, far into
Kentucky and thence eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. These
five tribes of Indians were farther advanced than any Northern
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tribe, and hence became known and designated as "The Five
Civilized Tribes."
The Cherokees were not nearly related to the other four
tribes, but belonged to the Southern branch of the Iroquois
Indians, and for the most part lived in the mountainous regions
of Virginia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Alabama, and Georgia.
They were a splendid type of an uncivilized people, and the fact
that Sequoyah, a man of splendid intellect, sprung from them,
marks the Cherokees as a remarkable people.
It may be here recalled that while the Chickasaws were far
less numerous than any other of these notable aboriginal tribes,
being less than one-tenth of the combined populations of the five
tribes, still they were more than a match for any one of them,
being often called the unconquered and unconquerable Chicka-
saws.
They had no superiors upon this continent.
It has been a question with me in the preparation of this work
as to the best method to present the facts, so that errors might
not supervene, as far as that is possible, and yet avoid unneces-
sary details. I have concluded to make literal quotations in
many instances, so that the truth may appear as presented by
those who saw and heard for themselves the things which they
wrote.
How the Orlgfnal Clilck»8aws Appeared—
Bartram was a botanist of the first order, and his labors in
the unexplored regions of the new world, along the lines of his
life work, in the discovery of new plants and varieties of known
forms and their proper classification, have stood the test of more
than a century, and he stands preeminent in this branch of
science. He must therefore have been an unusually close observer,
and likewise had the capacity to accurately record what he saw.
His writings were by no means solely confined to questions of
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The above is reproduced from Captain Bernard Romanes drawing from life
in 1771, it being what he called (p. 59) a "Characteristick Chickasaw head," and the
earliest I have found. Apparently it was drawn with pen and ink.
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botany, but he wrote of everything he saw and heard in his
extensive trips through the wild Indian countries, including the
Indians as he saw them and knew them during the years he
spent among them. He says (p. 258) that the Indians named
him PuC'Puggy, which in their language meant Flower Hunter;
and as the Indians were quick to distinguish persons who came
among them on friendly missions from those who came for
mercenary or unworthy purposes, we may be sure that the
Indians Were free and far more communicative with him than the
ordinary pioneer, and that his means of knowing them were of a
superior order.
I will therefore let Bartram picture the Chickasaws for the
reader:
"The males of the Cherokees, Muscogulges, Creeks, Semi-
noles, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and confederate tribes of the
Creeks, are tall, erect, and moderately robust; their limbs well
shaped, so as generally to form a perfect human figure; their
features regular, and countenance open, dignified, and placid;
yet the forehead and brow so formed as to strike you instantly
with heroism and bravery; the eye though rather small, yet
active and full of fire, the iris always black, and the nose common-
ly inclining to the aquiline.
* 'Their countenance and actions exhibit an air of mag-
nanimity, superiority, and independence.
"Their complexion, of a reddish brown or copper colour;
their hair long, lank, coarse, and black as a raven, and reflecting
the like lustre at different exposures to the light.
"The women of the Cherokees are tall, slender, erect, and of
a delicate frame; their features formed with perfect symmetry,
their countenance cheerful and friendly, and they move with a
becoming grace and dignity.
"The Muscogulge women, though remarkably short of
stature, are well formed; their visage round, features regular and
beautiful; the brow high and arched; the eye large, black, and
languishing, expressive of modesty, diffidence, and bashfulness;
these charms are their defensive and offensive weapons, and they
know well how to play them off, and under cover of these alluring
graces are concealed the most subtle artifices; they are, however,
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loving and affectionate. They are, I believe, the smallest race of
women yet known, seldom above five feet high, and I believe the
greater number never arrive to that stature; their hands and feet
not larger than those of Europeans of nine or ten years of age;
yet the men are of gigantic stature, a full size larger than Euro-
peans; many of them above six feet, and a few under that, or five
feet eight or ten inches.
"Their complexion much darker than any of the tribes to the
north of them that I have seen. This description will, I believe,
comprehend the Muscogulges, their confederates, the Choctaws,
and I believe the Chickasaws (though I have never seen their
women), excepting some bands of the Seminoles, Uches, and
Savannucas, who are rather taller and slenderer, and their com-
plexion brighter."
It will be observed that Bartram in speaking of the smallness
of the women of some of the tribes states that, as he had not seen
the Chickasaw women, he could not speak as to them, but
Cushman knew them well during a long life, and of them (p. 448)
he says:
"The ancient Chickasaws were deservedly celebrated for
their handsome young women ; and seldom have I looked upon
such specimens of female grace and loveliness as I have seen
among the Chickasaws three-quarters of a century ago in their
former homes east of the Mississippi River, nor do they fall
much below at the present day. Their eyes were dark and full,
and their countenances like their native clime — always beaming
with sunshine — ^whose sympathetic smiles chased fatigue away
and changed the night of melancholy into day. They were truly
beautiful and, best of all, unconsciously so. Oft was I at a loss
which most to admire — the graceful and seemingly perfect
forms, finely chiseled features, lustrous eyes, and flowing hair, or
that soft, winning artiessness which was so pre-eminentiy theirs.*'
The Chickasaw women were of good size, as well as beautiful,
and shared with their men that martial spirit which was such a
distinctive characteristic of the Chickasaws, referring to which
Adair (p. 319) says:
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"It is usual for the women to sing the enlivening war songs
in the time of an attack; and it inflames the men's spirits so
highly that they become as fierce as lions. I never knew an in-
stance of the Indians running off, though from a numerous
enemy, and leaving their women and children to their bar-
barous hands."
That human nature has been and is about the same,
in all parts of the world and among all womankind as
well as mankind, is evident from the fact, as stated by
Adair, that the Chickasaw women, being conscious of the
exquisite beauty of their forms, sometimes carelessly and
coquettishly allowed their drapery to so hang as to half conceal
and half reveal the symmetry of their limbs slightly above the
knee.
The foregoing lines were written at Oakland, California,
where I was sojourning for a short while, when all of that country
was on the tiptoe of expectancy in anticipation of the arrival
in the Bay of San Francisco of the great armada of the Pacific
naval fleet, the largest assemblage of American war vessels in
our long history; and these vessels were scheduled to arrive in a
few days, that is, September i, 1919. Every form of entertain-
ment for the visitors, from Secretary Daniels down to the
Jackies, was being arranged, among them being a proposed bare-
foot dance in Grecian costume by the girls of exclusive Berkley;
but the Berkley mothers were determined to protect the "morals"
of the Jackies, and were endeavoring to have the dance "tabooed."
There was much in the press pro and con, and among them a
correspondent of one of the principal papers, wisely concealing
his identity under the non de plume of "Artist," after quoting the
girls as saying that the dance is "art of the highest form," and
that "the boys were not going to see the dancers, they are going
to see the dance," answered rather jocosely, "Maybe, girls,
maybe"; and that "the only art likely to be lost sight of in the
shuflle is the art of modesty."
Pickett (pp. 58, 59) says:
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'The Indians of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Missis-
sippi were so similar in form, mode of living, and general habits,
in the time of De Soto and of others who succeeded him in pene-
trating these wilds, that they will all be treated, on the pages
of this chapter, as one people. The color was like that of the
Indians of our day. The males were admirably proportioned,
athletic, active, and graceful in their movements, and possessed
open and manly countenances. The females, not inferior in form,
were smaller, and many of them beautiful. No ugly or ill-formed
Indians were seen, except at the town of Tula, west of the Mis-
sissippi."
After the Chickasaws had ceded all of their rights in West
Tennessee, and it was being settled by the whites, Williams in
his Old Times in West Tennessee (p. 69) says of the Chickasaws
that they were proverbially polite, friendly, and wholly in-
offensive. To the nearest settlers they would bring in the finest
haunches of venison, fat gobblers, and bear meat. They hunted
for the most part for the peltries, curing only as many venison
hams as they could conveniently pack away on their ponies.
Practically all travelers and observers state that they never
saw among the Indians a hunchback, club-footed, or otherwise
naturally deformed Indian. It is generally believed that upon the
birth of every Indian child it was carefully examined, and if it
was found to be in any manner deformed, it was not allowed to
live, because they thought the deformity was an unmistakable
token of divine displeasure, and that it was best for the child and
the tribe to thus dispose of the unfortunate at its birth. This
reminds us of similar customs among the ancient Greeks, and of
the rather acrimonious discussion in the press recently relative
to the advice given by an eminent physician to sunmiarily
dispose of a new-born infant, which could neither enjoy health
nor possess a sound mind.
Nor was this the only method of weeding out the mental
and bodily unfit Indians; for Pickett (p. 106) and Lawson (p. 380)
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both set out at some length the manner of initiation of the young
men and women into full fellowship, Lawson calling it an abom*
inable custom, which continued for weeks and sometimes for
months. The young men and women, though separately initiated,
were placed in large dark houses, where they were nearly starved,
and were compelled to drink certain nauseous decoctions which,
in some instances, made them raving maniacs, and from the
hardships of the initiation many died, while others made their
escape. Lawson thus states the reasons given by the Indians for
this custom:
'*Now the savages say if it was not for this, they could never
keep their youth in subjection ; besides that it hardens them ever
after to fatigues of war, hunting, and all manner of hardship,
which their way of living exposes them to. Besides, they add,
that it carries off those infirm, weak bodies that would have
been only a burden and disgrace to their nation, and saves the
victuals and clothing for better people that would have been
expended on such useless creatures."
PrlTftte Character of the Chlckasaws—
Bartram (pp. 487, 488) says:
"If we consider them with respect to their private character,
or in a moral view, they must, I think, claim our approbation, if
we divest ourselves of prejudice and think freely. As moral men
they certainly stand in no need of European civilization.
"They are just, honest, liberal, and hospitable to strangers;
considerate, loving, and affectionate to their wives and relations;
fond of their children; industrious, frugal, temperate, and per-
severing; charitable and forbearing. I have been weeks and
months amongst them and in their towns, and never observed
the least sign of contention or wrangling: never saw an instance
of an Indian beating his wife, or even reproving her in anger.
In this case they stand as examples of reproof to the most civil-
ized nations, as not being defective in justice, gratitude, and
good understanding; for indeed their wives merit their esteem
and the most gentle treatment, they being industrious, frugal,
careful, loving, and affectionate.
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"The Muscogulges are more volatile, sprightly, and talka-
tive than their Northern neighbors, the Cherokees; and, though
far more distant from the white settlements than any nation east
of the Mississippi or Ohio, appear evidently to have made greater
advances towards the refinements of true civilization, which
cannot, in the least degree, be attributed to the good examples
of the white people."
Upon this same subject Lawson (pp. 320, 321) says:
"They will endure a great many misfortunes, losses, and
disappointments without showing Nthemselves, in the least,
vexed or uneasy. When they go by water, if there proves a head
wind, they never vex and fret as the Europeans do, and let what
misfortune come to them as will or can happen, they never
relent. Besides, there is one vice very common everywhere,
which I never found amongst them, which is, envying other men's
happiness, because their station is not equal to, or above their
neighbor's. Of this sin I cannot say I ever saw an example,
though they are a people that set as great a value upon them-
selves as any sort of men in the world, upon which account they
find something valuable in themselves above riches. Thus, he
that is a good warrior is the proudest creature living; and he that
is an expert hunter is esteemed by the people and himself; yet
all these are natural virtues and gifts, and not riches, which are
as often in the possession of a fool as a wise man. Several of the
Indians are possessed of a great many skins, wampum, ammuni-
tion, and what other things are esteemed riches amongst them;
yet such an Indian is no more esteemed amongst them than any
other ordinary fellow, provided he has no personal endowments
which are the ornaments that must gain him an esteem among
them; for a great leader amongst the Indians is no otherwise
respected and esteemed than a man that strains his wits and
fatigues himself to furnish others with necessaries of life that live
much easier and enjoy more of the world than he himself does
with all his pelf.
"If they are taken captives and expect a miserable exit, they
sing; if death approach them in sickness, they are not afraid of
it; nor are they ever heard to say, 'Grant me some time.' They
know by instinct, and daily example, that they must die; where-
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fore they have a great and noble gift to submit to everything that
happens, and value nothing that attacks them."
The Chickasaws were conspicuous for possessing the noble
traits as described above, which is attested by every observant
writer upon the subject.
Lftngnage of the ChlckasAws—
Bartram (p. 517), after stating that the language of the
Chickasaws was similar to that of the Muskhogean family, says
that their language is very agreeable to the ear, courteous,
gentle, and musical; that the letter r is not found in one word of
their language.
That the women in particular speak so fine and musically as /
to represent the singing of birds; and when heard and not seen, /
one might imagine it to be the prattling of little children.
The men's voices were stronger and more sonorous, but not I
harsh, and in no instance guttural.
DuPratz settled among the Natchez Indians as early as 1720,
was engaged in the wars resulting in the extermination of that
splendid tribe, and was a contemporary of the wars of the French
in their attempted extermination of the Chickasaws, and wrote
fully of the same, as we will see in the next chapter; and probably
no one had a better means of knowing the Chickasaws and the
extent to which their language was spoken by other Indian
nations than he.
Speaking of the Chickasaws (pp. 310, 311) DuPratz says:
"The nation of the Chickasaws is very warlike. The men
have very regukir features, are large, well-shaped, and neatly
dressed; they are fierce, and have a high opinion of themselves.
They seem to be the remains of a populous nation whose warlike
disposition had prompted them to invade several nations, whom
they have indeed destroyed, but not without diminishing their
own numbers by those expeditions. What induces me to believe
that this nation has been formerly very considerable is that the
nations who border upon them, and whom I have just mentioned.
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speak the Chickasaw language, though somewhat corrupted,
and those who speak it best value themselves upon it."
Or, stated in other words, the Chickasaws imposed their
language on adjoining Indians, and it was a badge of honor
among them to be able to speak in the language of the haughty
Chickasaws.
Captain Bernard Romans, who visited the Chickasaws in
November of 177 1, after stating that the Chickasaws were cruel,
insolent, and haughty, adds (p.59) that, although it was one of
the smallest nations, still it was r^arded as the mother nation
on this part of the continent, and that their language was adopted
universally by most, if not all, of the Western tribes.
Nuttall (p. 288) says:
"The language of the Chickasaws, it appears, was not
unknown on the western side of the Mississippi ; the Caddoes or
Cadodaquoix, divided into several branches, as well as the
Natchitoches, although possessed of a peculiar language, as well
as all the Indians of Louisiana, generally, were more or less
acquainted with the Chickasaw or Mobilian."
I Pickett (p. 133) and practically all other writers are in
accord with the above authorities, some saying that the Chicka-
saw was the trade language in general use up and down the Mis-
sissippi and its tributaries.
Roosevelt (Vol. i, p. 61) states that while the whole Chick-
asaw nation never probably exceeded four thousand souls, that
it was the only one closely knit together, and that the whole
tribe acted in unison as one man.
This undoubtedly was one of the main reasons why they
were never conquered, and why they imposed their language so
universally on all neighboring tribes.
Their Dwelling Houses— .
The common belief that the Chickasaws lived in skin
tepees or in the open is a great misapprehension, for, upon the
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first discovery of them by the De Soto expedition, they were
found living in houses, with outhouses for the storing of their grain
and provisions in every way suitable to their wants and situa-
tion. The Gentleman of Elvas (p. 53) informs us that through-
out the cold country every Indian had a winter house, plastered
inside and out, with a very small door, which was closed at dark,
and a fire being made within, it remained heated like an oven, so
that clothing was not needed during the night-time. He had like-
wise a house for summer, and near it a kitchen, where fire was
made and bread baked.
Maize was kept in barbacoa, which was a house with wooden
sides, like a room, raised aloft on four posts, and had a floor of
cane. The difference between the houses of the masters, or
principal men, and those of the common people was, besides
being larger than the others, they had deep balconies on the.
front side, with cane seats, like benches; and about are many
barbacoas, in which they brought together the tribute their
people gave them of maize, skins of deer, and blankets of the
country. These were like shawls, some of them made from the
inner bark of trees, and others of a grass resembling nettle,
which, by treading out, became like flax. The women used them
for covering, wearing one about the body from the waist down-
ward, and another over the shoulders, with the right arm left
free, after the manner of the gypsies.
The men wore but one, which they carried over the shoulder
in the same way, the loins being covered with a bragueiro of
deer-skin, after the fashion of the woolen breechcloth that was
once the custom of Spain. The skins were well dressed, the
color being given to them that was desired, and in such perfec-
tion, that, when of vermilion, they looked like very fine red
broadcloth; and when black, the sort in use for shoes, they were
of the purest. The same hues were given to blankets.
Elvas added that the Indians kept their houses clean, and Law-
son was astonished to observe how sweet they kept them, which he
said would not be possible if Europeans lived in the same manner.
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Adair who first went as an English trader among the Chick-
asaws in 1744, and for years lived with and knew them, confirms
Elvas (p. 406), and adds that every dwelling house had a small
field pretty close to it; and, as soon as the spring of the year
admitted, there they planted a variety of large and small beans,
squashes, peas, pumpkins, and the smaller sort of Indian com,
which usually ripened in two months from the time it was
planted; though it was called by the English the six weeks' com.
Around this small farm, they fastened stakes in the ground, and
tied a couple of long split hickory, or white oak saplings, at proper
distances to keep off the horses; though they could leap fences,
yet many of the old horses would creep through the inclosures
almost as readily as swine, to the great regret of the women,
who scolded and gave them ill names, calling them ugly
mad horses, and bidding them ''go along, and be sure to keep
away."
Cushman (p. 577) says the Southern Indians had spades and
shovels made of cedar, picks, axes, and hoes- made of stone,
spoons made of hom, and mortars and pestles made of stone
with which they prepared their com for bread, and added that
many of the Chickasaws and Choctaws used them to his day.
Closely connected with the character of the dwellings is
that of the character of their towns, or assemblage of villages, as
they appeared to Romans in 177 1. He says (p. 62) that they
were then living in a large Savannah, about three miles in diame-
ter, and though the soil looked barren, still it produced a grass of
which the cattle were so fond as to leave the richest cane brakes
for it, and that they thrived to admiration thereon, and that
there was a profusion of wild strawberries in season.
In this expanse they had one town of the length of about one
mile and a half, though very narrow and irregular; and this town
was divided into seven parts, which Romans and Pickett (p. 134)
say were named as follows:
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MeUaUaUf hat and feather.
Chatdattf copper town.
Chuckafalaya, long town.
HickihaWy stand still.
Chucalissa, great town.
Tuckahaw, a certain weed.
Ashwickboomay red grass.
The last was once well fortified with palisades, and there
they defeated D'Artaguette.
Adair's description of the Chickasaw country is lengthy, but
not as clear as it might be, and is thus condensed by Gatschet
(p. 91):
"The Chikkasah country lies in about thirty-five degrees
north latitude, at the distance of one hundred and sixty miles
from the eastern side of the Mississippi * ♦ *
"About half way from Mobile to the Illinois, etc. The
Chikkasah are now well settled between the heads of two of the
most western branches of Mobile (now Tombigbee) River and
within twelve miles of Tahre Hache (Tallahatchie) * * * In
1720 they had four contiguous settlements, which lay nearly in
the form of three parts of a square, only that the eastern side was
five miles shorter than the western, with the open part toward the
Choktah. One was called Yanena, about a mile wide and six
miles long, * * *; another was ten miles long, and from one
to two miles broad. The towns were called Shatara, Chook-
hereso, Hykehah, Tuskawillao, and Phalacheho. The other
square, Chookka Pharaahor, or 'The Long House," was single
and ran four miles in length and one mile in breadth. It was
more populous than the whole nation and contains at present
* * * scarcely 450 warriors."
The great length in miles given by Adair would ordinarily
imply a much larger population than the Chickasaws really had.
The explanation consists in the fact that the Chickasaw houses
were ordinarily not built close together, but usually each house
was separate and apart from the others, with a plot of ground
near for such cultivation as they desired.
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No doubt experience had taught them also that this practice
made for good health and cleanliness.
They had, of course, in times of invasion, their palisades or
fortified strongholds, as we will see in Chapter IX, when their
country was invaded by the French in 1736.
Courtship and Harrlage—
The mating of the young man and woman has been, is, and
always will be a matter of the profoundest importance, not only
to the immediate contracting parties, but to the public at large.
Its importance was fully appreciated by the Chickasaws, who
had, in all probability, a clearer insight into its real significance
than any other tribe on the continent. So high an authority as
Judge Haywood in his Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennes-
see (p. 291), now a very rare book, states that no Chickasaw
young woman was ever known to give birth to a child before
wedlock. Of what civilized or Christian nation can this be
affirmed?
Cushman (p. 498), who knew the Chickasaws so well, thus
succinctly states courtship and marriage among them: The
ancient manner of Chickasaw courtship was not very taxing upon
the sensitiveness of the bashful, perspective groom; since, when
he wished to make known to any young lady of his tribe the emo-
tions of his heart in r^ard to her, he had to send but a small
bundle of clothing carefully tied up in a large cotton handker-
chief (similar in dimensions to a medium-sized table cloth, very
common in those primitive days of ignorant bliss, when fashion
and folly were unknown), by his mother or sister, to the girl he
desired to make his wife. This treasure of acknowledged love
was immediately taken possession by the mother of the wished-
for bride and kept for a few days before presenting it to her
daughter; and when presented, if accepted, it was a bona fide
acknowledgment on her part of her willingness to accept him
as her husband, of which confession he was at once duly notified ;
if otherwise, the subject was there and then forever dropped, and
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the disappointed and disconsolate swain found consolation in the
privilege in all such cases, of presenting another bundle of
clothes wrapped in a similar mantle of cotton, to some other
forest beauty in which his country so profusely abounded. But
best of all, the swain, whether bold or timid, was always spared
that fearful and dreaded ordeal of soliciting the "y^" oi the
"old folks," as his mother took that imperative and obnoxious
duty upon herself, and was almost always successful in the ac-
complishment of the desired object. The coast being clear of
all breakers, the elated lover painted his face in exact conformity
to the latest and most approved style, donned his best suit, and
sought the home of his betrothed with fluttering heart, who,
strictly on the lookout, met him a few rods from the door, and
proudly and heroically escorted him into the house where they,
themselves, in the presence of friends and relatives, performed
the marriage ceremony by the man presenting the woman with
a ham of venison; or a part of some other eatable animal of the
chase; she at the same time presenting him with an ear of com
or sack of potatoes, all of which betokened the man should
provide the household with meat, and the woman with bread.
Thus they were made man and wife, and so considered by all.
Tbe Marital Relation in Other Respects, and
Chicicasaw Nomenclature—
FideUty to her husband was one of the virtues of the
Chickasaw married woman, but her husband could put her
aride, though be it said to the credit of the men, this was
rarely done.
Infidelity was followed by the severest punishment, both to
the man and the woman, though the punishment of the woman
was more severe than that of the man. When the crime was
proven against the woman, the enraged husband, accompanied
by some of his relatives, would surprise and beat her most un-
mercifully, and sometimes cut off her hair, or nose, or lip. It
is worthy of note that those married women who thus became
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disfigured were the handsomest and the most tempting, which
exposed them to the snares of the young men.
However, they did not fail also to punish the guilty man, for
the Chickasaws commonly began with the adulterer, because, of
the two, he was more capable of making his escape; they generally
attacked him at night, by surprise, least he should make a des-
perate resistance, and blood be shed to cry for blood. They fell
on eagerly and mercilessly, whooping their revengeful noise, and
threshing their captive with their long-knobbed hoop-flails; some
over his head and face; others on his shoulders and back; his
sides, legs, and arms were gashed all over, and at last, if he
happily seemed to be insensible of pain, then they cut off his
ears.
It would seem that the Indians, as the white, punish the
women more severely than the men; their reasons therefor, as
given to Adair (p. 145), are as follows:
"When I asked the Chickkasah the reason of the inequality
of their marriage-law, in punishing the weaker passive party,
and exempting the stronger, contrary to reason and justice; they
told me it had been so a considerable time, because their land
being a continual seat of war, and the lurking enemy forever
pelting them without, and the women decoying them within, if
they put such old cross laws of marriage in force, all their beloved
brisk warriors would soon be spoiled, and their habitations
turned to a wild waste."
Adultery was severely punished by all the Indian tribes,
according to Adair (p. 145), except the Cherokees, whom he
states lived under a petticoat and allowed their women full
liberty.
When a woman's husband died, the widow was compelled to
go into mourning, usually for four years; three years under the
Chickasaw laws and customs. Every evening, and at the very
dawn of day, for the first year of her widowhood, she was obliged
through the fear of shame to lament her loss in very pronounced
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and audible strains, the particulars of which are set forth by
Adair (p. 146). For a considerable time after the death of her
husband the widow was required' to sit out day and night in
front of his house in all kinds of weather and to go through certain
ceremonies, which were so severe as often to waste her person
away.
After the expiration of one year, if the brother of the deceased
husband saw fit to cohabit with the widow, then she thereby
became his wife, and Adair says that sometimes the widows
not only made themselves exceedingly pleasant to their brothers-
in-law, but would sometimes get them drunk in order to make
them yield to their blandishments. And then again, when an
obstinate brother-in-law refused to be attracted by their charms,
they would set upon him and beat him, reviling him with the
worst kinds of epithets.
Moi^an in his Ancient Society (which came out in 1877,
p. 163) states that the Chickasaws were thus divided into
twelve gentes, arranged into two phraties, as follows:
I. Panther {Koi) Phatry
(i) Koninchush, Wild Cat; (2) Hatafushi, Bird; (3) Nunni,
Fish ; (4) Issi, Deer.
II. Spanish (Ishpanee) Phatry
(i) Shauee, Raccoon; (2) Ishpanee, Spanish; (3) Mingko,
Royal; (4) Hushkoni, Skunk; (5) Tunni, Squirrel; (6) Hochon-
chabba, Alligator; (7) Nashoba, Wolf; (8) Chuhhla, Black-bird.
Gaschet in his Migration Legends of the Creek Indians (p. 96)
states, as, indeed, Morgan does, that Morgan got his information
from Rev. Charles C. Copeland, an American missionary residing
with this tribe, and adds that
"Copeland states the descent is in the female line, that no
marriage takes place among individuals of the same gens, and
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that property as well as the office of chief is hereditary in the
gens."
The following list inserted below will how show considerably
he differs from Gibbs:
Panther Phatry (Ifoa), Itsgentes: {i) Kaintchush, Wild Cat;
(2) Fushi, Bird; (3) Nanni, Fish; (4) Issi, Deer;
Spanish Phatry {Ishpani). Its gentes: (i) Shawi, Raccoon;
(2) Ishpani, Spanish; (3) Mingo, Royal; (4) Hushkani, S\i\xn\i\
(S) Tunnif Squirrel; (6) Hotchan tchapa, Alligator; (7) Nashoba^
Wolf; (8) Tchuhla, Black-bird,
Surprise has naturally been expressed because the second
phatry was called Spanish, and the explanation usually given is
that this name was adopted after the visit of De Soto and his
army and the battle therewith in 1541. This is no doubt true, for
this memorable episode in their history must have engraven it-
self upon the consciousness of the Chickasaws.
Referring to that part of the above extract from Gatschet in
which he quotes Copeland as saying that property, as well as the
office of chief, is hereditary in the gens, if he means to say that
the office of chief was hereditary in the sense that the office of
chief descended from relative to relative among the primitive
Chickasaws, either in the male or female line, then he is certainly
mistaken. I have seen it stated that leaders were chosen from a
certain gens, or phatry, or yakissah, and while this was possibly
true, it is not probable, for a leader was always chosen on his own
personal achievements, and not otherwise.
While a chief or leader was respected, honored, and obeyed
as such in the council or in the performance of official duties»
still the Chickasaws were so jealous of their personal liberty that,
in their domestic affairs, the humblest Chickasaw was the peer
of the greatest ; as witness this sentiment expressed by Levi Colbert
(Yakni Moma Ubih) in his public reproof to General Coffee, as
set forth in Chapter X, and to the circumstances under which he
was raised to leadership, as set forth further on in this chapter.
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It is of interest to note that by ancient primitive laws the
Chickasaws were wisely prohibited from marrying within
certain degrees of relationship; and accordingly the tribe was
divided into yakissah, which means in English, here stops.
If the man violated the law by marrying a woman in his own
yakissah, he forfeited his own rights and privileges, and also
those of his children; but the wife forfeited nothing.
Like some other primitive peoples descent was established
through the female line rather than through that of the male,
doubtless based upon the possibility that an illegitimate heir
might be imposed upon the father by a wanton wife, which could
not be the case if the descent was traced through the female line.
Cushman says (p. 528),
"the ties of kinship converged upon each other until they
all met in the granddaughter; and thus every grandson and
granddaughter became the grandson and granddaughter of the
whole tribe; since all the uncles of a given person were considered
as his father also; and all the mothers' sisters were mothers;
the cousins, as brothers and sisters; the nieces, as daughters;
and the nephews as sons." *
As pointed out by McLaughlin (p. 225) this has led to great
confusion in tracing relationship among North American Indians,
and the federal government has endeavored in recent years to intro-
duce a simpler system of nomenclature among the Western Indians.
It is obvious, however, that this was of little consequence to
the original Chickasaws, because laws of descent were of very
slight importance to them, as in most cases the chief property
of the warrior was interred with his bones, and to them it was
incomprehensible how the ownership of property should make the
owner thereof entitled to the least consideration in respect
thereto; a principle of sociology which might well be followed
among so-called civilized and enlightened peoples.
But to the Chickasaws this mode of reckoning relationship
had a very salutary effect on the tribe, in that it bound each
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member not only to the nearest blood kin, by the endearing
terms of father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, etc., but
bound each by the same endearing terms to the whole nation.
Thus they were so bound together as to create unity of thought
and purpose; and, as pointed out by Mr. Roosevelt, the Chicka-
saws excelled all other of their confederates in this respect.
A child was not always named at its birth, but often was;
and the name when given might be sug^;ested by some circum-
stance at or after its birth. Thus we learn from McLaughlin
(p. 223) that the noted Sioux chief, Rain-in-the face, was given
that name in infancy, because the mother had left the child
under the shade of a tree strapped to a board, according to
custom, while she was busied in the wigwam with household
duties; while all at once a neighboring woman ran in and told the
mother that a sudden shower was raining in the face of the
papoose; whereupon the father exclaimed, "It is a sign; let him
be called Rain-in-the-face." While this is his name in English,
we are assured* that the soft Sioux syllables in which the name
was pronounced can not be rendered into English with the same
soft, musical effect.
It is well known that the translations of the meaning of
Indian names into English cannot be happily done, as in the fore-
going instance; but worse still the translations often give a
meaning entirely at variance with its real meaning; only one
instance of which need be given. A few years ago the papers had
a great deal to say about Young-man-afraid-of-his-horses, a
conspicuous warrior of the West; and the name thus rendered
suggested that, when a young man, the warrior became frightened
or startled upon a stampede of his horses, or some like episode.
His name in the Indian language was Tasunka-Kokipapi, the
real meaning of which in English is, that such was his capacity
in battle that the mere sight of his horses inspired fear in his
enemies.
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A Chickasaw sometimes had a name bestowed upon him for
acts of heroism, as in the case of Levi Colbert, as he was known
to the Americans. When he was a mere youth, a party of Creek
warriors invaded the country of the Chickasaws while all the
Chickasaw warriors were from home on a hunting excursion,
so that the women and children stood in peril of a wholesale
massacre. Young Colbert at once formed the old men and boys
into a war party, and went at once to meet the invaders, whom he
successfully drew into an artfully planned ambuscade, all of
whom were put to death, not one being left to tell the story of
their fate.
The Chickasaws were not slow to detect true merit, and
when the warriors came home and the story of the heroic deed
was established after a careful investigation, then in solemn
conclave, with all the sacred services of the Chickasaws, the hero
was given the title of Itta WanibaMicco, which meant in English
the seat occupied by the ancient Chickasaw chief in council
assembled, and he became one of their great leaders.
This is the same Colbert who years afterwards sternly
rebuked General John Coffee in public in 1832, when Coffee
offered to bestow upon him a very large estate in the articles of
the proposed treaty; which Colbert very properly construed in
the nature of a bribe to procure his consent to the treaty.
The Treatment of Children-
According to Cushman (pp. 488, 489), the greatest care was
bestowed upon their children by the Chickasaw mothers, whom
they never allowed to be placed upon their feet before the
strength of their limbs would safely permit; and the child had
free access to the maternal breast as long as it desired, unless
the mother's health forbade its continuance. Children were
never whipped by the parents, but, if guilty of any misdemeanor,
were sent to their uncle for punishment, who only inflicted a
severe rebuke or imposed upon them some little penance, or,
what was more frequent, made appeals to their feelings of honor
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or shame. When the boys arrived at the age of proper discrimi-
nation— so considered when arrived at the age of twelve or
fifteen years — they were committed to the instructions of the
old and wise men of the village, who, at various intervals,
instructed them in all the necessary knowledge and desired
qualifications to constitute them successful hunters and ac-
complished warriors. As introductory lessons they were in-
structed in the arts of swimming, running, jumping, wrestling,
using the bow and arrow; also, receiving from those venerable
tutors those precepts of morality which should r^^ulate their
conduct when arrived at manhood. The most profound respect
was paid everywhere to the oldest person in every family,
whether male or female, and whose decisions upon all disputed
points were supreme and final, and were received with cheerful
and implicit obedience. No matter how distant their blood
relations might be, all the members of a family addressed its
head as father or mother, as the case might be; and whenever
they meant to speak of him (their natural father), they said,
"My real father," in contradistinction to that of father applied
to the chief or head of the family.
And what is equally important and a very interesting trait
of character among the ancient Chickasaws is that there were
among them no orphans in the full sense of that word as common-
ly used. It is true that fathers and mothers died, leaving help-
less children, but these were adopted either by relations or other
members of the nation, under well defined and understood laws,
according to which the adopted child became, in the view of
the Chickasaws, as much a child of that family as those who
were bom to the father and mother thereof.
Cushman says (p. 493) that he bears testimony to this
noble trait, the care and solicitude for helpless orphanage, from
a personal experience of seventy-five years, and adds:
"I have seen, time and again, in many families among the
Chickasaws and Choctaws from one to four adopted orphan
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children; and they were adopted, not through mercenary motives
— the hope of gain — but in the true spirit of the word, actuated
by the divine principle of justice and compassion for the father-
less, motherless, and homeless, adopted in the full meaning and
sense of the word, to be protected, cared for, and loved, not to
be enslaved for the few dollars and cents that anticipation
whispered would be made out of them by adoption. And one
might live a lifetime in a family of adopted orphans, and, unless
told, he would not even suspect but that all the children were of
the same parentage. ' '
Food GlTen by the Indians to ClTtllsatlon—
It may be well at the outset to recall that to the new world,
and the Indians thereof, we are indebted for what are now staple
articles of food, without which civilized men could scarcely
endure. Indian com or, as the Spanish called it, "maize," was
first found in use by the Indians; and while there has been much
discussion as to its origin, we know that it was extensively culti-
vated and used by the Chickasaw Indians when De Soto entered
their country in December, 1540.
The time of the year when the new corn was what we call
roasting ears was a time of feasting and great rejoicing, and
celebrated with religious ceremonies and thanksgivings to
'The Beloved One that dwelleth in the blue skies" for re-
membering and blessing the red men by quickening the seed
cast in the ground, and bringing the com into fruition in the
full ear for the sustenance of the children of the forest. These
ceremonies were of the deepest religious significance to the Indians.
What a priceless gift Indian com has been to civilized man
can be somewhat realized when we recall the momentous call
to arms by President Wilson, April 6, 1917, in aid of our Allies
who were staggering under the blows of the Germans and their
Allies, in the world-wide conflict, the most stupendous in the
annals of the world.
At once a call, indeed a command, came from Washington
to plant more com, with the result that the crop in the United
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States alone for 1917. amounted to 3,247,512,000 bushels, with an
estimated value of $4,871,268,000, a sum so large that it can
scarcely be comprehended. Moreover, we know that if the crop
of that year had been a failure, starvation would have prevailed
in England and France, and the cause of the Allies would have
been imperiled, if not lost. In many foreign countries com like-
wise is a staple article of food; it is doubtless the most valuable
of any crop raised in the world; and certainly by far the most
valuable of any single crop grown in the United States.
Both the white potato (misnamed Irish potato, because
without it Irishmen could not endure) and the yam, or what we
call the sweet potato, were ijn use by the Indians, and were gifts
by them to civilization. The crop of white potatoes 61 the
United States alone for 1917 amounted to 461,908,000 bushels,
of the estimated value of $1,152,500,000; while the sweet potato
crop was 88,150,000 bushels, valued at $88,150,000; and while
this potato has heretofore been used mostly in the South, its
real value has in recent years been so clearly shown that its use in
the North is growing very fast.
It is likewise well known that the white potato is more ex-
tensively used in and more indispensable to many European
countries, including Germany, than to America, its home.
It is an undeniable fact that if the potato crop of Germany
for 1917, or previous years of the war, had been an entire failure,
then this would have brought Germany to her knees, a result that
most of the great nations of the world at war with her were un-
able to bring about by force of arms during four years of
incessant warfare.
The tomato originated in the Andean mountains, was used
by the Indians, who gave it to civilization, and while it is not of
that commanding importance of corn and potatoes, it is now
r^arded as almost an indispensable table dish.
What would Thanksgiving Day be without the king of the
gallinaceous tribe of birds, miscalled the turkey, and which had
nothing to do either with Turkey or the unspeakable Turk?
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Some think that the name originated from one of its calls which
resembles the repeated word, turk, turk, turk; and this theory is
probably correct.
It has been contended by enthusiastic admirers of the bird
that the turkey created Thanksgiving Day; but however this
may be, it is the premier table bird of the globe; and it was so
plentiful among the Chickasaw Indians that Adair says he
could go out with a good stout stick and his mastiff, and knock
over any number in a short while, no gun being necessary to
kill them.
The wild turkey was so numerous that the Chickasaws had
no occasion to raise them; and, moreover, the wild turkey has a
delicacy of flavor which makes it superior to the best domestic
turkey, a fact attested by connoisseurs at the present time.
While on the subject of gifts by the Indians to civilization,
it may be of interest to recall that tobacco likewise falls into this
class; and I mention it last and regard it as the least valuable of
all, if, indeed, it has not proven to be a positive detriment to
mankind.
Smoking was in universal use among the Indians who used
it on ceremonial occasions to give significance to the matter in
hand, and as a solemn act attesting the verity of such engage-
ments as were then concluded.
Thus in the consummation of treaties, leagues of friendship,
or other like matters of great import, it was custonuuy for the
high contracting parties to attest the sincerity of their motives
by smoking, thus sealing their engagements; and from these well
known facts there arose the well known phrase of smoking the
pipe of peace.
I think it may be said that before the advent of the white
man the Indians were temperate in the use of all things;
but the bringing of the accursed intoxicating drinks, called
by the Indians ''firewater" and like evils which came with the
whites, carried death and destruction to the children of the
forest.
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It may be added that the Indians only smoked, and did not
chew tobacco, it being left for the civilized white man to invent
that filthy habit, as well as the making and dipping of snuff.
Tobacco is generally classed as a stimulant or narcotic, and
its use among all men, the civilized as well as the uncivilized,
and wherever man may be, from the arctic regions to the tropics,
is more general, permeating more different conditions of human
existence, than any other substance of a like character.
There were raised in the United States alone in 1917,
1,221,186,000 pounds of tobacco, and in the same year tobacco
was imported here of the value of $25,481,979; for it is grown
from the subarctic to tropical regions, and in nearly all parts
of the earth, the value of the world crop, being, as near as I
can estimate, from $300,000,000 to $400,000,000 per annum.
If these vast sums spent for tobacco were spent for warm
clothing aikl nourishing food for the children of the men who now
throw the same away to buy tobacco, who doubts that the change
would be most advantageous for future generations?
Just as I had nearly finished this book, there appeared in the
Literary Digest of July 9, 192 1, quite an interesting article,
"Com from Grass in Eighteen Years." It was explained that for
some years botanists had surmised that the original ancestor of
our Indian com was a grass called teosinte, a native of Mexico
and Central America, and that, acting on this supposition, Luther
Burbank, the wizard of the plant world, had proven this surmise
to be true.
It appears that in 1903 Burbank (whom I had the pleasure
of meeting casually in 1909) commenced his experiments with the
grass teosinte, and at the end of eighteen years he succeeded in
evolving an ordinary ear of Indian com, such as was found in
use by the Indians when this country was first discovered.
The original article was contributed to the Post Dispatch of
St. Louis, by Robert H. Moulton, who says in part:
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"It was the savage Indian, says Burbank, who gave us, here
in America, the most important crop we have. It was the Indian
who found the wild grass, teosinte, covering the plains and de-
veloped it into com. Or, to turn it the other way around, it was
the desire of the Indian for a food plant like this which led the
teosinte grass, by gradual adaptation, to produce maize. On
Burbank*s farm tihere grows, today, this same teosinte which the
Indian found. It bears tiny ears, with two rows of cornlike ker-
nels, on a cob the thickness of a lead-pencil, and from two to four
inches long, slightly less in length than an average head of wheat.
"From its earlier stage of 'pod' corn, in which each kernel was
encased in a separate sheath, or husk, like wheat, teosinte rep-
resented, no doubt, a hard-fought survival and adaptation like
that of the flowering violet. And when the Indians came into
its environment, it responded to their influence as the pansy
responded to care and cultivation in its new dooryard home.
"Where teosinte had formerly relied upon the frosts to
loosen up the ground for the seed, it found in the Indian a friend
who crudely but effectively scratched the soil and doubled the
chance for its baby plant to grow. Where it had been choked by
plant enemies, and starved for air and sunlight by weeds, it
found in the Indian a friend who cut down and kept off its com-
petitors. Where it had been destroyed by animals before its
maturity, it found the selfish protection of the savage as grateful
as if it had been inspired by altruism.
"Planted in patches, instead of struggling here and there as
best it could before, the teosinte grass found its multiplication
problem made easier through the multitude of pollen grains now
floating through the air. And so, by slow degrees, it responded to
its new environment by bearing more and bigger seed. As the
seed kernels increased in numbers and size, the cob that bore them
grew in length. From two, the rows of kernels increased to four,
to six, to eight, to fourteen. Here, again, the selfish motives of
the savages served to help the plant in its adaptation, for only the
largest ears and those with the best kernels were saved for seed.
So, under cultivation, the wild grass almost disappeared, and in
its place there came, through adaptation, the transformed Indian
corn."
I reproduce a small portion of this article, which was illus-
trated, because I believe the origin of Indian corn will prove of
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interest to all reflecting men In the next place, rude as were
the agricultural methods of the Indians, we see that, by their
rude manner of cultivation, they did succeed through generations
of continued efforts, in evolving from a small spear of grass the
most important cereal now raised by civilized men.
WbAt the Chlckasaws Had to Eatr-
The Chickasaws not only had from the vegetable kingdom
what they raised in their gardens and fields, but there were many
things growing wild which made splendid dishes, and Adair and
others assure us that there were no better cooks than the Chick-
asaw women, or who could in their earthenware utensils prepare
more kinds of savory dishes.
In the months of April and May strawberries were found
profusely scattered amid the grass of the undulating prairies that
lay along the banks of the rivers and creeks, and here and there
scattered amid the hills and valleys of the forests; then summer
too yielded her immense store of blackberries on every side; in
turn, followed autumn with prodigal abundance of hickory nuts
of several varieties, walnuts, pecans, huckleberries, wild plums,
persimmons, wild grapes, and muscadines, all of excellent flavor.
The wild plum is still found in some places in our country, and
was known as the Chickasaw plum; is very fine in flavor and
makes a good preserve. Bartram (p. 38) says that, though a
native of America, he never saw it growing wild in the southeast,
and added, "I suppose it to have been brought from the south-
west beyond the Mississippi by the Chickasaws."
The woods were full of game, such as deer, elk, bear, and oc-
casionally the lordly buffalo or bison, with innumerable smaller
game, and water fowl and also the turkey, the king of the galli-
naceous tribe. As a general rule the upland wooded country was
comparatively free from underbrush, caused in part by fre-
quent fires, kindled of purpose by the Chickasaws each fall,
but in the spring the vegetable kingdom broke forth in beauteous
forms of flowers, with a profusion of wild peas, upon which, in
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due season, the deer and other game fed and fattened. Made
ready for the table, garnished with the wild parsley growing on
the river banks, they were enough to suit the taste of the most
fastidious.
Adair says the wild turkeys lived principally on a small red
acorn, and in March they grew so fat that they could not fly
further than 300 or 400 yards; that, not being able to soon take
flight again, they were easily run down with horses and hunting
mastiffs, and that in the utifrequented places of Mississippi
they were so tame as to be shot with the pistol, of which the
troops, with whom he was marching on their way to the Illinois
country, frequently availed themselves.
These inexhaustible stores of wild game were at the complete
command of the Chickasaws long before the advent of the white
man ; for Elvas (p. 57) says that
"the Indians never lacked meat. With arrows they get
abundance of deer, turkeys, conies (rabbit), and other wild ani-
mals, being very skillful in killing game, which the Christians
were not."
Then again in their creeks and rivers innumerable schools of
fish of all varieties and kinds abounded, and these they took with
the utmost ease. As showing how completely at home the
primitive Chickasaw was in the water and in the capture of large
fish which hid themselves under rock walls projecting in the
river, I will here quote from Adair (p. 404) :
"They have a surprising method of fishing under the edges of
rocks that stand over the deep places of a river. There, they pull
off their red breeches, or their long slip of stroud cloth, and wrap-
ping it round their arm, so as to reach to the lower part of the palm
of their right hand, they dive under the rock where the large cat
fish lie to shelter themselves from the scorching beams of the
sun, and to watch for prey; as soon as those fierce aquatic animals
see that tempting bait, they immediately seize it with the greatest
violence, in order to swallow it. Then is the time for the diver
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to improve the favourable opportunity; he accordingly opens his
hand, seizes the voracious fish by his tender parts, hath a sharp
struggle with it against the crevices of the rock, and at last
brings it safe ashore. Except the Choktah, all our Indians, both
male and female, above the state of infancy, are in the watery
element nearly equal to amphibious animals, by practice; and
from the experiments necessity has forced them to, it seems as
if few were endued with such strong natural abilities — ^very few
can equal them in their wild situation of life."
The Chickasaws knew how to preserve their meats and pro-
duce, by drying and otherwise, for future use, and as fats or oils
are essential for human food, they extracted these from the fat
of animals, and especially of the bear, which the early writers
assure us was one of the sweetest kinds of oils and the best in
which to prepare food for the table.
The country abounded in many kinds of nuts, including the
shell-bark hickory, or what we locally call the "scalybark," and
these were gathered by the hundreds of bushels and stored for
future use. There are few better or sweeter nuts.
Bartram says,
''I have seen above an hundred bushels of these nuts
belonging to one family. They pound them to pieces,
and then cast them into boiling water, which, after passing
through fine strainers, preserves the most oily parts of the liquid:
this they call by a name which signifies hickory milk; it is as
sweet and rich as fresh cream, and is an ingredient in most of
their cookery, especially hominy and corn cakes."
As some may be curious to learn of the dishes that found
their way to the table of the Indians, I wiH here again quote from
Bartram (p. 239) :
"Early in the morning our chief invited me with him on a
visit to the town, to take a final leave of the White King (meaning
the wi:iter). We were graciously received, and treated with the
utmost civility and hospitality: there was a noble entertainment
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and repast provided against our arrival, consisting of bears' ribs,
venison, varieties of fish, roasted turkies (which they call the
white man's dish), hot corn cakes, and a very agreeable, cooling
sort of jelly, which they call conte; this is prepared from the root
of the China briar: they chop the roots in pieces, which are after-
wards well pounded in a wooden mortar, then being mixed with
clean water, in a tray or trough, they strain it through baskets;
the sediment settles to the bottom of the second vessel, is after-
wards dried in the open air, and is then a very fine reddish flour
or meal: a small quantity of this mixed with warm water and
sweetened with honey, when cool becomes a beautiful, delicious
jelly, very nourishing and wholesome. They also mix it with
fine corn flour, which, being fried in fresh bear's oil, makes very
good hot cakes or fritters."
That the Indians, like all other races, were at times im-
provident and found themselves wanting in the necessaries of
life is entirely true; but there was this redeeming feature of their
characters, and that is, all the provisions that they possessed
were considered common property to the extent that they would
divide with each other the last morsel they possessed. This
resulted from that splendid characteristic of the American
Indian that he did not covet what his neighbor had, and of
course was entirely unmercenary. We are told in our sacred
writings that the love of money is the root of all evil; wherefore
should we not admire the primitive Indian, who, before his
contamination by contact with the white man, was free from this
vice?
As previously stated I was in the Yukon country of British
Columbia, and Alaska in 1906, and this was not long after the
discovery of gold in Arctic America, which precipitated one of
the maddest rushes from all parts of the globe, and of nearly all
races of mankind to those regions, in a maddening search for
gold, the almighty dollar. But upon special inquiry I learned
from all sources that no Indian or Eskimo of that country was
ever known to prospect or search for gold, or in any way join in the
search for hidden treasures.
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That country and its inhabitants were then very much in
the same condition as at creation's dawn, and, owing to the
severity of the climate, the natives found the struggle for exist-
ence extremely severe, and sometimes starvation entirely de-
populated a whole community. In order to procure for them-
selves and families the necessaries of life, they would hire out and
work, but search for gold, never.
Chickasaw Medicine—
The Indians were thoroughly conversant, it would seem,
with every herb, bush, and tree in the wilderness within which
they lived. Many of these were used for medicinal purposes and
with astonishing effect according to the persons who lived
amongst them. For instance, Adair says that, although there
were many snakes and many of them poisonous, such as the
rattlesnake, the Indians had no fear of them, because they
compounded certain herbs which rendered the poison entirely
innocuous. He says that when bitten by a venomous snake, the
Indian would commence chewing certain herbs with which he
was provided and swallowing the same, and although he
passed through paroxysms and rigors of pain, that without an
exception the poison failed to take effect, except as stated, and
the Indian was soon well.
Likewise they had remedies for nearly every complaint,
which were very efficacious. Adair (p. 234) says:
"For my own part, I would prefer an old Indian before any
chirurgeon (surgeon) whatsoever, in curing green wouncjs by
bullets, arrows, etc., both for the certainty, ease, and speediness
of cure; for if those parts of the body are not hurt, which are
essential to the preservation of life, they cure the wounded in
a trice. They bring the patient into a good temperament of
body by a decoction of proper herbs and roots, and always
enjoin a most abstemious life; they forbid them women, salt, and
every kind of flesh-meat, applying mountain allum as the chief
ingredient."
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I have heretofore referred (ante p. 26) to the autobiography
of Dr. Gideon Lincecum, and where it can be found, and as to
its value in Chickasaw history, and here will note that he thought
so well and favorably of the Indian remedies that by appoint-
ment he met in the wilderness what we would call a noted Indian
medicine man, with whom he spent several months, in order to
be initiated into the mysteries of Indian medicine; from which
Lincecum claimed to have derived very valuable information.
Amusemeiits of the Chlckasaws—
As might well be supposed, the Chickasaws were given to
amusements of various kinds, and especially of the ball game;
but as this was an amusement common to all the Indians, I refer
the curious reader to Bartram (pp. 506, 507), where the game and
the way in which it was played is described.
While Cushman frankly states (p. 493) that the Chickasaws
were great gamblers, betting on most anything, still they never
bet on a ball game, that bei^g strictly forbidden.
It has been stated that the Chickasaw men spent the most
of their time playing on flutes, the flutes being made of cane or
the tibia of the deer. If such had been the case, then it would
have been impossible for them to have been the most intrepid
and unconquerable warriors upon the continent, a fact admitted
by all.
That they were fond of music and the dance, of which there
were many kinds, is well attested; but deeming these details
not essential here, the reader is referred to Cushman (p. 499)
and other writers who fully treat of the same.
The Chickasaw Hunters and Their Endurance—
As hunters and trackers the Chickasaws had no superiors.
Pickett (p. 134) says:
"Of all the Indians in North America, they were the most
expert in tracking. They would follow their enemy on a long
gallop over any kind of ground without mistaking, where per-
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haps only a blade of grass bent down told the foot print. Again^
when they were leisurely hunting over the woods, and came upon
an indistinct trail recently made by Indians, they knew at once
of what nation they were by the foot prints, the hatchet chops
upon the trees, their camp fires and other distinguishing marks.
They were also esteemed to be admirable hunters, and their
extensive plains and unbroken forests afforded them the widest
field for the display of their skill.''
When hunting or upon the war path, if they came upon
deserted camp fires or human footprints, they could tell to what
tribe the party belonged and whether friend or foe. They said
that the white man traveled with his eyes shut and his mouth
open; meaning that the white man was idly talking and did not
observe where he was going or the. things around him. On the
other hand they said that an Indian would travel all day and not
say anything, but see everything. When on the war path or in
the chase, the Chickasaw was always silent.
With a view to accuracy, and lest it might be supposed
that I overestimate the skill of the primitive Chickasaw, I will
here quote at large first from Cushman and then from Adair.
Cushman {p. 527) says:
''As an illustration of their skill in discerning and inter-
preting landmarks and signs, I will here relate a little incident
proving the wonderful skill and ingenuity displayed in ascer-
taining facts with regard to anything of which they desired to
inform themselves.
"In the years of long ago, a Chickasaw had a ham of venison
taken from his little log house in which he kept his stock of pro-
visions during the absence of himself and family. He described
the thief as being a white man, low stature, lame in one leg,
having a short gun, and accompanied by a short-tail dog. When
requested to explain how he could be so positive, he answered:
'His track informed me he was a white man by his shoes (Indian
wear moccasins) ; he stood on the toes of his shoes to reach the
venison ham, which told me he was a low man; one foot made a
deeper and plainer impress upon the ground than the other as he
walked, which told me he was a lame man; the mark made by the
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i^
^(^j
^hH^^^mHw^^ 'jv!^^^H4fl^Sfli^HI
'^^fe^
The above was drawn from life by Jacob LeMoyne in 1564. He was
an artist accompanying the French Huguenot settlement in Florida under
Laudonniere, nearly all of whom were soon destroyed on account of
religious rivalries, LeMoyne being one of the few to escape.
Romans (p. 66), speaking in 1771 of the various methods of hunting
by the Chickasaws, says: ^'They hunt like their neighbors with the
skin and frontal bone of a deer's head, dried and stretched on elastic
chips; the horns they scoup out very curiously, employing so much
patience on this, that such a head and antlers often do not exceed ten or
twelve ounces; they fix this on the left hand, and imitating the motions
of the deer in fight, they decoy them within sure shot.**
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breech of a gun upon the ground and the one made by its muzzle
upon the bark of the tree against which it had leaned told me he
had a gun, and it was a short gun; the tracks made by a dog told
me of his presence; and the impress he made where he sat upon
the ground to the end of that made by his tail, as he wagged it,
was but a finger's length, which told me the dog's tail was short.
What white man would ever have thought to look for, or dis-
covered such evidences in identifying a thief?"
As showing the personal bravery and unconquerable spirit
and almost endless endurance of the native Chickasaws, this
exploit of a young Chickasaw warrior, whose name is not even
mentioned, is thus set forth by Adair, beginning at page 395:
"When the Chickkasah were engaged in a former war with
the Muskhoge, one of their young warriors set off alone against
them, to revenge the blood of a near relation; his burning heart
would not allow him to delay its gratification and proceed with a
company, after their usual forms of purification were observed, in
order to gain success. He was replete with martial fire, and
revenge prompted him to outrun his war virtue; however, he
pursued as mortifying a regimen, as if he had been publicly fed
like a dove, by the scanty hand of a religious waiter. But, as
he would not wait a few days, and accompany the reputed holy
ark, they reckoned him irreligious, by depending on the power of
his own arms, instead of the poweriful arm of the supreme fatherly
chieftain, Yo He Wab, who always bestows victory on the more
virtuous party. He went through the most unfrequented and
thick parts of the woods, as such a dangerous enterprise required,
till he arrived opposite to the great and old beloved town of
refuge, Koosah, which stands high on the eastern side of a bold
river, about 250 yards broad, that runs by the late dangerous
Alebahma fort, down to the black poisoning Mobille, and so into
the gulph of Mexico. There he concealed himself under cover
of the top of a fallen pine tree, in view of the ford of the old
trading path, where the enemy now and then passed the river in
their light poplar canoes. All his war store of provisions con-
sisted in three stands of barbecued venison, till he had an op-
portunity to revenge blood, and return home. He waited, with
watchfulness and patience almost three days, when a young man.
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a woman, and a girl passed a little wide of him, about an hour
before sunset. The former he shot down, tomahawked the other
two, and scalped each of them in a trice, in full view of the town.
By way of bravado, he shaked the scalps before them, sounded
the awful death whoop, and set off along the trading path,
trusting in his heels, while a great many of the enemy ran to their
arms, and gave chase. Seven miles from thence, he entered the
great blue ridge of Apalache mountains. About an hour before
day, he had run over seventy miles of that mountainous tract; —
then, after sleeping two hours in a sitting posture, leaning his
back against a tree, he set off again with fresh speed. As he
threw away his venison, when he found himself pursued by the
enemy, he was bound to support nature with such herbs, roots,
and nuts, as his sharp eyes with a running glance directed him
to snatch up in his course. Though I often have rode that war
path alone, when delay might have proven dangerous, and with
as fine and strong horses as any in America, it took me five days
to ride from the aforesaid Koosah to this sprightly warrior's
place in the Chickkasah country, the distance of 300 computed
miles; yet he ran it, and got home safe and well, at about eleven
o'clock on the third day; which was only one day and a half, and
two nights."
Thetr GoTernmeiit, Bellglon, Etc.—
I have seen it stated in reference to all the North American
Indians as a race, and also specifically of the Chickasaw Indians,
that they had no religion; while others declared they had no laws
or form of government. Any reflecting man who considers the
splendid discipline and known achievements of the Chickasaws in
the field of battle against all their warlike neighbors, so as to
maintain for generations an undisputed sway over so vast a
territory though so few in numbers, must realize that they con-
stituted no unorganized mob without laws or religion. Such
would have been an impossibility.
The difficulty has been that much that has been said and
written of our Indians has been by men ignorant of them and
their ways, and who jumped to conclusions without proper
knowledge and due consideration. All know that our Indians
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even to this day are very reticent, and I think are justified to a
certain extent in entertaining a suspicion of the white man,
until they have cause to regard him otherwise. This is the
universal testimony of all writers who spent long years among
them, who respected the Ind ans and had gained their confidence,
a fact to which Cushman so frequently alludes in reference to the
Chickasaws. They did not differ from men generally in their dif-
fidence in speaking of their laws or religion, such as they had.
These were not written, but had been evolved from experience
and observation through countless ages, so that they constituted
a part of their very existence and were sacred to them from the
prjang eyes of the ordinary white man, who, failing entirely to
understand the character of the Indian and his beliefs and laws,
no doubt often treated them, not only with indifference, but with
contempt and ridicule. There is nothing which so provokes one
as to have what religion he may profess, or which he was taught
by his parents, treated with ridicule or even lightly, or to inti-
mate that he has no religion, or that it is a false religion.
That the average white man was constantly posing as the
possessor of the only religion which could be regarded as sacred,
we may rest assured; and that likewise he did not hesitate to
treat with indifference, and probably with ridicule, the sacred
beliefs of the Indians, was no doubt equally true. Under such
conditions the Indian was usually silent.
One of the chief characteristics of the Indians was that they
were a very practical people, and in all probability the idealism of
the Christian religion was difficult for them to grasp. That
there were among them considerable, not to say great, intellects
can not be denied, and these were usually in places of authority,
and to them the rank and file looked for advice. It should be
remembered also that, while representations of all the white
nations who came among them professed to be ardent Christians
and sought to convert the Indians, still these Christians were
divided into various sects, which hated each other with a fervor
unknown at this day; and, moreover, the various white nations,
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such as the British, French and Spanish, were not only at deadly
enmity the one with the other, but waged against each other
the most cruel wars, in order to gain possession of the very
country, the most of which by fraud and chicanery they had
wrested from the Indians; and every artifice was used to enlist
the Indians under the banner of one or the other, and with such
success that the Christians in this way fomented the most cruel
and bloody wars between the Indians, who were thus made to
fight the battles of the Christians, the one against the other.
And even in modern times we learn from Leupp that the
Indians were always greatly perplexed at the difference between
the various religious sects, and the hostility toward each other.
The shades of differences were too subtle, or else to their under-
standing so immaterial as to excite incredulity. However, the
Indian was very practical in his religion as in all the affairs of
life, and the married state, or rather the teachings of the various
sects in respect thereto, caused great confusion.
Thus Leupp tells us (p. 296) that an Indian with irony in his
tone and a sly shrug of his shoulder called his attention to a visit
of a Mormon apostle, who had four wives and declared that this
was right and good in the sight of the Lord; while a Protestant
missionary who preached at the agency had only one wife,
declaring it was a sin to have more than one; but that the Roman
Catholic priest who came occasionally to bless the children had
no wife at all.
Such conditions could not fail to make an unfavorable im-
pression upon Indians of intelligence, especially when they saw
their countrymen slowly but surely vanishing before the rising
tidjB of the white invaders. While they said little, I think their
attitude, in general, was probably expressed by the conduct of
the great Cherokee, Sequoyah, the inventor of a syllabic alphabet
adapted to the Cherokee language, and without a rival in the
history of the civilized world.
It is said that when he heard that types of his alphabet were
to be cast, so as to print the Bible in the Cherokee language,
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he merely expressed his regret that he had invented the alphabet,
though it had cost him years of toil, and made his name immortal.
With respect to the Chickasaws the unanimous testimony
from all sources attest their intrepidity, their entire fearlessness,
and even almost contempt of death. We are not surprised
therefore to learn (Cushman, p. 502) that the ancient Chicka-
saws, unlike their kindred, the Choctaws, entertained no super-
stitious views in regard to the eclipse of the sun or moon; re-
garding it as a phenomenon inexplicable, and to be the height of
folly to be alarmed and worried with respect to that over which
they had no control, a sensible conclusion indeed. They called
an eclipse, either of sun or moon, hushi luma (sun hidden).
Sometimes a total eclipse of the sun was termed ktishi ilU (dead
sun), and sometimes hushi kunia (lost sun). They called the
moon hushi ninak aye (the sun of the night).
I have endeavored to trace out the real form of the Chicka-
saw form of government, as well as the fundamentals of their
religious beliefs, a somewhat difficult task, owing to their ret-
icence on these subjects; and after a careful consideration and
comparison of all accounts thereof, as recorded by writers who
were in a position to know, I have selected the account of Bartram
(p. 493 et seq.) ; where he thus summarizes the facts in reference
thereto:
'The king, although he is acknowledged to be the first and
greatest man in the town or tribe, and honored with every due
and rational mark of love and esteem, and when presiding in
council, with a humility and homage as reverent as that paid to
the most despotic monarch in Europe or the East, and when
absent, his seat is not filled by any other person, yet he is not
dreaded; and when out of the council, he associates with the
people as a common man, converses with them, and they with
him, in perfect ease and familiarity.
"The mico or king, though elective, yet his advancement to
that supreme dignity must be understood in a very different
light from the elective monarchs of the old world, where the
progress to magistracy is generally effected by schisim and the
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influence of friends gained by craft, bribery, and often by more
violent efforts; and after the throne is obtained, by measures
little better than usurpation, he must be protected and supported
there, by the same safe means that carried him thither.
'*Bu^ here behold the majesty of the Muscogulge tnico.
He does not either publicly or privately beg of the people to place
him in a situation to command and rule them: no, his appearance
is altogether mysterious; as a beneficent deity he rises king over
them, as the sun rises to bless the earth !
"No one will tell you how or when he became their king; but
he is universally acknowledged to be the greatest person among
them, and he is loved, esteemed, and reverenced, although he
associates, eats, drinks, and dances with them in common as
another man; his dress is the same, and a stranger could not
distinguish the king's habitation from that of any other citizen
by any sort of splendor or magnificence; yet he perceives they
act as though their mico beheld them, himself invisible. In a
word, their mico seems to them the representative of Providence
or the Great Spirit, whom they acknowledge to preside over and
influence their councils and public proceedings. He personally
presides daily in their councils, either at the rotunda or public
square: and even here his voice, in r^ard to business in hand,
is regarded no more than any other chief's or senator's, no
farther than his advice, as being the best and wisest man of the
tribe, and not by virtue of regal prerogative. But whether their
ultimate decisions require unanimity, or only a majority of
voices, I am uncertain; but probably where there is a majority,
the minority voluntarily accede.
"The most active part the mico takes is in the civil govern-
ment of the town or tribe; here he has the power and prerogative
of calling a council to deliberate on peace and war, or all public
concerns, as inquiring into and deciding upon complaints and
differences; but he has not the least shadow of exclusive executive
power. He is complimented with the first visits of strangers,
giving audience to ambassadors with presents, and he has also
the disposal of the public granary.
"The next man in order of dignity and power is the great
war chief; he represents and exercises the dignity of the mico^
in his absence, in council; his voice is of the greatest weight in
military affairs; his power and authority are entirely independent
of the mico, though when a mico goes on an expedition, he heads
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the army, and is there the war chief. There are many of these
war chiefs in a town or tribe, who are captains or leaders of
military parties; they are elderly men, who in their youthful days
have distinguished themselves in war by valour, subtility and
intrepidity; and these veteran chiefs, in a great degree, con-
stitute their truly dignified and venerable senates.
"There is in every town or tribe a high priest, usually called
by the white people jugglers, or conjurers, besides several juniors
or graduates.
''But the ancient high priest or seer presides in spiritual
affairs, and is a person of consequence; he maintains and ex-
ercises great influence in the state, particularly in military affairs;
the senate never determine oh an expedition against their enemy
without his counsel and assistance. These people generally
believe that their seer has communion with powerful invisible
spirits, who they suppose have a share in the rule an/d govern-
ment of human affairs, as well as the elements; that he can pre-
dict the result of an expedition; and his influence is so great
that they have been known frequently to stop and turn back an
army when within a day's journey of their enemy, after a march
of several hundred miles; and indeed their predictions have
surprised many people. They foretell rain or drought, and
pretend to bring rain at pleasure, cure diseases, and exercise
witchcraft, invoke or expel evil spirits, and even assume the
power of directing thunder and lightning.
"These Indians are by no means idolaters, unless their
puffing the tobacco smoke towards the sun, and rejoicing at the
appearance of the new moon, may be termed so. So far from
idolatry are they that they have no images amongst them, nor
any religious rite or ceremony that I could perceive ; but adore
the Great Spirit, the giver and taker away of the breath of life,
with the most profound and respectful homage.
"They believe in a future state where the spirit exists, which
they call the world of spirits, where they enjoy different degrees
of tranquillity or comfort, agreeably to their life spent here:
a person who in his life has been an industrious hunter, provided
well for his family, an intrepid and active warrior, just, upright,
and done all the good he could, will, they say, in the world of
spirits live in a warm, pleasant country where are expansive,
green, flowery savannas and high forests watered with rivers
of pure waters replenished with deer and every species of game;
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a serene, unclouded and peaceful sky; in short there is fulness of
pleasure, uninterrupted."
It should be borne in mind that Bartram in the foregoing
summary was giving an account of the form of government and
religion of the great Muskhogean family as a whole, but, as might
be expected, there were some minor differences among this great
.^ family; as, for instance, the chief or king among the Chickasaws
was known by the designation of mingo, and this word was often
combined with another referring to some event which brought
the bearer into prominence and gained for him the leadership of
the nation. Thus, their great leader in the time of Washington
was Piomingo, or in English, the Mountain Leader or Chief.
It will hereafter be seen that the first official treaty concluded
with the Chickasaws in 1786 was signed by "Piomingo, head
warrior and first minister of the Chickasaw nation; Minga-
tuska, one of the chiefs; and Latopoia, first beloved man of
the said nation, commissioners plenipotentiary of all the
y Chickasaws."
Referring again to the Chickasaw religion, it gives me pleas-
ure to reproduce in haec verba a dialogue between the great
John Wesley and a young Chickasaw chief, as recorded by Mr.
Wesley in his justly celebrated journal. I had seen in a book by
an author who had considerable personal acquaintance with the
Chickasaws, a reference to a rather flattering statement by Mr.
Wesley with respect to the Chickasaws. I could not find in
our well eguipped Memphis public libraries an unabridged copy
ofMr^Wesle^'s works; but this deficiency was supplied from the
nBrary oTmy friend of many years' standing, John R. Pepper,
to whom Southern Methodism and the extension of the Christian
religion in general owes so much.
When I did at last find what Mr. Wesley said of the Chicka-
saws, it was quite the reverse of what he was quoted fis saying,
for what he really said of them was (p. 49),
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"They are eminently gluttons, eating, drinking, and
smoking all day, and almost all night. They are extremely
indolent and lazy, except in war; then they are the most inde-
fatigable and the most valiant of all the Indians; but they are
equally cruel with the rest, torturing and burning all their
prisoners, whether Indians or European."
It should be said, however, that Mr. Wesley was careful to
precede this statement by recording that he had no knowledge of
them, except what he learned from traders, never having visited
their country, and that it was difficult to pick out from such
reports any consistent account of these Indians. We know from
authentic sources that the reports made to Mr. Wesley with
reference to the Chickasaws were grossly unjust in most
respects.
In this connection it may be remarked that I found that much
that was written or rather reported of the Chickasaws, a well as
of the Indians in general, was incorrect and misleading, which
is well illustrated by what it was said was the rather flattering
estimate placed upon the Chickasaws by Mr. Wesley.
Turning now from what Mr. Wesley said was told to him in
general terms with respect to the Chickasaws, and coming now
to what he recorded as to their religious beliefs, we can not
avoid being struck by the entire misapprehension of those who
have with such assurance stated that they were entirely without
any religious beliefs.
In Vol. 3, page 28, Mr. Wesley gives a conversation which
took place between himself and a young Chickasaw Indian chief
on Tuesday, July 20, 1736, which is in these words:
"Five of the Chickasaw Indians (twenty of whom had been
in Savannah several days) came to see us, with Mr. Andrews,
their interpreter. They were all warriors, four of them head men.
The two chiefs were Paustoobee and Mingo Mattaw. Our con-
ference was as follows:
Q. Do you believe there is one above who is over all things?
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A. Paustoobee answered, 'We believe there are four beloved
things above: The clouds, the sun, the clear sky, and He that
lives in the clear sky.'
Q. Do you believe there is but One that lives in the clear
sky?
A. We believe there are two with him, three in all.
Q. Do you think he made the sun and the other beloved
things?
A. We cannot tell. Who hath seen?
Q. Do you think he made you?
, A . We think he made all men at first.
Q. How did he make them at first?
A . Out of the ground.
Q. Do you believe he loves you?
i4. I do not know. I cannot see him.
Q. But has he not often saved your life?
A. He has. Many bullets have gone on this side, and many
on that side; but he would never let them hurt me. And many
bullets have gone into these young men; and yet they are alive.
Q. Then, cannot he save you from your enemies now?
A. Yes, but we know not if he will. We have now so many
enemies round us, that I think of nothing but death. And if I
am to die, I shall die, and I will die like a man. But if he will
have me to live, I shall live. Though I had ever so many
enemies, he can destroy them all.
Q. How do you know that?
A, From what I have seen. When our enemies came against
us before, then the beloved clouds came for us. And often much
rain, and sometimes hail, has come upon them; and that in a
very hot day. And I saw, when many French and Choctaws and
other nations came against one of our towns; and the ground
made a noise under them, and the beloved ones in the air beheld
them; and they were afraid, and went away, and left their meat
and drink, and their guns. I tell no lie. All these saw it too.
Q. Have you heard such noises at other times?
A . Yes, often ; before and after almost every battle.
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Q. What sort of noises were they?
A. Like the noise of drums and guns and shouting.
Q, Have you heard any such lately?
A. Yes; four days after our last battle with the French.
Q. Then you heard nothing before it?
A. The night before, I dreamed I heard many drums up
there; and many trumpets there, and much stamping of feet' and
shouting. Till then I thought we should all die. But then I thought
the beloved ones were come to help us. And the next day I
heard above a hundred guns go off before the fight began; and
I said, 'When the sun is there, the beloved ones will help us;
and we shall conquer our enemies.' And we did so.
Q. Do you often think and talk of the beloved ones?
A. We think of them always, wherever we are. We talk of
them, and to them, at home and abroad ; in peace, in war, before
and after we fight; and indeed, whenever and wherever we meet
together.
Q. Where do you think your souls go after death?
A, We believe the souls of red men walk up and down, near
the place where they died, or where their bodies lie; for we have
often heard cries and noises near the place where any prisoners
had been burned.
Q. Where do the souls of white men go after death?
A. We cannot tell. We have not seen.
Q. Our belief is, that the souls of bad men only walk up and
down ; but the souls of good men go up.
A. I believe so too. But I told you the talk of the nation.
(Mr. Andrews: They said at the burying, they knew what you
were doing. You were speaking to the beloved ones above, to
take up the soul of the young woman.)
Q. We have a book that tells us many things of the beloved
ones above; would you be glad to know them?
A. We have no time now but to fight. If we should ever be
at peace, we should be glad to know.
Q. Do you expect ever to know what the white men know?
A. (Mr. Andrews. They told Mr. Oglethorpe they believe
the time will come when the red and white men will be one.)
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Q. What do the French teach you?
A. The French black kings (so they call the priests) never
go out. We see you go about; we like that; that is good.
Q. How came your nation by the knowledge they have?
A, As soon as ever the ground was sound and fit to stand
upon, it came to us, and has been with us ever since. But we are
young men; our old men know more; but all of them do not know.
There are but a few, whom the beloved ones choose from children
and are in them, and take care of them, and teach them. They
know these things; and our old men practice; therefore they
know. But I do not practice; therefore I know little."
It will be noted that in the storm and the thunder and
lightning accompanying the same, the Chickasaws believed that
thereby the * 'Beloved One who dwelleth in the blue sky" made
manifest his presence to his children, who were so near to nature
and nature's God. It will be recalled that on May 20, 1736, or
only some two months before this interview with Mr. Wesley,
these young Chickasaws had fought in the battle wherein
D'Artaguette was so signally defeated, and that before the finish
of that battle a great storm arose, sweeping over the scene of
conflict. Likewise a fearful storm arose when De Soto came near
being destroyed by the Chickasaws in 1541, for the Spanish
chroniclers inform us that had it not been for this storm, in all
probability, not a single man would have survived the onslaught
of the Chickasaws.
Should we be surprised that the primitive Chickasaws in-
terpreted these and like natural phenomena as due to divine
interposition, or as phrased by Christians, due to a special
providence?
I reproduce this entire conversation the more readily, as I
believe its existence is not generally known, and for the additional
reasons that Mr. Wesley evidently was not prepossessed in favor
of the Chickasaws, and finally because he was writing on a
subject to which he devoted his life, and having an engaging
and sympathetic personality, he evidently inspired the young
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Chickasaw chief to open his heart to the man who thereafter became
famous as the founder of the Methodist denominations throughout
the world, though he died a faithful adherent of the church of
England, which we usually denominate the Episcopal Church.
The burial referred to was that of a beautiful and popular
young woman, whose death shocked the entire community,
Mr. Wesley officiating; and it will be noted that though the young
Chickasaws did not understand the English language, still they well
understood from the manner of the speaker and otherwise, the pur-
port of what Mr. Wesley said, for nothing escaped their vigilance.
It may be that Mr. Wesley drew an unfavorable opinion of
the Chickasaws from their frank statement that they did not then
wish a missionary sent to their people; they giving as a reason
that their nation was then engaged in war and that occupied
all their time and attention. This conversation took place on
July 20, 1736, and we know from authentic history that in May
of that year the Chickasaws had met in a most sanguinary war
the army of Bienville coming from Mobile, and that of D'Arta-
guette coming from the great Northern lakes, who planned by
overwhelming numbers to meet and utterly destroy the entire
Chickasaw nation, instead of which the Chickasaws defeated
both armies; and again defeated Bienville in 1739, Vaudreuil in
1752, and Regio in 1753. From their point of view it was not a
time for missionaries.
When we consider that what this young Chickasaw said was,
so to speak, spoken on the spur of the moment; that in all proba-
bility he never knew it would be taken down, and expressly
disclaimed full knowledge on the topic of conversation, I think
it shows a clear insight into the principles of religion of his nation,
and that their religion was of a much higher order than is gen-
erally believed to have been professed and taught by the Amer-
ican aborigines.
Finally on this subject of so much interest to the student of
history, it may throw some light upon the subject to consider how
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the Chickasaws decided to make war, and how war was conducted
by them in such ways as to gain divine favor.
Mftklng War—
The usual view that the Chickasaws went to war upon most
trifling occasions is entirely incorrect. If they received mis-
treatment from another nation, the matter was carefully looked
into. No one except the warriors and men of the best judgment
were called into counsel; and they had one custom which it would
be well for white people to observe and that is, that while one was
speaking, no other Indian was ever known to interrupt him by
asking a question or otherwise. Those in attendance would
listen to what was being said with profound silence. When a
speaker had concluded what he had to say, then another would
speak, until all who desired to be heard had been extended that
right. After a full discussion they came to a conclusion and often
would send an embassy in an endeavor to adjust the trouble, if
it were probable that that could be accomplished. Otherwise
they went to war. They did not do this, however, without going
through elaborate religious ceremonies of a stated kind and
character, wherein they fasted and denied themselves nearly all
comforts. Likewise, while on the march looking for the enemy,
they were extremely abstemious, so that the hardships of the
journey were made exceedingly great by abstaining from food
and drink such as is usual and customary. Adair (p. 382) says:
**When I roved the woods in a war party with the Indians,
though I carried no scrip, nor bottle, nor staff, I kept a large
hollow cane well corked at each end, and used to sheer off now
and then to drink, while they suffered greatly by thirst. The
constancy of the savages in mortifying their bodies, to gain the
divine favour, is astonishing, from the very time they beat to
arms till they return from their campaign. All the while they
are out, they are prohibited by ancient custom the leaning
against a tree, either sitting or standing; nor are they allowed to
sit in the day time, under the shade of trees, if it can be avoided;
nor on the ground, during the whole journey, but on such rocks,
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stones, or fallen wood, as their ark of war rests upon. By the
attention they invariably pay to those severe rules of living, they
weaken themselves much more than by the unavoidable fatigues
of war; but, it is fruitless to endeavor to dissuade them from
those things which they have by tradition as the appointed
means to move the deity to grant them against the enemy a safe
return home."
How different is this account of Adair from the popular
impression as to the conditions under which the Chickasaws
waged war. And yet we know that he not only lived among the
Chickasaws many years, but he tells us that the most of his
book was written while a resident among them. It is now a rare
book, a copy costing about $ioo, if you could be so fortunate as
to find one for sale; for I know of none in Tennessee, and cer-
tainly there is none in our Memphis public libraries.
The IndUns Were the Mound Builders—
Although in the second chapter I treated of this subject to
some extent, still not having quoted Cushman, and as his means
of arriving at a correct conclusion in reference thereto were of a
very superior order, his views are entitled to great weight, and I
quote from him (p. 588, 589) on this interesting subject:
"Be that as it may this truth, that the present North
American Indians and their ancestors have inhabited this con-
tinent during a period embracing ages of the past, none will deny
who have studied and made themselves acquainted with the
many existing facts; and that, from all that has been gathered,
it is much more conclusive that the mounds were erected by
them than that they are the works of some long extinct race of
people entirely different from that of the Indians. Therefore,
let Requiescat in pace be the epitaph of the mound question for
all future time to come; and also, let this age of sentimentality,
sensation, and the love of the marvelous come to an end, at least,
upon that subject, that it may seek other fields for the gratifica-
tion of its seemingly incomprehensible thirst for a knowledge of
that which never existed. All nations, both civilized and un-
civilized, have long lost the memory of their barbaric state; and
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only traditions, here and there, speak of the ancient past. All
mankind, in every age of the world, have been mound builders;
and the same principle that leads to the erection of mounds
still exists in human nature. The various modem monuments of
to-day are but ways of memorizing events which in ages past
would have led to the erection of mounds.
**Yet mournful to the contemplative mind are the records of
departed greatness. These few still existing mounds of other
ages, these dumb oracles of the prehistoric past, standing as
monuments on the pedestal of years, points also to the ruins of
earth's other empires, and call to her most potent nations with a
voice more impressive to the heart than the tongue of a TuUy;
more symphonious than the harp of Homer; more picturesque
than the pencil of Appelles, saying: 'In us behold thine own
destiny, and the doom of the noblest achievements, the mutabil-
ity of all human greatness and all human grandeur, and around
and before us, whose wild and hurried life precipitates the hour
of our own dissolution, are strewn the crumbling fragments of an
empire, equally as extended as those of the east; but the setting
sun sheds its last ray upon their tumbling temples once hallowed
by the footsteps of worshipping thousands, and the mellow
moonbeams glimmer through the mosscovered walls and gloomy
galleries, now nearly gone to decay; their sanctuary is broken
down, their glory is departed forever, and the generations hence,
in viewing the mounds of their sepulture, will inquire with won-
dering thoughts what manner of beings they were."
In a note to Gates P. Thurston's The Antiquities of Tennessee
and Adjacent States (p. 20) it is said that Professor Cyrus Thom|>-
son of the Bureau of Ethnology insists that the ancient works in
northern Mississippi were built chiefly by the Chickasaws, and
this is repeated on page 23.
With respect to the burial of their dead by the Chickasaws
Cushman (p. 496) says:
'The ancient Chickasaws, unlike the Choctaws, buried their
dead soon after life became extinct; placing in the grave with the
corpse, if a man, his clothes, war, and hunting implements, pipe
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articles the deceased may have prized in life, and a few pro-
visions."
I have seen it stated by other writefs that the Chickasaws
biuied the dead where life became extinct; if on the trail or <m a
journey, interment at once took place; or if at home, then in or
near the house where the death occurred. As the Chickasaws
were a very practical people, I doubt not that they disposed of
the dead at once and as indicated above; and from this I am
strongly inclined to the opinion that while in very remote times
they may have built mounds, I do not believe that they engaged
in such work for generations before the advent of the white man.
On the other hand I have no doubt that the Indian mounds
throughout our country were built by our North American
Indians; or stated in other words there was not a distinct race of
people from the North American Indian commonly called the
Mound Builders, who erected the many mounds throughout
North America.
Wbat We Might Learn from the PrlmlttTe Chickasaws—
It is not intended by what is here written to suggest that
we should turn back the tide of civilization, or revert to the life
of the primitive Chickasaws; nevertheless we might learn val-
uable lessons in various ways from their mental attitude and
mode of life. First of all, they were not covetous or mercenary;
for no Indian was allowed to go hungry or want for any of the
necessaries of life while another Indian had that which the un-
fortunate one needed, his wants being supplied as a matter of
course, and without the expectation of any recompense.
All land and the natural products of the soil, as well as of the
streams and waters of all kind, were held in common, so that
there were no poor or rich people among them, as among the
whites.
It followed that burglary, robbery, and stealing were practi-
cally unknown among the Chickasaws, for the needy had only to
ask and they received.
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When war was made on them, or they went to war, then they
robbed and despoiled precisely like the whites.
While the Chickasaws had many more varieties of food than
is generally believed, still in ordinary times they were by no means
gluttons, and scarcely ever used condiments or sauces, and
thoroughly masticated their food. The constant use of their
teeth in grinding their food to liquefaction gave them and the
Indians in general nearly perfect teeth, yet to be seen in skulls
now dug up, the enamel still being hard and glistening, as though
they had not been buried for centuries. They needed no den-
tist.
Drunkenness, tuberculosis, smallpox, venereal diseases, and
the like were unknown to them.
Upon ceremonial and other important occasions they en-
dured long fasts; and by frequent bathing, often preceded by
what we now call a turkish bath, they hardened their bodies; and
by living in the open their powers of endurance were phenomenal.
They were equally at home in the water or upon the land, and on
the great Mississippi in their cypress bark canoes, they command-
ed the navigation of that great river and its near tributaries, and
upon the land they were both feared and respected far and wide.
The Chickasaw women were noted for their chastity, and
their men said it bemeaned a man to question the purity of
their women.
If there was an infraction of the marital vow, condign
punishment followed for both offenders, the man's punishment
coming first. While the man could put away his wife, similar to
our divorce law, this was very seldom done.
It is a popular fallacy to suppose that the women did all the
work while the men were idle. The women, in addition to caring
for the children, did the cooking, sewing, planting, and the like;
still in these tasks they were assisted by the children and old men,
their labors making them strong and robust, so that parturition,
which now proves death and near death to many white women,
was a function so natural as to cause neither pain or fear.
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Women enjoyed many prerogatives, and among them was
that all relationship was traced through the mother and not the
father, the children being hers and not his. The men did all the
hunting, trapping, and fishing, which was often dangerous and
always laborious; for we should remember that their weapons
and their snares and traps for taking game were very crude,
fashioned by stone knives, stone hammers, etc., and they de-
pended on these to secure their daily food; whereas fishing and
hunting with us is a costly sport. The men also fought in the
wars; conducted nearly all the religious rites and ceremonies and
made laws, though the women had important prerogatives in
these matters. The men also had the task of memorizing all
tribal records and treaties, which involved astonishing feats of
memory, and in some tribes the men did the skin dressing and
even made the clothing of their wives.
The Chickasaws were a very religious people. Paustoobee
said to the great John Wesley in 1736, * We believe there are four
beloved things above; the clouds, the sun, the clear sky and He
that lives in the dear sky"; and they never went to war or en-
gaged in any great undertaking until after fasting and prayer and
elaborate religious ceremonies. They taught their religion to
their children, and there were no orphans among them, for if the
parents died, their children were adopted into the families of
their kindred, and under their laws they were the same in the
adopted family as though bom therein.
Writers often remark that no Indian was ever seen to strike
a child, and yet the child was taught strict obedience, the boys
and girls being taught their duties at an early age; and when
adolescence arrived, each was taught what that meant, and the
importance of fatherhood and motherhood, and what marriage
meant, and what part they were expected to take therein;
lessons that the white man has not yet learned how to impart.
From the very beginning the mother was careful to teach
the infant to breathe through its nose and not through the mouth
— so conducive to good health.
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The ceremonial by and through which the boys and girls
were initiated into manhood and womanhood were exceedingly
severe, and to us cruel and inhuman, sometimes ending in mad-
ness or death. They argued that such was necessary in order to
weed out all those incompetent to meet the full responsibilities
of life in every emergency, and it is said there were no
hunchback or deformed Indians, each being nearly a perfect
specimen.
The primitive Indian was the closest student of nature and
as James observes (p. 68),
**He knows every plant, and when and where it best grows.
He knows the track of every bird, insect, reptile, and animal.
He knows all the signs of the weather. He is a past-master in
woodcraft, and knows more of the habits of plants and animal
life than all our trained naturalists put together."
I believe that as regards our national sport of baseball we
could learn a good lesson from the Chickasaws, whose national
sport was also a ball game. While the Chickasaws, like all other
races of men, sometimes gambled, still they drew the line at their
ball game, betting on which was strictly prohibited. Gambling
recently so corrupted our national sport of baseball as to lead to
the employment of a United States District Judge at Chicago to
clarify the sport, and this employment with other matters caused
the Judge to be denounced in Congress, where articles of im-
peachment were preferred, a scandal that could not have hap-
pened among the Chickasaws.
I will add that the Chickasaw was essentially the child of the
outdoors in the closest touch with all nature; and Eastman
(p. 189), whose Indian name was Ohiyesa, rejoiced to know that
in one respect the white man was learning from the Indian, in
that the American Indian is the acknowledged hero and exemplar
of the Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls, organizations which
have sprung up in recent years, and which promise so much good
for coming generations.
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And, finally, we might learn from the primitive Chickasaw
that serenity of mind and temperament which he so assiduously
practiced, so that he did not fret or repine at the disappointments
and vexations of life, the common lot of mankind. These he
r^;arded as he did the appearing of a comet, an eclifise, or an
earthquake, as a part of natural phenomena beyond his control,
and so made the best of ill fortune; hence he did not commit
suicide or suffer a nervous prostration as does the white man.
He knew that in the orderly process of nature he must die, and
awaited that event without fear or useless repining. He loved
his nation passionately, and was every ready to sacrifice his life
upon the altar of his country; and if captured and tied to the
stake, amid the rising flames he denounced and derided his en-
emies, and shouting the glories of his country he yielded up his
spirit to the "Beloved One who dwelleth in the blue sky," with
the assurance that he was but exchanging the trials of this life
for the joys of another country, the only one more beautiful and
dearer than his own.
Is there not something in a character like this worthy to be
preserved as a national asset?
Jefferson on Indian Eloquence—
I can not forbear in this connection to call attention to the
splendid oratorical abilities of the North American Indians,
attested by so many writers.
In his NoUs an Virginia (Vol. II, p. 80) Thomas Jefferson
combats the statement of Buffon that not only would European
animals in general but European men also would degenerate in
the climate of the New World; and after telling of the fine
physical appearance of the aborigines, he next treats of their
fine intellectual faculties, which he described in terms of great
praise. Speaking of their eloquence he said we had but few
samples of their ability in this respect, because their speeches
were usually delivered in their councils; but referred to the
speech of the justly celebrated Logan in these words:
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"Imay challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and Cicero,
and of any more eminent orator, if Europe has furnished more
eminent, to produce a single passage superior to the speech of Logan,
a Mingo chief, to Lord Dunmore, then governor of this State."
That masterpiece of eloquence is given by Jefferson in these
words(Vol. II, p. 89):
"I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered Logan's
cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold
and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the
last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin,
an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that
my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, 'Logan is the
friend of white men.* I had even thought to have lived with
you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last
spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations
of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs
not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This
called on me for revenge. I have sought it: I have killed many:
I have fully glutted my vengeance: For my country I rejoice
at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is
the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his
heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
As showing the unfairness of many people, not to say ma-
levolence in connection with the Indians in general, I wish to
recall that this speech of Logan was delivered in 1774; that
Jefferson wrote his notes in 1781 and 1782, and they were printed
in Paris in 1784, containing this speech. Soon the authenticity
of the speech was denied, and in 1797 it was declared to be a
forgery in the public prints, and the intimation was that Jefferson
was the forger. In an appendix to his Notes on Virginia (Vol. II,
p. 304) he not only indignantly denied the charge but published a
number of the affidavits of prominent and disinterested men who
deposed of their own knowledge to the true authenticity of the
speech, as given by Mr. Jefferson.
It may be here remarked that Jefferson states that what he
said of the aborigines was from personal knowledge or from
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authentic sources, remarking (p. 8i) he regarded as of no value
the mere chance reports about them, placing no more credence
therein than he would to the fables of Aesop.
The name of Mr. Jefferson recalls that the Chickasaw chief
Mushalatubbee first met General Lafayette at the home of the
sage of Monticello; and he again met Lafayette at Washington
on his last visit to America in December, 1824, when, according
to Drake (p. 402), Mushalatubbee made this agreeable speech to
General Lafayette:
"You are one of our fathers. You have fought by the side of
the great Washington. We will receive here your hand as that of
a friend and father.
"We have always walked in the pure feelings of peace, and
it is this feeling which has caused us to visit you here. We
present you pure hands, hands that have never been stained with
the blood of Americans. We live in a country far from this,
where the sun darts his perpendicular rays upon us. We have had
the French, the Spaniards, and the English for neighbors; but
now we have only the Americans; in our midst and with whom we
live as friends and brothers."
While the Chickasaws were noted as warriors and not for
oratory, still, when occasion required, they expressed them-
selves well and eloquently.
Montaigne's Opinion of the Indians and Their Goyernment—
Michael De Montaigne published his justly celebrated essays
and philosophical reflections in 1580, or exactly forty years
after De Soto first looked into the faces of the Chickasaws.
His book has proven such a vast fountain of knowledge and
philosophy that it has been translated into many langus^s, and
new editions, elaborately annotated, continue to issue from the
press, even to our day, while countless thousands of other books
have since been published and forgotten. From Montaigne's
inexhaustible fountain countless millions have drunk and con-
tinue to drink, even the great Shakespeare freely borrowing
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therefrom; and as we might expect, Montaigne was greatly
interested in the new world and the new people found there,
and made it a point to personally see and converse with some
Indians who were brought to France to see and converse with
King Charles the Ninth, the then king of that country. Mon-
taigne tells us that there was a very reliable man of his own
household who had spent some ten to twelve years in the new
country among the Indians, and that this man had at "divers
times brought me several seamen and merchants, that the same
time went the same voyage."
Having thus informed himself from the best sources, he treats
at length of their government, their religion, their meat and drink,
their wars, their habits, and modes of thought, in what sense they
were barbarians, and then philosophizes (p. 115) in part as follows:
"I am sorry that Lycurgus and Plato had no knowledge of
them : For, to my apprehension, what we now see in those natives
does not only surpass all the images with which the poets have
adorned the golden age, and all their inventions in feigning a
happy state of man, but, moreover, the fancy, and even the wish
and desire of philosophy itself. So native and so pure a sim-
plicity as we by experience see to be in them could never enter
into their imagination, nor could they ever believe that human
society could have been maintained with so little artifice. Should
I tell Plato that it is a nation wherein there is no manner of traffic,
no knowledge of letters, no science of numbers, no name of
magistrate, nor political superiority; no use of service, riches or
poverty; no contracts, no successions, no dividends, no proper-
ties, no emplojnnents, but those of leisure; no respect of Idndred,
but in common; no clothing, no agriculture, no metal, no use of
com (wheat) or wine; and where so much as the very words that
signify lying, treachery, dissimulation, avarice, envy, detraction,
and pardon, were never heard of — how much would he find his
imaginary republic short of this perfection? Viri a diis recefUes,
'Fresh from the hands of the gods.' "
It may be of interest to note that Montaigne expressed his
deep regret that these Indians had left their own country to
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visit France, saying they did so (p. 119), "not foreseeing how
dear their knowledge of the corruptions of this part of the
world one day (will) cost their happiness and repose, and that
the effect of this commerce will be their ruin."
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CHAPTER IX
THE CHICSASAWS FROM THE TDIE OF DE SOTO UNTIL THEIB
FmST TREATY WITH THE UNITED STATES
We will now take up the thread of the story of the Chicka-
saws where we left it off with the conclusion of Chapter III in
April, 1541.
The veil of oblivion, so far as authentic history is concerned,
which was for a short time lifted from the primitive Chickasaws,
by the De Soto expedition in 1540-1541, again descended, and we
know nothing of the Chickasaws until the time when Marquette
descended the Mississippi River in 1673, a period of 132 years.
It will be recalled that the Chickasaws came near destroying
both De Soto and his entire expedition, and that at the end of the
last battle an intrepid and daring Chickasaw archer challenged
the whole army of De Soto to a trial of skill, man to man in single
combat.
We may be assured that the Spaniards never failed to record
what took place, upon occasions of this character, more favorably
to themselves. According to their story though, Juan de Salinas,
an Asturian hidalgo, accepted the challenge, armed with a
crossbow fashioned by all the skill of the white man and doubt-
less shod with steel, while the Chickasaw archer had only his
rude bow and arrows, tipped with a flint all wrought out by his
own hands and without tools; still the trial of skill was a draw,
each being wounded and received by their respective companions
in arms.
That the primitive Chickasaws were always the same, ever
the same, and everywhere the same, is well illustrated by the very
first word they were heard to utter by Marquette, 132 years after
De Soto's entire army had been challenged to single combat by
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the intrepid Chickasaw archer, whose name I regret to say was
not even recorded by the Spaniards. This word Marquette at
first construed to mean a declaration of war.
On page 47 of John Gilmary Shea's Discovery and Explora-
tion of ike Mississippi Valley, Marquette's narrative of 1673 is
quoted from as follows:
** I hailed them in Huron, but they answered me by a word
which seemed to us a declaration of war. They were, however, as
much frightened as ourselves, and what we took for a signal of
war, was an invitation to come near, that they might give us
food ; we accordingly landed and entered their cabins, where they
presented us wild-beef and bear's oil, with white plums, which
are excellent. They have guns, axes, hoes, knives, beads, and
double glass bottles in which they keep the powder. They
wear their hair long and mark their bodies in the Iroquois
fashion; the headdress and clothing of their women were like
those of the Huron squaws.
"They assured us that it was not more than ten days*
journey to the sea; that they bought stuffs and other articles of
Europeans on the eastern side; that these Europeans had rosaries
and pictures; that they played on instruments; that some were
like me, who received them well. I did not, however, see any one
who seemed to have received any instructions in the faith ; such
as I could, I gave them with some medals."
While the names of these Indians are not given, still in a note
on the preceding page (46) it is stated:
"Marquette had now reached the country of the warlike
Chicachas, whose territory extended several hundred miles along
the banks of the Mississippi, and far to the eastward, where they
carried on a traffic with tribes who traded with Europeans. — F."
These were no doubt Chickasaws, who we well know traded
with Englishmen who landed their wares on the Atlantic coast
and brought them overland to the Chickasaw country.
There can be no doubt that Marquette was correct in stating
that, as early as his trip (1673) down the Mississippi, the Chicka-
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saws had been in communication with Europeans on the eastern
side, as he expressed it; that is to say, with the earliest English
settlers in Virginia and Carolina; and such is the statement of
Claiborne (p. 57).
In 1912 Clarence W. Alvord and Lee Bidgood brought out
their work, The First Explorations of the Trans-AUegheny Region
by the Virginians, 1650-1674, bringing forth the practically in-
accessible and original accounts of Abraham Wood, Thomas
Batts, Robert Fallam, and James Needham, who were the
first white men to visit the regions lying beyond the Virginia and
North Carolina Blue Ridge.
It is stated and proven (p. 52 et seq.) that General Abraham
Wood, a unique character, as early as the year 1654, or ^tt various
times in the decade following that year, visited the banks of the
Ohio and in all probability reached the Mississippi River. Wood
sent out various exploring parties, and among them Thomas
Needham at different times, and he was the first white explorer
to reach the Cherokee country (p. 82), visiting them, if not on
the Tennessee, then on one of its main branches, the French
Broad or the Little Tennessee River, in the year 1673. However,
before Needham could reach home, he was treacherously mur-
dered by an Indian guide Occaneechi, who had accompanied
previous exploring parties, for which he had been well rewarded
by Wood.
In 1671 Batts and Fallam, traveling in company, reached
the banks of the New River, which empties into the Kanawha,
and it in turn flows into the Ohio. In Robert Fallam's journal
(p. 191), under date of September 17, 1671, upon reaching the
New River, he states that they first proclaimed the king in these
words:
^ **Long live Charles the Second, by the grace of God king of
England, Scotland, France, Ireland, and Virginia, and of all
the territories thereunto belonging, Defender of the Faith,
etc."
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Thereupon guns were fired and trees were marked as a
manual token that the expedition had taken possession of this
new and delightful country in the name of the king of Eng-
land.
These explorers kept journals, now made accessible by
Alvord and Bidgood, from which it now appears that the English
took possession of the Mississippi Valley two years before
Marquette descended the Mississippi, and eleven years before
La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi and affected to
take possession of the country in the name of Louis XIV of
France, naming it Louisiana. So far, therefore, as formal proc-
lamations of this character are concerned and treated as vesting
title to the new country in the sovereign thus proclaimed, the
English title by priority outranked the French title.
It is also pointed out (p. 20) that such distinguished writers
as Francis Parkman and Justin Winsor are in error in upholding
the French claim as opposed to that of the English for priority of
discovery.
While I found nothing to show that these early explorers
reached the Chickasaws, and in fact I do not suppose they went
to the Chickasaw country, still there is no doubt that these
early English explorers were sending their goods to and trading
with the Indians in what was then the far Western unexplored
country, including the Chickasaws.
Indeed, Marquette records that in 1673 the Chickasaws had
guns, axes, hoes, knives, beads, and double glass bottles in which
they kept their powder; and in a note to the text it is stated that
these articles had been obtained in traffic with tribes who traded
with Europeans to the east, and this clearly means that these
articles came from the English settled in Virginia and Carolina.
This was the beginning of the acquaintance of the Chicka-
saws with the English-speaking people, and in the years to come
this acquaintance ripened into alliances of commerce and like-
wise of offense and defense, which has lasted without inter-
ruption to this day, a period of near three hundred years.
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In the memorable expedition of Sieur Robert Cavalier de
La Salle down the Mississippi River in 1682, he floated down the
river, after stopping at the mouth of the Ohio, according to Father
Zenobe de Membre (who was a member of the expedition and kept
a journal), forty-two leagues, when the expedition made a landing
on February 24, 1682, and built what was called Fort Prudhomme.
As the locality of Fort Prudhomme has been repeatedly
misstated by some of the best historians, who supposed it to have
been built on the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, the present site of
Memphis, I will briefly state the facts in reference thereto.
Says Father Zenobe:
''On the 24th those whom we had sent out to hunt all re-
turned but Peter Prudhomme; the rest reported that they had
seen an Indian trail, which made us suppose our Frenchman
killed or taken. This induced the Sieur de La Salle to throw up a
fort and intrenchment, and to put some French and Indians on
the trail. None relaxed their efforts till the first of March, when
Gabriel Minime and two Mohegans took two of five Indians
whom they discovered.
'They said that they belonged to the Sicacha (Chickasaw)
nation, and that their village was a day and half off. After
showing them every kindness, I set out with the Sieur de La Salle
and half our party to go there in hopes of learning some news of
Prudhomme; but after having traveled the distance stated, we
showed the Indians that we were displeased with their duplicity;
they then told us frankly that we were still three days off.
(These Indians generally count ten or twelve leagues to a day.)
We returned to camp, and, one of the Indians having offered to
remain, while the other carried the news to the village. La Salle
gave him some goods, and he set out after giving us to under-
stand that we should meet their nation on the banks of the river
as we descended.
"At last Prudhomme, who had been lost, was found on the
ninth day and brought back to the fort, so that we set out the
next day, which was foggy."
Upon this slender base, and without a proper knowledge of
the locality, and with some touches of imagination thrown in,
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a story was built up from time to time, to the effect that this
landing place was where Memphis is now located, that is, on the
Fourth Chickasaw Bluff; that La Salle built a fort and cabins
there, and proclaimed it and all the country about it from ocean
to ocean to belong to his king, Louis XIV, and named it Louisi-
ana; while others pointed to the story as showing that on the
Fourth Chickasaw Bluff the pioneer building of a future and great
state was first begun. This is a pretty story, but unfortunately it
is not true-
Many persons have labored under the mistaken belief that
there was only one Chickasaw Bluff on the Mississippi River,
north of the present northern boundary line of the State of
Mississippi, which intersects the river on the thirty-fifth degree of
north latitude; whereas there are four such bluffs, Memphis
being on the fourth bluff.
These bluffs are mere extensions of the west Tennessee
plateau to the Mississippi River, the first touching the river at
what is now Fulton, Tennessee, opposite the lower end of Island
33, some sixty- two miles by river above Memphis; the second is
at Randolph, about ten miles by water below the first bluff; the
third is opposite Island 34, while the fourth is but an extension of
what I have called the Tippah Highlands, with Wolf River
flowing into the Mississippi at the north, and Nonconnah, form-
erly called Chickasaw Creek, flowing into the Mississippi some
four to five miles below the mouth of Wolf, the bluff rising
abruptly from the water, with a fine hinterland stretching back
eastwardly, heretofore particularly described, on which Memphis
was built.
Returning now to the plain story as indicated above. La
Salle landed on the first highland, which was the first Chickasaw
Bluff, and one of his hunters, named Peter Prudhomme, having
become lost, a temporary entrenchment or fort was thrown
up, while members of the expedition went in search of the lost
hunter, who being found on the ninth day, the expedition pro-
ceeded down the river, calling the place Prudhomme after the
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man who was lost for nine days. Those who may be curious to
study the details of this incident in the voyage of La Salie,
which has been so misunderstood, are referred to an excellent
article by Judge J. P. Young in the Tennessee Historical Magazine
for 191 6 (p. 235), to which reference is here made.
The facts, though briefly stated, show that the Chickasaws
were on the date mentioned, viz: February 24, 1682, in pos-
session of what is now west Tennessee, but that the main seat of
their villages or homes was some several days' travel southward,
presumably about where De Soto found them in 1540, or 140
years prior thereto, in what is now north Mississippi.
Among the documents and papers published in the Pierre
Margry collection (which being in French I could not read),
there is attached to the front of Volume 3 what purports to be a
copy of an ancient map of North America from the 50th degree
to the 25th degree of north latitude, and, of course, this takes
in the country from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, both inclu-
sive.
It is stated that the map shows the country as discovered by
Sieur La Salle in the years 1679, 1680, 1681 and 1682. While the
map is far from perfect, still it is as nearly correct as could be
expected when made at such an early date.
It is of interest to note that the villages of the Chickasaws
are plainly shown on the map at or about the place where De
Soto found them, while in a large scope of country opposite them
on the west of the Mississippi, there is a note stating that,
while there are Indian villages there, their names are unknown;
and likewise as to a large scope of country to the east of the
Chickasaws, there is a note that the names of the savage inhabi-
tants are unknown.
Thus we see that the intrepid and warlike Chickasaws were
a conspicuous people, who had made a lasting impression from
the most remote times upon the whole country, their name and
fame reaching far beyond the limits of the great territory over
which they were the supreme overlords.
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Iberfllle and BlenyUle Meet the Chlekasaws—
We next hear of the Chickasaws in 1702, when they met the
two celebrated brothers, Pierre Lemoyne, Sieur d' Iberville,
usually called Iberville, and Jean Baptiste Lemoyne, Sieur de
Bienville, usually called Bienville, at the time they were founding
the present city of Mobile, Alabama.
The father of these noted brothers was Charles LeMoyne,
bom in Normandy, France, in 1624, who emigrated to Canada in
1641, where he climbed the ladder of fortune and fame. He dis-
tinguished himself in the wars with the Iroquois and the English,
was ennobled by Louis XIV in 1668, as Sieur deLongueuil. He was
intensely patriotic and was the father of fourteen children, all
of whom were noted, three of whom died in the wars with England.
Iberville and Bienville were bom in Canada, but, inheriting
the patriotic fervor of their father, set sail for the far South, and
in 1702 they founded the present city of Mobile, Alabama, and
in 1718 Bienville founded the present city of New Orleans,
Louisiana.
These noted brothers were far-seeing men, and, while laying
out the site for Mobile, Iberville, the older, and therefore in
command, was taken sick while on a trip to Pensacola; he sent
two Canadians to Mobile with directions to Bienville to let Tonty
pick ten men to visit the Choctaws and Chickasaws. Tonty was
to make presents to these nations, conclude peace, and bring
them to Mobile, so that treaties of peace and friendship might be
concluded.
We leam from Hamilton, an excellent authority (2nd Ed.,
P- 57) » that on Sunday, March 25 (1702), Tonty returned with
seven chiefs and principal men of the Chickasaws (Chicachas)
and four Choctaw chiefs. Iberville made them presents of
considerable powder, ball, and lead, twelve guns, besides hatchets,
knives, kettles, beads, gun flints, and other small things. Next
day he addressed them in due form, Bienville acting as inter-
preter, exhorting the two nations to conclude peace and abandon
the English, who only aimed at making slaves of them. He
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cited the death of over eighteen hundred Choctaws, the capture
of over five hundred prisoners who were sold away, and the loss
of over eight hundred Chickasaws during this war of eight or ten
years. If they would drive out the English, he would make the
Illinois cease war upon them, and would establish a trading
station, where they could obtain all kinds of goods in exchange
for skins of beef, deer, and bear.
The talk was satisfactory, and general peace was arranged.
Word was sent to the Illinois, to Davyon among the Tonicas,
Foucaut among the Arkansas, and St. Cosme at the Nadeches
(Natchez), and the governor wrote also to the grand vicar of
Quebec, at the Tamaroas, to send missionaries among the Chick-
asaws and Choctaws as soon as possible. With the returning
Chickasaws was sent back a little St. Michel child to learn the
language. Iberville heard much that he would find useful as to
numbers and location of the several tribes. The promised
trading-post was to be established on the upper Mobile River
between the two tribes, three or four leagues from the Cha-
quechoumas and twelve or fifteen from the Chickasaws.
We note here that from the comparatively small Chickasaw
nation seven chiefs and principal men were brought by Tonty to
this all-important conference, whereas Only four chiefs came from
the much larger Choctaw nation, and also that a little child was
sent back with the Chickasaws to learn their language, none
being sent to the Choctaws. Iberville and Bienville no doubt
fully appreciated the fact that this small Chickasaw nation at that
time constituted the dominant factor to be reckoned with by
France in solving the all-important problem of the free naviga-
tion of the Mississippi River. Over its waves it was imperatively
necessary to France that her pioneer soldiers of fortune and
colonists should have undisputed sway and rule; otherwise her
possessions along the St. Lawrence and great lakes of the far
North could not be consolidated and bound together with those
in the far South, with Mobile as the principal base for colonization
on the Mexican Gulf,
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We also note that notice of this treaty was sent to the Illinois
Indians, the hereditary enemies of the Chiclcasaws and friends of
the French; to Davyon among the Tonicas, Foucaut among the
Arkansas, also the enemies of the Chickasaws and friends of the
French; to St. Cosme among the Natchez, and also that Iberville
wrote to the grand vicar in far-away Quebec to send Catholic
missionaries among both the chickasaws and choctaws, the
object being to bind these Indians by the ties of the church as
well as by the terms of the treaty.
Plans were thus maturing for at least two French coloniza-
tion stations on the lower Mississippi, and one each on the Ohio
and Missouri, with more to be added as soon as practicable.
Hamilton (p. 59) very correctly observes:
"Perhaps we may say that he (Iberville) thus foresaw the
necessity for New Orleans, Memphis, Louisville, and St. Louis,
if he did not select these sites."
By and through these plans the French would have over the
Mississippi, as well as over its tributaries and the streams flowing
into the gulf, a network for river trade with the Indians and for
colonization, while the English would have to transport their
wares and colonists on pack horses overland across the Allegheny
Mountains, at much greater expense and delay ; and in process of
time these noted brothers, Iberville and Bienville, dreamed of
the day when pressure from the north, the south, and the west
would eventually drive the thin line of English settlements on
the Atlantic into the sea, thus bringing America under the ex-
clusive sway of the lilies and cross of France.
It was a noble dream, an ambition worthy of these dis-
tinguished French brothers.
However, destiny ruled otherwise, and the lion and the eagle
now dominate the American continent. Much credit for this
is due to the Chickasaw nation, a story as yet not fully told; and
a desire to contribute to a better understanding of the debt due
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the Chickasaw nation from the English-speaking world was one
of the main inspirations for extending this sketch.
It may be noted in passing that, while Iberville had in
preparation plans for attacking the English settlements on the
Atlantic, he was attacked with yellow fever and died at a com-
paratively early age in Havana, in the year 1706. Further on we
will frequently meet Bienville in the further progress of this sketch.
Population of the PrlmltlYe Clilekasaws—
While there were legends among the Chickasaws that an-
ciently they numbered ten thousand souls, this was probably an
overestimate; but it is not at all impossible that their numbers
had greatly diminished when they first came under the light of
historic times. The Spaniards under De Soto gave no estimate
of their numbers. Adair states they had been much more
numerous than in his time, one of the two divisions, the "Long
House," then numbering not more than four hundred and fifty
warriors, which would indicate a population of 1600 to 1800
persons. He gives no estimate of the other division, but as-
suming it to be about the same, the population of the entire
nation was between three thousand and four thousand souls.
In the battle with D'Artaguette in 1736, the French esti-
mated the Chickasaw warriors in that conflict at five hundred,
and six days thereafter in the battle of Ackia at four hundred and
y^ fifty warriors; while the United States commissioners who
signed the treaty of peace with the Chickasaws in 1786 estimated
the whole number of their warriors at eight hundred. At the
same time the same commissioners estimated the warriors of the
near neighbors of the Chickasaws, with whom they were fre-
quently at war, as follows : The Cherokee nation, 2,000 warriors ;
Upper and Lower Creek warriors, 5,400; Choctaw warriors,
6,000, and the Chickasaw warriors as stated above at only 800,
the total number of the four tribes being 14,200 warriors.
According to these estimates, which were probably the most
accurate of any at that day, the Chickasaws were outnumbered
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by the Choctaws nearly seven to one; by the Creeks six to one,
and by the Cherokees nearly three to one; and the marvel of all
who traveled among them, and who knew them and the other
nations mentioned, was how they managed to come off victorious
in all conflicts, not only with their warlike neighbors, as well as
with all other Indian nations from the far North or the West,
who often invaded their country, but also in their conflicts with
the Spanish and French.
ChlclcMaws Friends of the Eng llsli—
From the earliest dates at which we hear of the Chickasaws,
succeeding the settlements made on the Atlantic coast and west-
ward by various European nations, the Chickasaws were the
firm friends of the English.
On the other hand the Choctaws, Natchez, Creeks, and
others favored first the Spaniards and then the French, and
again the Spaniards, while the Chickasaws were always true to
the English. There can be no doubt that the whites fomented
wars between the various tribes to subserve their own selfish
purposes.
We learn from Claiborne that in 1705 the Chickasaws sold
some Choctaw families to English traders, who carried them to
Carolina where they were sold as slaves. No doubt the Chicka-
saws were incited to this by the English traders, but in the end
punishment was visited on the Chickasaws and not the English
traders, as we learn from the sequel. Naturally, the sale of the
Choctaws into slavery created a rupture between the Choctaws
and Chickasaws when the news arrived, at which time there
happened to be some seventy Chickasaws at Mobile. Being
afraid to undertake to pass alone through the territory of the
Choctaws, they begged Bienville for an escort, which was given.
On arriving at the first village of the Choctaws the chief said he
would not oppose their passage through his country, but he
desired to reprimand them for their treachery in the presence
of the French escort and took his stand in the center of the square,
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having in his hands a pipe and a plume of eagle feathers. The
Chickasaws were then invited to sit around him in a circle, and
a cordon of Choctaws formed around them.
The chief then began a tirade against the Chickasaws,
ending by saying **you deserve to di«/'and dropped his plume,
which was a signal to strike, and most of the Chickasaws were
slain before they could arise.
The Chickasaws having thus been murdered in the presence
of the French escort, they believed that the massacre had taken
place with the connivance of the French, and forever thereafter
became the deadly enemies of the French ; at least such was the
opinion of Claiborne (p. 29).
I do not doubt that the treacherous acts of the Choctaws
in the presence of the French escort created a bitter enmity to-
wards the French ; but I believe that the antipathy reached far
back to the remote past, even to the days of 1541, when De
Soto violated Chickasaw hospitality and thereby made them his
deadly foes.
I am not unmindful of the fact that De Soto commanded
Spaniards and not Frenchmen ; but we must remember that both
the Spanish and French people belong to the- great Latin family
and have very many traits and characteristics in common. Each
made it a point to have with every ex]3edition and settlement a
Catholic priest, who indeed were themselves among the boldest
of early explorers. In this connection it will be recalled that the
young Chickasaw chief Paustoobee in a conversation with Mr.
Wesley in 1736 called the French priests black kings, and said
they did not go among the people as did Mr. Wesley.
When we remember that nothing escaped the vigilance of
the Chickasaws, and that they selected a certain number of the
young men of each generation, to whom was imparted the im-
portant history of the past for the future guidance of posterity,
can we doubt that the Chickasaws of 1700 were perfectly familiar
with the De Soto war in 1541, with a clear and accurate concep-
tion of those who composed that expedition so as to enable them
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to dovetail their characteristics with the early Spanish and
French settlers?
I do not doubt it for one moment, and this was the begin-
ning of their enmity which never ceased, a true characteristic of
the North American Indian.
So far as my researches have extended, the first official visit
of an Englishman to the Chickasaws was that of Captain Young,
a British officer, who, according to Claiborne, met the Chickasaw
chief in a grand council in 1715, the purpose of Captain Young
being to attach the Chickasaws to the government of the English
king. '
Caiues Leading to the Bxllrpallon of the Natchez—
While it is generally stated by writers that the Chickasaws
incited the Natchez to attack the French, and while no doubt the
Chickasaws sympathized and advised with the Natchez, still I
think too much stress has been laid on the Chickasaw enmity to
the French as the provoking cause of the war which led to the
extermination of the Natchez, that splendid and furthest ad-
vanced tribe of Indians on the Americaii continent north of Mexico.
I am fortified in this conclusion after a very careful reading of
Monsieur Le Parge DuPratz's history of Louisiana, which first
appeared in 1758 in French. He was a French officer and warmly
attached to his native country. He settled among the Natchez in
1720, and was a participant in the Natchez wars and had his
information at first hands.
After stating that the Natchez Indians cordially welcomed
the early French settlers and that the French would have perished
but for the unfailing and continued assistance of the Natchez,
he then states the causes of the first war, which may be thus
briefly summarized :
In 1723 a young French soldier extended credit to an old
Natchez warrior, who was to pay the debt in com ; the soldier
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made demand for the corn, and the old warrior replied that the
corn was not yet hard ; but that as soon as it was ripe, it would
be delivered. This was answered by an insult from the white
soldier, and in the altercation which ensued the old warrior was
shot to death, and the complaint of the Indians was only met by
a mild reprimand of the young soldier. DuPratz then very
properly observes,
"Revenge is the predominant passion of the people in
America; so that we ought not to be surprized if the death
of this old warrior raised his whole village against the French
(see p. 37)."
A war ensued, and six years thereafter, that is, in 1729, the
Natchez massacred nearly every Frenchman in the colony, or
about 700 persons. DuPratz gives at length and in much detail
the causes leading to this catastrophe, which may be thus
condensed :
The Sieur de Chopart had been commandant of the Natchez
post, from which he was removed on account of some acts of
injustice. Soon thereafter M. Perrier was appointed comman-
dant general, and upon his arrival Chopart represented that he
had commanded the post (in the language of DuPratz) "with
applause," and thereby prevailed on Perrier to reappoint him.
Chopart at once summoned the Sun of the White Apple,
and notified him that he and all his people must vacate at once
the village of the White Apple, which was at least a square
league in extent, as he wished to build thereon a new town for
the French.
Says DuPratz (p. 80).
"The commandant doubtless supposed that he was speak-
ing to a slave, whom we may command in a tone of absolute
authority. But he knew not that the natives of Louisiana
are such enemies to a state of slavery that they prefer death
itself thereto; above all, the Suns, accustomed to govern des-
potically, have still a greater aversion to it."
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The massacre of the French led in turn to the massacre of
the Natchez, who had in the meantime fled in a body across the
Mississippi and found a new home on Silver Creek, about sixty
leagues from the mouth of Red River. Nearly all the Natchez
were put to the sword; the few taken prisoners were cast into
slavery by the French and thus disposed of. According to Du-
Pratz (p. 95):
"Some time after, these slaves were embarked for St.
Domingo, in order to root out that nation in the colony;
which was the only method of effecting it, as the few that escaped
had not a tenth of the women necessary to recruit the nation.
And thus thai nation, the most conspicuous in the colony, and most
useful to the French was destroyed.''
The italics are mine.
Tbe Real Cause of the War Made by the
French on the Chlckasaws—
The sentence last quoted from DuPratz concludes Chapter
XII of his history, and the first sentence of the next (Chapter
XIII, p. 96) is as follows:
"The war with the Chickasaws was owing to their having
received and adopted the Natchez: Though in this respect they
acted only according to an inviolable usage and sacred custom,
established among all the nations of North America; that when
a nation, weakened by war, retires for shelter to another, who
are willing to adopt them, and is pursued thither by their enemies,
this is in effect to declare war against the nation adopting."
While this was indeed the only ostensible reason for this war,
it was not in point of fact the true reason; which was that the
country of the Chickasaws lay exactly between the French pos-
sessions in Louisiana in the far South and their possessions in the
far North upon the great lakes and along the shores of the St.
Lawrence. A chain of forts and uninterrupted communications
along the Mississippi River could never be maintained between
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these distant colonies, so long as the Chickasaws commanded the
eastern shores of the Mississippi.
We learn from Adair that, in their canoes made of the bark
of the giant cypress, they fared forth upon the bosom of the
Father of Waters and that they were as much at home on the
water as on the land; and DuPratz (p. 97) records how they
captured on the Mississippi and put to death some Frenchmen
who were transporting powder, etc., between Bienville and
D'Artaguette in preparation for the ensuing war. Bienville,
with the full approval of the home government, determined to
extirpate the Chickasaws, as had been done with the Natchez,
and forever cement the possessions of the French in the far
North with those in the far South; but not only the right, but
the fates were against him.
In vain the Chickasaws plead with Bienville, pointing out
that they could not with self-respect er with the respect of
mankind surrender the fugitive Natchez, who had sought an
asylum with the Chickasaws.
In vain the Chickasaws pointed out that, according to all
laws and usages, as the Natchez had ceased to exist as a nation,
and a mere remnant had been received by the Chickasaws and
adopted, they thereby became a part and parcel of the Chickasaw
nation and as such could not be surrendered; or, as Claiborne
(P« 59) phrases it, the noble answer of the Chickasaws was,
*'they have come to us for shelter and can not be surren-
dered."
Bienville first endeavored to incite the Choctaws, who had
treacherously aided the French in the extermination of the
Natchez, to declare war on the Chickasaws and destroy them with
the same ruthlessness as with the Natchez. No doubt the
Choctaws had no scruples as to the undertaking, but they
feared the Chickasaws. Finally Bienville engaged the wily and
shrewd Choctaw chief Shulush Humma (in English, Red Shoes)
to march against the Chickasaws with one thousand Choctaw
warriors and thirty white soldiers under DeLusser; but the
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Chickasaws opened up communication with the enemy and
found little difficulty in buying them off.
BleiiTllle Hakes War on the Chickasaws—
Being convinced that he must take the command in person,
Bienville set about making elaborate preparations which took
some years to formulate and place his army in the field.
According to Cushman (p. 458) Bienville wrote to the French
minister of marine for four additional companies of troops, as
he then had only two hundred men, with which he did not wish
to risk the honor and glory of France in a battle with the Chicka-
saws "who could call into the field four hundred and fifty war-
riors."
His appeal was acknowledged by the arrival, soon after, of
more troops; and Bienville, without further delay, commenced
his preparations for iin exterminating ex]3edition against the
still resolute and defiant Chickasaws, with the avowed de-
termination to wipe them out as a nation and take possession
of their territory.
Elated with the flattering prospect of the complete success
of his plans, he organized two armies, one in Mobile, then in
the Choctaw nation, the other in Illinois; the former to be
commanded by himself, the latter by D'Artaguette, then governor
of the Illinois district. The two were to form a junction by the
31st of March, 1736, in the Chickasaw territory at the village,
where, 196 years before, De Soto had wintered, and had received
a just rebuke to his folly in regarding that people to be a
race of "savage cowards."
Bienville had instructed D'Artaguette to meet him with all
the French troops he could possibly collect, and also with as
many warriors of his Indian allies as he could get. This in-
vasaon, with the avowed purpose of exterminating the Chicka-
saws, was planned and undertaken by the direction of the
French government, "whose solicitude was anxiously turned to it
with high anticipations of a successful result." Bienville had
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moved from New Orleans to Mobile to give his personal attention
to the details of the expedition he was to conunand, and had
arranged for the provisions to be supplied from New Orleans,
the artillery from France, and five hundred troops from the
garrisons at Natchitoches, Natchez, and Mobile, including a
company of volunteers from New Orleans and another of un-
married men, also some sixty Swiss mercenaries, besides forty-
five negroes under Simon, the then noted brave free negro.
Hamilton says:
"They embarked in front of Fort Conde in thirty large
pirogues and as many flatboats. Mobile River had never seen
so stirring a sight as the expedition that gaily rowed ofiF on the
morning of that first day of April, 1736. The glint of the lilied
flags on the boats bearing Bienville and his staff was answered
by the waving banner of Fort Conde, and the salute of the
cannon awoke the echoes of the islands in front. But gradually
the flotilla got out of sight, the seabirds settled back to their
haunts, and the people dispersed to their occupations. For two
months they dreamed of victories."
This flotilla, proceeding by water up the Tombigbee to near
the Chickasaw country, did not by any means comprise the
whole army of Bienville, for the renegade Choctaws, for so
many goods then delivered and so much more to be delivered at
the meeting place near the Chickasaws, furnished at least twelve
hundred warriors, according to DuPratz (p. 98), who were
commanded by their great chief; and these Choctaws marched
up the left bank of the Tombigbee, and met the army under
Bienville. In due course Bienville reached Tuninuntuchche (in
English, "where the bow was strung") called by the English
Cotton Gin Port, which was some twenty odd miles from the
Chickasaw Old Fields, and here at once threw up a fort to
protect his army of near two thousand men against the
Chickasaws, who, according to the French, could not muster
over 450 warriors, and the probability is this was an over-
estimate.
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The Signal Defeat of D'Artaquette—
If we have regard to chronology, that is, the order by suc-
cession of events as time rolls on, then we must for the time
being leave Bienville, with his army protected by fortifications
and by his Choctaw allies, who were thrown out as spies and
scouts in all directions to prevent an unexpected attack.
This army, consisting of respectable merchants and gentle-
nfien of leisure and fortune, as well as loafers and convicts,
veteran soldiers, monks and priests, Choctaws and Mobilians,
a company of negroes commanded by the mulatto, Simon the
black, and some Swiss mercenaries, were all recruited along the
shores of the Mexican Gulf; but Bienville was taking no chances
with the intrepid Chickasaws, and it will be recalled that under
his orders D'Artaguette had mustered into service another
French army upon the unsalted seas of the North and along the
shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the far North.
By appointment these two armies were to meet near the
Chickasaws on March 31, 1736, and crush as between the upper
and nether millstone the intrepid Chickasaws.
During the previous season Bienville had sent provisions,
f)owder, and balls to D'Artaguette by way of the Mississippi;
and while the voyagers were harassed by the ever-vigilant
Chickasaws issuing forth upon the Father of Waters in their
cypress canoes, still a safe landing was made at Fort St. Francis.
Subsequently, however, when D'Artaguette sent a crew to fetch
the munitions of war, we learn from DuPratz (p. 97), a co-
temporary of those times, that the Chickasaws,
"finding a boat laden with gun-powder, designed for his post,
and for the service of the war intended against the Chickasaws,
* * * was taken by the Chickasaws; who killed all but
M. du Tiffenet, Junior, and one Rosalie whom they made
slaves."
This powder was doubtless used by the Chickasaws in their
subsequent battle with D'Artaguette.
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D'Artaguette's army consisted of some thirty regular
soldiers, a company of one hundred volunteers, some negroes, and
about six hundred Illinois, Iroquois, Miamis, and other Indians
who loved the Chickasaws none too well on account of former
chastisements.
This army came down the Mississippi and landed at the
Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, now the site of Memphis, where it
was to be joined by De Grandpre, commanding a detachment of
Arkansas warriors ; but there was a miscarriage, and D'Artaguette
marched for the Chickasaw country, leaving word for the
Arkansas to follow, who likewise had been often chastised by
the Chickasaws.
On May 9, 1736, the army camped near the Chickasaws,
and but a few miles from the present Pontotoc, Mississippi,
that being the place where Bienville was to meet D'Artaguette,
but silence brooded over the country, and D'Artaguette sought in
vain through his Indian scouts for any intelligence of his chief.
The young lieutenant Vincennes, and Father Senac, the
Jesuit priest, were active in advising D'Artaguette to scour the
country for some word from Bienville, and finally a courier
brought to D'Artaguette a letter stating that Bienville had been
delayed and could not reach the Chickasaw country before the
last of April. It was now May, and the Indian allies became
restive and advised an immediate attack upon the Chickasaw
village named in their language Ash-wick-boo-ma^ or in English,
Red Grass. They stated that this village was occupied by the
remnant of the Natchez, and in all probability they were more
ready to match their skill against the Natchez than against the
Chickasaws. After overcoming this village they argued that they
would capture sufficient provisions to sustain the army while
waiting for the army of Bienville. Upon consultation it was
resolved to make the attack and on May 20, leaving Frontigny
with thirty men in charge of the baggage, D'Artaguette advanced
rapidly, but the impetuous Chickasaws with a few Englishmen
rose from behind a hill and fell upon the invaders with such
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force that the Iroquois and Illinois warriors, no doubt remem-
bering the terrible Chickasaw hoyopatassuah (war-whoop) on
former like attacks, took to their heels and stopped not until
they reached their former homes in the far North. The Arkansans
stood their ground and fought like true warriors.
There soon fell, gallantly attempting to stop the invincible
Chickasaws, Lieutenant St. Ange, Ensigns DeCoulanges, De
La Graviere, and De Courtigny, and other officers, the French
being now nearly surrounded, but holding their ground.
Soon Captain Des Essarts and some others fell, and the day
seeming to be lost, D'Artaguette sought safety from further
slaughter in retreat and to save his baggage; but it was now too
late, for D'Artaguette himself soon fell, covered with wounds,
and was taken prisoner with Father Senac and other officers and
men, nineteen altogether. At this crucial moment a great storm
swept over the field of battle, otherwise the whole French army
would have fallen into the hands of the Chickasaws that day.
Much booty fell into the hands of the Chickeisaws, including
a goodly number of horses, and what was more important near
five hundred pounds of powder and many bullets ready moulded
for the rifle, for with these and the guns also taken they were soon
to meet Bienville and his large army.
Scarcely less valuable there also fell into the hands of the
Chickasaws the private dispatches which Bienville had sent to
D'Artaguette, and which the English could readily read, thereby
disclosing all the secret plans of the French.
A noble youth only sixteen years old, named Voisin, fought
valiantly through this perilous battle, and took command of the
retreat, and on the next day of his retreat he met Montcherval,
in command of one hundred and sixty Indians,who was proceeding
to the relief of D'Artaguette, but hearing of his signal defeat and
capture, he retraced his steps with the fragment left of the army,
marching to the Mississippi on their return trip homeward bound.
D'Artaguette and his companions were spared for some
time, some writers saying with the hope of a ransom, but hearing
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of the defeat of Bienville, which ended all hope of a ransom,
D'Artaguette, Vincennes, Father Senac, and others were burned
at the stake. I am incredulous as to the mercenary motive thus
suggested, for it was entirely inconsistent with Chickasaw char-
acter ; and, moreover, to say that the prisoners were held until the
Chickasaws learned of the defeat of Bienville involves a contra-
diction, for D'Artaguette met his defeat six days before that of
Bienville.
One prisoner and one only was spared to carry to Bienville the
news of the disaster, the triumph of the Chickasaws over the
French.
Let not the fastidious raise their brows in holy horror at the
fate of the French at the stake ; for while it was horrible, ghastly
and savage, the French, who delighted to call themselves Chris-
tians and declared that their purpose was to carry the gospel of
peace and good will to the heathen, set the example of burning at
the stake to the Chickasaws. Had not Perrier, without shame,
caused four Natchez men and two women to be burned at the
stake publicly in New Orleans; and did he not permit his allies
the Tonicas to erect a platform near the levee, and thereupon to
burn to death at the stake a Natchez woman whom they had
found hiding in the woods?
And we learn from Francois Xavier Martin in his History of
Louisiana (Ed. 1882, p. 175) that the unfortunate Chevalier
D'Artaguette had served with distinction under Perrier during
the Natchez war, and was left by Perrier to rebuild the fort at
Natchez; so that to a certain extent D'Artaguette was a party
to the execution of the Natchez by burning at the stake.
* What a stigma," exclaims Pickett, "upon the character of
the early inhabitants of the crescent city!"
Nor did Perrier confine his burning at the stake to the
Natchez, for he played no favorites in his savagery. After re-
ferring to the fate of D'Artaguette and his companions at the
stake, Cushman reminds us that this was,
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"in strict accordance with the example set before them in
1 73 1 by Governor Perrier.who had burned the three Chickasaw
warriors sent by their nation to seek the alliance of the Illinois
Indians, but who unfortunately fell into his hands while on
their mission. If the seeking of aid from others merited death
at the stake, how much more does seeking the destruction of an
entire nation merit a similar fate? The Chickasaws but ex-
ecuted the old primitive law, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth,' in perfect harmony with their white foes when kill-
ing Indians."
There was a little incident connected with the retreat of
D'Artaguette, which borders on the romantic, as follows: A
young Chickasaw warrior named Alikukhlo Hosh (in English, the
Humming Bird) in pursuing the retreating forces of D'Artaguette
came across a little French girl only five years old, whom he at
once took into his care; and as time passed and the child grew up
among the free wild children of the forest, in due course she was
married to the Humming Bird, according to all the marriage
rites of the Chickasaws. This little French flower was called by
the Indians French Nancy, raised a large family, and lived to
the old age of ninety-one years, universally respected by the
Chickasaws, who looked upon her as a living monument of their
victory over D'Artaguette.
Rev. T. C. Stuart, the missionary, said he saw her in 1821,
she then being ninety-one years old ; that she remembered some
of the circumstances connected with her capture, and was
pleased to recall them ; that she retained her European features,
but otherwise she appeared like a true Chickasaw.
Th^ Battle of Acki»-
As we have seen, D'Artaguette met his signal defeat on May
20, 1736. On May 23, or only three days thereafter, Bienville
reached above what was afterwards known as Cotton Gin Port,
and there he felled trees and built a fort to protect his army and
secure his baggage and war munitions. He had endured with
his army a toilsome journey through the wilds of America,
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laboring under many disadvantages and burdened by many who
had fallen sick by the way.
As the impending battle was designed by the French to be
decisive, and forever settle whether the French or English
should dominate North America, the issue was of world-wide
importance, and I have concluded to insert immediately pre-
ceding this subtitle a cut showing the fort erected by Bienville
just above the now old abandoned town of Cotton Gin Port, in
what is now Monroe County, Mississippi, and about two miles
southeast of Armory, which absorbed the old town in 1887,
upon the building of the Kansas City, Memphis, and Birmingham
Railroad.
We learn from George J. Leftwich (Vol. 7, p. 263) that the
Indian name for Cotton Gin Port was Tollama-Toxa, signifying
'**where he first strung the bow," the name having reference to
Bienville's disastrous expedition against the Chickasaws in
1736.
Soon after Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794, the
United States discreetly caused to be erected, it is said by the
advice of Washington, a cotton gin one mile west of the ferry in
order to encourage the Chickasaws to raise cotton, which was a
shrewd stroke of policy to gain their good will ; and afterwards the
old Indian town was called Cotton Gin Port until it was put out
of business by the building of the railroad in 1887 as stated above.
Near the boat landing and this cotton gin there stood an enor-
mous oak tree, called "The Council Tree," where the Indians in
ancient and prehistoric times held their councils; and here, it is
said, Tecumseh met the Chickasaw warriors in an endeavor to
induce them to enter the Creek war against the Americans, but
they disdainfully refused to hear him, when he proceeded south
to harangue the ever fickle Choctaws. This cut of the fort and
its surroundings I have taken from 7 Publications of the Mis-
sissippi Society papers, page 262, accompanying an article by
George J. Leftwich, CoUon Gin Port and Gaines' Trace, which I
read with both profit and pleasure.
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As will be seen by the inscription thereon, the plat was
drawn by George Gaines Tindall, September 2, 1903, after a
survey, and afterwards redrawn at my request on March 12th,
1 92 1, by J. Paul Gaines, a descendant of the same family from
which sprang General Edmond Pendleton Gaines and Colonel
George Strother Gaines, both of whom bore a conspicuous part
in the settlement of the Southwest, and who were both descend-
ants of Edmond Pendleton of Revolutionary fame. George
Strother Tyndall was named for Colonel George Strother Gaines,
and still survives, never having married, living in Monroe
County, Mississippi, enjoying life in the seventy-fifth year of his
age.
The road leading to the east and marked Cotton Gin and
Okolona Road is a part of what is designated Gaines' Trace on
Lusher's map, so named for Col. George S. Gaines, and at one
time formed the southeastern boundary of the Chickasaw
country.
This Bienville fort was seen by Captain Bernard Romans in
1 77 1, when he visited the Chickasaws that year.
At the time Leftwich wrote in 1903, it had been much de-
stroyed and worn down by the combined forces of man and the
elements. The dark lines showed the embarkment as far as it
could then be traced, the remainder being doubtless destroyed
by cultivation and erosion. The mound was about fifty yards
square, elevated some eight feet above the surrounding plain , upon
which there was a dwelling house. The round mound shown on
the plat was composed largely of mussel shells, what is usually
called kitchen-midden, these not being uncommon along Southern
rivers, showing that anciently the mussel was an important
article of food with the Indians.
The place to which the arrow points on the river and which
is designated thus, "Cannon Hole 470 yards from Mound," may
be thus explained: About one hundred years ago some cannon
were discovered in the river at that place, and it was first claimed
that they were left by the De Soto expedition ; but the suggestion
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leading to inquiries it was pointed out that such cannon as De
Soto had were left in Alabama, and the better opinion now is
that, although the DeSoto expedition was armed with the
arquebuse, the ancient predecessor of the modern high-powered
rifle, still even his ammunition for these gave out before he
reached the Tombigbee. It was next claimed that these cannon
were left there by Bienville; but it was shown that he had no
cannon with him at the fort in 1736; and the final, and in all
probability the correct, conclusion is that the cannon were left
there by Vaudreuil upon his defeat by the Chickasaws in 1752,
he having also landed at this old fort.
The water craft of Bienville are supposed to have been
anchored near the "Cannon Hole," and guarded by the fort.
The Chickasaw villages lay to the northeast, less than
thirty miles distant. Bienville had in vain through his scouts
sought to get in touch with D'Artaguette, and, of course, knew
nothing of his previous signal defeat and capture. If Bienville
had scouts and spies abroad eager for any sign or intelligence
useful to his army, it must be remembered that there were no
hunters or trackers equal to the Chickasaws, who could read a ^
story from even one bent blade of grass or an upturned leaf; and ;
they well knew how to cover up their tracks, so that though the :
battle with D'Artaguette had just been fought, the enemy
found no sign thereof, nor obtained any intelligence of his situa-
tion.
Leaving some twenty to thirty men in charge of the stockade,
to guard the provisions, the munitions, the water craft, and the
sick, Bienville commenced his march toward the Chickasaw
towns, taking with him twelve days' rations. It is significant
that he found it difficult to hire sufficient number of the renegade
Choctaws to carry the necessary powder and balls. Evidently
they feared the Chickasaws. The first part of the march was
much broken, and the streams were at flood tide from recent
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rains, making the march toilsome through the timber, but the
Chickasaw villages lay in the shape of a triangle upon the prairies.
I can not refrain here from copying the picture drawn by Pickett
of the beautiful home of the Chickasaws, soon to run red with
human blood.
"Soon, however, the French were relieved by the appearance
of the most beautiful country in the world. The prairies were
stretched out wide before them, covered with green grass, flowers,
and strawberries, while forests of magnificent trees were to be
seen in the distance. A breeze gently played over the surface of
the lovely plains, and a May day's sun warmed all nature into
life. The sleek cattle were everywhere grazing upon these sweet
meadows of nature. The nimble deer bounded along, and droves
of wild horses, of every variety of color, with lofty tails and
spreading manes, made the earth resound with their rapid tread.
Alas! alas! to think that the inhabitants, whom the Great Spirit
had placed in a country so lovely and so enchanting, were soon
to be assailed by an army of foreigners, assisted by their own
neighbors."
Bienville finally pitched his camp some six miles from the
Indian houses which could be seen across the prairie, and here
again he endeavored to hear something from D'Artaguette,
failing in which his first plan was to encircle the Chickasaws and
commence his attack on the town of the Natchez, as D'Artaguette
had done only a few days previously; but the Choctaws had
become very impatient and insisted on attacking an advanced
Chickasaw village, which, they said, could be easily taken and
which contained a large amount of provisions. Here we note
that the capture of provisions was the controlling feature in the
selection by the Choctaws of a point for attack, precisely as it had
been with the Illinois and other Indians under D'Artaguette.
However, the ever vigilant Chickasaws were prepared for any
emergency and had well fortified themselves by forts protected
with heavy palisades covered with heavy timbers, this topped
off with clay so as to prevent fires as far as possible.
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In addition there were fortified houses, so arranged as to
admit of cross firing to the best advantage. Behind the pali-
sades the earth had. been excavated, and loop holes cut through
the palisades, so the defenders could shoot through the port-
holes with a minimum exposure of their bodies.
Bienville, after considerable consideration, finally yielded to
the Chevalier Noyan and other officers, precisely as D'Artaguette
had done, and about two o'clock in the afternoon of May 26,
1736, he ordered the attack, placing Noyan at the head of a col-
umn composed of fifteen regular soldiers drawn from the eight
French companies, a company of grenadiers, forty-five volun-
teers and sixty-five Swiss mercenaries.
In order to protect the French soldiers a kind of movable
breastworks had been constructed, and these were called man-
telettes; and as the lives of the negroes seemed not to have been
regarded of much value, the negroes' part in the battle was to
carry these mantalettes in front of the white soldiers, thus
converting them with their mantalettes into shields of protection.
Evidently not only Bienville but the negroes as well were ex-
pecting the Chickasaws to use only bows and arrows, though the
British flag waved proudly over the fortifications, and a few
English traders were on the inside of the fortress, who, though
given leave by the French to depart, gallantly declined the offer,
casting their lot with the Chickasaws who had been ever faithful
to them.
When the French came within gunfire of the village of
Ackia, the Chickasaws poured out a murderous fire, not of
arrows, but of powder and lead which they had captured a few
days before from D'Artaguette. At the first fire one negro was
killed and another was wounded and seeing that their mantalettes
were no protection against the unexpected and murderous fire,
they threw down the mantalettes and precipitately fled. The
painted and plumed Choctaws thus having their visions of
provisions rudely dispelled, ceased in their war-whoops, and
likewise took to their heels, never joining in the battle.
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Not so with the French, who, under the leadership of Cheva-
lier Noyan, fought their way into the village, carrying three
fortified cabins and setting fire to others, but they had not so
much as reached the main fort which lay at some distance
further onward.
Already many soldiers had fallen to the right and to the left,
but when the Chevalier de Contre Coeur fell, consternation
spread among the French.
When the Chevalier De Noyan endeavored to rally his men, he
was startled to find that only the officers and a few of the volun-
teers were ready to obey orders, the others having sought safety
in flight behind the cabins first taken. Captain de Lusser had
fallen also, and, being panicstricken, no exhortations, threats, or
promises of reward could induce them to retrieve their cowardly
conduct. The officers, burning with indignation, rushed forward
at the head of the few soldiers, but almost immediately Noyan,
Lieutenant Grondel of the Swiss, Captain D'Hauterieve of the
grenadiers, Montbrun, DeVelles, and other officers and men
received severe wounds, for the Chickasaw balls were flying in
every direction. De Noyan, though severely wounded, dis-
patched his aid, De Juzan, to bring up the soldiers hiding be-
hind the cabins, but he fell almost at once, and instantly a party ^
of Chickasaws rushed up to scalp the Swiss Grondel, when a '
sergeant and four soldiers rushed to the rescue, when a fire from
the fort killed all four. Then an act of heroism worthy of note
took place. A private named Regnisse, seeing the desperate
condition of Grondel, who was lying senseless among the dead
men who gave their lives to save his, rushed forward and bore
the unconscious body of Grondel to the ranks of his friends,
without himself receiving a scratch from the whistling bullets
of the Chickasaws, though the almost lifeless body of Grondel
received another wound.
When afterwards Bienville offered to promote Regnisse, the
noble fellow declined, saying that, as he could neither read or
write, he was not competent to become an officer. It is also
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worthy to mention that Grondel was one of the bravest of the
brave, and not only recovered but afterwards was highly pro-
moted.
I read with amused interest the fleeing of the negroes at
the first outset, when two of them were shot down, as it seemed
such was characteristic of that volatile race; but justice to them
requires that we should remember that they were not armed, and
that they were used to a great extent as mere human shields.
Simon, their black leader, being rallied by the whites upon
the conduct of his company, in the evening immediately after
the combat, was stung by their taunts. At that very moment
a drove of horses came down to slake their thirst not far from
some fortified houses of the Chickasaws. "I will show you,"
said Simon, "that a negro is as brave as any one" ; and at once he
ran around the horses next to the Chickasaws, who were shooting
at him, threw a rope around a beautiful white mare, tied it to
her nose, and vaulting upon her back, rode back to the French
camp, unscratch^d, amid the plaudits of the soldiers, thereby
earning for himself the soubriquet of "Simon, the brave."
It is also worthy of notice that while the French were quite
careful to note all the deeds of heroism performed by the French,
the Swiss, and even Simon the Black yet no act of bravery or
daring, nay not even the name of a single Chickasaw warrior is
recorded in any of the accounts given of who participated in the
signal defeat of D'Artaguette, at the battle of Ackia, or in the
defeat of Vaudreuil.
That there were heroes and acts of heroism to match, and in
all probability to excel, those of the French which were recorded,
we know, for otherwise the invincible Chickasaws would not
have triumphed over their foes.
This may be taken as one instance which shows that the
Chickasaws received scant credit for their meritorious acts at the
hands of the French.
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The Chevalier De Noyan, though severely wounded, dis-
patched a courier to Bienville with the news of his perilous
situation, and asked for a detachment of soldiers to relieve him
as much as possible by removing the dead and wounded and
aiding the living to effect a retreat. Even then a band of Chick-
asaws was hovering on the flank, and when Bienville sent Beau-
champ with a detachment of troops to the rescue of Noyan, many
of them fell under the fire of the Chickasaws; but Beauchamp
succeeded in rescuing the living and many of the dead.
While the battle of Ackia lasted only three hours, it added
new laurels to the achievements of the Chickasaws, and at the
same time brought sorrow and disgrace to Bienville. •^
A Perfect Chickasaw Day-
According to the chroniclers of old the day of the battle of
Ackia was what we would call a perfect Mississippi day. The
noise and tumult of the bloody conflict were hushed as twilight
approached; the cool breezes sweeping over the broad prairies
were laden with the perfumes of the wild flowers which carpeted
the earth with beauty, and afforded sustenance for the half-wild
horses and kine which now went down to the rushing waters to
slake their thirst. The mocking bird (in the Chickasaw language,
hushi buebaha), the king of the forest, on topmost branch of the
topmost tree, was pouring forth the melodies of nature.
And now the sun was setting in a blaze of glory behind the
distant trees beyond the prairie. This filled the souls of the
Chickasaws with a glow of fervent religious enthusiasm; for it
will be recalled that in a previous chapter (VIII) in answer to
the great John Wesley shortly after this battle, viz: on July 20,
1736, Paustoobee, the young Chickasaw chief, said: "We be-
lieve there are four beloved things above; the clouds, the sun,
the clear sky, and He that lives in the clear sky."
Was not here now plainly visible to the Chickasaws the
three beloved things which are visible, while the invisible they as
firmly believed was looking down upon them from the blue sky,
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shedding the glorious radiance which made the heavens smile
and filled their souls with heavenly delight?
Were they not the free, wild children of Nature?
By slow and painful marches Bienville reached his water
craft and finally Mobile, and then New Orleans, but with only
a remnant of those who went forth to extirpate the Chickasaw
nation. On his way to Mobile he learned of the fate of D'Arta-
guette. No one realized more than Bienville the disastrous
results of the Chickasaw campaign, but his ill will was insatiable,
and he nursed his wrath for years to keep it warm.
The incidents connected with this retreat and its immediate
effect upon the French settlements are both important and
interesting, but they lay far beyond the scope of this sketch.
BteiiTllle's Second War Upon the Chickasaws—
There have been few plans of colonization on a vaster scale
than those embraced in the settlement of Louisiana, embracing
all of North America west of the Alleghenies and taking in the
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and from the warm Gulf of
Mexico to the frozen ocean of the arctic regions in the far North.
While our judgment upon the policies pursued in the execution
of these vast schemes may greatly differ from those of the
French, yet we can not withhold our admiration for the boldness
of their plans, their gay contempt of danger, their patience, their
suffering in their endeavors to conquer and people the new
world for the glory of France, for all of their efforts were cast in
heroic moulds.
And we must remember also that what Bienville and his
coadjutors did was done for the glory of France, and that Bien-
ville is remembered and revered as the real founder and father
of New Orleans and Mobile, where his labors are still cherished
as a true patriot.
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Our point of view is necessarily somewhat different; and as
already indicated, Bienville, before reaching his home on his
retreat from the disaster of the battle of Ackia, had formulated
plans for a second expedition against the Chickasaws for the
purpose of their extermination; for this small nation was the one
and only obstacle which stood between the French and their bold
plans to capture the North American continent for the French
people.
To avoid the error of his previous plans, which led to the
failure of the meeting of the army from the North with that of the
army from the South under his own command, which he regarded
as the fatal defect in his plans, he now planned to have the two
armies meet at Fort St. Francis, in the present state of Arkansas,
and from thence to proceed to the Chickasaw Bluffs, where
Memphis now is, and there to build a fort, and using this as a
base to invade the country of the Chickasaws and effectuate their
extermination.
The army was at first employed in building a fort on the
Chickasaw Bluffs, which was completed on August 15, 1739, and
that being the day on which the Catholic Church celebrates the
festival of the Assumption of the Virgin, it was named Fort
Assumption. Martin then says:
''Labuissoniere, who had succeeded the unfortunate Cheva-
lier D'Artaguette in the command of Fort Chartres, arrived a
few days after with his garrison, a part of the militia of the
Illinois, and about two hundred Indians. He was followed the
next week by Celeron and St. Laurent, his lieutenants, who
commanded a company of cadets from Quebec and Montreal,
and a number of Canadian Indians.
"The force from New Orleans consisted of the Louisiana
regulars and militia, the companies of marines, lately landed
from France, and upwards of sixteen hundred Indians, so that
Bienville found himself at the head of upwards of twelve hundred
white and double that number of Indian and black troops.
"This comparatively very large army unaccountably spent
six months in making preparations for its march.*'
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I can conjecture no reason for this long and unexplained
delay of attack on the part of Bienville, except the dread he must
have entertained for the unconquerable Chickasaws. Here we
find him at the head of 3,600 troops, one- third of them white,
hardy pioneers, many of them regular soldiers, besides his
Indian allies; and opposed to them the small Chickasaw nation
which, according to the greatest estimate of the French, could
not muster over five hundred warriors; or, comparatively speak-
ing, the French outnumbered the Chickasaws over seven to one.
Moreover, the French had the best guns and ammunition,
including cannon, which the French government with all its
resources could supply, while the Chickasaws had no cannon
and necessarily inferior small arms and other munitions. This
was the largest army of its kind which had ever assembled on
the Chickasaw Bluffs prior to that time. While Bienville knew
full well the small number of the Chickasaws whom he was to
meet in mortal combat, he also knew that each Chickasaw was
every inch a warrior, that they fought like infuriated lions,
neither asking or expecting any mercy; and, moreover, that when
the stake was great, and the issue supreme, the Chickasaw
women joined in the combat, not only encouraging the men by
their presence and songs, but also fighting like tigresses.
While the French were lying idle in their fort, disease ap-
peared, and many of the men sickened and died; provisions ran
so short that they were forced to kill horses for food, and gaunt
famine joined with disease as the beginning of the New Year
claimed more victims, so that not many over one hundred white
soldiers, regulars, and volunteers were fit for service.
On March 15, 1840, or exactly seven months after the com-
pletion of the fort, Bienville ordered Celeron with something over
one hundred white troops in the center and with all of his numerous
red and black allies on the wings, to march for the Chickasaw
country, and that in case they asked for peace to grant it.
When this numerous army approached the first village, the
Chickasaws came out and asked for peace, saying they had been
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instigated to war by the English from Carolina, and that they
had recently taken two Englishmen prisoners and were ready to
surrender them in token of their good faith; they asked that
Celeron depute one of his officers to enter the village with them
to see the two prisoners, and St. Laurent was sent for that pur-
pose.
As soon as he entered the village, the Indian women derided
him and demanded of the men the head of St. Laurent, and he
was seized and confined in a cabin while his fate was being
debated, the result being that the counsels of the more moderate
prevailed, and St. Laurent kept his head on his shoulders, upon
his promise, however, in the name of Celeron to grant peace to
the Chickasaws. Thereupon several of the Chickasaws returned
with Celeron to Fort Assumption, where the pipe of peace was
smoked and passed around in due Indian form, as a token that
Bienville confirmed the peace offered by Celeron, which was but
in compliance to his previous orders. It is also added that
the Chickasaws surrendered the two Englishmen, but their
names are not given, nor their fate recorded, which, in
my judgment at least, raises a question as to this part of the
story.
In closing his account of the second war against the Chicka-
saws, Martin (p. 178) says:
"The Fort of the Assumption was raised, and Labuisson-
niere and Celeron ascended the river with those of their men
whom disease and famine had spared. The force from New Or-
leans stopped at the river St. Francis to dismantle the fort, and
then floated down to the city.
"Thus ended the Chickasaw war, undertaken by Bienville
to compel these Indians to surrender the Natchez, who had found
an asylum among the former. Peace was made on the promise
of the Indians of one of the villages of the enemy, to be in future
the devoted friends of the French — ^purchased at the price of
many valuable lives, at a vast expense besides, and with great
distress and toil. The French chief acquired no military glory
from the war."
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In stating the facts with respect to this second war of Bien-^
ville against the Chickasaws, I have followed closely the history
of Francois Xavier Martin, first published in 1827. This remark-
able man was bom in Marseilles, France, March 17, 1762, and
died in New Orleans, December 10, 1846, in the eighty-fifth
year of his age, having presided as Judge and Chief Justice in
Louisiana for thirty-six years, the last fifteen years of which
he was entirely blind, but discharged every duty with great
credit and ability. Blessed with an iron constitution and great
mental ability, coupled with unusual perseverance and an un-
tiring will he was the author of over twenty books. He never
married, was miserly and niggardly, and died the owner of an
estate of $400,000, which he willed to his brother in an un-
witnessed holographic will, written long after he was totally
blind, which gave rise to an acrimonious litigation in which the
judges of the Supreme Court where he so long presided, sustained
the validity of his will.
As was natural, he sympathized with his compatriots, the
French, but was an unusually impartial historian.
The pride of Bienville was wounded and his spirits humbled
by the results of the wars with the Chickasaws, and on MautJi 26,
1742, he sent his letter of resignation to the French minister,
couched in part in these words:
"If success had always corresponded with my application
to the affairs of the government and administration of the
colony, and with my zeal for the service of the king, I would
have rejoiced in devoting the rest of my days to such objects;
but, through a sort of fatality, which, for some time past, has
obstinately thwarted my best concerted plans, I have frequently
lost the fruit of my labors, and, perhaps some ground in your
excellency's confidence; therefore have I come to the conclusion
that it is no longer necessary for me to struggle against my
adverse fortune. I hope that better luck may attend my successor.
During the remainder of my stay here, I will give all my attention
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to smooth the difficulties attached to the office which I shall
deliver up to him; and it is to me a subject of self gratulation
that I shall transmit to him the government of the colony, when
its affairs are in a better condition than they have ever been."
While we rejoice at the triumph of the Chickasaws, still no
one can read this letter of Bienville, who had spent his life in the
wilderness of the South in the vain endeavor to win it for France,
without cherishing for his memory profound respect and ad-
miration for his countless heroic deeds in contending with the
savages of the wilderness.
It may here be noted that when he left Louisiana for FrancCt
he was sixty-five years old, and lived to the extreme age of near
ninety years, but never for one moment lost interest in Louisiana,
and when the king of France on November 3, 1762, by what is
called the secret treaty, during the last days of Bienville, ceded
Louisiana to Spain, he begged the king in vain with tears in his
eyes, not to place the subjects of France under the tyrannical
Spanish.
Yaudreull Blakes War on the Chlekasaws—
On May 10, 1743, the Marquis De Vaudreuil succeeded
Bienville; and as might have been expected, the resentments
which grew out of the Choctaws having twice joined the French
in an effort to exterminate the Chickasaws led to almost incessant
conflicts between the Chickasaws and Choctaws, but it is not
deemed necessary to enter into the details of these petty wars.
It is important to note, however, that the Chickasaws not
only once but twice sued for peace with Vaudreuil, sending to
him soon after his arrival four of their chiefs, but his answer was
that he would not treat with them until they had driven all the
English from their country, and not even then until they had
made peace with and came in concert with the Choctaws, with
whom they were then at war.
These terms the Chickasaws could not comply with, and
about this time the Choctaws became torn asunder by two
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parties in the nation, one party favoring the Spaniards, while
the other favored the English. In this feud the Spanish party
caused the great Choctaw chief Red Shoes to be assassinated.
There can be no doubt that both the English and the Spaniards
fanned the fire of discord among both the Chickasaws and Choc-
taws for their own benefit and to the detriment of the Indians.
Again the Chickasaws sued for peace, saying now that they
would make peace with the Choctaws; again Vaudreuil was
obdurate, writing to his government that
"by the failure of the expeditions undertaken against them
between the years 1735 and 1740, the Indians have arrived at
the conclusion that we cannot conquer or destroy them; and
until we erase from their minds the impression of our inability
to subdue them, by giving full retaliation for our unsuccessful
operations against them, the honor of our arms will remain
tarnished."
He consumed some two years in making preparations to
fall upon and destroy the Chickasaws, who were suing for peace,
and what for? Because the honor of the French had been
"tarnished" by their defeat when they invaded the land of the
Chickasaws and sought their destruction, but who successfully
defended their ancient home.
It would serve no good purpose to go into details, and
suffice it to say that Vaudreuil gathered seven hundred white
soldiers, some sixty-five of whom were Swiss mercenaries, to-
gether with a large force of Indians, and in 1752 he invaded the
land of the Chickasaws, going up the Tombigbee and landing at
Cotton Gin Port, and from thence marched overland to the
Chickasaw towns, where he met defeat in practically the same
manner as did Bienville sixteen years before, although he did
bum some of their houses and laid waste some of their fields.
What an inglorious campaign was this!
Many years afterwards some cannon were found in the
Tombigbee River at or near Cotton Gin Port, and it was re-
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ported that they were left there by De Soto in 1541 ; but this is
doubtless incorrect, the probability being that they were left
there by Vaudreuil on account of low water, it being supposed
that Bienville did not undertake to transport the cannon which
he had procured in 1736.
In a note to Pickett (p. 303) it is said that De Soto brought
with him but one piece of artillery, which he left in Florida. The
De Soto narratives are singularly silent as to the artillery.
The Chlekasaws' Prowess on the Mlssissippir-
Reference has previously been made to the fact that the
Chickasaws, though living far inland, were almost amphibious
and ruled on the waves of the Mississippi and Tennessee, and
this was one of the secrets of the immense prowess of this small
nation. As a continuation in chronological order of their story
and showing in what manner they ruled upon the broad bosom
of the Father of Waters, I can do no better than to copy from a
letter written by Jean Bernard Bossu, a captain in the French
army, written when traveling through this country at the fort
of Tombecbe, the 30th of September, 1759 (Vol. i, p. 309):
"Before I finish my letter, I must say a word of the Tchica-
chas, or Chickasaws. This nation is not so numerous as the
Choctaws, but more terrible, an account of their intrepidity.
All the Northern and Southern Indian nations, and even the
French, have attacked them, without ever being able to drive
them out of their country, which is the finest and most fruitful
on the continent. The Chickasaws are tall, well made, and of an
unparalleled courage. In 1752 and 1753 they attacked Messrs.
Benoist and de Reggio, who commanded the convoys from the
Illinois station, descending the river Mississippi: these Indians
always choose some advantageous situation to make an attack
in; Uieir most common post is at the rocks of Prudhomme,
since the river being narrow there, they can annoy the boats,
which have no decks.
''It is believed that the Chickasaws killed Messrs. BoufFelet
and de la Mosliere; these two officers, though they were very
brave, fell into an ambuscade for want of experience, not knowing
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the topography of the country they were in any more than
General Braddock.
"An officer ought, therefore, always to apply to this, in order
to avoid surprises, or else, therefore, alwa3rs be on the defensive
and prepared."
It will be noted that the usual point of attack is stated to
have been at Proudhomme, the river being narrower there. The
place thus referred to was no doubt the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff,
which, as shown hereinbefore, at an early date became erroneous-
ly called Proudhomme. Dr. Barton in his New Views of the
Origin of the American Indians (1797, p. 48) sajrs: "From the
accounts which I have collected from the Chickassah, I con-
cluded they crossed the Mississippi nearly opposite the Chicka-
saw Bluff"; and this accords with what they told Dr. Lincecum
many years afterwards, and we know full well that from ancient
times it has been their chief entrepot,
I have quoted at large from this letter of Captain Bossu,
because it is dated only seventeen days after the defeat of Mont-
calm by Wolfe, September 13, 1759, on the Plain of Abraham at
Quebec, and because he was on the ground in the Tombigbee
country at that particular time, and being a French officer he was
there in all probability at the instance of his government to
spy out the situation and make report of what he observed that
would be important for the French government to know. His
visit was only seven years after the defeat of Vaudreuil by the
Chickasaws, that being the third signal defeat of the French and
their many Indian allies, as well as white mercenaries, by the
unaided Chickasaws. I say unaided Chickasaws, because, while
the English flag was run up at the battle of Ackie, there could have
been only a few English traders at most who were with the
Chickasaws, no one claiming the presence of English troops.
Only four years after the visit of Captain Bossu to the
Tombigbee country, France, by the treaty of 1763, ceded the
Chickasaws and contiguous countries to England, thus forever
surrendering all her claims to what Bossu described as "the finest
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and most fruitful (country) on the continent/' and thus also
forever destroying the cherished ambition of Bienville, which
caused him in retirement to shed bitter tears of disappointment,
after he, Vaudreuil, D'Artaguette, and their faithful followers
and Indian allies had endured so many hardships and had sacri-
ficed so many lives in the vain endeavor to extirpate the invincible
Chickasaws, who stood like lions in the pathway of the French
in their cherished ambition that the lilies of France and the cross
of her church should dominate the North American continent.
Who can doubt for one moment that one of the main, if not
controlling, reasons, which induced the French to surrender all
hopes of retaining this fair country, was the previous impossibility
to defeat the intrepid Chickasaws, and the picture drawn by
Bossu showing that they were still invincible?
Nor did Bossu overdraw the picture.
It will be recalled that Adair, the English trader, first went
to live for some years among the Chickasaws in 1744, or only
eight years after the signal defeats of Bienville and D'Artaguette,
and what is also important to remember, only eight years before
the signal defeat of Vaudreuil by the Chickasaws; and as Adair
tells us that the greater part of his book was written in the
Chickasaw country, he was but recording passing events, trans-
piring within his own observation, when speaking of the Chicka-
saws and the manner in which they fought the French and
thwarted all of their plans to control the lower Mississippi River
and its valley.
Commencing at p. 354 Adair gives a summary of these
struggles, and further on says: \
"Flushed with this success, many parties turned out against
the French, and from time to time hunted them far and near; —
some went to the Mississippi, made a fleet of cypress-bark
canoes, watched their trading boats, and cut off many of them
without saving any of the people. The French finding it im-
practicable for a few boats to pass those red men of war were
obliged to go in a fleet, carry swivel-guns in their long pettiaugres.
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with plenty of men; but always shunning the Chiklcasah side of
the river, and observing the strictest order in their movements by
day, and in their stations at night* The walking of a wild beast,
I have been assured, has frequently called them to arms, and
kept them awake for the whole night, they were in so great
a dread of this warlike natjion. The name of a Chikkasah be-
came so dreadful, as it was hateful to their ears. And had it not
been more owing to French policy than bravery in uniting all the
Mississippi and Canada Indians in a confederacy and enmity
against them, Louisiana settlements would have been long since
either entirely destroyed or confined to garrison/'
Bancroft (Vol. II, p. 234) says:
"The great object of the crown was the establishment of
its power in Louisiana. The Chickasaws were the dreaded
enemies who had hurried the Natchez to bloodshed and de-
struction ; in their cedar barks, shooting boldly into the Mississip-
pi, they interrupted the connection between Kaskaskia and New
Orleans. They maintained their savage independence and
weakened by dividing the French empire. They made all set-
tlements on the eastern bank of the Mississippi unsafe from the
vicinity of New Orleans to Kaskaskia. They welcomed the
English traders from Carolina to their villages; they even en-
deavored to debauch the affections of the Illinois, and to extirpate
French dominion from the west. After nearly two years'
preparation, in 1736, the whole force of the colony at the south,
with D'Artaguette and troops from his command in Illinois and
probably from the Wabash, was directed to meet, on the tenth
of May, in their land. The government of France had itself
given directions for the invasion, and watched the issue of the
strife."
I do not place very great reliance upon the deduction made
by even so distinguished a writer as Bancroft, unless it appears
that he has made a special study of the subject upon which an
opinion is expressed. The reasons for this view are obvious.
George J. Leftwich of Aberdeen, Mtssi^ippi, is an eminent
lawyer, and has contributed several valuable historical papers
upon local Mississippi history, and now has. in preparation a
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volume on the Tombigbee country; and in a recent letter to me
he says:
"I am now making a study of the state of Louisiana under
the French and Spanish regimes, and every day I am more and
more impressed with the services done the English-speaking race
by the Chickasaws, under the direction of English traders during
the formative period of the Southwest. Could the French and
Spanish have overrun these hardy warriors, there is no telling
now the consequences. ' '
May we not go further and say that, to a great extent, the
English-speaking peoples, the world over, owe a debt of gratitude
to the invincible Chickasaws, in that to them is due the credit in
a large measure that the English-speaking people now dominate,
not only the North American continent, but the uncivilized as
well as all civilized mankind?
In this connection we should remember that not only were
all the more numerous neighbors of the Chickasaws, that is, the
Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminoles, hostile to the
English, and often in league with the French, but the lesser
tribes and near neighbors of the Chickasaws were the allies of
the French, Thus, Halbert in an interesting article on "The
Small Indian Tribes of Mississippi" (5 Miss. Hist. Soc., pp. 302,
307) states that the Southern Indians were so dissatisfied with
the treaty of 1763, under which the French ceded their rights
east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, (to quote) that
"Representatives from all the Indian tribes south of the
Ohio River held a general council at Mobile in the spring of
1764 to decide what course to pursue regarding the now all-
absorbing power of the English. Many of the Indians, and in
some cases whole tribes, resolved to expatriate themselves, and
follow the French to Lx)uisiana. The tribes that carried this
resolve into effect were the Tensas, Biloxis, and Pascagoulas;
also many of the sixtown Choctaws, and a part of the Coshattees
and Alibamoe."
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Practically single-handed and alone the intrepid Chickasaws
defied not only the French empire but all of the Indian allies of
the French and so successfully that their victories read almost
like romance. The prowess of the Chickasaws upon the great
Mississippi was no doubt one of the main factors which won for
them the glory of a triumphant end of all their struggles with the
French and their Indian allies.
It is almost needless to say that the Chickasaws were con-
spicuous by their absence from the great Indian council at Mobile
in 1764 to shed tears over the withdrawal of the French, and to
exile themselves by following the French to Lx)uisiana.
And, likewise, the Chickasaws were also conspicuous in alone
rejoicing at the withdrawal of the French, which meant also that
England was to exercise undisputed sway over the land of the
Chickasaws and adjacent Indian countries east of the Mississippi.
In the future critical and analytical historians will not fail
to give to the Chickasaws that meed of praise for their valor and
unconquerable spirit; and what is more important will accord to
their primitive warriors the just tribute of having been the de-
termining factor which turned the scale against the French and
in favor of the British, thus making the English-speaking people
the overlords on the American continent.
The English Gain Control of the Gulf States—
The long struggle between England and France for suprem-
acy in what now constitute the Gulf States, and over the waters
of the Mississippi, ended with the treaty of Paris, concluded on
February 10, 1763. By that treaty (to quote),
"The most Christian king cedes to his Britannic Majesty the
river and the port of Mobile and all that he possesses on the
left side of the river Mississippi, with the exception of New
Orleans and the island on which it is situated."
Out of this territory on October 7, 1763, by proclamation of
the king, there was laid off the British Province of West Florida;
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and on November 20, 1763, George Johnstone, a son of
Sir James Johnstone, was appointed the first governor of
the new province, presumably through the influence of Lord
Bute, then premier of England, and like the Johnstones a
Scotsman.
It appears Governor Johnstone did not arrive to take charge
of west Florida until October, 1764, and he then found the
Indians in a perfect ferment, as he believed, incited thereto by
the French.
He estimated the fighting men of the Creeks at 3,600, those
of the Choctaws at 6,000, while he estimated all the Indians
surrounding the province at 12,000 men, while his own force was
small and weak.
Already the Choctaws were in so bad a temper that they
were sending the bloody hatchet, their symbol of war, to the other
nations. The Chickasaws are not mentioned in the first reports,
doubtless because they were giving no trouble.
On March 26, 1765, so far as my researches have disclosed,
the Chickasaws first appear in a council of the governor with the
Choctaws, the Chickasaws being represented by Paya Mattaha,
their principal leader, and other chiefs, while the Choctaws
were represented by Alibamon Mingo and several other great
medal chiefs, as well as two small medal chiefs.
In his address to the Chickasaws, among other things.
Governor Johnstone said :
"You, generous friends of the Chickasaw nation, who have
so long adhered to the interest of the English, whom neither
dangers could startle nor promises seduce from our interest, I
hope there is little more necessary with you than to renew our
ancient alliance, which, as it has continued for many ages to the
mutual advantage of both nations, I hope will continue until this
earth is dissolved and the great Day of Judgment shall come when
God will pronounce on the actions of men ; rewarding those who
have behaved justly and punishing those who have held a con-
trary conduct."
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After many speeches had been made, on the next day
Governor Johnstone further said :
"And first I speak to you, Chickasaw warriors. The king
looks upon your nation as a son brought up in the house of his
father, who had been from his infancy dutyfull and had by that
means merited his paternal tenderness and caiie by which he was
preserved and defended from numberless surrounding dangers;
so has it been with you till this day, which is clear and bright,
and the paths from your towns to every country round are safe
and clear, and your father rejoices at your happyness and con-
tinues to love you."
By wise policies Governor Johnstone pacified the various
Indian tribes as near as that could be done at that time and with
his small garrison. Years were to elapse, however, and wars and
rumors of war were to follow in close succession, before enduring
peace between the Indians and whites was to appear; and then
only after the Indians hostile to the whites were removed from
their ancient homes to new homes in the far West; but this is
another story far beyond the purview of this sketch.
The Prophecy of Adair Fulfllled—
As we are now approaching the end of the days of the primi-
tive Chickasaws, and in the next chapter are to take up the
treaties between them and the United States, it may be well here
to recall that to a certain extent the nation had come partially
within the light of history; for Adair had gone to trade among
the Indians in 1735, and first went among the Chickasaws in
1744, to whom he was warmly attached, and among them he
tells us that he wrote the most of his book; and it has been said,
how true I know not, that he was married to a Chickasaw woman.
Boudinot says (p. 211) that some time about 1774 or 1775
Adair came to Elizabeth, New Jersey, and applied to Mr. Livings-
ton, afterwards governor of the State and well known for his
literary attainments, to correct his manuscripts, which had been
prepared under most disadvantageous circumstances in the
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wilderness. The political troubles were then such that Adair,
who was then on his way to Great Britain, was advised not to
risk being detained, but to get oflF on the first vessel leaving and
have his manuscripts examined after arriving in England ; this he
did, his book appearing in 1775.
Boudinot adds that as soon as the Revolutionary War was
over, he sent to London and obtained a copy of Adair's book,
which he carefully read, after which he strictly examined a
gendeman,
"then a member with him in Congress of excellent char-
acter who had acted as our Indian agent to the southward
during the war (without letting him know the design) and from
him found all the leading facts mentioned herein fully confirmed
by his own knowledge."
At the end of Adair's book there is what he calls an appendix,
or advice to statesmen. In this appendix he sets out in a very
plain and striking manner the futility of the English government
in dealing with the early settlers, or what he calls Provincials,
as well as with the Indians. He repeatedly admonishes his
countrymen that the Provincials should have a constitutional
form of government, and makes it plain that the Provincials or
early settlers would never submit to be ruled by pampered
princelings sent from England. He likewise insisted that the
treatment of the government towards the Indians should be
of a more kindly character, having due regard to the rights of the
aborigines. He urged that the Indians should be properly com-
pensated for their lands, especially the Chickasaws; and on page
459 he says:
"Should Great Britain duly exert herself, as the value of this
place requires, by the assistance of our old Chikkasah allies, the
other Indian nations would be forced to pursue their true interest
by living peaceably with us; and be soon enticed to become
very serviceable both to our planters and the enlargement of
trade."
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On page 463 he says:
"The continent of North America, if properly cultivated,
will prove an inexhaustible fund of wealth and strength to Great
Britain ; and perhaps it may become the last asylum of British
liberty, when the nation is enslaved by domestic despotism or
foreign dominion; when her substance is wasted, her spirits
broken, and the laws and constitution of England are no more,
then those colonies sent off by our fathers may receive and en-
tertain their sons as helpless exiles and ruined refugees."
By a strange sort of coincidence, at the very time I read the
foregoing excerpts (May, 1917) the Right Honorable Arthur
James Balfour and other special ambassadors from England had
just arrived in Washington City, there to seek the assistance of
the United States in preventing the destruction of Great Britain
in the world-wide war, in which the commerce and the very
existence of England itself was threatened. And at the same time
there was hoisted for the first time in the history of the world the
flag of the Unites States over Westminster Abbey, alongside of
the Union Jack; thereby signifying the union of the English-
speaking people of the world in defense of democracy and the
rights of humanity against autocracy.
Adair published his book in 1775, and it would seem with
prophetic vision, because what he foresaw or conjectured took
place 152 years after he gave his book to the world.
As one who speaks the English tongue, and who believes in
the great destiny of that people, I rejoiced when America joined
hands with England in defense of the ideals of all English-
speaking people, and will here quote from Vol. V, p. 199, of
Rid path's history of the world-nations:
"The British writers of the period took up our favorite
characters, and published panegyrics on Washington and
Lincoln and Grant and Lee. Mutual admiration was fanned, and
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the bards broke out with their rhapsodies. William Watson and
Alfred Austin, the new poet laureate, were answered in America
by Robert Underwood Johnson, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and
other American poets of first rank, who strove to express the
prevailing aspiration of Great Britain and the United States for
a closer touch and a more cordial fraternity.
'Among these expressions of poetic enthusiasm rising into
the realm of race affinities and international relations, we may
select the following sonnet by Walter Malone, as a fitting con-
clusion to this brief section of the history of the British Empire.
"Beneath the arctic peaks of silent snow;
Through tropic isles enwreathed with orange blooms;
Where brown Gibraltar like a giant looms;
Where furnaces of red Sahara glow ;
In spicy groves, where softest breezes blow;
In tangled Hindu jungles' deepest glooms;
By mummied Pharaoh's immemorial tombs.
The Saxon legions conquer every foe.
'*So Alfred's spear and Nelson's sword shall be
Guards for the flag that Washington unfurled;
With might of Cromwell, Lincoln, Blake, and Lee
Our gauntlet at invaders shall be hurled ;
Lords of the land and emperors of the sea
The eagle and the lion face the world !"
The Chiekasaws Neutral During the BeTolutlour-
Not long previous to the Revolutionary War we have seen
that the Chiekasaws came under the firm and wise administration
of Governor Johnstone of west Florida, and that for long years
they had been the faithful friends and allies of the English.
Adair had first gone to live among them in 1744; and no doubt
his intelligence and probity of character served to bind their
attachment to the English.
The next year after he left America the Declaration of Inde-
pendence was written by Jefferson, who had always been friendly
to the Indians, and he and the early settlers spoke the English
language, and belonged to the great English-speaking race.
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No doubt the Chickasaws were sorely puzzled; and situated
as they were, they acted wisely and discreetly by remaining
entirely neutral during that great conflict. As soon as peace
came, they as wisely aligned themselves with the United States
of America.
I know of but one instance in which the Chickasaws came
near measuring their prowess with American soldiers, and that
occurred in 1780, when Colonel James Clark erected in the Chick-
asaw country, not far below the mouth of the Ohio, a fort from
which to make incursions into the Miami country north of the
Ohio; which he did, burning the Pequa and Chillicothe villages.
Justly indignant at this unwarranted aggression, the Chicka-
saws besieged the fortress in 1781, when Clark hastened to the
rescue with reinforcements from Kaskaskia, and the Chickasaws
withdrew. The Americans, doubtless realizing that they were
wrong, soon afterwards dismantled the fort and left the Chicka-
saw country, and the Chickasaws quietly retired to their homes.
Why Mlsslsslpplans, Tennesseeans, AlabamUns
and Kentucklans Should be Proud of the Chickasaw Natlou—
Though it may appear a digression, I can not forbear at
this place to recall the description given by the great Chickasaw
Chief Piomingo, at the celebrated conference in Nashville in 1792
where he so described in one short sentence the boundaries of the
Chickasaw country that an engineer would have had no difficulty
whatever in its delimitations.
Translated into present geographical terms it embraced
north Mississippi, all of west Tennessee, and part of middle
Tennessee, part of western Kentucky, and portions of north
Alabama, a princely domain, over which the Chickasaws,
though so small in numbers, were the undisputed overlords.
I can not do better than to conclude the chapter with the
closing words of Pickett (p. 298) to Chapter XIV of his most
excellent history of Alabama.
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"The Chickasaws have n^ver been conquered. They could
not be defeated by De Soto with his Spanish army in 1541 ; by
Beinville with his French army and Southern Indians, in 1736;
by D'Artaguette with his French army and Northern Indians;
by the Marquis De Vaudreuil with his French troops and Choc-
taws, in 1752; nor by the Creeks, Cherokees, Kickapoos, Shaw-
nees, and Choctaws, who continually waged war against them.
No! they were 'the bravest of the brave'; and even when they
had emigrated to the territory of Arkansas, not many years !ago,
they soon subdued some tribes who attacked them in that
quarter.
"Young men of northwestern Alabama and northeastern
Mississippi! Remember, that the bravest race that ever lived
once occupied the country which you now inhabit, once fished
your streams, and chased the elk over your vast plains. Re-
member that, whenever that soil which you now tread was
pressed by the feet of foes, it was not only bravely defended,
but drenched with the blood of the invaders. Will you ever dis-
grace that soil, and the memory of its first occupants, by sub-
mitting to injustice and oppression, and finally to ^invasion?
We unhesitatingly give the answer for you, *No, no, never!' "
Why the Chickasaws were Unconquered and Unconquerable-
Writers often express surprise at the wonderful achieve-
ments of the Chickasaws in their contests for supremacy with
other Indian tribes so much greater in numbers, as well as at
the many defeats which the French suffered at their hands.
I think that an attentive consideration to their history and
characteristics furnish a solution to the question so often asked,
what were the reasons that this comparatively small nation was
almost invincible?
Roosevelt in his Winning of the West very correctly states "^
that they were more closely knit together than any of their more
numerous neighbors, and always acted in unison. Here we see
that they had the good sense not only to appreciate the wisdom
of the aphorism that in union there is strength, but they made
this aphorism a part of their national life, which was the all-
important consideration.
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We have seen in this chapter their prowess up)on the Missis-
sippi River and how they harried the French when navigating
that great artery of trade and traffic in pioneer days; and likewise
it will be recalled that when, with the aid of the Cherokees, they
swept the Shawnees from the Cumberland River country and
drove them north of the Ohio, that great contest was known as
the battle of the canoes; thus showing that their prowess on the
affluents of the Mississippi was felt by their Indian enemies.
As shown in the seventh chapter, while the Fourth Chickasaw
Bluff was their great entrepot, still they had well used trails
leading southwest, ending abruptly where Nelson's Bluff touches
the lower Tallahatchie River and where the Yalabusha River
touches the foothills; and from these p)oints we may be assured
they fared forth in their cypress bark canoes to wage relentless
warfare upon their enemies, for on their rivers they were perfectly
at home and ruled the waves as certainly as England has ruled on
the waves of the oceans. Other tribes were doubtless like the
Choctaws, who were helpless on the water. In modem times it
has become axiomatic, or nearly so, that sea power means world
power, and it can readily be seen what an immense advantage the
Chickasaws possessed over other tribes who were helpless upon
the water where the Chickasaws were almost supreme.
While the primitive Chickasaws were a deeply religious
people, we have seen that probably they were less superstitious
than any other tribe of Indians. They never went to war, except
after not only war councils but also elaborate religious ceremonies
accompanied by long continued fasting. When they did go to
war, it was with that religious fervor and zeal which often counts
for so much in winning a war.
There was still another matter which I regard as of great
moment, and that was the superb characters of the Chickasaw
women, who were what Caesar's wife was or should have been,
and that was above suspicion ; and we have seen that they were
so regarded by their men. When Adair inquired of a sage
Chickasaw why in this respect the Chickasaws were so particular,
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and he might have added and different from some other Indians,
the answer was in substance that they were a small people, and
were often at war with their more numerous neighbors, and that
it was of supreme importance that the blood of the Chickasaw
warriors should continue to run pure, and this could not be if
their women were dissolute.
This was but the enunciation of what I understand is now
an accepted truism, and that is that no people can long persist
when their women become dissolute; and on the other hand that
whatever calamities, such as wars, famines or pestilence may over-
take and crush a people, they may still rise superior to all earthly
misfortunes where the motherhood of that people is of the lofty
character of the ancient Chickasaw women.
As these were the outstanding characteristics of the Chick-
asaws as a nation and individually, why should we be surprised
at their achievements, or that they earned the title of the un-
conquered and unconquerable?
Historic Chickasaw Coantry—
Before leaving the remote historic past of the Chickasaws and
their ancient home in Mississippi, at the especial solicitation of
E. T. Winston, at present the mayor of Pontotoc, Mississippi,
and who is an authority on historic localities in that section of
the State, I have had a cut made of that most interesting portion
of north Mississippi, which will be found at the conclusion of this
chapter.
As shown on the map it was prepared by the well known
civil engineer J. Paul Gaines, of Memphis, who, as already
pointed out, was well equipped for this work, and to whom I am
indebted for three of the cuts appearing in this volume.
For the precise location of these historic localities I am in-
debted to Mr. Winston, who for many years has made an especial
study of this most interesting subject. Judge Charles Lee
Crum, of New Albany, Mississippi, furnished me with a map
drawn to scale of the place where De Soto crossed the Talla-
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hatchie in 1 54 1 , and of other important historic points near thereto,
and this has been much reduced in size and made an insert in
the upper right hand comer of the Gaines map, showing the de-
tails of the crossing by De Soto of the Tallahatchie.
A short explanatory statement may aid the reader to a
better understanding of the details of the map.
Winston and Professor Lewis agree that the camp of De Soto
in the winter of 1 540-1 541 was located in what is now the south
half of the southwest quarter of section 21, and the north half
of northwest quarter of section 28, of township 11 and range 3
east, of the Chickasaw Cession, in Pontotoc County, and it is so
designated near the south end of the map.
Professor Lewis concluded that De Soto crossed the Talla-
hatchie in April, 1 541, near where New Albany now is in Union
County, and not at Rocky Ford, some fifteen miles down the
river; and in this opinion Winston and Crum concur. There is
a very slight difference between Winston and Crum as to the
precise point of crossing in this: Winston states the place of
crossing as in section 8, township 7 and range 3 east, whereas the
map which Crum sent me shows the crossing in section 7 just
across the line dividing sections 7 and 8. However, as the dif-
ference, comparatively speaking, is inappreciable, and as Crum's
home abuts the crossing, his map was followed, upon the sup-
position that he was the better judge as to the precise point of
the crossing.
It will be recalled that the river here has a solid rock bottom,
a very unusual feature, from which, in all probability, the river
took its name, as Tallahatchie means rock river. Moreover, the
river is narrow at this place, and the river valley is also narrow,
making it an ideal place for crossing by primitive men.
Next comes the location of the place where D'Artaguette
and his army of French, Canadians, and Indians, were defeated
on May 20, 1736, by the Chickasaws. This place is now in
section 17, township 10, and range 3 east, some seven miles north
of the site of De Soto's camp, where, 195 years previously, the
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Chickasaws came so near destroying De Soto and his Spanish
army. This place is also the site of Old Pontotoc, near Pontotoc
Creek. The free translation of the original Chickasaw word for
Pontotoc means hanging grapes, on account of the abundance
of that wild fruit which hung from the trees along Pontotoc
Creek, and this creek, much reduced in size and shorn of its
primeval beauty, is about all, according to Cushman, to mark
the site of this important historic locality.
Turning now to the map, some fifteen miles northeast of
the place where D'Artaguette met his signal defeat, there will be
seen designated on the map, ''Battle of Ackia, May 26, 1736,''
where the Chickasaws so signally defeated Bienville and his
army of French, Swiss, negroes, and Indians only six days after
they had nearly annihilated the whole army of D'Artaguette.
It will also be noted that the site of the battle of Ackia lies
at the edge of the Chickasaw Old Fields, a beautiful prairie
country in the present Lee County, and where most of the
Chickasaws lived at that time.
The battle of Ackia was in what is now section 21, township
9, and range 5 east.
There are other very interesting historic localities shown on
this map, located by Gaines in the sections, townships, and ranges
as given by Winston, but these numbers I deem it unnecessary to
repeat, though a short reference to these localities may be of
sufficient interest to deserve a few word$ of explanation.
In the section next north of the Camp of De Soto there is
marked, "Stuarts," which was the home of the Rev. Thomas C*
Stuart, the beloved missionary to the Chickasaws, an account of
whom is given hereafter in Chapter XIII. In the third section
to the north is marked on the map, ''Monroe Mission," estab-
lished by Stuart in 1821, and named in honor of James Monroe*
then president of the United States.
Some two miles east of the Monroe Mission appears "Tak-
shish," sometimes written Tokshish and Taxish, which was the
home of General William Colbert, already mentioned, and where
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he died. His widow, Minney, sold the place to Rev. J. A. Ware,
a Baptist minister, who built a church on the land, in which he
preached for forty years, and services are still held there. The
property now belong;s to a son of the Reverend Ware.
Some four miles directly north of Takshish is marked
"Treaty Pontotoc," that is to say, this was the place where
treaties were debated and entered into.
Some three miles northeast of the treaty house there is
indicated on the map "Old Pontotoc," where once stood the
ancient Council House of the Chickasaws.
At the place marked "James Colbert," some two miles
south of where the battle of Ackia was fought, and some six miles
west of the present city of Tupelo, a tavern was kept by James
Colbert, of the same noted family as were William and Levi
Colbert. At this tavern the old Natchez Trace was crossed by
the present Tupelo and Pontotoc Road, later known as Walkers
Cross Roads, and later still as Bissell's post office.
Near the west edge, about midway of the map, there is
marked the Indian name of "Olocopotoo," now called Tocopola.
D'Artaguette is supposed to have traveled with his army over
the trail passing Olocopotoo, and, according to local tradition,
after his defeat and death the small remnant of his army camped
the first night after the battle at Olocopotoo.
Some three miles south of the present New Albany there is
designated on the map "Kings," for there it is said lived the last
"king" of the Chickasaws; but we have seen that in point of fact
they had no such official as a king. The whites often designated
their leaders as kings upon the erroneous assumption that they
had a king.
The name of this chief was Issaship, and the nearby creek on
Lusher's map is written Issaship, but it is now called Kings
Creek, and the place referred to is called Kings.
The foregoing is a summary of the information furnished by
Winston, upon which Gaines drew the map. In the first draft
Gaines indicated the location of the various railroads running
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through the country in question, but on reflection he concluded
to leave these out and represent only the old primeval trials,
with only present day county lines and the location of a few
modem towns for better identification of ancient historic places.
Referring again to the map furnished me by Judge Crum, a
much reduced copy whereof appears on the map of Gaines in the
upper righthand corner, it will be seen that there are numbers
thereon as follow: i, 2, and 3. No. i represents the place where
the courthouse is situated in New Albany. The point 2 is about
one thousand feet southwest of the courthouse, where a broken
Spanish sword was dug up in 1901, while across the river, fifteen
hundred feet almost due west from the courthouse, at the point
3, a Spanish coin was found with the year 1539 stamped thereon,
that being the year that De Soto sailed from Havana on his
memorable expedition.
While on this subject, it may be noted that J. B. Jarratt, a
Confederate veteran, still hale and hearty, owns an ancestral
estate of about one thousand acres six miles southeast of Holly
Springs, he being the uncle of General Arthur R. Taylor.
On August 3, 1919, Mr. Jarratt wrote me that there grew in
the yard of his plantation home a large oak tree, measuring four
feet in diameter five feet from the ground, and that as it died,
he had it cut down in 1901, and that three inches from the
center of the tree he found a thin hand-made horse shoe, different
from any he had ever seen, and which he believed was left there
by the De Soto expedition, and he thought that it was either put
around the young tree or fastened to it, as he counted over three
hundred rings on the stump of the tree.
The Jarratt property is of a tableland character, but the hills
are not distant. Within 125 feet of the ancient oak referred to»
two fine cool springs pour out their limpid waters, while there
are several others in that vicinity, making it an unusual and
pleasant place for camping.
The land owned by Mr. Jarratt, with three adjoining
sections, was reserved by the Chickasaw Indians after most of
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the tribe had left for the West, on account of the many fine cold
and bold springs in the vicinity which form Spring Creek, that
flows to this day through these sections. There is an Indian
mound in the Jarratt garden, and many flint and other Indian
implements found there bear testimony that this place was
at one time a favorite camping ground of the Chickasaws and no
doubt for other primitive men for ages past.
I was never so impressed with the value of a bold cool
spring in a warm country to traveling primitive men, as when I
visited the ruins of Delphi in Ancient Greece, in the year 1912.
Landing at Itea on the Corinthian Gulf, we wound in and out on
the side of the mountain until we reached the place where the
most famous Delphic Oracle of Apollo uttered to many genera-
tions of men the world over those oracles which were supposed
to issue from Divinity.
Why was this spot chosen for this most famous of all oracles?
By the side of the narrow road as it winds around the base of
the celebrated mount Parnassus, which here rises to a great
height of solid perpendicular stone, there issues from its base a
bold cold spring of clear, limpid water, than which there was
nothing more inviting and necessary to primitive traveling men
in a warm country. In time it became a camping ground, and
later was selected for the site where the priestess of Apollo for
ages gave to a listening world those famous oracles which so
profoundly affected the destiny of men and of nations.
According to local tradition De Soto traveled in this vicinity,
and certainly to the sick and wounded of his little army there
could scarcely have been a better or more restful spot for a
camp. Moreover, according to Jarratt, his place was on the
ancient line of travel from the crossing at New Albany on toward
the Chickasaw Bluffs over the trail now represented by the
modern Pigeon Roost Road.
I am not unmindful of the supposed discovery of De Soto,
relics all over a vast scope of our country, some of which have so
little to recommend their verity as to invite many jesting remarks
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from thoughtful students. Nevertheless, owing to the high
characters and intelligence of Jarratt and Crum, I submit what
they say on this most interesting subject to the thoughtful
consideration of the reader.
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CHAPTER X
OF TRE HKST TREATIES BETWEEN TRE UNITED STATES
AND TRE CmCKASAW NATION
The writing of this chapter I would fain have 6mitted, but
this sketch would be incomplete without it.
I commence with feelings of contrary emotions, because the
treaties themselves were unjust to the Chickasaws, and often
not creditable to the United States; and, moreover, while the
Indians kept the terms of the treaties, the white man as uniformly
disregarded them. And yet George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson, who did more probably than any two men in laying the
sure foundations on which this great republic has become the
torch of liberty enlightening the world, were the two statesmen
who more than all others combined, also laid down the policies
which should govern the relations between the United States and
the North American Indians. But, as it was recognized both by
Washington and Jefferson that the Chickasaws, on account of
their high character and fidelity to the American people, had an
especial and peculiar right to invoke the solicitude of the United
States government, it does seem to me that they deserved more
consideration than has been extended to them.
It may be observed in limine, that there was then a mere
federation of States and even after the adoption of the con-
stitution of the United States, the various States, including
North Carolina and Georgia, denied the right of the national
authorities to treat with the Indians, insisting that this pre-
rogative belonged more properly to the respective States, and
these claims gave rise to much debate and confusion for years
afterwards. In addition numerous private individuals and
companies made purchases, many of them tainted with fraud,
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from various chiefs representing themselves, or in some instances
pretending to represent their tribes, and this became a fruitful
source of discussion in and out of legislative halls, and in the courts.
Eventually it was correctly held that the federal govern-
ment had the exclusive right to make treaties with the aborigines.
The Bight of Title hf DlseoTery Established—
But the great question of debate which lay behind these
questions was, whether any power resided in the federal govern-
menty or that of the States, to dispossess the Indians, or force
them against their will to sell their lands and remove to distant
and unknown lands and to contend with the people there found
in bloody conflict, in an endeavor to dispossess them of the land
where from time immemorial they had lived and the ashes of
their ancestors rep)osed.
The solution involved the discussion of fundamental
principles not only of international law and usages but the
abstract principles of right and wrong; and the debate was long
continued, fervid, and acrimonious, the result being that it was
declared the Indians had no legal right to the land on which they
lived, though by a divided court in Tennessee, the judges voting
two to one.
Paradoxical as it may seem, this determination that the
Indians had no legal right to the homes they had occupied and
enjoyed for ages was declared to be based upon the teachings of
Jesus of Nazareth, who sp)oke as never man spake ; and who said,
'Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do
to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the
prophets."
Chief Justice Catron, who was afterwards for twenty-seven
years an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court,
quoted from Lord Coke as follows:
"All infidels are, in law, perpetual enemies, for the law
presumes not that they will be converted; that being a remote
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possibility, for between them, as with the devils, whose subjects
they be, and the Christian, there is perpetual hostility, and can
be no peace; for the Apostle saith (II Cor. 6:i6) 'And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel?' (Calvin's case, 7 Co. 33:4 Inst. 155.)
'This,' adds Judge Catron, 'was the undoubted national law, in
the days of Coke and of James the first; and disgusted as we may
be wiUi its bigoted manner of assertion and indiscriminate execu-
tion, yet it continued to be as much the law at the revolution, as
that the oldest son took the whole estate.' "
Judge Catron further said.
"The Pope claimed the right to dispose of all countries pos-
sessed by infidels; a right that it would have been deemed as
absurd to deny before and during the fifteenth century, as it
would now be absurd to admit."
The Pope, as the successor of St. Peter, and vicar and
representative of Jesus Christ, was supposed to have a right of
domain over all the kingdoms of the earth. Alexander the sixth
was applied to, and granted in full right to Ferdinand and
Isabella of Spain all the countries inhabited by infidels, which
they had discovered or should discover.
As it was necessary to prevent this grant from interfering
with that formerly made to Portugal, he app)ointed that a line,
supposed to be drawn from pole to pole, a hundred leagues to the
westward of the Azores, should serve as a limit between them;
and in the plenitude of his power, bestowed all to the east of
this imaginary line upon the Portuguese, and all west of it up)on
the Spaniards. Zeal for propagating the Christian faith was the
consideration employed by Ferdinand in soliciting this bull, and
is mentioned by Alexander as the chief motive for issuing it.
This title was then deemed completely valid to authorize the
monarchs of Spain to extend their discoveries, and to establish
their dominion over such portion of the globe.
The same motive that impelled the Popes, in the fifteenth
century, to send forth the Portuguese and Spaniards to conquer,
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equally influenced the English in a more enlightened age. Calvert,
the governor of Maryland, sent out by Lord Baltimore, in 1632,
to form a colony as soon as he landed on the shore, took posses-
sion of the country, *'for our Savior, and for our sovereign lord,
the king of England." So when the first charter of Carolina was
granted by Charles the second, the motive assigned was to propa-
gate the blessings of religion and the civilizing of a barbarous land.
Such men as Lords Clarendon and Berkley aver,
"that being excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the
propagation of the gospel, they desire a certain country in the
parts of America, not yet cultivated and planted, and only in-
habited by some barbarous people, who had no knowledge of
God."
The conclusion reached is thus stated by Judge Catron
(8 Yerger, p. 277),
"We maintain that the principle declared in the fifteenth
century as the law of Christendom, that discovery gave title
to assume sovereignty over, and to govern the unconverted
natives of Africa, Asia, and North and South America, has been
recognized as a part of the national law, for nearly four centuries,
and that it is now so recognized by every Christian power, in
its p)oIitical department."
On the next page it was added :
"Refined sensibility and elevated philanthropy may hold
what it will, the truth is, neither our theory or practice has ever
allowed to the Indian any political right extending beyond our
pleasure. The principle, in its application, is general, extending to
all the Indian nations and tribes on this continent, to which the
Cherokees form no exception. Theirs is not a case of conscience
before this court, but a case of law! Let it be noted that though
the right to despoil the Indians of their homes was made to
depend on the teachings of Jesus, still in the next breath it is
said in effect that this is done in defense of the plain dictates
of conscience.**
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As pointed out in the first chapter, the result reached by the
United States Supreme Court (8 Wheaton, 543) was practically
the same as that reached in Tennessee, though the language used
is more guarded than that of Catron, Chief Justice Marshall
saying:
''In the establishment of these relations the rights of the
original inhabitants were in no instance entirely disregarded, but
were necessarily, to a considerable extent, impaired. They were
admitted to be rightful occupants of the soil, with a legal as well
as a just claim to retain possession of it and to use it according
to their own discretion; but their rights to complete sovereignty,
as independent nations, were necessarily diminished, and their
power to dispose of the soil at their own will, to whomsoever they
pleased, was denied by the original fundamental principle that
discovery gave exclusive title to those who made it."
In reading these decisions we are forcibly reminded of the
mentality of a medieval robber baron, and of the medieval in-
tolerance of one Christian sect against the other, which hesitated
not to lead a victim to the stake, simply because of a difference
in the interpretation of the words of Jesus. Nay, more, men were
then burned at the stake simply because of their opinions with
respect to the character and revolutions of the heavenly bodies.
Thus, Giardino Bruno was burned at the stake at Rome in 1600,
merely because he taught that the planet on which we live is
small as compared with other members of the solar system, and
that daily it revolves on its axis. But posterity eventually,
though tardily, vindicated the nobility and heroism of his
character, and in 1903 it was my privilege to look with admiration
upon his magnificent bronze statue, erected upon the spot in
the market place at Rome where he had been burned three
hundred and three years before that time.
The Indians Were Not Without Able White Defenders-
It must not be supposed that the Indians were without
white men of high standing and great ability to defend their
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cause; far from it. The gifted William Wirt with marked ability
and untiring zeal represented them before the United States
Supreme Court, in conjunction with Mr. Sergeant. The great
Daniel Webster and other men of high standing recommended
the Cherokee Indians to employ Mr. Wirt, who had been the
attorney-general of the United States, and was at once one of
the greatest -orators and writers, as well as one of the most
learned lawyers, of that or any other day. Mr. Wirt, appreciating
that his employment, although unsolicited, would bring to him
unmerited criticism and misrepresentation, as it did, first cor-
responded with Mr. Madison, Chancellor Kent, and the most
distinguished lawyers and statesmen of that day, as to the pro-
priety of entering into the cause, its merits, etc; with the result
that being convinced that a great wrong had been visited on the
Indians, he entered the lists in their interest, and threw iall of his
genius and soul into the cause, known as the Cherokee Nation vs.
the State of Georgia, 5 Peters, p. i.
The bill as prepared by him set forth that from time im-
memorial the Cherokee nation had composed a sovereign and
independent state, and in that character had been repeatedly
recognized, and still stood recognized by the United States in
the various treaties subsisting between them. That the Chero-
kees were the occupants and owners of the territory in which
they resided before the first approach of the white men of Europe
to the Western Continent, "deriving their title from the Great
Spirit, who is the common father of the human family, and to
whom the whole earth belongs." That the Cherokee nation
have been and were the sole and exclusive masters of this ter-
ritory, governed by their own laws, usages, and customs.
The bill then averred that George the second, monarch of
several islands on the eastern coast of the Atlantic, had pre-
sumed to issue a charter to certain persons for a part of the coun-
try in America, lying between the Savannah and Altamaha
Rivers. That the foundation of this charter is asserted to be the
right of discovery to the territory granted, simply because a
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ship, manned by the subjects, about two centuries and a half
before, sailed along the coast of the Western Hemisphere, from
the fifty-sixth to the thirty-eighth degree of north latitude, and
looked upon the face of that coast, without even landing on any
part of it.
This right of discovery, as claimed to exist among European
nations, in so far as it affected the rights of the Indians was denied,
to which principle the Indians had never assented, and which
they denied to be a principle of the natural laws of nations or
obligatory on them.
The bill was very lengthy, but I think the foregoing will
serve to show the main issue in plain language, the design being
to challenge the principle claimed that England had the title to
that part of the country referred to, because of its discovery as
set forth, and was authorized by international law to grant the
same to whomsoever she pleased, regardless of the rights of the
Indians.
There was no appearance whatever for the state of Georgia,
that state occupying a moody and menacing attitude, evidently
prepared to challenge the jurisdiction of the court in case its
decision was favorable to the Indians. Jackson was president
and it was well known that he was hostile to the purposes of the
bill.
The case was elaborately argued and briefed both by Mr.
Sergeant and Mr. Wirt; and after due consideration Chief
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the majority of the
court, dismissing the bill and holding that the Cherokees were
not in law a nation, and consequently not entitled to maintain
the suit, and upholding the principle of law usually denominated
title by original discovery.
It is proper to state that Mr. Justice Thompson delivered an
elaborate dissenting opinion in favor of the Indians, in which
Judge Story concurred, he being then one of the most distin-
guished jurists of the day , and moreover the author of many law
books, among them being Story's Equity Jurisprudence new
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editions of which with elaborate notes continue to be brought
out even to this day, it being a standard authority.
Spencer Jamagin, a lawyer of great ability, then a United
States Senator from Tennessee and a Memphian, represented
the Cherokee nation before the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and
in his efforts in their behalf left no stone unturned.
And, likewise, there were able and distinguished men in and
out of Congress who defended the rights of the aborigines; and
while the result was as indicated above, still their labors had a
wholesome effect upon public opinion, which served to aid men
like Washington and Jefferson to mete out to the Indians such
justice as they received.
On the other hand there were the unreasoning many who
r^;arded a dead Indian as the only good Indian, and acted ac-
cordingly, and they found advocates in men occupying high
places. Thus when it was ascertained that in violation of the
treaty with the Cherokees white settlers were on Cherokee
property, and the president ordered their removal on August 19,
I797» John Sevier sent out a circular letter addressed to the
inhabitants settled on the Cherokee lands, expressing his sympa-
thy, 8a3dng that it was painful
"to hear the cries of the people of this state against a partial
conduct in favor of a savage tribe that can only be noticed for
their atrocious murders, robberies, and desolate wantonness to
commit every diabolical crime that could possibly suggest
itself to a savage invention."
Notwithstanding this indictment that the Cherokees could
only be noticed for the diabolical crimes mentioned, there was
then living Sequoyah, a Cherokee, bom on what is now Tennessee
soil, who was soon to give to the world the Cherokee syllabic
alphabet, the most perfect in the history of the world, which
made his name immortal, placed him among the intellectual
aristocracy of the world, and his bronze statue is now in the
statuary hall in the capitol at Washington, presented to the
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United States by the State of Oklahoma, though that of General
Sevier is not found there as yet.
In the next chapter will be found a short sketch of this
remarkable man.
The words and attitude of Sevier may be taken as typical of
the average frontier politician, and the influence thus exerted on
public opinion can well be imagined. It was difficult for those
who were entrusted with public office to administer Indian treaty
rights in their purity and integrity.
If we turn to the acts in legislative halls, the picture is in no
wise different from the attitude taken by the average politician of
that day; as witness the treatment of Georgia to the Cherokees
and Creeks. We recall that the great philanthropist James
Oglethorpe obtained permission from King George to found a
colony in the Southern wilderness; and the doors of the prisons
were opened so that men who were there imprisoned under
English law for no other reason than that they were not able to
pay their debts might be given in the new world another chance
in life; and Oglethorpe brought with him John and Charles
Wesley to preach the gospel to the Indians.
The Indians met Oglethorpe in the noble spirit which in-
spired him, and granted him lands and all he desired of them; and
we also recall that the great Indian chief Tomochichi was lionized,
taken to England and presented to the king and that then,
while the white man was weak and the red man strong, nothing
was too good for the Indian.
Now, look at the reverse side of the picture not quite one
hundred years afterwards, when the white man was strong and
the red man was weak.
On p. 139 Foster gives an act of Georgia passed December 20,
1829, as follows:
"It is hereby ordained that all the laws of Georgia are ex-
tended over the Cherokee country. That after the first day of
June, 1830, all Indians then at that time residing in said territory
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shall be liable to such laws and regulations as the legislature may
hereafter prescribe. That all laws, usages, and customs made
and established and enforced in said territory, by said Cherokee
Indians, be, and the same are hereby, on and after the ist day
of June, 1830, declared null and void; and no Indian, or descend-
ants of an Indian, residing within the Creek or Cherokee nations
of Indians shall be deemed a competent witness or party to any
suit in any court where a white man is a defendant.*'
"Such," says Drake, "is a specimen of the laws framed to
throw the Indians into entire confusion, that they might be more
easily overcome, destroyed, or forced from the land of their
nativity."
first or Vnofflclal Chickasaw Treaty—
That the Chickasaws entered into a treaty either with the
State of Virginia or North Carolina, and in all probability with
the latter, either in 1782 or 1783, appears to be established be-
yond doubt, but it was never reported to Congress and never
preserved; hence there have been considerable conjectures in
reference thereto. Ramsay (p. 489), usually a good authority,
says that he had been entirely unable to ascertain where or when
this treaty was held, the boundaries agreed upon, etc.; though
Putnam says (p. 167) it was dated in June, 1783, while Governor
Blount in a letter to the Secretary of War, January 14, 1793,
states that it was concluded in 1782.
This treaty is usually called the Donelson and Martin
treaty, and was concluded where Nashville now stands, and
probably at the residence of James Robertson.
This treaty would have been lost sight of entirely, except
for the fact that about 1793 the Cherokees set up some claim to
what was called the Cumberland lands; but it was pointed out
that these lands formerly belonged to the Chickasaws and were
by them ceded under the Donelson and Martin treaty.
The Shawnees at a remote past day had come from the North
and settled about where Nashville now is, and thus came in
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contact with the Chickasaws and Cherokees, resulting in many
conflicts. Finally the Chickasaws, in what is termed the naval
or "canoe fight," upon the waters of the Cumberland, or, as it
was then called, the Shawnee River, defeated the Shawnees and
swept them north of the Ohio, and thus became the undisputed
masters of the Cumberland lands.
Paschal says (pp. 33, 34) that, according to tradition, this
took place about one hundred years prior to the Watauga set-
tlement; that the Shawnees joined the Indians in the North
known as the Six Nations, but occasionally made incursions into
the lands from which they had been driven for purposes of war
and hunting.
Lenoir (p. 28) reminds us that Ramsey said, 'This defeat of
the Cherokees probably saved the Watauga settlement," the
most famous settlement not only in Tennessee but in all
America.
Speaking of the celebrated Watauga compact, Henderson
(p. 198) likewise says,
"The government then established was the first free and
independent government, democratic in spirit, representative in
form, ever organized upon the American continent."
Hajnvood in his Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee,
(p. 240), says that after the Chickasaws had helped the
Cherokees to drive out the Shawnees, the Cherokees then turned
up)on the Chickasaws, and adds:
"They met the thunderbolts of war at the Chickasaw
Old Fields, shortly before the year 1769, and gave them a most
signal overthrow, compelling them to retreat by the way of
the Cumberland River and the Caney Fork, where, as they
marched, they enclosed themselves in forts as a safeguard against
the assaults of their incensed enemy, by practicing upon whom
they expected to keep alive their own military spirit."
Gatschet (p. 92) says of the Chickasaws:
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They were constantly engaged in quarrels and broils with
all their Indian neighbors; sometimes with the cognate Cha'tah
and with the Creeks, at other times with the Cheroki, Illinois,
Kickapu, Shawano, Tonica, Mobilians, Osage, and Arkansas
(Kapaha) Indians. In 1732 they cut to pieces a war party of
the Iroquois invading their territory, but in 1748 co-operated
against the French with that confederacy."
According to Oliver Day Street of Guntersville, Alabama
(Moore, p. 172), the Shawnees occupied the region of the Great
Bend of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama, between
1660 and 1 72 1, but Dr. John R. Swanton has expressed the opin-
ion that this occupancy of that region was not of long duration.
By a treaty between the United States and the Shawnees,
entered into January 31, 1786, the country assigned to them lay
on the waters of the Miami and Wabash Rivers.
The Cherokees were crowding down on the settlers of the
Cumberland in a menacing manner, threatening their very ex-
istence, and in the letter of Governor Blount above mentioned,
he was combating the claim of the Cherokees, saying that those
lands had belonged to the Chickasaws before the Revolutionary
War, and that a large part of that nation had lived north of the
Tennessee, and claimed and owned the Cumberland country, a
fact that was acknowledged by the Cherokees in the conference
at Nashville in 1792. In this letter Blount gave six reasons for
his position, the last one being in these words:
"6th. A Cherokee chief, at the treaty of Long Island of
Holston, expressed himself in the following words: 'You,
Carolina Dick (Colonel Richard Henderson), have deceived your
people; you told them we sold you the Cumberland lands; we
only sold you our claims they belong to our brothers, the Chick-
asaws, as far as the headwaters of Duck and Elk Rivers.'
"For this quotation I am indebted to Colonel Tatham, of
Richmond, who recorded the proceedings of the treaty. It will
be observed that the line here described well agrees with that
described as bounding the claim of the Chickasaws, by the
mountain leader (Piomingo) at the conference at Nashville."
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In making this quotation it is not my intention to cast the
least reflection upon Colonel Henderson, who was a man of honor
and distinction, and one of the ancestors of our fellow citizen
General Arthur R. Taylor. The extract was used by Governor
Blount to show the inconsistency of the last pretended claims of
the Cherokees to the Cumberland lands; for the language used
by the wily Cherokee chief shows that he was quite capable
of drawing a very fine, if not deceptive, distinction, its purpose
doubtless being to conceal his own duplidty.
I have seen it stated by good writers that west Tennessee
and western Kentucky were not owned by any tribe of Indians;
but this is an entire misapprehension, as indicated above and
shown in the succeeding chapter (XI), which contains a sketch
of Piomingo, and which should be read in connection with this
chapter as showing the relations of the United States towards
the Chickasaws after American independence. Moreover, Major
Robert Rogers of the English army, in his travels through
America, the date not given, but prior to 1765, as we learn he
borrowed the money to have his journal published that year, has
this to say:
"Below the river Ohio, on the east side of the Mississippi,
down to its mouth, the country is owned and inhabited by the
Chickasaws for near two hundred miles to the eastward. This
nation can raise 10,000 fighting men. The soil of their country is
sandy, and not so good as that above described; however, it
produces rice and indigo to good perfection, of which the French
have made sufficient proof.
"The Chicketaws generally live in large towns; their chief
settlements are not far from the banks of the Ohio, on the streams
that flow into it from the east.
"Their houses are not very elegant; however, they have the
art of making them tight, which necessity obliges them to do,
to secure themselves against the flies, which are here very trouble-
some at some seasons of the year. They keep cows, hogs, and
horses, the latter in great abundance. They raise plenty of com,
beans, potatoes, etc., but have very little game, except deer.
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"The Tanesee is wholly uninhabited below the mountains
to where it joins the Ohio; but the country upon it is claimed by
the Chickasaws, a brave, warlike people, who have but one town,
situated on a plain by a small creek that rises about thirty miles
south of the Tanesee.
"Their town is picqueted in, and fortified with a fort. They
build their houses much in the same form as the Chicketaws.
They raise corn in great abundance, and have large droves of
horses, some black cattle, and swine. They can raise about five
hundred fighting men.
"The Chicketaws, their neighbors, are not at all troubled
with a spirit of jealousy, and say it bemeans a man to suspect a
woman's chastity. They are tall, well shaped, and handsome
featured, especially their women, far exceeding in beauty any
other nation to the southward."
I have thus quoted at large from Rogers, because while he
was under the impression that what he calls the Chicketaws were
a different people from the Chicktaws, and while his estimate of
the number of the former and the extent of their country was
doubtless too great, still it is evident from the characteristics
given and the descriptions of their country that they were but
different branches of the Chickasaw nation, one of which was
then firmly seated on the Tennessee River not far from the Ohio.
Treaties Between the ChlckAsaws and the United States-
It appears that the United States, having determined to
enter into treaties with various Indian nations, selected com-
missioners for the purpose of negotiating the same, directing
them to first ascertain, as near as possible, the gun men, that is,
the men able to bear arms, among the Southwest Indians.
On page 39 of Indian Affairs in a letter dated Hopewell on '
the Keowee, 2nd of December, 1785, of Benjamin Hawkins,
Andrew Pickens, Joseph Martin, and Lach'n Mcintosh, to his
Elxcellency Richard Henry Lee, Esquire, President of Congress,
they make their estimate of the gun men of the Southern Indians,
as follows:
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Cherokee nation, 2,000; Upper and Lower Creek nation,
5,400; Chockataws, 6,000; Chickasaws, 800; making a total of
14,200 warriors.
This was in all probability a fair estimate, though, of
course, it is impossible to verify its accuracy.
In the succeeding chapter (XI) it is shown that General
James Robertson, the father and founder of Nashville, was an
ardent friend of the Chickasaws; that Putman says Piomingo>
then the great Chickasaw chief, loved General Robertson as he
loved no other white man, and that General Robertson in-
fluenced Piomingo to go to the far distant Hopewell on the
Keowee, in the present State of South Carolina, there to con-
clude a treaty between the Chickasaws and the United States.
This was the first treaty of its kind between the contracting
parties.
I will take up these various treaties, beginning with the first,
concluded in 1786, and ending with those of 1832 and 1834,
which, for want of better terminology, I call "the heart-breaking
treaties" ; for under these the Chickasaws were forced to leave the
home De Soto found them in two hundred and ninety years
before, and which they had spilt their life-blood for ages to
defend, and to seek a home in the far West, where they were to
enter a deadly conflict with the people already occupying that
country.
The Treaty of 178S—
The first treaty between the Chickasaw Indians and the
United States was concluded January 10, 1786, and begins as
follows:
Articles of a Treaty—
"Concluded at Hopewell on the Keowee, near Seneca Old
Town, between Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens, and Joseph
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Martin, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of
America, of the one part; and Piomingo, Head Warrior and First
Minister of the Chickasaw nation; Mingatushka, one of the
leading chiefs; and Latopoia, first beloved man of the said
nation, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of all the Chickasaws,
of the other part."
First, the United States received the Chickasaw nation into
their favor and protection, and the Chickasaws agreed to restore
any persons or property within their boundaries and acknowl-
edged the protection of the United States.
The third article sets forth the boundaries of the Chickasaw
country substantially as stated, and by Piomingo in the next
chapter (XI).
The fourth article is in these words:
"If any citizen of the United States, or other person not
being an Indian, shall attempt to settle on any of the lands
hereby allotted to the Chickasaws to live and hunt on, such
persons shall forfeit the protection of the United States of
America, and the Chickasaws may punish him or not as they
please."
Here we see that, while the United States government was
weak and the Indian strong, the United States government was
willing to withdraw its protection from any person who settled
in the Indian country, and in addition, gave the Chickasaws the
right to punish such person as the nation saw proper.
As we proceed with a review of these treaties, it will be seen
how arrogant became the white man; how he trampled his own
solemn treaties under foot, and disregarded every right which he
had acknowledged belonged to the Indian.
The eleventh article is in these words:
"The hatchet shall be forever buried, and the peace given
by the United States of America and friendship re-established
between the said States on the one part, and the Chickasaw
nation on the other part, shall be universal; and the contracting
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parties shall use their utmost endeavors to maintain the peace
given as aforesaid, and friendship re-established."
On behalf of the Indians the treaty was signed by Piomingo,
Mingatushka, and Latopoia, by making their marks.
The Treaty of 1801—
The next treaty is dated October 24, 1801, and granted to
the United States the right to make a road from what is now
Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, the first article
being in these words:
"The Mingco, principal men, and warriors of the Chickasaw
nation of Indians, give leave and permission to the President of
the United States of America, to lay out, open, and make a con-
venient wagon road through their land between the settlements of
Mero District in the State of Tennessee, and those of Natchez in the
Mississippi Territory, in such way and manner as he may deem
proper; and the same shall be a highway for the United States and
the Chicka^aws. The Chickasaws shall appoint two discreet
men to serve as assistants, guides, or pilots, during the time of
laying out and opening the road, under the direction of the
officer charged with that duty, who shall have a reasonable
compensation for their services; provided always, that the
necessary ferries over the water courses crossed by the said road shall
be held and deemed to be the property of the Chickasaw nation.
'*Art. II. The commissioners of the United States give to
the Mingco of the Chickasaws and the deputation of that nation
goods to the value of seven hundred dollars, to compensate him
and them and their attendants for the expense and inconvenience
they may have sustained by their respectful and friendly at-
tention to the president of the United States of America, and to
the request made to them in his name to permit the opening of
the road. And as the persons, towns, villages, lands, hunting
grounds, and other rights and property of the Chickasaws, as
set forth in the treaties or stipulations heretofore entered into
between the contracting parties, more especially in and by a
certificate of the President of the United States of America,
under their seal of the first of July, 1794, are in the peace and
under the protection of the United States, the commissioners of
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the United States do hereby further agree that the president of
the United States of America shall take such measure from time to
time, as he may deem proper, to assist the Chickasaws to pre-
serve entire all their rights against the encroachments of unjust
neighbors, of which he shall be the judge, and also to preserve
and perpetuate friendship and brotherhood between the white
people and the Chickasaws."
It will be noted that the Chickasaws were paid not a penny
for this valuable grant, but that $700 was given to the Mingco
and deputation of that nation to compensate them for the
expense of their attendance and the inconvenience they had
sustained by their respectful and friendly attention to the
president of the United States. Attention further on will be
called to these gratuities given the chiefs.
While the Chickasaws thus gave away this right of way,
they, of course, realized that the worst feature of the treaty was
that it necessarily opened up their country to be overrun by all
classes of white men, good and bad; and so they endeavored by
the wording of the second article, weak though it was, to renew
and ratify the terms of the first treaty, which absolutely forbids
intruders to come into their country. It will be seen that they
refer to the certificate given by the president, of date July i,
1794. The date should have been July 21 instead of July i, and
had reference to a certificate given personally to Piomingo by
President Washington, on July 21, 1794, confirming to the
Chickasaws the boundaries of their lands, as given by Piomingo
at the conference at Nashville in 1792, referred to in the succeed-
ing chapter.
The Treaty of 180S~
The third treaty was executed July 23, 1805, and begins
thus:
"Articles of arrangement made and concluded in the Chick-
asaw country between James Robertson and Silas Dinsmoor,
commissioners of the United States, of the one part, and the
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Mingco chiefs and warriors of the Chickasaw nation of Indians
on the other part."
The first and second articles are in these words:
"Art. I. Whereas the Chickasaw nation of Indians have
been for some time embarrassed by heavy debts, due to their
merchants and traders, and being destitute of funds to effect
important improvements in their country, they have agreed and
do hereby agree to cede to the United States, and forever, quit
claim to the tract of country included within the following
bounds, to-wit:
"Beginning on the left bank of the Ohio, at the point where
the present Indian boundary adjoins the same, thence down the
left bank of Ohio to the Tennessee River, thence up the main
channel of the Tennessee River to the mouth of Duck River;
thence up the left bank of Duck River to the Columbian highway
or road leading from Nashville to Natchez, thence along the said
road to the ridge dividing the waters running into Duck River
from those running into Buffaloe River, thence eastwardly
along the said ridge to the great ridge dividing the waters run-
ning into the metin Tennessee River from those running into
Buffaloe River near the main source of the Buffaloe River,
thence in a direct line to the great Tennessee River near the
Chickasaw Old Fields or eastern point of the Chickasaw claim
on the river; thence northwardly to the great ridge dividing the
waters running into the Tennessee from those running into
Cumberland River, so as to include all the waters running into
Elk River, thence along the top of the said great ridge to the
place of beginning; reserving a tract of one mile square adjoining
to and below the mouth of Duck River on the Tennessee, for
the use of the chief O'Koy or Tishumeistubbee.
"Art. II. The United States on their part, and in con-
sideration of the above cession, agree to make the following
payments, to-wit: Twenty thousand dollars for the use of the
nation at large, and for the payment of the debts due to their
merchants and traders; and to George Colbert and O'Koy two
thousand dollars, that is, to each one thousand dollars. This sum
is granted to them at the request of the national council for
services rendered their nation, and is to be subject to their
individual order, witnessed by the resident agent; also to Chi-
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nubbee Mingo, the king of the nation, an annuity of one hundred
dollars, during his natural life, granted as a testimony of his
personal worth and friendly disposition. All the above payments
are to be made in specie."
Indians Enconraged to C^ntrset Debts-
Here we see a vast territory stretching from the mouth of
the Ohio River along its bank to the dividing ridge between it
and the Cumberland River and running hundreds of miles east-
ward and embracing a vast territory, for which the Indians
received $20,000 and the payments of debts due to their mer-
chants and traders, and comparatively small debts owed by some
of their chiefs, evidently to peddlers and sutlers who have always
borne reputations for fraud and deceit.
In the Tennessee Historical Magazine for 1915 there are two
very interesting articles by Donald L. McMurry (pp. 21, 106)
on the Indian policy of the federal government, 1 789-1801, and
on pp. 114 and 115 he says:
"Jefferson, in his desire to civilize the Indian, was by no
means impelled solely by his interest in their welfare. The
advantages to the white settlers were also apparent. In a letter
to Jackson, Jefferson states that the two principal reasons for
keeping stents among the Indians were, first, the preservation
of peace, and, second, the acquisition of more of their lands
through leading them to agriculture. 'When they shall cultivate
small spots of earth, and see how useless their extensive forests
are, they will sell from time to time, and help out their personal
labor in stocking their farms, and procuring clothes and comforts
from our trading houses.' He suggested to Governor Harrison, of
Ohio, the advantage of having the influential men among the
tribes in debt to the trading houses 'because we observe that
when these debts get beyond what the individual can pay, they
become willing to lop them off by a cession of their lands.' "
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It was with regret that I read the advice given to encourage
the Indians to incur debts so as to force them to sell the land
where the ashes of their heroic dead reposed, and which so often
had been bathed with their blood; although long before that, in
an article read before the Memphis Historical Society, February
7, 1 91 7, I had stated that such was the evident policy of the
government.
The primitive Indians were but children of the forest and
were by nature incapable of mercenary feelings or motives, and
consequently nothing was easier than to have conscienceless trad-
ers and sutlers pile up debts against them at extortionate prices.
Was this, the admitted policy of the government, right ?
It is proper to state here that when Mr. Jefferson saw the
rising tide of white settlers flowing into the Chickasaw country,
and realized that the nation which had never wavered in its
fidelity to the United States would be submerged, he endeavored
to formulate a plan by which they could remain in their ancient
homes, and act as a kind of buffer state against the French and
the Spaniards, who then had interests in North America.
Afterwards when, during his administration as president,
he acquired from the great Napoleon the vast territory called
Louisiana, this opened the way to settle the various Indian tribes
in the wilderness beyond the Mississippi.
He probably realized that it was now too late to make
an exception of the Chickasaws, however deserving they were.
The Treaty of 1816—
The fourth treaty purports to have been executed on Sep-
tember 20, 1816, at the Chickasaw Council House, some iour
miles southeast of Pontotoc.
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The United States was represented by Andrew Jackson,
D. Meriwether, and Jesse Franklin, and signed by a number of
Indian chiefs.
The country ceded and the consideration therefor is thus set
forth in the second and third articles of the treaty:
"Art. II. The Chickasaw nation cede to the United States
(with the exception of such reservations as shall hereafter be
specified) all right or title to lands on the north side of the Ten-
nessee River, and relinquish all claim to territory on the south
side of said river, and east of a line commencing at the mouth of
Caney Creek, running up said creek to its source, thence a due
south course to the ridge path, or commonly called Gaines'
Road, along said road southwestwardly to a point on the Tom-
bigby River, well known by the name of the Cotton Gin Port, and
down the west bank of the Tombigby to the Choctaw
boundary.
"Art. III. In consideration of the relinquishment of claim
and cession of lands made in the preceding article, the com-
missioners agree to allow the Chickasaw nation $12,000 per
annum, ten successive years, and $4500 to be paid in sixty days
after the ratification of this treaty into the hands of Levi Colbert,
as a compensation for any improvements which individuals of
the Chickasaw nation may have had on the lands surrendered;
that is to say $2,000 for improvements on the east side of the
Tombigbee and $2,500 for improvements on the north side of the
Tennessee River."
What a mockery it all was when we consider that for this
magnificent domain ceded to the government, covering portions
of Tennessee, north Alabama, and northern Mississippi, the
Indians only received $12,000 per annum for ten years, or $120,000,
and $4f50O to be paid for their improvements.
By Article VI a few of the principal chiefs were to receive
$150 each in cash or goods, and a few more were to receive $100
each; this last, no doubt, being used as in the nature of a bribe
to secure the execution of the treaty.
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The Treaty Precedlns the Birth of Memphls--
The fifth treaty was executed October, 1818, and proclaimed
by President Monroe on January 7, 1819, and begins thus:
*To settle the territorial controversies, and to remove all
ground of complaint or dissatisfaction that might arise to in-
terrupt the peace and harmony which have so long and so happily
existed between the United States of America and the Chickasaw
nation of Indians, James Monroe, president of the United
States, by Isaac Shelby and Andrew Jackson, of the one part,
and the whole Chickasaw nation, by their chiefs, head men, and
warriors, in full council assembled, of the other part, have
agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by the
president and Senate of the United States of America, shall form
a treaty binding on all parties."
That portion of the country ceded in this treaty is thus
described :
"Art, II. To obtain the object of the foregoing article, the
Chickasaw nation of Indians cede to the United States of America
(with the exception of such reservations as shall be hereafter
mentioned) all claim or title which the said nation has to the
land lying north of the south boundary of the State of Tennessee,
which is bounded south by the thirty-fifth degree of north
latitude, and which land, hereby ceded, lies within the following
boundary, viz: Beginning on the Tennessee River, about
thirty-five miles by water, below Colonel George Colbert's
ferry, where the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude strikes the
same; thence due west, with said degree of north latitude, to
where it cuts the Mississippi River at or near the Chickasaw
Bluffs; thence up the said Mississippi River to the mouth of the
Ohio; thence up the Ohio River to the mouth of the Tennessee
River; thence up the Tennessee River to the place of beginning."
By this cession the Chickasaws gave to the United States
all of west Tennessee; all of their possession in western Kentucky;
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and what they had left in north Alabama; for which the United
States agreed to pay installments of $20,000 per year for fifteen
years, making the insignificant total sum of $300,000, with some
small reservations to members of the tribe.
Commencing as far back as 1783 North Carolina had
already made large grants of land in west Tennessee and in
Kentucky, and the State of Tennessee did the like after it came
into being, in absolute defiance of previous treaties with the
Chickasaws, and after this time the treaties with the Chickasaws
were scarcely regarded with the dignity of a scrap of paper.
As far back as 1783, John Rice, under the authority of North
Carolina, entered 5,000 acres on the Fourth Chickasaw Bluffs,
beginning at the mouth of Wolf River and running southwardly
with the Mississippi about one mile, and thence eastwardly for
the complement of acresentered;and this entry was immediately
followed by one to John Ramsey also for 5,000 acres, lying im-
mediately south of the Rice tract. John Rice was killed by
some Indians in 1791, near the present site of Clarksville, Ten-
nessee, and left by will his 5,000 acres to his brother Elisha, who
about 1794 sold it to John Overton of Nashville for the expressed
consideration of $500; and afterwards Overton conveyed one
half thereof to Andrew Jackson for the expressed consideration
of $100; though the late John Overton, Jr., of Memphis, assured
me that in point of fact his grandfather received nothing for the
conveyance, he and General Jackson being the warmest personal
friends. General James Winchester and his brothers acquired
portions of the Jackson interest, and the 5,000 acres were owned by jr
these persons when the treaty of 18 18 was concluded, by which y^y
for the first time the Indian title was extinguished. "^ <S
Jackson was much criticized for some time for taking parlrin
this treaty, because of his interest in the Rice grant, and because
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some of his old soldiers had made purchases of land on or near
the Bluffs, from the Indians, not knowing of the Rice entry,
which accordingly took precedence. Overton, the Winchesters,
and Jackson were the proprietors of Memphis and were active
in the order named, and a few days after President Monroe
signed the Chickasaw treaty, viz: in January, 1819, they signed
an agreement to lay out the city of Memphis, which was named
by General James Winchester, an of&cer of distinction; and who
in the same year, by appointment of President Monroe, ran the
line under the Chickasaw treaty, locating the 35th degree of
north latitude, along which a public road now runs in Shelby
County, known as the Winchester. State line road. There had
been a tradition that this line, when located, would run along
where Poplar Boulevard now is, and consequently would take in
a part of Memphis; and the labors of Winchester were at once
protested both by the Chickasaws and the State of Mississippi,
which had been admitted into the union in 1817, in entire dis-
regard of the rights of the Chickasaws. This controversy lasted
for years, but under acts of the legislature passed in Mississippi
and Tennessee respectively in the years 1827 and 1828, a joint
commission was appointed which located the line in Shelby
County, about four miles south of the Winchester line, to the
disappointment both of the Chickasaws and Mississippi. Those
who may wish to pursue the details of these interesting matters
further are referred to the two excellent a^rticles on General
James Winchester in the Tennessee Magazine of History for igis
(pp. 79, 183) by John H. DeWitt.
I will only add that John Overton was a Revolutionary
soldier, was a distinguished jurist on the Supreme bench, after
his purchase of the Rice grant, and more than any other man,
seconded by Marcus B. Winchester, afterwards the first mayor of
Memphis, was the real founder of Memphis.
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The Heart-Bresklng Treaties off 18SS and ISM—
' Cushman was born in the Choctaw nation about 1824, and
lived among them and the Chickasaws for some seventy-five
years, so that he was to a large extent the contemporary of the
men and events when the treaties of 1832 and 1834 were con-
cluded.^ He says that when the treaty of 1830 with the Choc-
taws Was signed, by which they were to receive only five per
cent interest from the federal government, Levi Colbert at once
asked his friend Mr. Stephen Daggette to calculate for him the
interest on $400,000 at five, six, seven, and eight per cent respec-
tively, and when the result was handed to him, he exclaimed,
"God! I thought so," explaining that he wished to keep the
calculations, as he knew that soon the United States would come
to demand the Chickasaw homes, and he wished to be prepared
as near as that was possible.
It was not long before the faithful agent of the Chickasaws,
Benj. Reynolds, a facsimile of whose signature appears on a
copy of Lusher's map made a part of this sketch, was ordered to
round up the Chickasaws to enter into the proposed treaty, the
council belong held at the house of a Chickasaw Topulka, a
corruption of Tarpalah ; or in English to halloo, or make a noise.
I do not think I can do better than to quote what Cushman
(p. 522) in part says took place :
"Three treaties (or rather articles) were drawn up, but were
promptly rejected by the watchful and discerning Chickasaws.
Then the fourth was written by the persistent Coffee ; but with
the following clause inserted to catch the noble and influential
chief, Yakni Moma Ubih, the incorruptible Levi Colbert, which
read as follows: *We hereby agree to give our beloved chief,
Levi Colbert, in consideration of his services and expense of
entertaining the guests of the nation, fifteen sections of land in
any part of the country he may select.' 'Stop! Stop! John
Coffee!' shouted the justly indignant chief in a voice of thunder,
'I am no more entitled to those fifteen sections of land than the
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poorest Chickasaw in the nation. I scorn your infamous o£Fer,
clothed under the falsehood of "our beloved chief/' and will not
accept it.' A frown of disappointment momentarily rested, no
doubt, upon the face of Coffee."
As a circumstance showing how completely the average
Indian was at the mercy of the white man, and although we have
seen that Colbert well understood what interest meant, and had
a six per cent interest clause inserted in the treaty of 1832, it was
with the greatest difficulty that this could be made plain to and
understood by the rank and file of the Chickasaws. Finally
their interpreter, Ben Love, illustrated it as a hen laying eggs,
that is, that one hundred dollars would lay six dollars each
twelve months, which they clearly understood.
Nor should we, on reflection, be surprised at this; because
an Indian could not conceive that one person would charge
another for the mere loan of something; for if one Indian had
meat or bread or any necessary of life, and another had not, then
and there he that had divided with him that had not, and that
was the end of it.
It will be seen from the cessions previously made that the
United States had already forced the Indians, in consideration of
a mere song, to cede all of their vast territory and domain, except
what they owned in north Mississippi. The State of Mississippi
had already been created in 1817, in defiance of the treaties
with the Chickasaws. This treaty was entered into October
20, 1832, and commences thus:
* 'Articles of a treaty, made and entered into between Gen.
John Coffee, being duly authorized thereto by the president of
the United States, and the whole Chickasaw nation, in general
council assembled, at the Council House, on Pontotoc Creek on
the twentieth day of October, 1832."
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The preamble is in these words:
"The Chickasaw nation find themselves oppressed in their
present situation ; being made subject to the laws of the States in
which they reside. Being ignorant of the language and laws of
the white man, they cannot understand or obey them. Rather
than submit to this great evil, they prefer to seek a home in
the west, where they may live and be governed by their own
laws. And believing that they can procure for themselves a
home, in a country suited to their wants and conditions, provided
they had the means to contract and pay for the same, they have
determined to sell their country and hunt a new home. The
President has heard the complaints of the Chickasaws, and, like
them, believes they cannot be happy, and prosper as a nation,
in their present situation and condition, and being desirous to
relieve them from the great calamity that seems to await them,
if they remain as they are, he has sent his Commissioner Gen.
John Coffee, who has met the whole Chickasaw nation in council,
and after mature deliberation they have entered into the fol-
lowing articles, which shall be binding on both parties, when the
same shall be ratified by the president of the United States by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate."
The first article is in these words:
"Art. I. For the consideration hereinafter expressed, the
Chickasaw nation do hereby cede to the United States all the
land which they own on the east side of the Mississippi River,
including all the country where they at present live and occupy."
The compensation they were to receive is thus stated:
"Art. III. As a full compensation to the Chickasaw nation
for the country thus ceded, the United States agree to pay over
to the Chickasaw nation all the money arising from the sale of
the land which may be received from time to time, after deduct-
ing therefrom the whole cost and expenses of surveying and selling
the land, including every expense attending the same."
Or stated in other words, the government did not propose to
pay them one cent out of its treasury, but simply proposed to
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put up at auction upon the block the property of the Chickasaws
and pay over to them what it might bring at a forced sale, de-
ducting therefrom the expenses attending the sale, the Indians
to receive the net surplus.
The Indians expressed a desire to find a home within the
territory of the United States, and the United States agreed to
bear the expense of this removal, but, mark you, such expenses so
advanced were to be deducted from the proceeds of the Indian
land when sold. The treaty, of course, does not disclose the
amount of the sales realized for the Indians, but it is a fact that
the government long and unnecessarily delayed the sales of these
lands ; and as we will see further on, did not properly account there-
for, until years afterwards upon the urgent complaint of the Chick-
asaws. According to the best information obtainable, the lands
sold under this treaty amounted to 6,442,400 acres, or over 10,000
square miles, for which they ultimately received $3,646,000.
The twelfth article of this treaty is in these words:
"The Chickasaws feel grateful to their old chiefs for their
long and faithful services in attending to the business of the na-
tion. They believe it a duty to keep them from want in their
old and declining a^e. With those feelings they have looked
upon their old and beloved chief Tishomingo, who is now grown
old, and is poor and not able to live in that comfort which his
valuable life and great merit deserve. It is therefore determined
to give him out of the national funds one hundred dollars a year
during the balance of his life, and the nation request him to
receive it as a token of their kind feelings for him, on account of
his long and valuable services.
"Our old and beloved Queen Puccaunla is now very old
and very poor. Justice says the nation ought not to let her
suffer in her old age; it is therefore determined to give her out
of the national funds fifty dollars a year during her life, the money
to be put in the hands of the agent, to be laid out for her sup-
port, under his direction, with the advice of the chiefs."
Here is a fair sample of the parsimony, of the ingratitude,
and the cruel treatment which the white men of this country
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meted out to this noble nation of Indians. This old Chief
Tishomingo was then nearly one hundred years of age, and
practically helpless, and on his way, after being practically
driven from his native country where the ashes of his ancestors
for untold ages had rested, he reached Little Rock, in what is
now Arkansas, and there died, no doubt from fatigue and ex-
posure, at the age of one hundred years.
Think of it — a, noble queen, so old, decrepit, and blind that
she could not wait upon herself, and acknowledged by the treaty
to be a queenly woman, and in reward for a lifetime of service
is granted the pitiful sum or annuity of $50.
If it be said that these engagements were made upon the
part of the Indians only, and not by the United States, then so
much the worse for the United States; for if there remained in
the breasts of the United States officials a spark of gratitude or
of compassion, a sufficient provision out of the millions in profits
which this country had made out of the Chickasaw lands should
have been made for these old people who had spent a lifetime of
service for the United States.
It is almost needless to say here that Tishomingo County
and Tishomingo Creek, whereon was fought a great Indian battle,
and during the Civil War whereon was fought another great
battle, were named after this great chief, while what is called the
Tishomingo gravel, thousands of tons of which form streets in
the city of Memphis, as well as hundreds of miles of roads
throughout this country, was called after the same great Chicka-
saw chief.
On October 23, 1832, a supplementary and explanatory
treaty, with regard to that last spoken of, was entered into
between the United States and the Chickasaw nation, embodying
many provisions, one being in these words:
"In the provision of the fourth article of the treaty, to which
this is a supplement, for reserves to young men who have no
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families^ it expresses that each young man who is twenty-one
years of age shall have a reserve. But as the Indians mature
earlier than white men, and generally marry younger, it is de-
termined to extend a reserve to each young man who is seventeen
years of age. And as there are some orphan girls in the nation
whose families do not provide for them, and also some widows
in the same situation, it is determined to allow to each of them
a reservation of one section, on the same terms and conditions in
all respects with the other reservations for the nation generally,
and to be allowed to the same ages as to young men.'
The Indians prayed that the government grant to them
certain mail routes, and among them one running from Memphis,
Tennessee, by their offices and to the Cotton Gin Port in Mis-
sissippi, which was a well known settlement and town at that
day and time.
As showing that the Indians were appreciative of the services
of any one to them, or any one who faithfully discharged his
duties as connected with them, the following is instructive on
that subject:
"John Donley has long been known in this nation as a mail
carrier; he rode on the mails through our nation when a boy and
for many years after he was grown; we think he understands
that business as well, if not better than any other man, and if he
is given the contract, the nation will set apart a section of land
for his use while he remains here in this country, which section he
may select, with the advice of the chiefs, anywhere that suits
him best, so as not to interfere with any of the reserves, and he
may use it in any manner to live on, or make such improvements
as may be necessary for keeping his horses, or to raise forage for
them."
On May 24, 1834, articles of convention and agreement were
proposed by the Commissioners on the part of the United States
in pursuance of the request made by a delegation representing the
Chickasaw nation, and in which it is recited the articles have
been agreed to. The second article is in these words:
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''Art. II. The Chickasaws are about to abandon their
homes, which they have long cherished and loved; and though
hitherto unsuccessful, they still hope to find a country adequate
to the wants and support of their people, somewhere west of the
Mississippi and within the territorial limits of the United States:
should they do so, the government of the United States, hereby con-
sents to protect and defend them against the inroads of any other
tribe of Indians, and from the whites; and agree to keep Aem without
the limits of any State or Territory.
"The Chickasaw pledge never to make war upon any Indian
people, or upon the whites, unless they are so authorized by the
United States. But if war be made upon them, they will be
permitted to defend themselves until assistance be given to them
by the United States, as shall be the case."
Here we see that having by this treaty forced the Indians
to remove from the small territory to which they had been re-
duced by oppression, and to leave the land their fathers had held
and owned for generations, by a kind of excuse for so doing, and
with a view of forcing a reluctant consent on the part of the
Chickasaws, the United States government bound itself in the
most express terms, if the Chickasaws found a home within the
limits of the United States never to erect that country into a
territory, much less a State. Nevertheless, in keeping with the
faithlessness of all previous treaties, the government not only
created what was called the Indian Territory where the Chicka-
saws found a home but afterwards created it a State in utter
disregard of the rights of the Indians and treaty obligations.
It will not do to say that the various treaties were even
voluntarily agreed to by the Indians, for it is well known that
intimidation and a species of threats and coercion were used by
the agents of the government to compel the Indian to sign these
treaties.
If there remains a doubt in the minds of any man on this
subject, he has but to read the proceedings of the convention or
council which took place when the Choctaw tribe of Indians were
compelled to sign the Dancing Rabbit treaty, by which they
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were forced to abandon their homes in the lower part of Missis-
sippi, and also to seek a home in the West. These things were all
set down at the time and can be found in the publications of the
Historical Association for the State of Mississippi, and cannot be
read without producing a sense of shame; and so were nearly all
of the treaties forced upon the Indians; and when H. H. (the pen
name of Helen Hunt, Jackson), giving a history of the treatment
of many tribes of Indians by the United States government,
entitled it A Century of Dishonor, I think she well named her
book.
The next article of this last treaty makes provision for Indian
orphans; and thereafter many provisions are made with respect to
the removal not necessary here to mention.
On May 24th, 1834, upon the same date as the preceding
treaty, articles supplementary were entered into, and provisions
were made for carrying the old chiefs Levi Colbert and Isaac
Alberson to some watering place on account of their illness and
the valuable services they had rendered the nation, and that there
should be paid to these old chiefs $3,000 to defray certain in-
debtedness.
The second article is in these words:
"Art. II. The Chickasaw people express a desire that the
government shall at the expense of the United States educate
some of their children, and they urge the justice of their applica-
tion on the ground that they have been faithful and friendly to
the people of this country, that they have never raised the toma-
hawk to shed the blood of an American, and have given up
heretofore to their white brothers extensive and valuable portions
of their country, at a price wholly inconsiderable and inadequate;
and from which the United States have derived great wealth and
important advantages; therefore, with the advice and consent
of the president and Senate of the United States, it is consented
that three thousand dollars for fifteen years be appropriated and
applied under the direction of the Secretary of War for the edu-
cation and instruction within the United States of such children,
male and female, or either, as the seven persons named in the
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treaty to which this is a supplement, and their successors, with
the approval of the agent, from time to time may select and
recommend."
The statements in the foregoing articles to the effect that
the Chickasaws had never raised a tomahawk to shed the blood
of an American, and had given up to their white brethren ex-
tensive and valuable portions of their country at a price wholly
inconsiderable and inadequate, was not only signed by the
Indians but by the Commissioner of the United States, and he
and the president, and the Senate of the United States, in rati-
fying and confirming this treaty and confirming the above
statements to be true, thereby attested the nobility and fidelity
of the Chickasaw Indians, and at the same time attested their
own want of appreciation of that noble people.
That the Chickasaw Indians had a keen perception of what
is right and wrong is shown by the fourth article of the treaty in
these words:
"Art. IV. Benj. Reynolds, agent at the time of paying their
last annuity, had stolen from him by a negro slave of the
Chickasaws, a box containing one thousand dollars; the chiefs
of the Chickasaw people, satisfied of the fact, and hence unwilling
to receive the lost amount from their agent, ask, and it is agreed,
that the sum so stolen and lost shall be passed to the credit of
their nation by the United States, to be drawn on hereafter for
their national purposes."
It would be a great mistake to suppose that the Chickasaws
did not fully understand their rights, and that the chief desire
of their hearts was to remain in their ancient homes, in defense
of which they successfully defeated all invaders for ages.
They were passionately fond of their country.
This was shown when white men first looked into their faces
in 1540, and when they came near destroying the army of De Soto.
They showed their devotion to their homes in the successive
defeats of Bienville, D'Artaguette, Vaudreuil, Regio, the
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Iroquois, Illinois, Shawnee, Arkansas, Cherokee, Creek, Choc-
taw, and all other Indian tribes which invaded the land they
loved so well.
In their first official council with Governor Johnstone in
1765, in answer to their demand, he guaranteed that they would
never be disturbed in their country; in the first official treaty
with the United States in 1786, their freedom from molestation in
their country was guaranteed to them; in the great conference at
Nashville in 1792, their great Chief Piomingo stated the bound-
aries of their country, because he said he expected the white
man would take the lands of Cherokees, because of spilling the
blood of the whites, and for fear they might mistake that of the
Chickasaws for the Cherokees', he wished the boundaries of
the Chickasaw lands well understood, and produced a map
which the United States commissioners had furnished him at
the treaty of 1786; and on July 21, 1794, he procured from the
hands of President Washington a statement confirming the
boundaries as he stated them at Nashville in 1792.
In all subsequent treaties we have seen how pathetically the
Chickasaws clung to the vain hope that they would not be driven
like cattle from the homes they loved so well.
Nor should it be supposed that they were deceived as to
the real purpose of the whites and the ultimate fate of the
Indians, however specious might be the speeches made to them,
or the arts of diplomacy that were used to deceive the children of
the forest, for not a word or tone of the voice, or the movement
of a muscle of the face, escaped their ever-watchful eyes.
I do not know that I can do better than to reproduce three
speeches which illustrate what is here said.
On pp. 135, 136, 137 Boudinot says:
'The writer of this was present at a dinner given by General
Knox to a number of Indians in the year 1789 at New York;
they had come to the president on a mission from their nations.
The house was in Broadway. A little before dinner, two or three
of the sachems, with their chief or principal man, went into the
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balcony at the front of the house, the drawing-room being up-
stairs. From this they had a view of the dty, the harbour, Long
Island, etc. After remaining there a short time, they returned
into the room, apparently dejected; but the chief more than the
rest. General Knox took notice of it, and said to him, 'Brother!
what has happened to you? You look sorry! Is there anything
to distress you?' He answered. Til tell you, brother. I have
been looking at your beautiful dty — the great water, your fine
country — and see how happy you all are. But then, I could not
help thinking, that this fine country and this great water were
once ours.
" 'Our ancestors lived here. They enjoyed it as their own in
peace. It was the gift of the Great Spirit to them and their
children. At last the white people came here in a great canoe.
They asked only to let them tie it to a tree, lest the waters should
carry it away. We consented. They then said some of their
people were sick and they asked permission to land them and
put them under the shade of the trees. The ice then came, and
they could not go away. Then they begged a piece of land to
build wigwams for the winter. We granted it to them. They then
asked for some com to keep them from starving. We kindly
furnished it to them, they promising to go away when the
ice was gone. When this happened, we told them they must now
go away with their big canoe; but they pointed to their big guns
round their wigwams, and said they would stay there, and we
can not make them go away. Afterwards, more came. They
brought spirituous and intoxicating liquors with them, of which
the Indians became very fond. They persuaded us to sell them
some land. Finally they drove us back, from time to time, into
the wilderness, far from the water and the fish and the oysters.
They have destroyed the game, our people have wasted away,
and now we live miserable and wretched, while you are enjoying
our fine and beautiful country. This makes me sorry, brother,
and I cannot help it.' "
On p. 137 Foster says:
"Just as the Cherokees were beginning to take a prominent
stand in civilized ways, the United States was scheming to pos-
sess their land and to drive them by fair means or foul from their
native soil. No better portrayal of the very shameful condition
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of affairs which were agitating the Cherokees at this time (1830)
can be produced than in the reply of Speckled Snake to the
speech of President Jackson. It was as follows:
"'Brothers, we have heard the talk of our great father;
it is very kind. He says he loves his red children. Brothers!
When the white man fii^t came to these shores, the Muscogees
gave him land, and kindled him a fire to make him comfortable;
and when the pale faces of the South made war on him, their
young men drew the tomahawk, and protected his head from the
scalping knife. But when the white man had warmed himself
before Indian's fire, and filled himself with Indian's hominy,
he became very laiige; he stopped not for the mountain tops,
and his feet covered the plains and the valleys. His hands
grasped the eastern and even the western sea. Then he became
our great father. He loved his red children, but said, "You must
move a little farther lest I should by accident tread on you."
With one foot he pushed the red men over the Oconee, and with
the other he trampled down the graves of his fathers. But
our great father still loved his red children, and he soon made
them another talk. He said much; but meant nothing but
"Move a little further, you are too near me." I have heard a good
many talks from our great father, and they all began and ended
the same. Brothers! When he made us a talk on a former occa-
sion, he said, "Get a little further; go beyond the Oconee, and the
Ockmulgee; there is a pleasant country." He also said, "It shall
be yours forever." '
" 'Now, he says, "The land you live on is not yours ; go beyond
the Mississippi ; there is land ; there is game ; there you may remain
while the grass grows or the water runs." Brothers! Will not
our father come there also? He loves his red children and his
tongue is not forked.' "
At the Sycamore Shoals in what is now east Tennessee,
Daniel Boone, Colonel Richard Henderson, and others had
collected the Cherokee Indians to buy from them a great tract of
country between the Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers.
There was no authority in law for private individuals thus
to treat with Indians for the purchase of a portion of their coun-
try; and, moreover, this was but a part of a plan to secure a color
of title to the Cherokee country; for, on November 5, 1768, the
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Six Nations had assumed to convey to the king of England their
pretended title to a great body of land beyond the Blue Ridge
Mountains and down to the Tennessee, embracing a large por-
tion of the fairest part of Tennessee. Phelan (p. 17) very correctly
observes,
"This was the beginning of a mournful repetition which
still continues at the end of what has been aptly termed 'a
century of dishonor/ "
A few Cherokees were present, and it was pretended that
they ratified the act of the Six Nations who pretended to cede
Cherokee territory; and afterwards it was sought in various ways
to commit the Cherokee people to a cession of a large part of
their territory, and the meeting at the Sycamore Shoals, in what
is now Carter County, east Tennessee, was procured by Boone,
Henderson, and others, for the same purpose, though, as pointed
out above, this action was without authority of law.
Oconostota was one of the principal Cherokee chiefs, the
bravest of the brave, and in an impassioned speech he very
properly opposed the cession, saying:
"This is the beginning. Whole nations have passed away,
and there remains not a stone to mark the place where rest the
bones of our ancestors. They have melted like the snow before
the rays of the sun, and their names are not recorded, save in
the deeds and the charters of those who have brought destruction
upon them. The invader has crossed the great sea in ships; he
has not been stayed by broad rivers, and now he has penetrated
the wilderness ,and overcome the ruggedness of the mountains.
"Neither will he stop here. He will force the Indian steadily
before him across the Mississippi ever towards the west, to find
a shelter and a refuge in the seclusion of solitude. But even
here he will come at last; and there being no place remaining
where the Indian may dwell in the habitations of his people, he
will proclaim the extinction of the race, till the red man be
no longer a roamer of the forests and a pursuer of wild game."
After quoting Oconostota as above Phelan (p. 19) adds:
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"But the best words and the best actions of the fated race
have never availed against that irresistible and unpitying person-
ification which is called the spirit of civilization. Oconostota
himself signed the treaty against which he made his eloquent
protest."
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PIOMINGO
IDEALISTIC SKETCH BY
ELUE N. BROWNING
MEI^I^HIS TENN.
This is an idealistic sketch of Piomingo (the name meaning Mountain
Leader), the great Chickasaw chief in the time of George Washington, who was a
warm friend and admirer of the distinguished Chickasaw.
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CHAPTER XI
SHOET SKETCH OF PIOMINGO AND SEQUOYAH; AND
HEEEIN OF MEN OF THE SOUTH
To the average reader history is at best but dry reading, and
too often it consists only of the sanguinary conflicts of a people,
and the intrigues and schemes of those who are in political
charge of public affairs.
The private character and home life and aspirations of the
rank and file of the ordinary individual composing the nation is
usually overlooked, with the result that the picture we have of a
people is often very incomplete.
In the short sketches of Piomingo and Sequoyah I hope to
give some conception, incomplete though they be, of the real
character of these two Indians who attained distinction not only
among their fellow countrymen but among the whites as well.
Piomingo was a full-blooded Chickasaw Indian, while the father
of Sequoyah was a white man and his mother an Indian, some
writers saying that she was of mixed Indian and white parentage,
though I am inclined to the opinion that she was an Indian of
the whole blood.
It has proven a very difficult task to trace out in a short
sketch the characteristics of these two men, especially as to
Piomingo, an account of whom naturally finds a place in giving
the story of the Chickasaws.
I have chosen to combine a sketch of Sequoyah with that of
l^iomingo, both because he was the most intellectual Indian of
whom I have read, and also because he was bom on what is now
Tennessee soil, my adopted home, and in which I have spent
the greater part of my life.
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Fiomlngo, the Great ChlekaMiw Chief—
The first treaty concluded between the Chickasaw nation
and the United States was dated 1786, at Hopewell, which is in
the present State of South Carolina, and is signed by Piomingo
by making his mark, who is therein described as head warrior
and chief delegate of the Chickasaw nation. In other documents
and books the name is spelled in various ways, as Piamingo,
Opiamingo, Opia Mingo, Opoiaming, Pyo Mingo and Opaya
Mingo. In the treaty referred to and in official documents the
name is usually spelled Piomingo, except those of William Blount,
who often spelled the name Opoiamingo, and there is one letter
from the great Chickasaw to James Robertson, of December
1st, 1795, signed Opiamingo, while the United States named a
vessel for him with the name of Opoiamingo but I think Blount
had the name so written.
I am satisfied that the chief could neither read nor write
and necessarily depended on others to perform this service for
him. He no doubt realized how unsatisfactory this was, for in
the letter signed as above indicated he requested that William
Mizell should write the answer thereto, saying he could both
talk and write correctly.
All concur as to the meaning of the name in the original,
which is Mountain Leader.
It is well known that the word Mingo meant in Chickasaw,
leader or chief, and, according to the custom of the Indians,
this warrior having performed some exploit in some way con-
nected with a mountain, he was made their leader, and so named
accordingly.
I have followed the usual official spelling of the name,
writing it Piomingo, giving the i the sound of e, and putting the
accent thereon.
Little, indeed very little, is known of the early history of
the Chickasaws when Piomingo was a child and arrived at young
manhood; of this period we know nothing of Piomingo, and
even his later life seems to be obscured by oblivion.
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fhe Chickasaw Hatiofi
He was of the greatest service to the white settlers, especially
in middle Tennessee, and to the history of their struggles we are
indebted for all that we know of Piomingo. But when in a great
measure through his influence the Spaniards were forced in 1797
to abandon Fort San Fernando, which Governor Gayoso had
caused to be built where Memphis now stands, his further
services were scarcely needed, and as Tennessee had then become
a sovereign state, and the federal government had by treaty
extinguished all of the pretentions of Spain to occupy the Chicka-
saw Bluffs or obstruct the free navigation of the Mississippi
River, we hear little or nothing of Piomingo. So long as he was
the power to be depended upon to save the white settlers from
destruction by the Creeks and Cherokees, he was fawned on by
the whites. When they no longer needed his protection, they
allowed his name to sink into oblivion.
The first reference that I have seen to Piomingo is contained
in the account given by Henderson of what were called the "Long
Hunters," who were hunters going on long hunting trips through
the Indian countries, spying out the best parts of the country and
incidentally gathering up furs and such produce as the country
afforded. On page 125 Henderson says:
"Indians often lurked in the neighborhood of these hunters,
plundering their camp, robbing them, and even shooting down
one of their number, Robert Crockett, from ambush. After
many trials and vicissitudes, which included a journey to the
Spanish Natchez and the loss of a great mass of peltries when they
were plundered by Piomingo and a war party of Chickasaws,
they finally reached home in the late spring of 1770."
There is a note to the text referring to the NarroHve of
William HaU, Draper MSS., Wisconsin State Library. In a
letter to me of October 28, 1920, Joseph Schafer, Superintendent
of the Wisconsin State Library, says:
"Mr. Henderson's authority for the paragraph you cite was
Dr. L. C. Draper's manuscript Life of Boone in our possession.
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Dr. Draper was an exceedingly careful student, and obtained his
facts from many pioneers, of whom Gen. William Hall was one.
General Hall's informant was Isaac Bledsoe, one of the Long
Hunters. Bledsoe, however, was one of the group who returned
to the settlements after Station Camp Creek was robbed. The
portion concerning the Chickasaw reads as follows: (Draper
MSS. 3B52.) 'On the 6th day of April, 1770, half or more of the
party returned to the settlements, while (Uriah) Stone, (Casper)
Mansker, Baker, Gordon, Hogan, Brooks, and four others built
two boats, two trapping canoes, laded them, together with furs
and bear meats, and descended the Cumberland. ♦ ♦ ♦
Reaching the mouth of Cumberland, and finding their bear meat
likely to spoil, they rendered it into oil, and poured it into the
lightest boat for market. And here, also another misfortune
befel them, in being robbed of two guns, some ammunition, salt,
and tobacco, by Piomingo or the Mountain Leader, John Brown,
and twenty-five Chickasaws, on their way to war against the
Senecas. The guns were the heaviest loss, for they soon re-
placed the other articles from some French boats they met.'
"That is the only mention of the Chickasaw warriors.
Draper's authority for this statement was John Haywood,
History of Tennessee (Nashville, 1823). Haywood based his
account on Mansker's recollections. It may have been that Dr.
Draper also obtained some information for himself, since he
corresponded with the descendants of the Long Hunters and
wrote in the same manuscript volume sketches of their lives.
Mansker lived long in the Cumberland country, dying December
20, 1820, on Mansker's Creek in Summer County, Tenn. Dr.
Draper secured some information concerning the Chickasaws
from Malcolm McGee (10U106-126).
"He says (10U109) that Piomingo was bom about 1750 and
died about 1796. McGee was among the Chickasaws in 1768."
This is the only account I have seen which professes to give
the year of the birth and death of Piomingo, and I know that the
statement that he died about 1796 is incorrect, for he met Col.
Guion and other notables on the Chickasaw Bluffs on August 16,
1797, the details of the conference appearing hereinafter.
He must have been dead when the treaty of 1801 was signed,
for his name does not appear therein.
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I am indined to believe that Piomingo was bom earlier than
1750, for he would have been only twenty years old in 1770,
when he is said to have ''robbed" this party of Long
Hunters; and moreover he was then the dominant power
among the Chickasaws, which he would scarcely have been
if only twenty years old, and only forty-seven years old in
1797 when we last hear of him. I am impressed with the idea
that he was then considerably older than forty-seven, though it
must be confessed that this is more of a conjecture than
otherwise.
The statement that this party of Long Hunters was ''robbed"
by Piomingo comes from the Hunters, and no doubt from the
view point of Piomingo and his band of warriors, such was not
the case, and that fair exchange was by no means robbery in the
ordinary acceptation of that word.
What right had the Long Hunters in the country of the
Chickasaws? Were they not there without leave or license; and,
moreover, not as mere travelers passing through the country, for
it will be noted that their boats were loaded with furs,
bear meat, and oil which they had, so far as the Chick-
asaws were concerned, nolens volens appropriated to their private
uses?
No doubt the Indians felt no compunctions in this small
reprisal, and they are entided to their point of view, though this
was seldom granted them.
In this, oiu* first introduction to Piomingo, it will be noted
that he was at the head of a band of warriors on their way to
wage war with the Seneca Indians in the far North, for they then
probably lived in the present State of New York, over a
thousand miles from the home of the Chickasaws. The Chicka-
saws were great travelers as well as warriors, and they were
known, feared, and respected over a vast country far beyond
the limits of their own domain, and at this time Piomingo
was the one dominant spirit controlling the destinies of his
nation.
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Captain Bernard Romans records (p. 305) that on Septem-
ber 21, 1 77 1, after leaving Mobile on his way to the Chickasaw
country.
"Opaya Mingo, a Chickasaw warrior of our train, was this
morning sick, on which occasion I saw one of his companions cut
his temple with a flint, and, applying a cane about four inches
long to the scarification, sucked it till he nearly filled it with
blood, then threw it out, and repeated it severd times; this is
something like cupping; we were obliged to leave these two
behind * * * "
Though the name thus given is spelled very differently from
the usual way, still we have seen how differently the name has
been spelled by various writers, and I believe the above excerpt
from Romans refers to the subject of this sketch.
We are not surprised therefore to learn from Putman (p. 249)
that Piomingo, the head warrior and chief delegate of the Chicka-
saws, and his associates were induced by General James Rob-
ertson, the founder of Nashville, to leave their homes in what is
now north Mississippi, and make a long overland journey to
Hopewell on the Keowee, in the present State of South Carolina,
to conclude the first official treaty between that nation and the
United States.
Speaking of Piomingo Putman says, '*He loved no other
, white man as he did General Robertson," and it may be added
that General Robertson availed himself of the friendship of
Piomingo to induce the Chickasaws to enter into this treaty, and
why? For the obvious reason that Robertson's settlement,
where Nashville now is, was threatened with destruction by the
powerful Cherokee and Creek nations, and he wished to bind to
. the United States and to his settlements the small but warlike
Chickasaw nation in whom he could place absolute confidence,
especially as long as the Chickasaws were led by Piomingo.
This treaty was signed on January 20, 1786, and known as the
treaty of Hopewell. It is discussed in Chapter X of this volume.
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It was afterwards approved by President George Washington,
who became a fast friend of Piomingo.
Five years after the treaty of Hopewell with the Chickasaws,
that is, in 1791, the depredations of the Cherokees and Creeks at
the instigations of the Spaniards threatened the very existence
of the settlement of Robertson on the Cumberland. There is
little doubt in my judgment, as well as that of others, that the
settlement would have been entirely destroyed and the pioneers
murdered and scalped, but for the restraining influence of the
small Chickasaw nation, headed by Piomingo, whose principal
abode was in northern Mississippi some hundreds of miles from
the Cumberland settlement.
But a still fiercer conflict was then going on north of the
Ohio River between the Northwestern Confederation of Indians
and renegade whites, under the leadership of Little Turtle, and
the regular federal army under the leadership of Gen. Arthur
St. Clair.
The prize at stake was the princely domain of what we now
call the Northwestern States, beginning with Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, and embracing contiguous States, the very heart of this
continent at the present time.
It was a trial of strength between the aborigines on the one
part, and that of the white man on the other; the savage against
civilized man.
The final result long wavered in the balance. While Rob-
ertson, Blount, and others importuned the government at Wash-
ington for interposition and protection for the Cumberland
settlement, no relief came, but upon the contrary they were
importuned to enlist their men and the Chickasaw Indians to
march hundreds of miles to the relief of General St. Clair, then in
command of the regular army.
So far as the Indians were concerned, Putman says (p.
362),
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"The scheme proposed was to o£fer inducements to the
Southern Indians to join the American army. To set Indians
to fight Indians; Greek to meet Greek, dog eat dog/ said Rains,
when he saw two rascals fighting."
This resolution was not reached until after an acrimonious
discussion among the white people at large, but Putman adds,
"The humanity of this measure was condemned by at least one
of the members of the cabinet at Washington."
All honor to that one member.
The whites held back, and only through the persuasion of
Governor Blount and General Robertson a small force was
organized and marched, but the Chickasaws proved more sus-
ceptible to the entreaties of the whites, for Putman says (p. 362),
"Consultations' were held with Piomingo, the Mountain
Leader, or principal chief of the Chickasaw nation, about sending
some warriors to join the army of the United States, north of the
Ohio. He was informed that orders had been received from the
War Department to enlist soldiers in this Territory, to be marched
to Fort Washington or Cincinnati, and that it would be s^eeable
to the Department to have a company of Chickasaws marched
to the same point, to act in concert with the United States troops.
They should receive the same rations and pay as others in the
service. Piomingo engaged to command a company of forty or
fifty Chickasaw braves, to act as spies or render other services.
He came with them to the residence of General Robertson, where
they were more fully equipped, commanded, and instructed.
Thence they marched to join General St. Clair."
In addition Piomingo was assured that during his absence his
people would be protected from the incursions of their enemies,
but this promise was not observed and with the consent of the
commander he sent back about one-half of his followers to pro-
tect those at home. Putman adds that Piomingo and his followers
being di^:usted at their treatment and the want of discipline left
for their homes on November 3, 1791, and on the next day Little
Turtle, chief of the Miamis, overwhelmingly defeated St. Clair
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at Marys, completely routing his army, leaving six hundred slain,
St. Clair losing his cannon and most of his baggage.
The Northwestern Confederation of Indians was greatly
elated, for they had defeated the regular army commanded by
St. Clair, who had won distinction as an officer in the Revolu-
tionary army. Their plan was to form a coalition with the
Southern Indians, including the powerful and hostile Cherokee,
Creek, and Seminole Indians, and thus wipe out once and for all
time the white invaders.
George Washington to Plomingo—
The outlook for the entire country was gloomy and fore-
boding, and President Washington shared in this feeling of
uneasiness. Fidelity is said to be the noblest characteristic of
human nature, and knowing the fidelity of Piomingo we are
scarcely surprised to find hid away in Class II, Indian A£Fairs,
page 249, this letter :
"Message from the Secretary of War to the Chickasaw
nation, dated 17th February, 1792.
"To Piomingo, the mountain leader, and the other chiefs
and warriors of the Chickasaw nation.
"Brothers:
"Your father. General Washington, the great chief and
president of the United States, has commanded me to send you
this talk. Receive it, therefore, as an evidence of his affection, and
the affection of the United States towards the Chickasaw nation.
"He heartily thanks Piomingo and the other Chickasaw
warriors for joining our troops the last season. ♦ ♦ ♦
****** ***««
"The president of the United States is very desirous to
reward the attachment of Piomingo and the warriors who were
with him at Fort Washington (now the site of Cincinnati, Ohio),
and he now sends to Piomingo and two other principal chiefs
great silver medals, and each a suit of rich uniform clothes; and / ^ *
further, he has ordered presents to be sent from Fort Washington
to the Chickasaw nation generally, of such articles as shall be
useful to them.
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'The Chickasaws must send a message to the commanding
officer at Fort Washington, giving him sufficient notice of the
time when and the place where they will receive the goods.
''These goods are sent as presents and as an evidence of the
attachment of the United States to the Chickasaws, and a
reward for their friendship.
"If Piomingo should, with other chiefs, choose to join their
arms with ours in the cause of the next campaign, let them repair
to Fort Washington by the first of June next, where they shall
be well armed, well fed, and, also, after the campaign, well
rewarded for their services, in money or goods, as they shall best
like it.
"After the next campaign, our beloved chief. General
Washington, invites Piomingo and three other great chiefs to
repair to Philadelphia. He wishes to convince them by a personal
interview how desirous he is of promoting the happiness of the
Chickasaws.
"The chiefs who shall come forward shall be kindly received,
well treated, and returned to their own country enriched with
presents.
"Given at the city of Philadelphia, etc."
We learn from Haywood (p. 424) that the Chickasaws again
responded to this appeal, sending a band of warriors to aid the
American army under the command of General "Mad" Anthony
Wayne, who had succeeded General St. Clair, and who finally
defeated and routed the Northwestern Indians under Little
Turtle, on August 20, 1794, at the battle of the Fallen Timbers,
near the falls of the Maumee. This decisive defeat, supple-
mented by the treaty of Greenville on August 3, 1795, resulted in
the opening of the Northwest to civilization.
«f^-t*5or
Piomliigo at the NashYllle Conference, 17t3—
Commencing on page 284 {ibid) there is given an account
the noted conference near Nashville, commencing August 7,
1792, between Wm. Blount, Governor, etc., Brig.-General
Andrew Pickens on the one part, and Chenambe, king of the
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Chickasaws, Piomingo, Wolf's Friend, and representatives of
the Cherokee nation. Governor Blount spoke to the headmen
and chief of the Chickasaws and Choctaws, addressing them as
friends and brothers, and among other things said:
"Another object is publicly to present Piomingo, the Col-
berts, and their followers, who joined the arms of the United
States of last year, and fought gainst their enemies, hearty and
sincere thanks for their services, and to present them each with
a rifle."
Gov. Blount declared that they did not want the land of the
red men, although that report had been put out by Indians not
friendly to the United States. Wolfs Friend made a very vigo-
rous reply and under a parenthesis this appears {ibid) on page
285:
"Wolf's Friend meant thus to give his dissent to the estab- ,
lishing of a post at the mouth of Bear Creek, as agreed by the '•
treaty of Hopewell. Since his arrival on the conference ground, '
he had repeatedly told his people and the Choctaws that the
Americans had hard shoes, and if they permitted them to estab-
lish that post, they would tread upon their toes. Knowing that
he had made use of these arguments was the inducement for
speaking in such positive terms that trade would shortly be
aiforded from that place, hoping that would be an inducement
suflicient for him to agree to it. Wolf's Friend is a great
man: in council ranks among the first of his nation; has a
considerable property, is a large man, of a dignified appear-
ance ; he appeared at the conference in scarlet and silver lace,
and in the heat of the day with a large crimson silk umbrella
over him."
Piomingo was the principal speaker on behalf of the Chicka-
saw Indians. What he had to say was brief, but very pointed.
Upon page 286 in a few words he gave a remarkably accurate
description of the boundaries of the country belonging to the
Chickasaw nation, in these words:
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"Piomingo. I will describe the boundaries of our lands;
It begins on the Ohio at the ridge which divides the waters of
Tennessee and Cumberland, and extends with that ridge east-
wardly as far as the most eastern waters of Elk River; thence to
the Tennessee, at an old field, where a part of the Chickasaws
formerly lived, this line to be so run as to include all the waters
of Elk River, thence across the Tennessee and a neck of land to
Tenchacunda Creek, a southern branch of the Tennessee, and
up the same to its source; then to the waters of Tombigby, that
is, to the west fork of Long Leaf Pine Creek, and down it to the
line of the Chickasaws and Choctaws, a little below the trading
road."
He said further:
"I want no long talk on the subject; the Cherokees are
bloodthirsty; they never go out but they bloody their weapons in
the white people, and I knew the whites, in retaliation, would
take their land ; this I have before said, and for fear they should
take mine, supposing it to be the Cherokees', is my reason for
explaining the boundary."
It will be noted that Governor Blount was careful to assure
the Chickasaws that the white men did not want the land of the
red men, although he added that report had been put out by
those unfriendly to the United States. We learn from Haywood
(p- 330) that General Pickens said to the Chickasaws: "We
shall look upon it that your enemies are ours and ours yours."
These assurances were thus given in plain and unmistakable
language; it is to be regretted that these assurance were sub-
sequently repudiated over and over again by the whites.
It may here be noted also that in a letter addressed to the
Chickasaws (3 Amr. His. Mag. (Tennessee), p. 350, also 4 ibtd^
p. 94) President Washington on July 21, 1794, confirmed the
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boundaries of the Chickasaws as above defined by Piomingo;
and Haywood (p, 425) states that President Washington de-
livered his letter to Piomingo in person.
Piomingo Left to His Fate—
During these trying times, when Americans were not living
up to the promises so often made to the Chickasaws, it should
also be remembered that they were sorely tempted to enlist 1 ,
under the Spanish flag, but fidelity to their word forbade such a
course. Thus, Drake (p. 402) states that in 1793 the Spaniards
made large offers to the Chickasaws to induce them to forsake
the Americans, but that these offers were treated with contempt
by Piomingo.
The Chickasaws under the leadership of Piomingo by going
first to the assistance of General St. Clair in 1791, and in sub-
sequent campaigns under General Wayne north of the Ohio,
incurred the deadly hatred of the Creeks and Cherokees, who
were in deep sympathy with the purpose of Little Turtle and his
followers to completely destroy the white settlers.
A superficial glance at the recorded murders, assassinations,
robberies and like crimes committed by the Creeks and Cherokees
on the Cumberland settlements is a sickening record, and these
acts of barbarism were continued through a course of years,
growing worse after the defeat of St. Clair in 1791 and until
peace was declared following the defeat of Little Turtle.
Piomingo was especially marked out for assassination or
destruction by some means fair or foul ; and for a long time it was
supposed that he was dead. While gloom was hanging over the
whites, Putman announces the reappearance of Piomingo in
these words!
''But here is our old friend Piomingo, the Mountain Leader
of the Chickasaws, redivivus! The report and belief of the last
fall was that he had been killed by the Creeks, and that his young
warriors, in seeking for retaliation, had killed a Cherokee instead
of a Creek, which act the Cherokees proposed to let pass un-
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avenged, if the Chickasaws would unite with them in war against
the Creeks. The life of Piomingo had been threatened by the
Shawnees and Creeks. He had been hunted as a partridge on the
mountain, and his absence had given currency to the report that
he had been killed."
Instead of espousing the cause of Piomingo, the whites,
acting under instructions from Washington, were endeavoring
to placate the Creeks and Cherokees, who were even then de-
ceiving President Washington and plotting to destroy the Chick-
asaws.
Haywood says:
"The sympathies of the white people, and their good wishes,
were enlist^ on the side of the Chickasaws. A strong disposition
prevailed among all ranks to aid the Chickasaws rather than
suffer their extirpation by the Creeks. The latter, without inter-
mission, had spilled the blood of the white people for twenty
years, and now were levying war against the only red people
upon earth who were friends of the United States, and who had
lately fought by their sides in the army of General Wayne and
in two preceding campaigns, and had shed their blood in defence
of the white people. They had become the objects of Creek
vengeance for their partiality to white men. The public voice
called loudly for assistance to be sent to them,"
Only the year previous, that is, in 1794, Piomingo had visited
President Washington and Putman (p. 525) says:
"He received pledges of friendship from the head of the
government, attention from the heads of departments, was
^Nock-en-e-ized^ or as we say lionized, made a big man of, clothed,
dubbed with a title, loaded with presents,' and sent on his way to
his nation a gratified Indian."
In the succeeding year Piomingo and his nation being
threatened with extermination by their Indian enemies, how
natural was it for him to appeal to President Washington?
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In the meantime, that is, in May, 1795, the Spaniards under .
Governor Gayoso had crossed the Mississippi from Fort Esper-
anza, and completed the building of a Spanish fort which he .
named Fort San Fernando, after the king of Spain. Against this
aggression Piomingo vigorously protested, and on July 10, 1795,
Governor Gayoso wrote a letter of friendship to Piomingo, seek-
ing to explain that all of his purposes were friendly to him and
his people. Piomingo promptly forwarded this letter to General
Robertson, who in turn forwarded it to Washington.
On August 22, 1795, President Washington delivered to a
deputation of Chickasaws a "talk," a copy of which, bearing
his veritable signature thereto, was sent to General Rob-
ertson.
Two paragraphs (Putman p. 512) are as follows:
"My children: I sincerely regret the difficulties in which
you are involved by the mistaken opinions which have been
entertained of the intentions and obligations of the United
States to interfere in the disputes of the Indian nations among
one another, unless as friends to both parties, to reconcile them.
In this way I shall do everything in my power to serve the Chick-
asaw nation. The Commissioners at the conference at Nashville
had no authority to promise any other interference. General
Robertson did wrong in telling your nation, last year, that he
expected the United States would send an army against the
Creeks this summer. Your strong expectation of seeing such an
army, and probably other encouragements of support, may have
led you to strike die Creeks, which now occasions so much dis-
tress. It seems, also, that the conmiissions which were given to
a number of the Chickasaw chiefs were not truly interpreted.
They were expressly confined to operations against the Indians
northwest of the Ohio.
"The act of the Spaniards in taking possession of the Chicka-
saw Bluffs is an unwarrantable aggression, as well against the
United States as the Chickasaws, to whom the land there belongs.
I shall send talks, and do what else shall appear to me proper, to
induce the Spanish king, or his governor, to remove their people
from that station, and to make no more encroachments on your
lands."
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The deep disappointment not to say chagrin justly felt by
Piomingo is not recorded. He bore his deep disappointment with
that fortitude and philosophy so characteristic of the North
American Indian. Piomingo and his people were thus left to
their fate, although be it said to the credit of General Robertson,
though forbidden to take the field for the Chickasaws, he rendered
every assistance in his power otherwise to mitigate their perilous
situation.
It may not be inappropriate here to note that General
Robertson died at the Chickasaw agency in west Tennessee,
September i, 1814, among the Chickasaws, who loved him so
well, and to whose welfare he was ever devoted.
In 1825 his remains were reinterred at Nas^hville with
marked honors by the people, and Judge Haywopd, the State
historian, delivered an appropriate eulogy upon his life and
character (Putman, p. 18).
Since the foregoing was written, I find that President Roose-
velt in his Winning of the West (V. p. 304) says that:
"To its shame and discredit, the United States at first pro-
posed to repeat towards the Chickasaws the treachery of which
the British had just been guilty to the Northern Indians; for it
refused to defend them from the Creeks, gainst whom they
had been acting, partly it is true for their own ends, but
partly in the interest of the settlers. The frontiersmen,
however, took a much more just and generous view of the
affair."
And speaking of the subject of this sketch under the name of
Opiamingo (Vol. I, p. 32), Mr, Roosevelt says he was the most
noted war chief among the Chickasaws.
Victory for the Unconqnenible Cliiekasaw»—
The Creeks pretending to desire peace with the Chickasaws,
General Robertson went in person to the Chickasaws to provide
for a release of prisoners then held by the Chickasaws. He had
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scarcely performed the duties of this mission and returned
home, when he was doubtless greatly surprised to receive from
Piomingo an account written, as Putman says (p. 526), by his
white secretary.
Haywood (p. 461) thus succinctly summarizes the complete
and just victory of the Chickasaws over their enemies.
"On the 29th of September Piomingo , by letter, communi-
cated to General Robertson an affair which had recently taken
place between the belligerents. About a thousand Creeks had
come to break up the Chickasaw nation. They brought white
people with them, and drums and ammunition for a long siege.
A great number of them were on horseback. As they gave way,
the warriors of Big Town attacked them and put them to the
rout. The Chickasaws pursued them about five miles, their
horsemen upon the flank and their foot upon the rear. The
Chickasaws took from them all their baggage and clothing,
except their flaps, the only clothes they had on when they began
the attack. The baggage consisted of their blankets and other
clothing, except their flaps, their ammunition, kettles, and their
provisions. The loss of the Chickasaws was six men killed and
one woman. Of the Creeks were found twenty-six men killed,
and many more must have been wounded. About two hundred
Chickasaws were engaged in defeating this great army of the
Creeks. In a few days afterwards the Chickasaws presented a
memorial to the Creek nation. In it they accuse the Creeks of
perfidy in coming to attack them when General Robertson was
there obtaining the prisoners from the Chickasaws which they
had agreed to deliver.
"General Robertson, they said, believed that the Creeks
were in earnest for peace, but the next morning he heard their
guns. If you want peace, send your flag; your prisoners shall
come. The Mad Dog, in council, said they had no tongue for
peace, but the Creeks had not lost the use of their legs, for the
Chickasaw horses had not been able to overtake them. They
had not pursued far, for they returned to consult with General
Robertson on the peace which they so much desired. We are
willing for peace, said the Chickasaws, but not afraid of war.
If you thirst for blood, we will sell ourselves dearly. They set
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rushing into war. We are a small nation, and the Creeks have
long insulted us. If war continue, we will send out our war
parties and head them, but we seek sincerely for peace. They
finally besought to bury in oblivion all former heart burn-
mgs.
Plomingo and Governor Gayoso—
Having reached that time in the career of Piomingo when he
appears for the last time, so far as my researches have extended,
and as he was the representative of the Chickasaws, and to a,
large extent also of the United States in the dispute between
Spain and America as to which was entitied to sovereignty over
the Chickasaw Bluffs, while His Excellency Manuel Gayoso De
Lemos, governor general of Louisiana and west Florida, rep-
resented the king of Spain, it may not be out of place to give a
pen picture of that distinguished governor, and skilled diplomat,
who matched his skill against the unlettered Chickasaw chief.
It will be recalled that the Spaniards under Gayoso had
commenced the erection of a fort on the present site of Memphis
in 1795, against which Piomingo protested. It seems that a very
'influential chief of the Chickasaws, known as Wolfs Friend,
had been won over to the Spanish side by Gayoso, and^that
Wolf's Friend had assumed on the part of the Chickasaws to
sell to the Spaniards the Chickasaw Bluffs.
In a letter to his wife Gayoso thus describes the manner in
which he took possession of the Bluffs on May 30, 1795.
"Yesterday I passed from my post of Elsperanza (then the
Spanish name for Hopefield) over to the Chicacha Bluffs, where
I now write. I hoisted the king's flag and saluted it in the most
brilliant manner from the flotilla and the battery. It being St.
Ferdinand's day (the name of my Prince), I gave the post that
name. It was a pleasant day, and withal my birthday, and
nothing was wanting to complete my happiness but your pres-
ence.
'The chiefs are to visit me tomorrow, and then I shall count
the days, the hours, and moments until I can be with you."
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This is a gay picture, and though it may be thought some-
what out of place here, I can not forbear to insert here that
Gayoso is said to have died July i8, 1799, and in i Monette, p.
544, there is a quotation from Ellicott's Journal (pp. 215, 216)
giving the estimate placed by Ellicott upon the character of
Gayoso, as follows:
"As the governor of an arbitrary monarch, he was certainly
entitled to great merit. It appeared, in an eminent degree, to be
his pride to render the situation of those over whom he was
appointed to preside as easy and comfortable as possible; and
in a particular manner he directed his attention to the improve-
ment of the country by opening roads, which he considered the
arteries of commerce. He was educated in Great Britain, and
retained to a considerable degree, until his death, the manners
and customs of that nation, especially in his style of living. In
his conversation he was easy and affable, and his politeness was
of that superior cast which showed it to be the effect of early
habit, rather than an accomplishment merely intended to render
him agreeable*
"His passions were naturally so strong, and his temper so
remarkably quick, that they sometimes hurried him into difficul-
ties from which he was not easily extricated. It was frequently
remarked of him, as a singularity, that he was neither concerned
in traffic, nor in the habit of taking douceurs, which was too
frequently the case with other officers of his Catholic majesty
in Louisiana. He was fond of show and parade, in which he in-
dulged to the great injury of his fortune, and not a little to his
reputation as a good paymaster. He was a tender husband, an
affectionate parent, and a good master."
Notwithstanding the natural ability and great accomplish-
ments of Gayoso, Piomingo withstood all of his blandishments
and arts of diplomacy, and, as we have seen, forwarded to General
Robertson, July 10, 1795, the letter of Gayoso.
The fidelity of Piomingo to his word of friendship to General
Robertson, and through him to the United States, at the very
time when this country had left him practically to a fate which
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he thought would probably end in his death and the destruction
of his people, is worthy of the profoundest admiration.
Haywood (p. 459) quotes Piomingo as saying to General
Robertson, ''But you shall hear that I died like a man."
Fortunately, however, as we have seen, on September 29,
I795i two hundred Chickasaws completely vanquished a Creek
army of one thousand warriors, who had in reserve another one
thousand fighting men ; and thus to the end this small but intrepid
nation sustained the soubriquet of the unconquerable Chickasaws.
The Last Public Appearance of Piomingo—
After the Chickasaws had thrust back the Creeks in the
signal defeat mentioned, it is difficult to understand why the
United States did not take possession of the Chickasaw Bluffs and
oust the Spaniards and destroy their fort.
A vacillating policy was pursued by the United States
government for near two years, but finally Major Isaac Guion
was selected as the military and diplomatic agent of the United
States to secure the final evacuation of various Spanish forts east
of the Mississippi River, including that of San Fernando erected
on the Chickasaw Bluffs in 1795.
He left Fort Washington (where Cincinnati now is) with a
detachment of United States troops, and reached the Chickasaw
Bluffs in July, 1797, arrangements having been previously made
for Piomingo and the Chickasaws to meet him upon his arrival.
"He was directed to sail with the flag conspicuously dis-
played, notifying any Spanish post of his approach and offer the
exchange salute for salute but stop for nothing but an official
order or menace, in which case he was to deliver a protest and
either return or take a position within the limits of the United
States and to defend it to the last extremity." (7th and 8th
Ann. Repts. Miss., 1908-1909, p. 26.)
He was the first to hoist the Stars and Stripes upon the
Chickasaw Bluffs, and soon erected the first American fort.
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which he named Fort Adams. Piomingo, now advanced in years,
was erroneously called king of the Chickasaws by Guion, who
states that Piomingo was detained to defend his town against his
old enemies the Creeks, and did not arrive until August lo, 1797,
and two days thereafter there also arrived Wolf's Friend, the
wily but able chief attached to the Spanish cause, and soon
afterwards there also arrived William Colbert, the noted half- /
breed Chickasaw chief. '
Guion determined to have in the present day expressive
language of the street, a "show-down," and accordingly invited
Colonel Charles Howard, in command of the Spanish troops
across the river, to attend with his staff a meeting to be held on
the Bluffs, September 16, 1797, and in his journal thus states
what occurred:
"On the i6th we met and Colonel Howard came over with
two of his officers, made a great many apologies, as it was only to
gratify the Wolf's Friend who had, he said, insisted on his
presence, and begged that when they distributed their presents,
I woiild come over and be a witness in like manner, which I
instantly declined, observing that I had no manner of objection
to his being present at what was to be said or done here, that I
had very little to say to them more than to recommend them to
live peaceably among themselves, and in good neighborhood with
the Indians and subjects in the Spanish territory. William
Colbert, who anticipated the Wolf's Friend's design, began with
an animated and bold talk; he told that chief he knew his in-
tention was, if possible, to turn us away and replace his friends
the Spaniards; but this should not be while he was living; that
the works we were beginning were done with his consent and his
people's, and wished to know who was the chief man in his
nation that should make nothing of his promise. That when we
were satisfied staying, or doing anything on that ground, we might
at our pleasure go, but not before; that he had heard that the
Wolf's Friend had talked of force, but that he would do well to
recollect who were the warriors of his nation ; that before the
Americans should be forced from this ground, he would be killed
by their side and buried here. This strong talk, seconded by a
short but strong one from Piomingo, sealed up the great orator's
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mouth and confounded the Spanish visitants who came prepared
to hear everything else. Thus the conference ended; and the
day following the goods were displayed and given to them.
"The liberality of the supply, the superior quality of the
goods at once surprised and contented all present; especially after
the Spaniards had made their donation, which was not more than
one-fourth part as much in woolens and linens; and the remain-
der of tinseled frippery, ridiculed and treated with contempt by
Piomingo. I heard no word of dissatisfaction from any of them
after this, all desirous of our stay, willing that we should put up
what works we pleased."
I will add that William Colbert had, in one of the expeditions
north of the Ohio, led the Chickasaws who went there at the
solicitation of President Washington to aid General St. Clair,
and afterwards General Wayne, in their campaigns against Little
Turtle, commanding the Northwestern Confederation of In-
dians, Piomingo having led the first band of Chickasaws.
In the war of 1812 Colbert served nine months in the regular
infantry, and upon his return he led a party of his warriors
against the hostile Creeks, whom he pursued from Pensacola
almost to Apalachicola, killing many and bringing back eighty-
five prisoners to Montgomery, Alabama. He was styled a
general when he visited Washington at the head of a Chickasaw
delegation in 18 16.
In his autobiography (p. 294) President Van Buren states
that many of the Chickasaws and Choctaws fought by the side
of General Jackson in the famous battle of the Horse Shoe.
It is interesting to note here that in this same letter Major
Guion states that there were then (1797) only four white families
on the Bluffs, and that they had only come there two and three
years previous thereto.
The most conspicuous of the white men was Kenneth
Ferguson, a Scotchman, a decided Spanish subject, and connected
with the house of Panton & Lesley, of Pensacola, and was the
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same alluded to in the Wolf's Friend letter of the 2nd of April.
Ferguson was extensively engaged in the Indian trade, and was
placed there by Governor Gayoso for the special purpose of
winning over the Chickasaws to the Spanish cause.
The other man of importance was William Mizell, a native
of North Carolina, supposed to have followed the fortune of the
British arms in the late war, as he was in Pensacola when the
Spaniards took that place. Guion adds that Mizell was an in-
offensive man, that he was no friend to the Spaniards, and had
been of much service in interpreting for the Chickasaws, among
whom he had lived for sixteen years. He was furnished some
rations and Guion promised to mention him to the Secretary of
War, in order that if he judged it proper, Mizell might receive
some reward for his services.
This is the same Mizell that Piomingo referred to in a letter
of September i, 1795, to General Robertson, asking that Mizell
be appointed as his interpreter, as he was in every way com-
petent to attend to their business.
Guion also recorded :
"John Brown and his brother, both steady good Chickasaws,
have requested me to call your recollection to a claim their
nation has on ten miles square of lands in the State of South
Carolina opposite Augusta on the Savannah River and Horse
Creek; they say that the Secretary of War has a plat of the
land in question, and that they wish for some decision on this
business. That Governor Blount had promised them his good
offices in this affair, but hearing of his defeat, they applied to the
executive through me."
Here we are reminded that the Chickasaws had put in this
claim previously in 179S, precisely as the Brown brothers stated
to Guion; and it is a fact that the Chickasaws at one time lived
on the Atlantic coast near Savannah, or at least a part of them
lived there. As I have not seen any further reference to this
claim, the probability is that it was "pigeonholed," and allowed a
peaceful demise.
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As to the Family of Plomlngo. Etc.—
It is to be regretted that so little is known with respect to
the family of Piomingo, which may be accounted for in part
because at that early day the home of the Chickasaws was far
from white settlements, and the further fact that every Chicka-
saw was judged on his or her own merits, and did not shine in the
reflected glory of some distinguished relative, a rule of social life
which more pretentious civilized people might well follow.
We learn from Putman (p. 524) that the wife of Piomingo was
a tall Indian woman, named MoUe-tuUa, and that women of her
rank wore a sack long enough to hide the strip of stroud or baize
around the waist and hips, with moccasins and leggins ornamented
by beads and tinkling bells. The hair was braided and hung
down the back like a mandarin's. When Piomingo was greatly
honored by the president. General Robertson had instructions to
equip the wife of Piomingo with clothing and ornaments. As to
the children of Piomingo we know little, except that he had a
son who is mentioned more than once as a messenger between
his father and the Little Turkey, a noted Cherokee chief who was
the uncle of Piomingo. When in the noted conferences at Nash-
ville in 1792 the boundaries of the Chickasaw country were
defined by Piomingo and objections were interposed by some
Cherokees, Piomingo promptly replied that when his uncle, the
Little Turkey, was informed that the Cherokees should have the
privilege of hunting on the hunting grounds of the Chickasaws,
he would be entirely satisfied. Upon various occasions the Little
Turkey spoke of his nephew, the Mountain Leader, in terms of
equal confidence and respect. When we remember that the
Cherokees and Chickasaws were often at war the one with the
other, it is greatly to the credit of these two chiefs that their
personal relations appear always to have remained most cordial,
though each was loyal to the last degree to his own people.
In a letter of William Blount to General Robertson of Sep-
tember 10, 1795, it is stated that Piomingo in a letter to President
Washington had requested the president would take into con-
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sideration his children, and particularly his daughter, whom he
wished to be taught to read and write; and his request was
granted, under the limitation that no permanent order would be
made until the probable expense had been reported. From the
solicitude thus manifested by the great Chickasaw chief for the
future welfare of his children, we may be assured that he was a
kind and indulgent father.
Piomingo was honored in various ways; thus we learn in a
letter of David Henly, United States agent, to Captain Gordon, of
September 26, 1795, that Gordon had been appointed to command
the boat Opiomingo^ loaded with goods consisting of calicos,
woolens, lead, powder, etc., being a present from the president of
the United States to the chiefs and Chickasaw nation. John
Overton was placed in charge, with directions to land the goods
at the Chickasaw Bluffs.
When Mr. Charles D. Johnston of the Cossitt Library
handed me for examination Imlay's topographical description of
the Western territory and particularly of Kentucky, which was
brought out in 1792, he also handed me a detached old map,
which he supposed was a part of Imlay's work. It had thereon
this inscription:
"London, published as the act directs, December 27, 1794,
by H. D. Symonds, No. 20 Paternoster Row."
From the dates I do not think the map belongs to the book.
The map appears to be a good representation of the new Kentucky
country and adjoining territories down to and including the great
bend in the Tennessee River, embracing the Mussel shoals,
together with many of the traces or roads in use through the
country represented.
Only two of these traces reach down into what is now Tennes-
see. One of these commences at the southern border of the map,
crosses the Tennessee at the mouth of Bear Creek, running
thence northeasterly to Nashville on the Cumberland.
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It IS marked ''Mountain Leader's Trace," evidently being
so called in honor of Piomingo. This was evidently what was
afterwards called the Natchez trace, ceded to the United States
in 1801 by the Chickasaws.
Further north in Kentucky the map shows many traces
crisscrossing the country, but the most of them have no designa-
tions or names.
In 1 8 10 John Robertson brought out a volume in Philadel-
phia under the pseudonym or pen name of Piomingo, "a headman
and warrior of the Muscogulgee nation," under the title of TA^
Savage.
It is now a rare book; the copy I procured was republished
at Knoxville, Tennessee, at the Scrap Book office in 1833.
In the preface it is stated that Piomingo sprang from the
wilderness far from the haunts of civilized man and that he
inhaled with his first breath a love for savage independence,
and that his intercourse with white men had not contributed to
lessen his original prepossession in favor of the wild dignity
of nature. The preface closes in these words:
"The good people of this republic have long derived amuse-
ment from the journals of polished travelers through barbarous
nations: let us for once reverse the picture and see what enter-
tainment can be drawn from observations of a savage upon the
manners and customs, vices and virtues, of those who boast the
advantages of refinement and civilization."
The title of the first paper is ''Recollections of Infancy," and
commences thus:
"The existence of things is not strange; but the power of
perceiving this existence is, beyond comprehension, wonderful.
Where shall we look for the origin of mind? Whence sprang the
young idea? Was it produced by the immediate agency of the
Almighty One? or is it a necessary emanation from the great
fountain of nature, the soul of the universe? Our first thought
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has perished forever: no exertion of ours can bring it up from the
gulf of oblivion: yet we may awaken the recollection of times
long past; we may bid the scenes of childhood pass again before
us; and remember with pleasure the early excursions of the un-
fledged mind."
The little book contains 324 pages and discusses many
subjects, some in the form of essays and some dialogues, in which
Piomingo is made to take a conspicuous part.
It was the proud boast of Piomingo that neither he nor any
of his people ever raised the hatchet against the white American
settlers, and he fought with them against various Indian tribes.
He was an Indian worthy to sign a treaty for his people with
George Washington, representing the United States. He was a
man of distinction and note throughout this section and far
beyond the confines of the territory of the Chickasaw tribe of
Indians; and yet, when I asked the legislative council of the
city, as mayor of Memphis, in 1908 to name one of the principal
thoroughfares of this city in his honor, I do not think a single
member of the council had ever heard his name mentioned before.
This was not all. Several letters were written and published in
the papers asking where the barbarous name came from, the
writers being wholly ignorant of the history of their own state
and city. Almost by way of jest, upon motion of Dr. B. G.
Henning, the council named old Madison Street Piomingo,
which name it bears today. We are thus reminded of the old
Latin saying, ''Sic transit gloria tnundi** — "so passes away
earthly glory."
Nevertheless, I maintain that no people can be a great
people or attain to a full and broad view of life who are without
high ideals; and no people who fail to cherish the early history
of their country or of the great and distinguished men who have
preceded them can attain to that high rank of civilization shared
by the distinguished states, nations, and people of their day and
time.
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Seqooyahy the Cadmus of America-
According to Foster near two hundred years BgQ many
Protestants of the archbishopric of Salzburg, Bavaria, were
forced to leave their homes on account of religious persecution,
and sought homes in various countries where religious freedom
was allowed. These people were descendants of the ancient
Vindelici and Boii, and one band landed at Charleston, South
Carolina, and under the guiding hand of General James Ogle-
thorpe, they settled on the Savannah River, where they laid
out a village which they named Ebenezer, the settlement in
1736 numbering some two hundred people.
About 1739 there came from Bavaria to Ebenezer a family
of Swabia, Franconia ancestry, very different in character from
the first settlers, being influenced by the hope of gain and having
no religious aspirations. To this family was bom a boy named
George Gist; who grew up in ignorance, could speak only a few
words in English or Cherokee, and was noted only for his cun-
ning, lazy, and shiftless disposition, so that he could not procure a
peddler's license, in lieu of which he became an illicit Indian trader.
This boy was destined to become the father of the most
illustrious North American Indian, the intellectual peer of the
wisest men in the history of mankind.
The Cherokee nation composed the Southern branch of
that great Iroquois family of Indians occupying the mountain-
ous portions of what we now call Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee,
and Georgia. They were a bold, brave, and self-reliant people,
capable of the greatest endurance, and of a warlike temperament.
They were devotedly attached to their mountain homes» in
defense of which they were ever ready to sacrifice their lives and
all they had.
The Cherokees had marked out a path from Augusta,
Georgia, to their country, over which horsemen could ride to ail
parts of the Cherokee country. George Gist is said to have taken
this path for the Cherokee country, with two pack horses laden
with merchandise suitable for trade with the Indians.
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Bronze statue of Sequoyah, presented by the State of Oklahoma to the
United States, and now in Statuary Hall, in the Capitol at Washington.
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There he met a Cherokee Indian girl who pleased his fancy,
and she evidently was flattered by his professions, and they
became husband and wife according to the customs of her people;
and to her obligations in the marriage relation she was ever
faithful, and proved a devoted mother, judged by the highest
standards of the most enlightened people.
She came of a good family, her father being a chief in Great
Echota, the town of refuge in the Cherokee nation, for they had
a city of refuge similar to that of the ancient Jews, Great Echota
being situated on the little Tennessee River, in what is now
Monroe County, east Tennessee.
Speaking of the Indian wife, at p. 17 Foster says:
"While our Dutch peddler smoked his home-made pipe
around the fire or joined in the chase when his indolence would
allow, she cultivated the maize, even cleared a piece of land for
tillage; she helped put up a wigwam; she prepared and dried the
skins, and fashioned them into clothing, and cooked his food
over the wigwam fire. She even butchered the game, saddled
the horses, and cared for them on his return; she brought the
wood, fetched the water, and yet, though practically a slave,
as she knew no better way, she was accounted a very happy
woman. Her hope of happiness was based on her devotion to
her husband; so the more she did for him, the more contented
she became."
It is a singular fact that I have not seen the name of this
remarkable woman in any of the books I have been able to read.
I have written many letters to various persons, endeavoring to
ascertain her name and at least some of the circumstances con-
nected with her life.
In a letter to Senator Robert L. Owens by Commissioner
Sells, of January 21st, 1921, it is said, **1 am informed by Mr.
Frank Boudinot, an attorney residing at the Northbrook Courts,
this city (Washington), that the name of the mother of Sequoyah,
was Wut-teh." A letter directed by myself to Mr. Boudinot
failed to elicit any reply.
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In this letter of Commissioner Sells, he also states that the
native or Indian name of Sequoyah was Sikwayi, which
accords with the various articles I have read.
Gist soon wearied of this new life, and deserted his faithful
and devoted wife, stealing away clandestinely and was never
heard of again, sinking into oblivion which he so well deserved.
In due course, about the year 1760, in the village of Taskigi on
the Little Tennessee River, in what is now Monroe County,
Tennessee, a baby boy was bom to the deserted Indian mother,
and it is said the mother named the babe Sequoyah (in the
Indian tongue — Sikwayi)^ because in the musical Cherokee
language that name meant, "He guessed it"; that is, the faithless
father guessed it would be a boy. It may be added, however,
that there is a dispute as to the origin of the name, and that
Sequoyah generally was known among the white people as
George Guess, which name he appears to have assumed, and he
used the name "Guess'' as a trade mark, by stamping it on the
silver ornaments he made as a silversmith.
The Cherokees to this day cherish his Indian name, and
proudly call him Sequoyah.
The mother of Sequoyah had eight acres of land, some
horses and cattle, and maintained herself and child by her own
exertions, the boy soon joining his mother in her labors, making
a new kind of wooden milk pan, building a milk-house over a
cool gushing mountain spring; and when she contrived to get a
small stock of goods, she taught him how to be a good judge of
furs, and he went on hunting and trading excursions in the
valleys of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, and came home laden
with furs. Upon him the mother lavished all the fond affections
of a mother's heart, and from her he evidently inherited all the
energy and perseverance of his nature; while from his remote
white ancestry through his father it is probable he inherited his
meditative and philosophical traits of character, this being an
illustration of what is termed a reversion to the original type of
some ancient ancestor.
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The large Spanish, French, and English coins which came
into his hands were fashioned into rings, bracelets, necklaces,
and other ornaments with so much skill that he became the most
famous silversmith in all the land. He also turned his attention
to art, and without a teacher drew sketches of deer, horses,
cows, and other familiar objects, and though rude at first his
skill so improved that his sketches presented a very good resem-
blance to the objects they were designed to represent; and he
also became a most famous story-teller, and altogether we are
not surprised that he easily became the most popular Cherokee
in all the tribe.
Having lost his mother, it is said his home became the
rendezvous for all the wild and gay young Indian warriors, and
that Sequoyah for a time became dissipated, but exercising that
strong will for which he was noted, he eventually cast aside for-
ever his indulgence in intoxicating liquors.
Sequoyah eventually married, and speaking of his wife
Foster (p. 69) says:
"This wife which Sequoyah took was no common Indian
maiden. In form she was like the women of her race; she was
tall, erect, and of a delicate frame; her features formed with
perfect symmetry, and her countenance was cheerful and amiable.
Both in her soul and that of Sequoyah was a higher intuition
than appeared to be bestowed on any other of the Cherokee
tribe. For a time their sympathies were one, and for a time their
lives were markedly happy. For all nature spoke in plainest
utterances to them that which it only whispered unto others.
"Every bird that sung, every scene of Nature seemed to in-
spire new thoughts and awaken new aspirations in Sequoyah.
"Even the wind playing melodies on the tree leaves seemed
to him like words of the Great Spirit, which his sensitive nature
translated into words of wisdom.
"Nature was his teacher, through which he lived a life beyond
the ken of all others in the Cherokee tribe. But as the honey-
moon wore off, he became more meditative and philosophically
inclined, and she more thoroughly practical. She worked and he
dreamed, and thus their lives grew widely apart. She became a
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virago and on many a morning, in later years, the voice of Se-
quoyah's wife could be heard giving her lord 'Jesse' for the lack
of such industry as she exclusively held in esteem. 'However/
says, Boudinot, the Executive Secretary of the nation, *he
seemed to have taken all his scoldings with great equanimity.
No doubt he put himself in her place and made full allowance
for the disagreeable prospect from her standpoint.' "
The Great Inveiitloii—
We have seen that from early childhood Sequoyah evinced
an inventive talent and that he became an expert silversmith,
but the crowning work of his life was his invention of the Chero-
kee syllabic alphabet, the simplest, most complete, and the
most perfect in the long history of mankind. I realize that this
is a sweeping statement, nevertheless it is true in every respect.
If it should be supposed that this alphabet was but the
product of genius, unaccompanied by study, toil, and self denial,
there could not be a greater mistake.
The germ, or underlying principles, involved in its produc-
tion no doubt engaged the profound thoughts of Sequoyah for
years before he gave himself entirely over to working out its
details.
As might be expected, there are various reasons assigned as
to the causes which led Sequoyah to enter upon years of labor to
produce his alphabet. Some ascribe it to a taunting remark
made by some of his companions, when, around the camp fire,
Sequoyah casually stated that he could invent an alphabet equal
to that of the white man. The party was discussing some written
pages of a letter that had been found on a white captive prisoner,
which they called "speaking leaves."
Stung by the incredulous taunts of his companions, it is
claimed that then and there Sequoyah registered a secret vow to
make good his statement. It is also said that in the troubles of
the Cherokees with the white settlers, when the latter began
encroaching on the territory of the Indians, it became a much
debated question as to the source of the superiority of the white
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man over the Indian. Sequoyah in early life was a hunter and
trader in furs, but met with an accident which made him a
cripple for life. He was naturally of a contemplative disposition
and had an inventive turn of mind. His physical affliction gave
him more time for thought and reflection, and he came to the
conclusion that the ability of the white man to read and write
and thus transmit his thoughts, not only to the present, but
future generations, was the mainspring of the superiority of the
white man.
About the year 1809, without knowing any language except
that of the Cherokee, and never having gone to school a day in
his life, and, of course, without any education whatever, or any
knowledge of the arts of the white man, he set to work to invent
an alphabet for the Cherokees, and, retiring to the woods, and
listening to all sounds, and comparing them with the words of
the Cherokee language, after twelve years he put forth, in 1821,
his alphabet, consisting of eighty-five characters.
In the meantime he was ridiculed and laughed at; but
nothing could dampen his ardor or check his labors.
Not only many of his Indian friends, but the agents of the
Unitled States government residing among the Cherokees believed
that his mind was affected, being unable to comprehend the na-
tui^ of his labors.
The first plan of Sequoyah was recognizing sounds in nature
which corresponded to tones in the Cherokee language, and then
to represent this sound by drawing a picture of some natural
object which made the sound; but he found that these pictures
and characters so multiplied that no one could remember them,
and after long labors along these lines, in which he had the
assistance of his wife and children, he was finally compelled to
abandon the plan.
The philosophy underlying the final plan upon which
Sequoyah created his syllabic alphabet was to have one letter
to represent each and every sound the human throat can utter.
One letter would represent in this way parts of different words,
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with the result that the number of characters would be com*
paratively small.
Foster (p. 102) quotes Phillips In Harpers Magasine of
September, 1870, as explaining more in detail the principles
upon which the alphabet was constructed as follows:
"Sequoyah discovered that the language possessed certain
musical sounds, such as we call vowels, and dividing sounds,
called by us consonants. In determining his vowels he varied,
during the progress of discoveries, but finally settled on the six,
a, e, i, o, u, and a guttural vowel sounding like u in ung. These
had long and short sounds, with the exception of the guttural.
He next considered his consonants, or dividing sounds, and
estimated the number of combinations of these that would give
all the sounds required to make words in their language. He
first adopted fifteen for the dividing sounds, but settled on
twelve primary, the g and k being one and sounding more like
k than gf and d like L These may be represented in English as
g, A, /, w, n, qu, t, dl or rf, ts, w, y, z. It will be seen that if these
twelve be multiplied by six vowels, the number of possible
combinations or syllables would be seventy-two, and by adding
the vowel sounds which may be syllables, the number would be
seventy-eight. However, the guttural u, or sound of u in ung,
does not appear among the combinations, making seventy-
seven.
"Still his work was not complete. The hissing sound of 5
entered into the ramification of so many sounds, as in 5to, stu,
spa, spe, that it would have required a large addition to his
alphabet to meet this demand. This he simplified by using a
distinct character for the s {00) , to be used in such combinations.
To provide for the varying sounds g and k, he added a symbol,
which has been written in English ka. As the syllable na is
liable to be aspirated, he added symbols written nah and kna.
To have distinct representatives for the combinations rising out
of the different sounds of d and /, he added symbols for to, te, H
and another for dla, thus tia. These completed the eighty-five
characters of his alphabet of syllables and not of letters."
At the time Sequoyah completed his alphabet, he was living
in a log cabin in Georgia in comparative poverty; and as he had
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spent so many years in working out his theory in poverty, the
general opinion was that he was at least partially demented;
hence he was unable to convince any one of the practical utility
of his marvelous alphabet.
As some of the Cherokees had moved to the new Arkansas
country, he visited them there, and endeavored to have the Chero-
kees there understand his alphabet, and finally succeeded in
having one write a letter to a friend back in Georgia, which he
brought with him on his return home; and while his people
wondered greatly when it was read, still they were not convinced.
Sequoyah called a meeting of the most prominent men
among the Cherokees, and also explained his alphabet to Col.
Lowrey, the Indian agent, who lived only three miles from his
cabin, and to all of them he explained in detail the principles of
his alphabet; still they could not comprehend it.
Sequoyah had taught his alphabet to his little daughter,
Ahyokeh, then only six yeaHs old, and sending her away he wrote
down any word or sentiment his friends named, and when
called back, she readily read what had been written. While
Col. Lowrey at first thought that Sequoyah was deceiving
himself, he finally began to doubt whether he was the deluded
schemer which others thought him to be.
The syllabary was soon recognized by the Cherokees as an
invaluable invention, and such was its simplicity and adapta-
bility to the Cherokee language that money or schools and acade-
mies were unnecessary, for it could be easily learned in the tepee,
or on the trail, and in a few months thousands of Cherokees
could read and write in their language with ease and facility,
thereby placing that nation far in advance of any other Indian
tribe. The Cherokees, in recognition of Sequoyah's invention,
presented him with a medal, and in 1828 he visited Washington
and attracted much attention. In the treaty of that year he was
given $500.00 by the United States Congress for the great benefit
he had conferred upon the Cherokee people in the invention of
his wonderful alphabet.
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Sequoyah In the Hall of Fame-
In 191 1 the Legislature of the new State of Oklahoma
honored itself in the passage of an act to place in the rotunda of
the Capitol, the Hall of Fame at Washington, D. C, a splendid
bronze statue of Sequoyah, as a famous man from that state.
The presentation was made, and the statue unveiled on
June 6, 19 1 7, Honorable Charles D. Carter, member of Congress
from the third district of Oklahoma, himself a distinguished
descendant of the intrepid Chickasaws, being chairman of the
meeting.
The presentation speech was made by Senator Robert L.
Owen, of Oklahoma, he being of Cherokee descent and a man of
distinguished ability; and among other things he said:
"It is a strange thing that no alphabet in all the world
reaches the dignity, the simplicity, and the value of the Chero-
kee alphabet as invented by Sequoyah. The European alphabet
goes too far in providing analysis of sound and permits such
large variations in spelling that it is a task of years to learn how
to spell correctly in any of the European languages. With the
Sequoyah alphabet a Cherokee could learn to spell in one day.
"Thus the labor of years was saved to the student. So
great an intellectual accomplishment was this that Canon
Kingsley named the great red cedars of California, which towered
as high as four hundred feet into the air and which were twenty-
five feet through at the base, 'sequoias,' because they were
typical of the greatest native North American Indian."
Upon the same occasion Speaker Champ Clark said :
"When I was a boy, my father believed in phonetics and I
believe in phonetics. Sequoyah invented simply a large and
complete phonetic system in which everything is spelled by
sound, which is the correct way. If he had lived two thousand
years ago and had invented his alphabet and had got people to
use it, one-fifth of the time of the usual life could have been
saved. (Applause.) On the average, we spend one-fifth of our
lives learning how to spell and we don't know yet. (Laughter
and applause.)"
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Many eloquent addresses were made upon the unveiling of
the bronze statue of Sequoyah, which may be read, commenc-
ing at page 5683 of the Congressional Record of date July 16,
1917.
Tlie L»g| Dayg of Sequoyab—
Where the mortal remains of Sequoyah rest, no man knows,
though it is generally conceded that he died amid the towering
peaks of the Rocky Mountain ranges. His ancient ancestors
occupied the loftiest peaks of the Appalachian Mountains, and
as intellectually he towered far above the average man, it seems
fitting that he should have sought the lofty ranges of the West,
after his people had been driven from their homes in the East»
to breathe his last, and yield up his spirit to "The Beloved One
who dwelleth in the blue sky."
This short sketch will not admit of the various versions as to
the circumstances attending the last days of Sequoyah, much less
the speculations as to where his body now sleeps; but in reference
to his later years this much may be said:
In 1823 he took up his permanent residence in Arkansas,
where a portion of the tribe had been removed. He took a
prominent part in the treaties by which the Cherokees, or the
most of them, were moved from their homes in North Carolina
to the West.
In his declining years Sequoyah withdrew from activities
among the Cherokees, and once again gave himself over to
speculative ideas. He conceived the idea that there should be
elements of a common speech and grammar among the various
Indian languages, and he traveled far and near among many
tribes in a vain endeavor to demonstrate the correctness of his
theory. There was a current tradition to the effect that in
ancient times a band of Cherokees, forsaking their mountain
home and kindred in the Appalachian range, had crossed the
Mississippi River and found another home in a distant range of
mountains in the West.
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This legend appealed to the imaginative mind of Sequoyah
and he went in quest of this lost band; but death overtook him
at the age of eighty-three, in August, 1843 (it is said), near San
Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
There amid the towering Mexican Sierras his tired and rest-
less body fell asleep, and there today stand the great mountains,
fit monuments over his mortal remains.
Though Sequoyah was a pagan to the last, may we not
indulge the fond hope that when the mortal put on immortality,
the vagrant Mexican breezes caught up the restless spirit of
Sequoyah, and bore it far beyond the clouds to the happy hunting
grounds of his Indian forefathers, according to the myths which
he learned as a child at the knees of his Indian mother in the far-
away mountains of our beloved east Tennessee?
The Sonlh and Intellectual Men—
In late years there has arisen a tendency for some men to
proclaim that on account of climatic conditions in the South full
intellectual development there is not possible. This silly drivel
comes, of course, from men who do not live in the South. The
assumption is based on so-called scientific principles as to the
effect upon the body and mind of the climate in which people
live, the products of the soil, their environment and so on,
reaching the conclusions as above indicated.
In Chapter VIII it was pointed out that in pre-revolutionary
days, while the colonists were weak and time sufHdent had not
elapsed for their full development, it was then somewhat fashion-
able among certain classes in European countries to proclaim that
such were climatic and other conditions in America as to form
an impassible barrier to the full intellectual development of men
and the animal world in general. The celebrated French natu-
ralist, Buffon, undertook to prove this theory upon sdentiiic
principles, and such was the effect produced by such writings
that Thomas Jefferson, in his notes on Virginia, combated the
position of men like Buffon, insisting that it was a theory devoid
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of any substantial basis. No one, even in Europe, will now claim
that Buffon was right or that Jefferson, a Southern man, was wrong.
If the intellectual capacities of men are to be controlled by
their natural and climatic environment, then, as the Indians of
America were, so to speak, natural products of the respective
localities, attention is called to the fact that Piomingo, the un-
lettered full-blooded Chickasaw chief proved to be a worthy
match for the Spanish and French dipl6mats; and that whether
on the field of battle, or in the arena of diplomacy, he withstood
all the wiles of those opposed to the Americans, including the
seductive influence of money. Did he not possess a wonderful
judgment of men, not to say prescience of the future, when he
chose on all occasions, and under the most adverse circumstances,
to bend his people to the cause of the Americans rather than to
that of France or Spain?
Sequoyah was born and reared in sunny Tennessee, and his
early manhood was spent in Georgia, and he lived in that State
during the many trying years of toil, poverty, and self-denial
which he spent in producing his syllabic alphabet, the most
perfect in the annals of the world, and which made his name
immortal.
The English-speaking people owe a debt of gratitude to the
Chickasaw nation, who were men of the South, that can never be
repaid.
In the United States official Handbook of American Indians
(p. 463) the definition given of the "Five Civilized Tribes" is in
these words:
"A term used both officially and unofficially in modern
times to designate collectively the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Creek, and Seminole Indians, in the Indian Territory, applied on
account of the advance made by these tribes towards civilized
life and customs."
It is almost needless to state that the Five Civilized Tribes
were all men of the South, the most of them living in the Gulf
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States; or to add that no other tribe or tribes, however far they
may have lived northward, approached the Five Civilized Tribes
in those intellectual and other attributes which won for them the
designation which of itself proclaims their superiority to all
other North American Indians.
The mere mention of the name of Thomas Jefferson recalls
that he was the author of the Declaration of Independence,
which has proven to be the very sheet anchor for the preservation
of the liberties of mankind throughout the civilized world. And
there were other Southern men whose labors and whose genius
made possible the building of a superstructure upon the Declara-
tion of Independence, eventuating in our republican form of
government, without a parallel in the history of mankind. In
the remotest parts of the earth, wherever men are denied their
rights of freedom, liberty of speech or religion, they look with
longing eyes and prayerful hearts to the great American republic
as the very symbol of all that is good and great in governmental
affairs. And how can we think of those who made this great
government possible and not recall the name of George Washing-
ton, whose place in history by the common consent of mankind
is described as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts
of his countrymen?"
James Madison, the author of the Madison Papers, more
than any one other man, wrote the Constitution of the United
States; and James Monroe was the author of the justly celebrated
Monroe Doctrine, which was at Versailles by the unanimous
vote of all the great powers of the earth, upon the motion of
Woodrow Wilson, made a part of the League of Nations; so that
the Monroe Doctrine is now, by the unanimous consent of
civilized men, one of the most important parts of international
law, safeguarding the rights of all men.
And so sure as day follows night, the United States will
become a member of the League of Nations, or some similar
association, the fundamental principles of which were fashioned
by Woodrow Wilson, who, more than any other one man, wrote
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that imperishable document, and by the presentation of its
claims upon the hearts and consciences of mankind has caused it
to be adopted by forty-one nations of the earth up to September,
1920. Alphabetically arranged (see Literary Digest, September
25, 1920, p. '37) those nations are as follows:
"Present membership of the League of Nations:
Argentine Republic
Greece
Persia
Australia
Guatemala
Poland
Belgium
Haiti
Portugal
Bolivia
Hedjaz
Rumania
Brazil
India
Salvador
British Empire
Italy
Serbia
Canada
Japan
Siam
Chile
Liberia
South Africa
China
Netherlands
Spain
Colombia
New Zealand
Sweden
Cuba
Norway
Switzerland
Czecho-Slovakia
Panama
Uruguay
Denmark
Paraguay
Venezuela
France
Peru
''Ecuador is considering the treaty of peace in the current
Congress. Nicaragua has ratified, but the formalities of deposit-
ing the ratification are not yet complete. Honduras has completed
the parliamentary stage of ratification. The United States is
eligible to original membership."
Is it creditable to the United States that, on account of
partisanship, prejudice, and a want of that broad vision of the
future possessed by those who laid the foundation stones of this
great republic, this country so far has failed to become a mem-
ber of that League?
All of those men of the South mentioned above, whose
labors so eminently contributed to the formation of our republic,
occupied legislative and executive relations to the new experiment
for the government of men; but there was another no less import-
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ant department of the government, namely the judicial depart-
ment, presided over first by that justly distinguished Northern
man John Jay, as Chief Justice; and he resigned from that
great office because he could see there no field for the develoi>-
ment of his genius.
He was succeeded soon by a Southern man, John Marshall,
of whom President Garfield (Swaney, p. 133) said:
''Marshall found the constitution paper; and he made it
power. He found askeleton, and he clothed it with flesh and blood."
Not only in America both North and South, but among all
thoughtful and reflective men throughout the world, such as
James Bryce, now Lord Bryce, it is declared that to John Mar-
shall the world is indebted for the interpretation, development,
and practical application of the constitution of the United
States to the varying conditions of the country as new questions
arose, so that its interpretation has proven the government to
be all that was hoped for it by the most sanguine expectations of
the great men who fashioned its foundations.
Without making invidious comparisons, may we not ask if
the labors and genius of these Southern men had been eliminated
from the labors of others in the formative process of the making
of this great republic, would mankind now enjoy the priceless
example, and the people of the United States the priceless bless-
ings of our present form of government?
The Pilgrims of New England and their descendants delight
in the blare of the trumpet, whereas the cavaliers who settled
Virginia and their descendants are of a different temperament.
Witness the celebration in this year, 1920, of the tercentenary
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth all over the country, in-
cluding a fine pageant in Memphis; and yet there were earlier
settlements in Virginia, and the significant fact that in the year
prior to the landing of the Pilgrims, that is, in 1619, the first
legislative assembly upon the American continent met in Vir-
ginia and passed laws, was scarcely commented upon.
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The Literary Digest of October 23, 1920, quotes G. K.
Chesterton, the noted English writer, as commenting upon this
subject as follows:
"It is a commonplace to say that Virginia was the very
throne of the authority of the Revolution. From Virginia came
Washington, its hero, and Jefferson, its prophet. The State was
known as the Mother of Presidents. It was felt as a sort of
council chamber of the Fathers of the Republic. Not to follow
its pivotal political history through a thousand other things, it
is enough to say that, in the Civil War, the adherence of Virginia
to the side of local patriotism, which happened to be the losing
side, was certainly the fact which almost turned it into the
winning side. In Virginia, in that dark hour, arose the greatest
of American generals, who was perhaps the noblest of Americans.
I really can not imagine why a history which begins with Raleigh
and ends with Lee, and incidentally includes Washington, should
be utterly swept aside and forgotten in favor of a few sincere, but
limited, non-conformists, who happened to quarrel with Charles I."
Without joining in the rather caustic criticism, yet what is
said of Virginia and Virginians is commended to those who
constantly criticize the South.
The Sonlh After the Abolition of Slavery—
But, says another, see how far the South has lagged behind
the balance of the cpuntry in material progress. Where is the
candid man who does not know that this want of so-called
prosperity in the things which go to make up riches according
to the modern acceptation of that term, is due primarily to the
ravages and direct results of the Civil War, by which the Con-
stitution was so amended as to abolish slavery by the sword
instead of by the methods pointed out by that instrument?
How many of the critics of the South will take time to remember
that if the convention which adopted the Declaration of In-
dependence, had adopted it as written by Jefferson in those
parts with respect to slavery, that slavery would have received
therefrom its death blow.
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In The Safeguards of Liberty (p. 41) by W. B. Swaney, of
Chattanooga, this fact is clearly pointed out, and that the original
draft of the Declaration as drawn by Jefferson was amended
upon the motion of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. In
1784 Jefferson drafted a bill to abolish slavery in all of the North-
western territory, and also in what is now Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee, and Kentucky, and this bill failed of passage by only
one vote, and Jefferson wrote in his diary, 'Thus we see the fate
of millions unborn hanging on the tongue of one man, and Heaven
was silent in that awful moment!"
Not only was slavery abolished and the capital therein
invested, but fire and sword destroyed homes, barns, cattle,
factories, schools, and churches, leaving the South in the dust
and ashes; and as if this was not sufficient, the wild partisans
passed what was called the reconstruction laws, by which the
flower of the manhood of the South was disfranchised and their
former slaves made their political rulers.
This was an impossible state of affairs among what is termed
the Anglo-Saxon people, but which I prefer to designate the
English-speaking people; for this blood runs purer in the South
than in any other section of this great country. Needless to say,
it was but a question of time when the white men of the South
took over the political control of every Southern State, which
they will never surrender, for this political control means the
salvation of both the white and colored population.
Tbe Fate of Haiti Under Negro Bnle—
Almost within the shadow of southern Florida lies the
beautiful Island of Haiti, so named from an Indian word meaning
mountainous; for while there is much low land upon which grow
all tropical fruits, and the finest coffee, sugar, and tobacco, still
other parts are quite mountainous with extended high plateaus,
where grow other harvests of the temperate zone, affording an
equable and delightful climate not surpassed anywhere; while
in the mountains are to be found gold, silver, copper, tin, coal,
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and iron. In short it is a land where every prospect pleases, and
only man is vile; and why?
On December 6, 1492, now over four hundred years ago,
Columbus discovered the beautiful island and named it His-
paniola (Espanola), which in English means Little Spain, because
in his estimation it represented all that was beautiful and good
and was the crowning jewel of all his discoveries which made his
name immortal. The great navigator set about at once to build
towns and roads, to cultivate the soil, open mines, and develop
the marvelous resources of the beautiful island; and when he
passed from earth to heaven on May 26, 1506, though his re-
mains were first interred in Seville, Spain, in 1542 they were
exhumed, carried over the sea, and interred in that part of
Hispaniola now called Santo Domingo, where they reposed
until 1 795- 1 796, and were re-exhumed, and transferred to the
Cathedral in Havana, Cuba; whence, after the Spanish-American
War of 1898, they were finally removed back to Seville, Spain,
where, let us hope, they may peacefully repose forever.
Upon the whole island Columbus found some two million
Indians, and in course of time these aborigines were exterminated,
and as slave labor proved profitable in cultivating the rich soil,
the island was flooded with negro slaves from Africa by the
same means that they were imported into our Southern States,
and these importations were especially great in the western
part of the island, which is more correctly called Haiti, while
the eastern part is called Santo Domingo, the two parts of the
island being now and for many years since, governed by separate
and distinct forms of government, the one part having no political
connection with the other.
What is said here pertains to the western part of the island
designated Haiti, where the population became overwhelmingly
African. In the course of time the hold of Spain became loosened
and the grip of France thereon became more rigid, until it peissed
entirely under French control. The French revolution with all
of its aftermath and dissolutions in the parent country loosened
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her control over Haiti and its hordes of negro slaves, and then
appeared that remarkable negro, Toussant TOuverture, who set
up a revolution for the freedom of his fellow bondmen; but he
was betrayed and enticed to make a visit to Paris, where he was
thrown in jail and there died. He was succeeded by another
notorious negro leader, Jean Jacques Dessalines, who carried
on the revolt, and by means of the greatest atrocities the whites
were assassinated and butchered, their estates confiscated, and
in '1804 the negroes were the supreme overlords of Haiti, with
Dessalines at the head of their government, but he was assassi-
nated in 1805.
Under the preceding French rule roads were built, radiating
throughout the country, magnificent chateauk, the homes of the
gentry and landed proprietors, dotted the valleys and the hills,
and prosperity and civilization rose to a high pitch, as it should
have done in this favored land. Its future was the brightest of
any part of the new world.
Did this prosperity and civilization continue under negro
rule, or did everything of promise for the future wither and
perish?
The sequel will furnish an answer.
The savages in the wilds of Africa never exhibited less
capacity in governmental affairs or to govern themselves than
did these negroes of Haiti, although many of their ancestors had
been in Haiti over a century, during which time they had em-
braced the Christian religion and should have become much
advanced beyond their savagery in Africa. During the first one
hundred years of negro rule, that is, up to the year 1903, twenty-
five presidents held office, and of these fifteen were driven out of
office by revolutions; thirteen of these were banished to foreign
lands, while two were allowed to remain to die at home, while
they did quite promptly. Three others died in office from as-
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sassinations, while still three others died in office from unex-
plained causes, but it can be easily surmised that their deaths
were not from natural causes. Another died of wounds received
from revolutionists, while still another committed suicide, and
wonderful to state, one out of the twenty-five served his full
term of office, lived to a good old age and died a natural death!
After the lapse of the first hundred years of home rule by
negroes in Haiti, instead of improvement, matters grew worse,
and chaos followed not only in domestic affairs but in the foreign
relations of Haiti; so that the United States, under the prin-
ciples of the Monroe Doctrine, at the suggestion of France, was
compelled through her navy and army to take charge of the
country in 1915, thus taking up the white man's burden, which is
still borne by this country.
In the meantime the houses and palaces built by the French
were destroyed, the cultivated fields became as the primeval
jungle, while the roads were choked and made impassable by the
growth of the giants of the forests, and desolation and want
reigned supreme.
What effect did these things have on the two million of
negro peasants?
In the December, 1920, National Geographic Magazine (one
of our best periodicals) there are three articles on Haiti; one by
G. H. Osterhout, Jr., another by Sir Harry Johnston, and a third
apparently by a member of the editorial staff, which are illumi-
nating, and on page 500, speaking of the degradation of the
entire populace of Haiti at the present time, it is said :
"The country became entirely overrun by bands of robbers,
who generally operated in more or less well defined districts.
These bandit bands increased in boldness and were called 'cacos,'
'the caterpillars, because, like caterpillars, they covered the
earth at certain seasons and, like caterpillars, they ate everything.
The bands ranged in number from ten to several hundred, each
under a chief hostile to every other chief, united only in the
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desire to plunder and rob, and stopping at no crime or atroc-
ity."
The negroes having thus retrograded to the lowest depths of
savagery and degradation, we are not surprised to learn that in
the course of this century of negro misrule the beautiful French
language, which all spoke in 1804, likewise disappeared, and
though French was the so-called official language, only three
per cent of the population could read and write. There grew up
in the place of the French language a jargon sometimes called
Creole. This, of course, is an unwritten language, and one of
the many difficult problems now confronting American control is
whether our government will undertake to educate the blacks
of Haiti, and if so, will they be educated in the French or English
language.
The object lessons thus afforded to the people of the South by
the negroes in Haiti, together with similar examples disclosed by
history of the incapacity of the negroes for self-government,
much less for the government of civilized white men, were of
such a striking character that it was not possible for sensible men
to differ in the conclusions to be drawn therefrom.
How the South Prospered after Emanelpatlonr-
I well remember that in certain quarters after the Civil War
it was predicted that as slavery was abolished, the ''lazy" white
men of the South would allow their fields, and especially those
of cotton, the surplus crop of the South, to go to waste, and that
the South would lose its supremacy in raising this indispensable
commodity of the world.
Turning from vain theories and prophecies to results ac-
complished what do we find?
In a letter to me of September 28, 1920, Henry Hotter, for
a generation secretary of the Memphis Cotton Exchange,
states that while he could not find the value of the cotton raised
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in i860, the last full year of slave labor, still there were raised
that year 3,849469 bales, and that taking the tables showing
the high and low prices of middling cotton that year, he figured
the crop to have been worth approximately $290,000,000.
He also stated that in the year 1919, there were raised
11,326,536 bales of cotton, the value of which with the cotton
seed was $2,516,544,520, or nearly ten times the value of the
crop of i860, a sum so vast as almost to stagger the imagination;
and bear in mind that beginning with the world-wide war
hundreds of thousands of colored people left the South for the
North, being attracted by the higher wages offered, especially by
Northern war industries.
If any one should suppose that these results came about
without a struggle, then nothing could be further from the truth.
In its poverty for years the South could only raise this great
crop, and as it was altogether fashioned into the fabrics of
commerce in the North and foreign countries, she was compelled
to accept the pressure of foreign capital, that is, what it was
willing to dole out.
Commencing some thirty years ago the South began in a
feeble way to spin cotton, and long since it has wrested from an
unwilling world supremacy to a large extent in the manufacture
of cotton, so that far more thereof is now spun in the South than
in the North.
Another common error is the supposition that the cotton
crop is about the only crop raised in the South; whereas the total
value of all crops raised in the South in 191 9, excluding live
stock, was $7,022,012,000; and as is well known, the live stock
industries in the South are now expanding by leaps and bounds;
while the approximate value of all minerals produced in the
South for 1919 was $1,350,000,000, and in 1918 the South's
forest products amounted to 15,809,000,000 board feet of lumber
cut, estimated to be of the value of $500,000,000, or thereabout.
After the close of the Civil War the net public indebtedness
of the United States was between $2,000,000,000 and $3,000,000,-
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000, and it was freely predicted that the sum was so great that
it could never be paid, and that repudiation was inevitable; and
yet the whole of it could have been paid by the South's single
cotton crop for the year 1919-1920.
In a public statement on October 20, 1920, Henry G.
Hester, secretary of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, and for
the past fifty years an authority on matters pertaining to cotton,
declared that for the years 1916, 1917, 1918, and 1919 the South
received for its crops of cotton, including the seed, the enormous
sum of over $7,970,000,000.
But again, outside of her boundaries the South is thought of
as purely an agricultural region; and so it was in the days of
slavery; but not so now, for the approximate value of all manu-
factured products in the South in 1919 was in the neighborhood
of $10,000,000,000.
For most of the foregoing statistics I am indebted to Richard
H. Edmonds, editor of the Manufacturers Record of Baltimore,
whose prominence in this line is well known.
During the Civil War the men of the South fought as never
men fought, almost without means and equipments; and when
overpowered by overwhelming numbers and means, they sur-
rendered ; and having appealed to arms, they accepted in good
faith the arbitrament of the sword.
They would not now have slavery or a divided country.
However, when they laid down their arms, they did not lay
down their principles, or their unconquerable wills. Of these no
earthly power could deprive them; these sustained them in their
saddest hours, and these form the inspiration for the future.
The Attitude of Southern Men to the Union—
The attitude and feelings of Southern men subsequent to the
Civil War were well expressed by L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi,
in the United States Senate when he said:
''Mr. President, I am too much exhausted to detain the
Senate longer. I have said nothing today that was intended to
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stir up any feeling of animosity between individuals or sections.
I belong to that class of public men who were secessionists.
Every throb of my heart was for the disunion of these states.
If that deducts from the force of the statements that I have made
today, it is due to candor and to you to admit it. I confess that
I believed in the right of secession and that I believed in the
propriety of its exercise. I will say further that it was a cherished
conception of my mind — that of two great free republics on this
continent, each pursuing its own destiny and the destiny of its
people and their happiness according to its own will.
"But, sir, that conception is gone; it is sunk forever out of
sight. Another one has come in its place; and, by the way, it
is my first love. The elements of it were planted in my heart by
my father, they were taught by my mother, and they were
nourished and developed by my own subsequent reflection.
May I tell you what it is, sir? It stands before me now, simple
in its majesty and sublime beauty. It is that of one grand,
mighty, indivisible republic upon this continent, throwing its
loving arms around all sections, omnipotent for protection,
powerless for oppression, cursing none, blessing all!"
Can it be wondered at that such sentiments excited ap-
plause in the galleries. Lamar afterwards was appointed to,
and up to the time of his death was a distinguished member of,
the Supreme Court of the United States.
It is also interesting to recall that in 1910 President William
H. Taft, a republican in politics, appointed Edward Douglass
White, of Louisiana, a former soldier of the South in the Civil
War, to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
the United States, the most august tribunal in the history of the
human race, and it is almost needless to add that Judge White
continues to discharge the high functions of his office with univer-
sal satisfaction, and as a worthy successor of Marshall and Taney.
Almost needless to say, the building of schools and the ex-
pansion of the public school system for both white and colored
children, the building of colleges, hospitab, churches, and all
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those things necessary to the full development of a people, have
kept step with material progress; and in these the South will find
that expression in all the lines of intellectual activity worthy of
her past history.
When these lines were being written (while sojourning at the
capital of the nation), a grateful government bore to their last
resting place the mortal remains of Dr. William Crawford
Gorgas, of Alabama, and his body now lies almost within the
shadow of the roof-tree of Robert E. Lee.
The yellow fever scourge years ago decimated New York
and Philadelphia, and ravaged all the Atlantic coast up to and
into New England; but in later years it had most fearfully
ravaged the Southern states. It was left for the genius and
devotion of Dr. Walter Reed, of Virginia, to discover in the
mosquito, stegamya fctciata, the cause of yellow fever, and the
nation has erected at the capital the Walter Reed Hospital as a
slight token of the gratitude of mankind for his labors to alleviate
the suffering of humanity. Later Doctor, afterwards General,
Gorgas, by his labors and devotion, so practically applied the
discoveries of Reed as to forever free Cuba, the hotbed of yellow
fever infection, from that fearful pls^^ue; and later by the same
means he so freed the Panama Zone of that dread disease as to
make the building of the great Canal possible. Still later he freed
South American countries of the same pestilence and his services
were sought and given habitable portions of far-away Africa; and
while on his way to a distant part of the British empire, at the
solicitation of his Britannic Majesty to alleviate hiunan suffering,
he, who had saved thousands of lives, was suddenly stricken and
passed from life to eternity amid the tears of a grateful world.
Upon the important, difficult, and interesting question
already briefly adverted to, viz: how would *it be possible for
Southern white men and their former slaves and the posterity of
each respectively to live in harmony after the abolition of slavery,
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the ablest and wisest of men have expressed their various opinions
with much foreboding for the future.
De Tocqueville as early as 1835, after his visit to America in
1 83 1, discussed what would happen at some distant day when in
all probability slavery would be abolished and the slave made a
freeman.
He stated that, in the South, the race of whites formed an
aristocratic body, imperious and of haughty demeanor, proud of
themselves and proud of their race; and that in case the slaves
were made free they would have three prejudices to contend
with : the prejudice of a master toward his slave, the prejudice of
race, and the prejudice of color; and expressed the opinion that
the two races could not, as freemen, continufe to occupy the same
country, fortifying his opinion in Note i, page 379, Vol. I, in
these words:
"This opinion is sanctioned by authorities infinitely weightier
than anything that I can say: thus, for instance, it is stated in the
'Memoirs of Jefferson' (as collected by M. Conseil), 'Nothing is
more clearly written in the book of destiny than the emancipation
of the blacks; and it is equally certain that the two races will never
live in a state of equal freedom under the same government, so
insurmountable are the barriers which nature, habit, and opinion
have established between them."
After further stating the very great fecundity of the negro
race as compared to that of the whites inhabiting the Southern
states, and because of the warm climate in the South De Tocqueville
concludes his opinion as follows:
"The fate of the white population of the Southern States
will, perhaps, be similar to that of the Moors in Spain. After
having occupied the land for centuries, it will perhaps be forced
to retire to the country whence its ancestors came, and to abandon
to the negroes the possession of a territory which Providence
seems to have more peculiarly destined for them, since they can
subsist and labour in it more easily than the whites."
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The American Commonwealth by the great historian James
Bryce, now Lord Bryce, is generally conceded to be the ablest
work upon our republican form of government, at least the ablest
emanating from a European.
When he was in Memphis in April, 1908, it was my good
fortune to be seated with him upon more than one occasion;
and stating to me that he was well aware that in the South the
blood of the English, Scotch, and Irish ran almost pure among
the whites, he asked many questions as to the relative increase
of the white population as compared to that of the colored; the
tendency of each to migrate to the towns and cities, or to the
North; the movement of people of the North to the South; the
disposition of the negroes to exercise the elective franchise, and
as to their ability to vote intelligently under what is commonly
called the Australian system of voting, as well as many other
questions, such as the probability of national woman suffrage,
then seemingly a mere distant p>ossibility.
He then stated in general terms what he had more fully
expressed in his great work, viz: that the American people had
developed almost a genius for solving seemingly impracticable
p>olitical problems, saying he believed that the white people of
the South in due course would correctly and properly work out a
plan by which the white and colored races would live in the
South in peace and harmony; and so they will, despite the theo-
ries and misgivings of the wisest men.
Almost needless to say, this happy result will not be reached
by the extremists on either side; far from it. Some years ago
there appeared a book with the title Our Brother in Blacky by
Atticus G. Haygood of Georgia, then a bishop in the Methodist
Episcopal Church South and a former gallant soldier of the South in
the Civil War, in which he reviewed the history of the negro in the
South in a sympathetic manner, and appealed to the Southern
whites for fair and generous treatment towards the negroes.
The late Dr. Booker T. Washington was himself a slave,
but proved to be probably the wisest of his race in the broad
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view he took of this difficult question and by his teachings and
example proved himself an admirable leader for his people, and
let us hope that his teachings will endure for ages.
I think it worthy of note here, that when first elected bishop
the highest honor his church could confer on him, Haygood
declined the great office, because he believed that his services
were more needed as President of Emory and Henry College,
for which he was much criticised and even censured.
If vindication was necessary, it came in due course years
afterwards when he was re-elected and accepted the great office,
because he thought he was answering the call of his Lord.
When the conviction came to him that it was his duty to
write Our Brother in Black there came a great struggle within,
knowing that he was writing so far ahead of his times that he
would be denounced by the unthinking, and the institution of
learning over which he presided would be injured; but he said,
"I promised God then, on my knees, if he would help me, I
would not fight back if the people attacked me for my decision."
It is one of my pleasant recollections that I once had the
privilege of hearing the clarion voice of this fearless man of God
at the First Methodist Church in Memphis. When in Memphis,
he preached to the whites in the morning, and never failed to
preach to the colored people at night.
The writings and example of men like Bishop Haygood and
Dr. Washington will p>oint the way to the solution of the race
problem in the South.
My father, Dr. Franklin J. Malone, and his forebears from
that time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the con-
trary, were slave owners; he was a man of considerable acquire-
ments, served in the Mexican war as surgeon under the appoint-
ment of President James K. Polk, was a member of the first
constitutional convention of Mississippi after the Civil War; was
of a reflective disposition and withal a man of sagacity in business
aflFairs. Having spent his life in the practice of medicine in
Alabama, Mississippi, and in the borders of Tennessee some
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fifteen miles southeast of Memphis, in my early life I often
heard him speak of the probable relative increase in the white
and colored population in the South, being well aware of the
predictions of De Tocqueville in respect thereto.
He differed from De Tocqueville, saying that freedom would
result in a loss of that rapid increase in population during slavery,
and finally result in a greater ratio of increase on the part of the
whites than that of the colored people, and time has vindicated
his predictions.
He pointed out that as a slave was the most valuable personal
property of Southern men, that for self-protection if not from
worthier motives, the slave was well housed, well and warmly
clothed and shod, well fed on wholesome food, compelled to
keep regular hours, and when sick had good medical services, as
well as other necessary attentions to restore his health.
When freedom came, all of these restraints and comforts
were cast to the winds, thus opening the door to all diseases,
especially tuberculosis, then called consumption, which greatly
increased among them and was practically always fatal in what
was called galloping consumption; also venereal diseases, and
such infectious diseases as smallpox and the like.
What he particularly complained of was his inability to
have the medicines prescribed, regularly and properly admin-
istered to the patient, and to have proper food prepared, and
generally to secure proper nursing, saying that the failure to
observe his directions in these respects led to many unnecessary
deaths; not that the attendants meant to be unkind, but on
account of inattention, and a seeming inability to comprehend
the absolute importance to strictly observe the directions given.
In 1919 there issued from the press at Memphis a most
interesting monograph. Statistics and Politics^ by John W.
Farley, a well known and able Memphis lawyer, and a life-long
and consistent Republican in politics, which is brimful of exact
statistical information up>on the negroes of the South; and on
pages 23 and 24 he says!
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"Between 1900 and 1910, the white population increased
more rapidly than the negro in each of the Southern States where
negroes are most numerous. Migration of whites to the South
and of negroes to the North accounts, in part, for this difference.
"High negro mortality, both adult and infant, and low birth
rate among the negroes is perhaps the principal factor in account-
ing for this difference. In the South the only States where the
negroes increased faster than the whites were Arkansas, Okla-
homa, and West Virginia. These increases can be accounted for
by migration from other States.
"There is a general impression that negroes have large
families. The 1910 census exploded that theory. This census
disclosed there was a decrease in all the Southern States of
negroes under five years of age. Various explanations have been
given for this decrease, few of which are correct. The real reason
is low birth rate and high infant mortality.
"The reasons for this condition are economic, sociological,
disease, hygienic and migration. The negro race affords a great
field for research by the biologist. * * *
"Investigation discloses that in the territory within a
hundred miles of Memphis, that is, in east Arkansas, west
Tennessee, and north Mississippi, in which a large percentage
of the population is negroes, part of the Black Belt of the Missis-
sippi Valley — that there are few negro children, except in the
hill counties of Mississippi. In 1910 the city of Memphis, having
a total population of 131,105, forty per cent of which were negroes,
the average number of persons per white family was 4.5, and the
average number of persons per family among the negroes was
only 3,5. * * *
"As it takes an average of not less than four persons per
family to perpetuate a race, these facts would indicate that
when the negro ceases to lead an agricultural life as a race, he
dies.
"The conditions under which negroes live in cities are not
conducive to adult longevity, and he is consumed in the white
heat of industrialism.
"So that what was once predicted, that the negro would
outnumber the whites in the South within a few years, is ab-
solutely without foundation at the present time. For the South,
losing negroes by migration, high death rate, and low birth rate,
is gaining whites to such an extent that the proportion between
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the negro and white population is increasing in favor of the
whites. In addition to its normal increase in the Southern white
population, which is greater than that of the negroes, it is also
gaining whites by migration.
"The acuteness of the negro problem has forever passed
from the South."
The Negro In the 19)80 Census—
Since the foregoing was written, the Census Bureau on June
24, 1921, released for use information with respect to the popu-
lation by color, and which confirms the views expressed herein-
before with respect to the continued decrease of the percentage
of negro population in the United States. This is especially so in
the South.
The Bureau adopted for the line between the North and
South the northern boundaries of Delaware, Maryland, West
Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Oklahoma; and the West as
that part of the country lying west of the eastern limits of Mon-
tana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.
The negro population for 1920 was 10,463,013, as compared
to 9,827,763 for 1910. This shows a percentage of increase of
only 6.5 per cent, while the percentage of increase in the 1910
census was 11.2, and for the decade from 1890 to 1900 the in-
crease was 18 per cent.
It is also important to note in what sections the small in-
crease occurred, that is to say, in the West 55.1 per cent of the
increase occurred, and 43.3 percentage of the increase was in the
North, while in the South the percentage of increase was only 1.9.
The increase of negro population in the South was almost ar-
rested.
The total numerical increase during the last decade was
635,250, of which 472,418, or nearly three-fourths, took place in
the North and West, while only 162,832, or about one-fourth,
was reix)rted in the South, despite the fact that about eighty-five
per cent of the total negro population is still found in the South.
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The negro population is distributed as follows: In the South,
8,912,259; in the North, 1,472,163; in the West, 78,591; total,
10,463,013.
In Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisi-
ana there has been an actual decrease in the negro population
during the last decade.
The rate of increase in the white population during the last
decade was sixteen per cent, while the white increase for the
decade ending in 1910 was 22.3 per cent.
The bulletin referred to did not give details as to the in*
crease of the white population in the Southern States, but the
figures given show the following results:
1920 1910
South Atlantic States 9,648,935 8,071,603
East South Central States . . 6,367,547 5,754,326
West South Central States . 8,1 1 7,045 6,72 1 ,491
24,133,527 20,547,420
20,547,420
Increase 3,586,107
By simple calculation it will be found that the percentage of
increase in the white population of the South in the last decade
was slightiy over 17.5, while, as stated above, the average per-
centage of white increase in all the States was only sixteen per
cent, a difference in favor of the South of 1.5 per cent.
This is the result, notwithstanding, as is well known, that
nearly all of the foreign immigrants find homes either in the North
or West, comparatively few coming South.
It thus appears that each day the South is growing whiter
and whiter, her increase springing mainly from that sturdy
stock of unconquerable wills, which Farley delights to speak of
as the Anglo-Saxon race of men, the name Anglo-Saxon being
found in the charters of Alfred the Great.
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These same Anglo-Saxons under Alfred drove the invaders
from their shores, and once again settled down as the overlords
of their own country, their sway remaining unchallenged to this
day.
So surely as the laws of the survival of the fittest, the prin-
ciples of evolution, still sway the destinies of men and of nations,
just as certainly will the remote posterity of these Anglo-Saxons
in the time of Alfred, now living in the South, be and remain the
supreme overlords of the States where their ancestors subdued
the wilderness.
The exodus of the colored people to the North, I am con-
fident, will be of advantage to all concerned; for in no other way
will the whites there realize the difficulties the whites of the
South labor under; thereby lessening their criticisms of the South,
while the negroes will learn the folly of the fanatical and false
appeals made to them for purely political purposes.
There is another most interesting feature attendant upon
migration of colored people from the South to the North, es-
pecially since the world-wide war, viz: The numerous race
riots which for the first time have broken out in Washington,
the capital of the nation, in Chicago, E^t St. Louis, Phila-
delphia, Ohio, and in far-away Duluth, near the Canadian
border, and last, but not least, in "Bleeding Kansas."
It will be recalled that in its early history Kansas became the
scene of a bitter and bloody struggle over the negro. It was in
this state that the infatuated and fanatical John Brown gained
national notoriety, which so fired his imagination that he rushed
to his fate at Harper's Ferry. At a still later date and after
emancipation, Kansas held out itself as the propiised land for
the negroes of the South, the safe asylum to which they w^e
eloquently conjured to emigrate, and many heeded the voice of
Kansas, and made that state their home.
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And yet the dispatches in December, 1920, startled the
public with the news that a place in Kansas, by some strange
coincidence called "Independence," was the scene of a bloody
race riot, following close upon the heels of similar race riots in
the other Northern cities mentioned above.
Unfortunately, lynching of negroes have occurred in the
South too frequently, but the origin of these lynchings was at
first on account of the unspeakable crime of black men against
white women, and then spread to the punishment of other
crimes, the lynchings being confined to the perpetrator of the
offense.
In these many new race riots of the North a feature of the
conflicts has manifested itself never heard of in the South, viz:
almost without exception the mob turns from the perpetrators of
the offense to the negro race in general, winding up with an at-
tack on the negro section of the city, thus venting its wrath by
an attempt to run the negroes from the country.
This reminds us again of DeTocqueville, who stated it to be a
strange fact that, while in the North slavery wa3 abolished, still
he found the white people there less tolerant of the negro and
his peculiarities than the white people of the South were, who
manifested a kindly interest and sympathy for the blacks
entirely unknown in the North. Time has proven the correct-
ness of his observations in this respect.
That great American general, Ulysses S. Grant, had felt
the shock of the half clothed and ill-fed soldiers of the South on
many far-flung and bloody fields of battle, and learned to respect
them. When General Lee at Appomattox offered his sword
as a token of his surrender. General Grant with a lofti-
ness of spirit that did credit to his magnanimity, declined to
accept it.
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He was afterwards president for eight years, the saddest
years for the South, and no one possessed better opportunities
for knowing the South than he.
The Manufacturers Record in an editorial recently had this
to say:
"The time may come when the Anglo-Saxonism of the
South will be the saving factor in curbing the Bolshevistic
^tators of aliens and those dominated by aliens throughout
much of the North and West. Those who have for years be-
moaned the fact that the South did not share in the great inrush
of foreign population may yet rejoice that in the Providence of
God this section does not have that problem to the same extent
as the West and the North must endure."
Uix)n reading the foregoing the son of General Grant wrote
the following note, published in that journal of November 6,
1919 (p. 136), as follows:
Annaix)lis, Md., October 26, 1919.
"To the Editor the Manufacturers Record,
Baltimore, Md.
"Dear Sir : I enclose a clipping from your paper of September
18, 1919. It may interest you to know that I have heard my
beloved father several times make this same remark. That was
forty years ago and more.
"Respectfully,
"Jesse R. Grant,"
Those men of small vision in the North and mostly moved by
partisan bias would do well to remember what General Grant so
often said, and who thereby vindicated the wisdom as well as the
patriotism of the Southern people.
It is one of my pleasant recollections to have met General
Grant in Memphis, after his memorable trip through foreign
lands after he had served as chief magistrate of this great re-
public.
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This may be called a digression; so be it, but the questions
discussed are of the profoundest interest, not only to both the
white and the colored races but to all students of the history of
the human races.
Moreover, we will see in the next chapter that the Chicka-
saws were slaveholders, and that the United States, to its dis-
credit, sought to force upon them miscegenation, which to the
credit of the Chickasaws they fought under most disadvantageous
circumstances, through a course of many years, to a triumphant
termination.
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CHAPTER XII
THE STOBT OF THE CHICKASAWS CONTINUED SINCE THE
TREATIES OF 1832 AND 18S4
The original inspiration for writing this sketch was, by a
recital of the plain facts constituting the story of the primitive
Chickasaws, to pay a just tribute to their illustrious dead. Their
deeds of unexampled heroism some two hundred years ago to a
large extent won for the English-speaking people the continent
of North America.
Being a firm believer in the great destiny of the English-
speaking peoples, it is my sincere desire to see them brought
closer and closer together, and moved by a common impulse to
guide the destiny of the human race onward and upward. In
keeping with my original purpose, this sketch would naturally end
with the treaties of 1832 and 1834; but as it has expanded in
details far beyond my original design, I have concluded to
extend it, so as in a short compass to bring the story down to the
present time. Singularly, I have never personally met a Chicka-
saw Indian. I hope that an awakened interest in the story of the
Chickasaws may eventuate in paying a just, though tardy,
tribute to their ancient heroes who sleep east of the Mississippi
in that great domain over which once they were the undisputed
overlords, by an amelioration of the conditions surrounding their
posterity of the present day as well as in the years to come.
Centenary of Chickasaw Triumphs—
By a strange kind of coincidence it so happened that the
year 1836 was chosen by the United States government to round
up the Chickasaws, and at the point of the bayonet to drive them
from their ancient home in what is now north Mississippi and
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force them across the Mississippi to the far West, there to war
with the fierce wild Indian who then roamed over the vast
Western plains.
The year 1836 was the one hundredth anniversary, the cen-
tenary year, of the signal defeat by the Chickasaws on May 20,
1736, of D'Artaguette, and six days thereafter, or on May 26,
1736, of the no less signal and important defeat by the Chickasaws
of Bienville at the battle of Ackia, accounts of which are set
forth in the ninth chapter, ante.
It is true that these conflicts did not mark the end of the
endeavors of the noble French pioneers to win the North Ameri-
can continent for the lilies of France, but they did mark the be-
ginning of the end. We have seen how Bienville in 1739 again
invaded the Chickasaw country, backed by the authority and
power of the imperial government of France, and when he was
forced to retire as governor of Louisiana, because of the uncon-
querable spirit of the Chickasaws, that he was succeeded by
Vaudreuil, who, by the special authority of the French govern-
ment in 1752, again invaded the land of the Chickasaws, there
to meet the fourth defeat of French arms against the intrepid
Chickasaws.
We have seen how Pickett rejoiced to recall that the primi-
tive Chickasaws, called by him the bravest of the brave, once
were the overlords of this section of our great country, moving
his soul to appeal to the young manhood of this country to
cherish the memories of their noble example in a patriotic devo-
tion to their country.
And yet, so short are our memories, and shall I add such has
been the paucity of our gratitude, that I have searched in vain
for even a reference to the fact that the year chosen to drive the
Chickasaws from their ancient homes in 1836, marked the cen-
tenary of the sanguinary conflicts which, to such a great extent,
determined that the English and not the French should dominate
this continent, and that this led to the formation of our present
republican form of government, the hope of the world.
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The Chickasaws having failed to find a home in the West,
pursuant to the treaty of August 31, 1830, which it appears was
not ratified (2 Kappler, p. 1035), they were rounded up by-
United States troops and forced to abandon their homes, and
seek another in the far wild West, inhabited then by still wilder
tribes of the red men; and as has already been noted by Pickett,
there they came in conflict with the aborigines of that country,
over whom they finally prevailed.
Some years ago by chance I came across the deposition of
Marcus B. Winchester, the first mayor of Memphis, in which he
briefly referred to the great number of Chickasaws whom he had
ferried across the great Mississippi at Memphis in 1836, on their
way to the far West; this being the same place where, according
to Lincecum and Barton, their conquering ancestors had crossed
the same river, coming from the West some five hundred years
prior thereto.
It would serve no good purpose, if indeed it was possible, to
picture the suffering and agony of the Chickasaws in making this
trip; and suffice it to say that many perished on the way, and
those who may be desirous of pursuing the subject further, are
referred to Cushman, who gives many details in respect thereto.
I can not forbear, however, to acquaint the reader with the
painful impression made upon Alexis Charles Henri Clerel De
Tocqueville, the celebrated French statesman and philosopher,
upon seeing the first detachment of the Choctaws cross the
Mississippi River in 1831 at Memphis. Upon his return to
France he brought out in 1835 his monumental work. Democracy
in America^ the first book of reasoned politics on democratic
government in America. After a review of the characteristics of
the Indians, their proud and haughty disposition, their passionate
love of freedom, their bravery and fearlessness of death, and their
contempt for servitude, he states that the settlement of the
colonists in America, resulting in driving away the game, was
depriving the Indians of their very means of subsistence; and
that in his opinion it was but a short time when they would
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entirely perish (rom the face of the earth. In Vol. I, page 345
he saj^:
"At the end of the year 1831, whilst I was on the left bank
of the Mississippi at a place named by Europeans Memphis^
there arrived a numerous band of Choctaws (or Chactas, as they
are called by the French in Louisiana).
''These savages had left their country, and were endeavoring
to gain the right bank of the Mississippi, where they hoped to
find an asylum which had been promised them by the American
government. It was then the middle of winter, and the cold
was unusually severe; the snow had frozen hard upon the ground,
and the river was drifting huge masses of ice. The Indians had
their families with them; and they brought in their train the *
wounded and the sick, with children newly bom, and old men
upon the verge of death. They possessed neither tents nor
waggons, but only their arms and some provisions. I saw them
embark to pass the mighty river, and never will that solemn
spectacle fade from my remembrance. No cry, no sob was heard
amongst the assembled crowd; all were silent. Their calamities
were of ancient date, and they knew them to be irremediable.
The Indians had all stepped into the bark which was to carry
them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank: As soon
as these animals perceived that their masters were finally leaving
the shore, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all together
into the icy waters of the Mississippi, they swam after the boat."
The Chlekasaws PnreluMe a New Home In the Choctaw Country—
By a treaty concluded January 17, 1837, at Doakville, near
Fort Towson in the Choctaw country, between the Chickasaws
and Choctaws, it was agreed that the Chickasaws were to have
the privilege of forming a district within the limits of the Choctaw
nation, a large part of that people having theretofore moved
from their ancient home in southern Mississippi and acquired a
home in the West.
The Chickasaws were to have an equal representation in the
general council of the Choctaws and were put on an equal footing,
with some minor exceptions. A designated portion of territory
was set aside for the Chickasaws, for which they were to pay five
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hundred and thirty thousand dollars, thirty thousand of which
was paid in cash, the balance on time.
Speaking of this purchase Reford Bond, in a hearing before
a subcommittee on Indian affairs (p. 66), on August 17, I9I4»
very correctly said :
"It is a historical fact that when the Chickasaws purchased
an interest in the Choctaw nation West, they were placed on a
scope of country immediately adjacent to the plain Indian or the
wild tribes. They stood on the very frontier and beat back and
fought off the hostile raids and encroachments of the warlike
Comanche, Kiowas, and Apache. They stood on the very
threshold of danger and stayed the hand of the aggressive
Cheyenne and brave Arapahoe. They did all this for the Choc-
taw tribe. They stood between the Choctaw nation and danger.
They purchased their rights for a valuable consideration. Could
a bona fide purchaser have made a greater sacrifice?"
At this time, as Bond observes, the Chickasaws
"were armed in part with a bow and a quiver of arrows;
were armed in part with a rifle, a bullet mold, and a shot pouch.
They were poorly clad and scantily provisioned. The entire path
of their emigration is marked by the tombstones of their fallen."
For some years after this treaty these two peoples were re-
ferred to as composing a composite tribe or nation, or as the
Choctaws and Chickasaws.
Treaty of Washington, iSSZ— .
On June 22, 1852, at Washington, the first treaty was entered
into between the United States and the Chickasaws after their
removal to the West, the most of it consisting of just complaints
of the Chickasaws with respect to the failure of the United States
to dispose of their lands in north Mississippi, which the United
States promised to do; and also promised to have an account
taken of the management and disbursement of the Chickasaw
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funds, the Indians claiming that they had been subjected to
losses and expenses which properly should have been borne by
the United States.
The gross mismanagement of the sale of these lands of the
Chickasaws by the United States can scarcely be considered
without the conviction that dishonesty was one of the controlling
factors. Speaking of the just complaint of the Chickasaws in
reference to their unjust treatment in this most important matter
to them, Congressman William H. Murray on April 24, 1914
(p. 41), in the House of Representatives compared the treatment
of the Chickasaws to that of the Choctaws, saying:
'They left with the government the selling of the residue of
the land in Mississippi. When the government sold it, they got
$8,000,000 for it, but it cost the Indians $6,000,000 for the
government to sell it, leaving the Indians a residue of $2,000,000,
and then the Indians had to pay twenty-five per cent of it to
attorneys to fight the government for the $2,000,000, and won,
but it was fifty-five years before they got that $2,000,000.
"This, my friends, brings us to the proposition, why is it
that those Indians employ attorneys? They employ attorneys
because it has never cost them more than twenty-five per cent,
but when they have left it to the government they have had to
pay from seventy-five to one hundred per cent plus. They em-
ploy attorneys because it is good business sense."
Ancient Cemeterir at Pontotoc—
There is couched away this pathetic provision with respect
to the Chickasaw lands in Mississippi:
"Provided that a tract of land, including the graveyard near
the town of Pontotoc, where many of the Chickasaws and their
white friends are buried, and not exceeding four acres in quantity,
shall be and is hereby set apart and conveyed to the said town
of Pontotoc, to be held sacred for the purpose of a public burial
ground forever."
Thus we find this note of pathos hid away in the dry ver-
biage of a formal treaty, reminding us that the memories of the
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Chickasaws still brooded over the scenes where reposed the
ashes of their intrepid ancestors.
I learn from E. T. Winston, of Pontotoc, that the cemetery
referred to is still kept up by an association of ladies, and that
the grave of Rev. T. C. Stuart, who was affectionately called
* 'Father Stuart," is neatly kept up in an attractive part of the
cemetery. In January, 1821, the centenary of the founding of
the Monroe Mission Station will occur, for in that year Rev.
Stuart first preached the Christian religion to the Chickasaws,
carrying the gospel into the wilderness of north Mississippi,
where he spent a lifetime of service to his Master among the
Chickasaws, winning their unbounded love and affection, and
dying, his tired body found repose among his red brethren to
whom he had ministered so long and whom he loved so well.
Why should not the Christian people of that vicinity fittingly
celebrate the centenary referred to by appropriate ceremonies
and services?
I regret to learn that the Indian graves have not been marked
or kept up. I am told that the portion of the cemetery where
their ashes repose remains intact; and it is to be hoped that there
will be a quickening interest aroused to care for the last resting
place of those ancient Chickasaws whose history reads like a page
torn from the book of romance.
DifHculties having arisen between the Choctaws and Chicka-
saws with respect to the line of boundary between them, commis-
sioners were appointed by the respective nations, and on Novem-
ber 4, 1854, a treaty was concluded at Dookville, fixing this line
to the satisfaction of both parties.
Treaty at Washington, 1855—
The political connection existing between the Choctaws and
Chickasaws having given rise to unhappy and injurious dis-
cussions between them with a view to a readjustment of their
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relations, a treaty was entered into between themselves and also
with the United States, at Washington, on June 2, 1855, or
exactly three years after the first treaty referred to above.
The future boundaries between the Chickasaws and Choc-
taws were established, and the United States guaranteed to them
the lands within the respective limits, so that each and every
member of either tribe should have an equal and undivided
interest in the whole; provided no part was to be sold without the
consent of both tribes, and also provided that said land should
revert to the United States in case the Indians became extinct or
abandoned the same.
I may be wrong, but I think such provisions were not
creditable to the United States.
How different had the terms and the very tone of these
treaties become, since the first one in 1786, which James Robert-
son had Piomingo to travel near a thousand miles overland to
conclude, in order that protection might be furnished by the
Chickasaws to the feeble, infant white settlement at Nashville?
Then the Chickasaws were referred to as the Chickasaw
Nation, the word nation being spelt with a big N; now the same
people are referred to as a tribe, using a small /, all of which
evinces a small spirit in those who at that time represented the
United States.
But the other clause, making the United States the residuary
legatee of the Chickasaws, in case they become extinct, I can
not trust myself to properly characterize. By their cruel ex-
pulsion from their old home under military escorts, their numbers
had been decimated, and before they could adjust themselves to
new surroundings, and become acclimated in their new home,
disease had made other great inroads among them, and it was
then a matter of doubt and speculation whether they could
withstand these changed conditions; many believing, and the
verbiage of this treaty suggested, that their complete extinction
was near at hand; and the United States demanded to be and
was made in effect, the residuary legatee of the lands for which
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Chickasaw money had been paid into the treasury of the Choc-
taws, and to which the United States had not the shadow of a
claim.
It was the same as if some big bully would approach a
feeble old man, supposed to be near death, and suggesting his
early demise, should demand to be made his legatee.
For certain land relinquished the Choctaws were to receive
six hundred thousand dollars and the Chickasaws two hundred
thousand dollars; there were provisions that all existing laws were
to remain in force until the Chickasaws should adopt a constitu-
tion and laws superseding the same; and other provisions were
made not deemed necessary to mention, except that this treaty
was to abrogate all previous treaties inconsistent therewith.
Of course there was the usual twaddle about the United
States taking the Chickasaws under their protection, to remove
intruders on their lands, etc., which the grantees never kept, or
intended to perform.
The Chickasaws and the CItII War—
The secession of South Carolina on December 20, i860, from
the Union was fraught with profound importance to all the
Indians; and especially to the Five Civilized Tribes, who were
owners of slaves, and were themselves men of the South; and,
moreover, the people in Arkansas and Texas were their nearest
neighbors, and with whom they were more intimately connected
in a business and official way than any other part of the country.
The year i860 was disastrous to the Western country, in-
cluding the Indian territory, on account of a severe drouth, and
the Indians were in need. The Secretary of the Treasury then
held in trust for these Indians stocks to the amount of $3,449,-
241.82, and all of this was due from Southern States, except
|i66,ooo due from Indiana and Pennsylvania and $251,330 due
from the United States, and, of course, the Indians were told
that in case they did not take sides with their brothers of the
South, they would forfeit all the Southern States owed them.
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In a speech of WilUaip H. Seward in the campaign of i860
"The National Idea, Its Perils and Triumphs," he said: "The
Indian territory, also, south of Kansas must be vacated by the
Indians." This was used with telling effect among all the
Indians, and when it is recalled that the most of the United
States officials, as well as the missionaries, were pro-Southern,
and many of them intense partisans favoring secession, and that
the Confederate Congress took immediate and vigorous action to
win over the Indians, it is not surprising that they succeeded,
especially as the United States seemed entirely apathetic so far
as the Indians were concerned.
In her preface to American Indian as Slaveholder and Seces-
sionist (p. 14), Annie Heloise Abel very properly says:
"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 military point of view. The possession of it
was absolutely necessary for the political and the institutional
consolidation of the South."
While her writings show that she had no sympathy with the
movement for secession, that most unfortunate movement for the
South as well as for the nation, still it was evidently her purpose
to be fair; and speaking (p. 83) further on the matter she said:
"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 stand-
point of political wisdom and foresight, the inactivity where the
Indians were concerned was conduct most reprehensible."
So far as my researches have extended, the Chickasaws were
the first of the Indians to take official cognizance of the move-
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ment of the secession of the Southern States; for on January 5,
1 861, both houses of the Chickasaw legislature passed a joint
resolution instructing their Governor, Cyrus Harris, to appoint
four commissioners for the Chickasaw nation, to meet like com-
missioners representing the Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, and
Seminole Indians,
"for the purpose of entering into some compact, not inconsis-
tent 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," etc.
It will be noted that secession was not proposed, but on the
contrary the proposed action was for the mutual protection of the
various tribes, not inconsistent with the laws and treaties. It
was left for the Creeks to appoint the time and place of meeting.
They named the Creek Agency and February 17, 1861, as the
place and time for the conference. There were but few delegates
in attendance and none from the Chickasaws or Choctaws, the
reason therefor not being known; nor is it known what action,
if any, was taken. John Ross, the principal chief of the Chero-
kees, was opposed to a withdrawal from the Union, though at
times he aided those who were for secession.
On February 7, 1861, the Choctaws passed resolutions
expressing their feelings and sentiments in reference to the
political disagreement between the North and the South and
stating their deep regret, with the expressed hope that an ami-
cable agreement would be arrived at; but in case that could not
be done, they declared they would follow the natural affections,
education, and institutions of the Choctaw people which in-
dissolubly linked them to the Southern people, and to their near
neighbors in Arkansas and Texas. In April, 1861, it is said a
delegation of Choctaws and Chickasaws in Washington assured
the commissioners of Indian affairs that they intended to remain
neutral; but it may be added that this was impossible, for John
Ross failed in his efforts to have the Cherokees remain as neutrals,
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though they lived north of the Chickasaws and Choctaws
bordering on Kansas, and the rank and file of the Cherokees
were more disposed to cling to the United States than were the
other members of the Five Civilized Tribes.
On May 8, 1861, B. Burroughs, brigadier-general of the
Arkansas troops, wrote Cyrus Harris, governor of the Chicka-
saws, that he had just received news that Arkansas by a vote of
sixty-nine to one had seceded, as had Tennessee also; that the
United States had withdrawn her troops from the Indian country;
that Arkansas was then in arms, and offering to extend protection
to the Chickasaws.
On May 25, 1861, the Chickasaw legislature, after reciting
the impending dissolution of the Union, declared its independence,
and as the government had withdrawn the Federal troops, and
withheld unjustly and unlawfully Chickasaw money, placed in
the hands of the government as trustee, in violation of existing
treaties; and as the Chickasaws, by their geographical situation,
their institutions, and sympathies, were bound to the people of
the Southern States, they cast their fortunes with them. At the
same time it was also resolved that the Chickasaws take pos-
session of all forts and arsenals to be held for the Chickasaw
people, and the other Indian nations and tribes were called upon
to join the Chickasaws in defending their country from invasion;
and all the Chickasaw people were urged
"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."
The State of Texas had appointed a commission, composed
of James E. Harrison, James Bourland, and Charles A. Hamilton,
to visit the Indian country and urge their co-operation with the
Southern people; and on February 27, 1861, this commission
entered the Chickasaw nation, the Choctaw, and other tribes,
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appealing to them to join the South. In the meantime the United
States authorities did practically nothing to retain the allegiance
of the Southern Indians.
The Five Civilized Tribes were then fast advancing in civili-
zation, as shown by the report of this commission (Miss Able,
p. 94) for in respect thereto the commission said:
"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 in-
viting Northern aggression, and they are without arms, to any
extent, or munitions of war."
Treaty of the Choetaw and Chlckasaws with the
Confederate States of America—
This treaty was signed July 12, 1861, by Albert Pike, who
represented the Confederate States, and by commissioners rep-
resenting respectively the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations.
Though after the Civil War had ended, the Chickasaws and
Choctaws were dealt with harshly by the United States, and
even threatened with a forfeiture of all their rights for entering
into this treaty, yet who will now blame them for what they did?
General Albert Pike was a distinguished lawyer long a resi-
dent of Arkansas, had been a captain in the Mexican war, and
well known to the Indians, for he had been their counsel in most
important litigation, and at that time was an author of note,
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having written many beautiful poems; he was an honored resident
of Washington, D. C, for many years before his death, and
looked up to as the head of the Masonic fraternity in the United
States; and withal a man of commanding appearance, possessing
that indefinable something which pleases; and as the Choctaws
and Chickasaws were themselves men of the South, sharing with
the whites their political views, especially those with respect to
slavery, as they were likewise slave holders — ^who can blame
them for entering into this treaty with the people among
whom they lived, and whose material interests were the same as
theirs?
This is the longest treaty entered into by these Indians up
to that time, being quite voluminous, the Confederate States
taking the Indians under their protection, and guaranteeing not
to permit the Northern States or any other enemy to overcome
them ; and likewise guaranteeing as follows : That the country of
the Choctaws and Chickasaws was to be held by them in fee
simple, "so long as grass shall grow and water run;" that no
state or territory should ever pass laws for the government of
the Indians; that no part of their country should ever be annexed
to any other territory or province; nor should any attempt be
made, except upon their unsolicited application, to erect their
country by itself into a state or territory; that they should
jointly be entitled to a delegate to represent them in Congress;
that if they afterwards desired to form a republican form of
government, and they desired their country and people to be
admitted, they should be "admitted into the confederacy as
one of the Confederate States, upon equal terms in all respects,
with the original states, without regard to population, etc." All
Indians were to be competent witnesses, and all intruders were to
be removed from their country; and many other guarantees were
given, safeguarding the rights of the Indians in a fairer and
better manner than in any treaty theretofore.
It is true that the Indians were also guaranteed the right
to continue as slaveholders, and that they agreed to furnish to the
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Confederacy a regiment of ten companies of mounted men, which
they did, but who would expect them to have done otherwise?
This treaty is called the Pike Treaty, and is one of the
fairest, manliest treaties that was ever offered the Chickasaws;
and is a credit to General Pike; to whose memory the succeeding
generation has attested its affection by the erection in the Capitol
of the nation a splendid bronze portrait statue of heroic size.
James D. Richardson, himself an author and for many years
a member of Congress, wrote this of Albert Pike:
"It has been well said that Albert Pike was a king among
men by the divine right of merit; so majestic in appearance that
wherever he moved on highway or byway, every passerby
turned to gaze upon him and admire him. Six feet two inches
tall, with the proportions of a Hercules, and the grace of an
Apollo! A face and head massive and leonine recalled in every
feature some sculptor's dream of a Grecian god. His long, wavy
hair, flowing down over his shoulders, added a strikingly pic-
turesque effect, and the whole expression of his countenance
told of power, combined with gentleness, refinement, and benev-
olence.
"God never made a gentler gentleman, a better citizen, or
a truer man. He climbed Fame's glittering ladder to its loftiest
height. He died amid his books and pictures, his birds and
flowers, with a full faith in a glorious immortality. Th« world is
his mausoleum and all mankind his mourners."
The Desolation of the CItII War-
It would serve no good purpose to here enter into lengthy
details as to the part taken by the Chickasaws in this fratricidal
conflict between the white men of the North and South, the result
of which was that the Five Civilized Tribes were crushed between
the upper and nether millstone.
Albert Pike had, at the request of President Jefferson Davis,
undertaken to make treaties with the Indian tribes, for he prob-
ably possessed their confidence more than any other white man
and as he was a great linguist he doubtless could speak to them in
their own tongue. He negotiated these treaties under great
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difficulties, and then he was commissioned a brigadier-general
charged with the duty of organizing an Indian army for the
defense of their own country, and not to enter into campaigns
beyond the limits of their own country, and, of course, the
Confederacy obligated itself to furnish the Indian army with
arms, ammunition, clothing, and tents, and the men were to
receive the customary pay. I may here state that none of these
promises were fulfilled. Pike states that he was then over fifty
years of age and consented to act for the Confederacy at the
urgent solicitation of Mr. Davis, with many misgivings as to
the final result; and unfortunately there soon arose between him
and Generals Thomas C. Hindman and Theophilus Holmes one
of the bitterest controversies that marked the history of that
unhappy conflict, culminating in a second arrest of General Pike
at Tishomingo, in the Chickasaw country, on November 14, 1862,
and his resignation from the army.
However, soon after his appointment to take charge of the
Indian country. Pike began a vigorous campaign to organize
the Indians into an army, first securing a considerable sum of
money from the Confederacy, clothing, arms, ammunition, and
those indispensable equipments necessary for an army. These
being secured he appealed to the Indians to enlist for services
and found a ready response. A Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment
enlisted at once, as did other Indians, except that some of the
Cherokees and Creeks held back, considerable numbers joining
the Federal forces. Further on there was an entire brigade of
Chickasaws and another of the Choctaws in the Confederate
services, and Pike says:
"We had fifty-five hundred Indians in service under arms,
and they were as loyal as our own people, little as had been done
by any one save myself to keep them so, and much as had been
done by others to alienate them. They referred all their diffi-
culties to me for decision, and looked to me alone to see justice
done them and the faith of treaties preserved." (Abel, American
Indians as Participants in the Cioil War, p. 349.)
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In this connection it should be remembered that many of
the Cherokees and Creeks, besides nearly all the Indians from
the Western plains, enlisted under the flag of the United States
and fought against their brother Indians.
Thus we see the net result was that the Indians who did so
much to remain neutral in this fratricidal war of the whites were
drawn into the bloody conflict, and made to destroy each other
for the benefit of their white oppressors.
The money, clothing, arms, ammunition, and supplies which
Pike had procured for the Indians were from time to time com-
mandeered for the use of the whites, and then General Pike was
ordered to march his Indians from their country to take part in
raids to Kansas and Missouri, and very naturally he held back,
but finally did march them into Arkansas, where in March, 1862,
there was fought the battle of Pea Ridge or Elkhorn Tavern,
which proved disastrous to the Confederacy.
Crimination and recriminations between Pike, Hindman,
Holmes, and others were the order of the day, and after the
resignation of Pike he issued a proclamation to the Indians
giving his reasons for his course, but urging them to continue
faithful to the Confederacy, but President Davis wrote Pike
strongly disapproving the issuance of the proclamation. Never-
theless the Indians again rallied to the cause of the Confederacy ,
Pike attributing it to the effect his proclamation had upon them.
On December 30, 1862, Pike took up his facile pen and wrote
a letter to General Holmes, reviewing the controversy, bitterly
denouncing Holmes and Hindman, and speaking of the effect
their course had upon the Indians he said in part:
'The Federal authorities were proposing to the Indians at
the very time when you stopped their clothing and money, that,
if they would return to the old Union, they should not be asked
to take up arms, their annuities should be paid them in money,
the negroes taken from them be restored, all losses and damage
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sustained by them be paid for, and they be allowed to retain, as
so much clear profit, what had been paid them by the Confeder-
ate States. It was a liberal offer and a great temptation to come
at the moment when you and Hindman were felicitously com-
pleting your operations, and when there were no breadstuffs in
their country, and they and their women and children were
starving and half-naked. You chose an admirable opportunity
to rob, to disappoint, to outrage, and exasperate them, and make
your own government fraudulent and contemptible in their
eyes. If any human action can deserve it, the hounds of hell
ought to hunt your soul and Hindman's for it through all eter-
nity.''
It is but just to Hindman and Holmes to recall that they
were far from Richmond, that the Confederate treasury was
nearly always empty, that they were charged with the responsi-
bility of meeting the well fed, well armed and equipped Federal
forces in the far West, while the Confederates had scarcely any of
these absolute necessities for actual warfare; wherefore they felt
it their duty to commandeer everything in sight as a necessary
war measure. Hence they seized everything which Pike had so
carefully and laboriously gathered for the purpose of fulfilling
his promises to the Indians in order to secure treaties from them,
and to enlist them under the flag of the Confederacy.
This Pike could never forgive.
Probably no other man could have so won over the Indians
as did Pike. The one absorbing idea with him was to win the
Indians for the South, and this being done his soul revolted when
they were deprived of the things necessary to defend their
country, and in addition to leave it undefended and go to Arkansas
there to fight the white man's war.
Notwithstanding their bad treatment, the Chickasaws and
Choctaws clung to the Confederacy as long as there was the least
hope, though long before the end came, it was evident that the
Indian country was practically lost to the Confederacy. Thus
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we see that fidelity of character was still a leading characteristic of
the Chickasaw nation.
Believing that further details of this most unfortunate
struggle would serve no good purpose, I will pass from it, referring
those who wish to look more deeply into the matter to Miss Abel's
American Indians as Participants in the Civil War.
Tbe Treaty of 18M—
We learn from Latrobe (p. 3) that when in September, 1865,
the Chickasaws and Choctaws met the United States Com-
missioners at Fort Smith, Arkansas, they were told that they were
at the mercy of the government;
"that a portion of the land hitherto owned and occupied
by you must be set apart for the friendly tribes in Kansas and
elsewhere, on such terms as may be agreed upon" ;
and that they
**had made themselves liable to a forfeiture of all their
rights of every kind, character, and description which had been
promised and guaranteed to them by the United States."
While the Indians refused to sign the treaty demanded,
Latrobe says they instructed their delegates to
''yi^ld all claims due those nations on the part of the
United States, sooner than to be induced to force or sacrifice any
principle of honor which is due to the people and posterity in
regard to the territory that is so dear to them";
and he estimates that all the funds, annuities, etc., which
the Chickasaws and Choctaws were prepared to sacrifice rather
than be despoiled of the homes they had been forced by the
government to purchase, then aggregated $3,683,873.32. This
sum represented every penny that was left of their sacrifices; and
as the personal property of these Indians consisted chiefly in the
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value of their slaves which were freed, while the remainder of
their personal belongings had to a great extent been wasted away
by the fortunes of war, they were, so to speak, in the dust and ashes.
The difficulties surrounding the Chickasaws and Choctaws
were extraordinary; but the Supreme Court of the United States
in the comparatively recent case of Jones vs. Meehan, 175 U. S.,
page I, has so well pointed out the helplessness of the Indians
in ordinary cases that I will quote one sentence from the opinion :
"In construing any treaty between the United States and an
Indian tribe, it must always be borne in mind that the negotiations
for the treaty are conducted on the part of the United States, an
enlightened and powerful nation, by representatives skilled in
diplomacy, masters of a written language, understanding the
modes and forms of creating the various technical estates known
to their law, and assisted by an interpreter employed by them-
selves; that the treaty is drawn up by them and in their own
language; that the Indians, on the other hand, are a weak and
dependent people, who have no written language, and are wholly
unfamiliar with all the forms of legal expressions; and whose only
knowledge of the terms in which the treaty is formed is that im-
parted to them by the interpreter employed by the United States,
and that the treaty must then be construed, not according to the
technical meaning of the words to learned lawyers, but in the sense
in which they would naturally be understood by the Indians."
Being thus threatened by the United States, what could the
Indians do except to employ counsel, associated with others, to
contend for at least a modicum of justice. The "justice" thus
secured proved very costly to the Indians, who were mulcted by
their attorney and his assistants, according to Cantwell (p. 9),
in the sum of $750,000; for which they secured the treaty of
April 26, 1866; under which slavery was abolished; and as the
third article has given rise to much controversy, as well as litiga-
tion in the courts, it will here be copied at large:
"Art. III. The Choctaws and Chickasaws, in consideration
of the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, hereby cede to the
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United States the territory west of the 98* west longitude,
known as the leased district, provided that the said sum shall be
invested and held by the United States, at an interest of not less
than five per cent, in trust for the said nations, until the legis-
latures of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations respectively shall
have made such laws, rules, and regulations as may be necessary
to give all persons of African descent, resident in the said nations
at the date of the Treaty of Fort Smith, and their descendants,
heretofore held in slavery among said nations, all the rights,
privileges, and immunities, including the right of suffrage, of
citizens of said nations, except in the annuities, monies, and pub-
lic domain claimed by or belonging to said nations respectively;
and also to give to such persons who were residents as aforesaid
and their descendants forty acres each of the land of said nations
on the same terms as the Choctaws and Chickasaws, to be selected
on the survey of said land, after the Choctaws and Chickasaws
and Kansas Indians have made their selections as herein pro-
vided; and immediately on the enactment of such laws, rules,
and regulations, the said sum of $300,000 shall be paid to the
said Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in the proportion of three-
fourths to the former and one-fourth to the latter, less such sum,
at the rate of one hundred dollars per capita, as shall be sufficient
to pay such persons of African descent before referred to as,
within ninety days after the passage of such laws, rules, and
regulations, shall elect to remove and actually remove from the
said nations respectively. And should the said laws, rules, and
regulations not be made by the legislature of the said nations
respectively, within two years from the ratification of this treaty,
then the said sum of three hundred thousand dollars shall cease
to be held in trust for the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, and
be held for the use and benefit of such of said persons of African
descent as the United States shall remove from the said territory
in such manner as the United States shall deem proper, the
United States agreeing, within ninety days from the expiration
of the said two years, to remove from said nations all such
persons of African descent as may be willing to remove; those
remaining or returning after having been removed from said
nations to have no benefit of said sum of three hundred
thousand dollars, or any part thereof, but shall be upon the
same footing as other citizens of the United States in the said
nations."
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Among many other provisions of the treaty it was also
provided that a council consisting of delegates from both tribes
was to convene annually, the powers and duties of which were
defined, but the superintendent of Indian affairs was to be the
executive of the territory, with the title of "Governor of the Ter-
ritory of Oklahoma"; by the tenth article the prior treaty
obligations of the United States were reaffirmed and the payment
of annuities renewed; all the lands which had theretofore been
held in common were to be surveyed, and allotments to be made
in severalty to each member of the tribes; and, of course, all in-
truders were to be kept out of the Indian country, which the
government never had done, and which now it did not intend to
do, nor did it do.
In reference to these last provisions, it is only necessary to
note that out of the country of the Indians the Territory of
Oklahoma was created, and a white man made its chief exec-
utive, a prophecy that soon the Indians were to be despoiled of
their country.
The hong Straggle for Racial Purity—
On August i6, 1867, the Chickasaw nation adopted a con-
stitution which will compare favorably with any of those of
the various States, the opening sentence being in these words :
"We, the people of the Chickasaw nation, acknowledging
with gratitude the grace and beneficence of God in permitting us
to make choice of our form of government, do, in accordance
with the first, second, fourth, and seventh articles of the treaty
between the United States, the Choctaws, and Chickasaws, made
and concluded at Washington City, June 22, A. D. 1855, and the
treaty of April 28, A. D. 1866, ordain and establish this constitu-
tion for our government, within the following limits, to wit:"
Returning now to Article III of the treaty of 1866 quoted
above it will be seen that the United States held in trust $300,000
belonging to the Chickasaws and Choctaws, and that section
directed that in case the Indians did not within two years admit
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their former slaves as members of their tribes, then within ninety
days the United States bound itself to remove the freedmen
from the Indian country, and give to them the $300,000 which in
point of fact belonged to the Indians.
In a report of January 3, 1907, of F. E. Leupp, Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, to the Secretary of the Interior, it is said:
"The Choctaw and Chickasaw nations have been far more
generous to their former slaves and their descendants than the
white people have to their ex-slaves. They have allowed them
an interest in their lands, which the white slave owner did not
do, and have permitted them to use the lands of the nation for
more than forty years without paying one cent of rent therefor:"
(Mansfield, McMurry & Cornish, p. 9.)
Why should the government, in the face of these undisputed
facts, continue its efforts through a series of years to force the
Indians to do still more for their former slaves than the whites
had, and force upon them a species of social equality with the
negro, except upon the assumption that an Indian had no rights
which a white man was bound to respect?
In 1866, again in 1876, and still again in 1885, the Chicka-
saws refused to admit their former slaves as members of their
tribe, a portion of the preamble and Section i of the act of
October 22, 1885 (Cantwell, p. 87), being as follows:
"And whereas. The United States has failed to remove said
freedmen, agreeable to the stipulations of said treaty, and left
them here among us for a long time, recognized by us as occupy-
ing the same status as other United States citizens; and whereas,
the Chickasaw people in justic to their posterity have not made
said laws, rules, and regulations as provided for in the aforesaid
article of said treaty for the following reasons, to-wit:
"ist — ^That the Chickasaw people can not see any reason or
just cause why they should be required to do more for their
freed slaves than the white i)eople have done in the slave-holding
States for theirs.
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"2nd — ^That it was by the example and teaching of the
white man that we purchased, at enormous prices, their slaves
and used their labor, and were forced by the result of their war to
liberate our slaves at a great loss and sacrifice on our part, and
we do not hold or consider our nation responsible in nowise for
their present situation.
"Section i. Be it enacted by the legislature of the Chicka-
saw nation, That the Chickasaw people hereby refuse to accept
or adopt the freedmen as citizens of the Chickasaw nation upon
any terms or conditions whatever, and respectfully request the
governor of our nation to notify the Department at Washington
of the action of the legislature in the premises."
This was the manly attitude of the Chickasaws, notwith-
standing (Cantwell, p. 50) states other Indians admitted negroes
as members of their tribes.
All honor to the Chickasaws for taking this bold stand for
racial purity; for thereby they proved themselves worthy descen-
dants of the primitive Chickasaws, who were known personally
to Judge John Haywood, the pioneer historian of Tennessee,
himself a pioneer, and who declared that no Chickasaw woman
was ever known to give birth to a child before wedlock.
The former slaves of the Chickasaws, no doubt being in-
stigated thereto by scheming lobbyists and lawyers so-called,
sued to recover the $300,000 mentioned, but the United States
Supreme Court in 1904 dismissed the case, saying that as the
freedmen had remained in the nation, cultivating as much land
as was necessary for the support of themselves and their families,
and had not been adopted into the Chickasaw nation, they
were not entitled to the fund. (See United States vs. Choctaw and
Chickasaw Nation, 193 U. S. 115.)
It would seem that this decision should have ended the
struggle, but the rapacity of claim agents knows no law, and they
then took their fight to the floors of Congress, where the con-
troversy continued for some years.
I am indebted to William L. Lawrence of Tishomingo,
Oklahoma, for much information, including a copy of the Argu-
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ment in 1910 of Douglass H. Johnston on behalf of the Chidca-
saws against the reopening of the Chickasaw rolls, so as to
admit their former slaves to membership as Chickasaw Indians;
and in closing his argument (p. 24) Governor Johnston said:
''Again, the African race is prolific. The Indian race, under
present conditions, is not. The numbers of the Chickasaw tribe
have been decimated, at first by destructive wars, now by their
changed conditions of life, and it will be but a few generations
until the full-blood Indian will be no more. But as the Indian
citizen vanishes, the negro 'Chickasaw,' if such he is made by
Congress, will multiply, and the time will not be far distant, if this
iniquity is visited upon us, when the name of Chickasaw will
carry with it opprobrium and reproach instead of honor.
"Our people have no prejudice against the negro as such,
and have always treated him, freedman as well as slave, with
kindness and forbearance; but we do object to his classification
as a member of our tribe, and the white race, under similar
conditions, would have the same feeling.
"Our common property now amounts to lands and money
worth approximately $25,000,000. Such unjust legislation will
deprive us of the greater part of this heritage; but this is not all,
for it will also rob us of something far dearer, namely, the pride
of race, which our people have so long cherished.
'These negroes are not clamoring for this recognition of
their own accord, nor would this class of claims ever have been
heard of had it not been for the activities of claim agents and
attorneys, lured on by the rich prize to be gained by success.
"If then the greedy hand of the despoilers can not be kept
from us, far better to give them our lands and money, but keep
our rolls pure, so that in the future, as in the past, a Chickasaw
can hold his head aloft among any i)eople of the earth and say
'I am an original American and a Chickasaw.'
"Douglass H. Johnston,
"Governor of the Chickasaw Nation."
In the speech of Honorable William H. Murray already
referred to, he paid the highest tribute to Governor Johnston
for his fine sense and integrity of character, also saying that he
was related to General Albert Sidney Johnston, who fell upon the
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field of battle at Shiloh, and whose loss was a terrific blow to the
hopes of the soldiers of the South. Murray also stated that at that
time (1914) Johnston had been Governor of the Chickasaws
for fourteen years, and as he is still in office at this time (1921),
it will be seen that for over twenty years he has guided the
destinies of his people, and it may be added under the most
disadvantageous circumstances.
In a letter to me of January 21, 192 1, Cato Sells says:
"The freedmen were adopted in most of the Five Civilized
Tribes, namely, Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw Tribes,
but the Chickasaws persistently refused to adopt them as mem-
bers of the tribe. For the reason that the other Five Civilized
Tribes adopted them as members of their tribes, it is customary
in computing the number of Chickasaw enrollers to include the
number of freedmen enrollers in totaling the membership of the
Five Civilized Tribes."
What a tribute is this to the Chickasaws, marking them as
a peculiar people, to withstand all the power and blandishments
of the government, as well as the example of the more powerful
tribes so closely associated with them, in preserving the purity
of the blood which coursed through the veins of their noble
ancestry!
Notwithstanding these plain facts with respect to the long
struggle of the Chickasaws for racial purity and integrity, all of
which can be so easily verified, still in standard encyclopaedias
and reference books it is usually stated that the Chickasaws
adopted their freedmen in 1873, which is but one instance of
misinformation so often to be met with, not only in the daily
press, but in standard works and in books of history.
Constitution and Laws of tbe Cblckasaws—
In this story, as we are approaching the time when the
United States repudiated all of its solemn treaties with the
Indians, and in order that we may have a clear understanding of
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the facts, we may here pause for a moment to note that in 1899
there was published by the Chickasaw nation a volume of 560
pages, containing their constitution and laws up to that time.
The contents of the volume were certified by Honorable
Charles D. Carter, National Secretary of the Chickasaw nation,
and it may be added that the laws therein contained, organic as
well as statutory, will compare favorably with those of any state
of the Union.
It may be further stated that Mr. Carter was elected to Con-
gress as a member from Oklahoma upon its admission to the
Union in 1907, and so continues to the present time (1921),
having recently been elected for a new term expiring in 1923.
He has served with distinction as a representative Chickasaw
and as the representative of white constituents as well, and
while the House was controlled by the Democrats, he was Chair-
man of the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Tbe Dawes Agreement-
Having reached a period when the Indians were reduced
to the last extremity and were at the complete mercy of the
whites, outside interference became so frequent and vital that it
is scarcely necessary for further details, but a brief reference
will be made to what is called the Dawes agreement of March 21,
1902. That is of such recent date that many will recall notices
of the proceedings as contained in the newspapers; and though
I had no special interest in the matter or reason to take a preju-
dicial view, still a strong impression was made on my mind
that it was more in the nature of a brow-beating affair than
otherwise; by which the Indians were forced ^;ainst their wills
to grant what the whfte man demanded.
The so-called agreement is very elaborate, and among other
things provided that there shall be allotted to each member of
the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes 320 acres, and to each freed-
man forty acres, the allotments to include the improvements of
the allottee. All the residue of their lands was to be sold at
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public auction, the net balance to be paid into the treasury of
the United States, to the credit of the Choctaws and Chickasaws,
the distribution to be made of the proceeds to the Indians per
capita, the whites well knowing that the Indians would soon
spend the money, as they would fall easy victims to the designing
whites, and, of course, these results followed, so that the Indians
were thus despoiled of their landed estates to the enrichment of
the whites.
This was bad enough, but there was a worse feature of the
socalled agreement; that is to say, it was made unlawful for an
Indian to
"enclose or hold possession in any manner by himself or
through another, directiy or indirectiy, more land in value than
that of three hundred and twenty acres of average allottable
lands";
a violation of this so-called agreement was made a mis-
demeanor punishable by fine and imprisonment.
These inhuman, cold, and cruel provisions are so shocking
as not to need comment.
Coal, asphalt, and other minerals which might be found in
the land were to be sold at public auction, and the net proceeds
placed to the credit of the Indians in the United States Treasury.
How Congress Set Aside All IndUn Treaties—
For a better understanding of the situation it is necessary
to recur to some former proceedings.
On May 7, 1894, the Dawes Commission made its report to
Congress, and among other things (174, U. S., p. 448) it said:
"This section of country was set apart to the Indian com-
munity beyond and away from the influence of white people.
We stipulated that they should have unrestricted self-govern-
ment and full jurisdiction over persons and property within
their respective limits, and that we would protect them against
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intrusion of white people, and that we would not incorporate
them in a political organization Without their consent. Every
treaty, from 1828 to and including the treaty of 1866, was based
on this idea of exclusion of the Indians from the whites and non-
participation by the whites in their political and industrial
affairs. We made it possible for the Indians of that section of
country to maintain their tribal relations and their Indian
polity, laws, and civilization if they wished so to do. And, if
now the isolation and exclusiveness sought to be given to them
by our solemn treaties is destroyed, and they are overrun by a
population of strangers five times in number to their own, it is
not the fault of the government of the United States, but comes
from their own acts in admitting whites to citizenship under
their laws and by inviting white people to come within their
jurisdiction to become traders, farmers, and to follow professional
pursuits."
I undertake to say that the statements above to the effect
that the Indians invited the white intruders into their country
and were responsible for their presence among the Indians is
not only untrue but without excuse. No one with the least in-
telligence can attentively read the Indians' treaties without
being struck with their long struggle to live apart from the
whites, as witness the clauses in the various treaties by which
the government bound itself in the most solemn manner to ex-
clude all white intruders from among them.
Francis E. Leupp, under whose administration as Indian
Commissioner the policies represented by the Dawes Commis-
sion were put in force, and which he approved, though apparently
sometimes with misgivings, speaks very plainly (p. 44) on thb
subject, saying:
''In actual life and in his natural state, however, the Indian
wants nothing to do with us or our civilization; he clings to the
ways of his ancestors, insisting that they are better than ours;
and he resents the government's efforts to show him how he can
turn an honest dollar for himself by other means than his grand-
fathers used — or an appropriation from the Treasury. That
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is the plain English of the case, strive as we may to gloss it with
poetic fancies or hide it under statistical reports of progress."
On the previous page (p. 43) Mr. Leupp says:
"The truth is that, in spite of the analogy traceable between
the customs of all races in their primitive state, the Indian has
a distinct individuality; and nothing shows it more convincingly
than the way he has survived his experiences as a victim of
conquest."
No one who has attentively considered this subject can for
one moment doubt the correctness of what Mr. Leupp says with
respect to the peculiar ethnographic characteristics of the North
American Indians. In other words, our Indians have no counter-
part on this globe, and their mental and moral characteristics are
as fixed and immovable as are to be found among any of the vari-
ous races of men.
We have the decision of the United States Supreme Court so
late as 1886 (119 U. S. 30, L. ed., p. 315) showing the utter help-
lessness of the Indians to protect themselves, as follows:
"These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation; they are
communities dependent on the United States; dependent largely
for their daily food; dependent for their political rights. They
owe no allegiance to the States and receive from them no pro-
tection; because of the local ill feeling, the people of the States
where they are found are often their deadliest enemies. From
their very weakness and helplessness, so largely due to the course
of dealing of the federal government with them, and the treaties
in which it has been promised, there arises the duty of protection,
and with it the power. This has always been recognized by the
executive, by congress, and by this court, whenever the question
has arisen."
No one knew the helplessness of the Indians to protect them-
selves from white intruders for the reasons set forth above,
better than the members of the Dawes committee; that is, if
they had the least intelligence, which they unquestionably had.
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It is difficult to understand how the truth could have been more
distorted.
Note, also, that the Supreme Court pointedly declared that
from the very helplessness of the Indians (to quote),
** There arises the duty of protection, arid with it the power. This
has always been recognized by the executive, by Congress, and
by this court whenever the question has arisen."
And yet the Dawes Commission reports to Congress that
it was the fault of the Indians that the white intruders had
come among them, and these statements were apparently ac-
cepted by all departments of the government as true.
The truth is that when the Five Civilized Tribes were driven
from their ancient homes east of the Mississippi to make room
for the early settlers, the country selected for them, and called
the Indian Territory, was thought to be a wild and barren coun-
try and was then subject to the inroad's of the wild roving bands of
the plain Indians, making life there insecure. After these savages
were conquered and the country made secure and habitable by
the Five Civilized Tribes, not only the great agricultural possibili-
ties of the country became a striking fact, but, in addition, vast
deposits of coal, oil, and gas were discovered. Then it was that,
whetted by cupidity, the whites became as hungry wolves, seek-
ing all they could devour, and intruders overran the Indian
country, while the United States, which acknowledged the help-
lessness of the Indians, and its duty by treaty and morally
to exclude the intruders, with the power so to do, quietly looked
on and did nothing. Hence the Dawes Commission.
If history teaches anything, it is that no law .can break
down racial characteristics and convert one race into another;
nor can this be accomplished by centuries of oppression, or by
philanthropic propaganda.
Take the case of the E^t Indian, whose civilization reaches
back far beyond the civilization of the Englishman; and though
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the civilization of the English is fax superior to that of the E^t
Indian, and though for generations the East Indian has been
under the guardianship of the English, still all know that socially
and racially there is an impassable gulf separating the two
peoples, notwithstanding both belong to the great Aryan race.
The narrow Irish sea only separates England from Ireland,
but will the racial barrier between them ever be broken? Again,
only an imaginary line separates the Irishmen of Ulster from
Irishmen further south, and still they can no more mix than oil
will mix with water.
These are not exceptional cases in history, as witness the
results of the Russian war with Turkey in the seventies; for as
soon as the Turkish power was broken over a large part of her
domain in Europe, there reappeared the nations of Bulgaria,
Roumania, and Serbia, these peoples having been so long sub-
merged by the Turks and kept in a state of vassalage, that they
had almost been forgotten by the world; and yet centuries of
vassalage had in no way changed the ethnic characteristics of
these peoples.
Or take the case of the two German empires, the one ruled
by the Hohenzollems, and the other by the Hapsburgs; and these
respectively ruled over and had in subjection other races of men,
bending every energy and form of force to Germanize them, and
all to no purpose. As soon as freedom came as a result of the mad
war inaugurated by the two German emperors, by which they
were dethroned, there emerged from the wreck and ruin of the
bloodiest war in the annals of the world, the submerged peoples,
and geography has been re-written so as to number among the
nations of the earth ancient Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Jugo-
slavia, or the kingdom of the Southern Slavs, while Armenia,
and other submerged peoples in Asia, are still struggling for
racial independence.
Again Leupp very correcdy points out (p. 3) that in discuss-
ing the Indians we should always bear in mind that there is as
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wide a diversity between different groups as we find among
Caucasians. The Hopi Indians, leading a precarious existence on
the desert plains of the far West, are no more to be compared to
the splendid specimens of manhood and womanhood among the
members of the Five Civilized Tribes, when first seen by Euro-
peans, than the fine manhood in England could be compared at
that time to the half wild and unlettered men who occupied the
Caucasian mountains, or the degraded and down-trodden serfs
of the Russian steppes. And yet it is not unusual to class all
Indians alike.
Attention is called by Murray (p. 40) to this important fact,
in his address before Congress already mentioned, when he said:
"Before going into the subject, however, I want to take the
liberty of calling the attention of Congress to the difference
between Indian tribes as being quite as great as between other
races. The Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma are quite distinct
from the prairie tribes on the west side of the State or in other
sections of the country, who wear blankets and who are the
subject of hero stories of the wild West of which you read Three
of these tribes were never savages — the Chickasaws, the Choc-
taws, and the Cherokees. There is only one other civilized
tribe, and that is the Pueblo, and possibly the Navajo. The
Five Civilized Tribes and the Pueblo Tribe are the only Indian
tribes that hold their land in fee simple. The Pueblos of Arizona
and New Mexico were given a grant by Spain, ratified later by
Mexico, and then by the United States. The Five Civilized
Tribes have held their land in fee simple since long prior to the
Civil War. They have had civil government fully officered with
chief executives, legislatures, courts, and public schools, operated
by themselves, controlled without any supervision of the govern-
ment or of Congress, ran ad libitum by themselves.
'Their courts, while crude in a measure, gave manifest
justice. I hold in my hand a printed copy of the Chickasaw
statutes, enacted by their legislature, and enforced in their courts."
Leupp also points out that the Indian is not haughty or
taciturn with those he knows and respects; that he is a congenial
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companion, a lively stoty teller, and himself full of humor; that
he has an oriental code of ethics which holds hospitality so
sacred that you are absolutely safe as his guest while under his
roof; and Leupp joins with Dr. William T. Harris, United States
Commissioner of Education, in declaring that if you remove the
alluring gloss which the poetic genius of Homer has spread over
the conduct of the warriors who fought at Troy, then you have
in the American Indian a type of those ancient classic Greek
heroes, wherefore Dr. Harris called them "Homeric Chil-
dren."
Instead of being always quarrelsome Leupp declares (p. 7)
"there is not a white community whose members will go
further out of their way to avoid hard feelings with their neigh-
bors than the member of an Indian tribe or band."
When factional differences arose, they were often settled by
conferences; if not, there was that private vengeance such as is
usually found among primitive people, and when war was declared,
the maxim "All is fair in war" was the watchword; but was this
not the watchword in the late world-wide war which staggered
mankind by its atrocities?
Leupp also states (p. 11) upon the testimony of experienced
Indian traders that Indians were more honest in paying their
debts than white men, and we all know that food was always
considered common property with the Indians and the hungry
were free to eat, though it was the last morsel of the pos-
sessor.
We learn in the sacred Scriptures that the love of money is
the root of all evil, not a mere part, but of all evil. While the
love of money is the besetting sin of the white man, of this deep
dyed sin the Indian is guiltless. There is nothing of the mercen-
ary in his character. When in Alaska in 1906 I was struck with
the universal testimony to the fact that no Indian was ever
known to prospect for gold or other precious metals; but if
hungry, he would work for the miner to obtain food.
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Leupp also points out (p. 13) that contrary to the common
belief the labors necessary for the subsistence of the family were
well divided between husband and wife.
Leupp says (p. 18) :
"In all my wanderings among the Indians I have never seen
a parent strike a child, and have very rarely heard an impatient
exclamation from either side."
Might not the white man learn a lesson from the Indian in
the loving care of his offspring?
On pages 12 and 13 Mr. Leupp adds:
''Because he does not open his heart to a stranger or fly into
a passion under abuse, we hear that the Indian is without feeling.
On the contrary, he is one of the most sensitive of human beings.
Stolid as a stone under his enemy's tortures, he may be broken in
spirit by the death of a child. He feels keenly any slight put
upon him, and, though he may not retort in kind, a harsh or
contemptuous word from a friend cuts him to the heart. He is
an artist by instinct, responsive to every form of beauty in natural
objects, and filled with awe in the presence of whatever is massive
or otherwise grand. Crude as are the materials of which he
composes them, his war bonnet, his hunting shirt, his ceremonial
costume for great occasions, his home-made blankets and saddle-
cloths, baskets and pottery, his decorated weapons, his shell
chains and silver bracelets, all wear the stamp of a genius which
needs only encouragement to win recognition far beyond the
boundaries of a curio cabinet. I have sat with a party of Indians
of all ages in a remote comer of our country and listened to a
musical programme ranging in variety from rag-time to Bach,
and noticed that the most emphatic manifestations of approval
from the red people were reserved for classic or semi-classic
selections which would have put an uneducated white audience
to sleep."
And on page 54 Leupp adds:
'To find the real Indian we must go into the wilder country
where white ways have not penetrated. Here we find him a man
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of fine physique, a model of hospitality, a kind parent, a genial
companion, a staunch friend, and a faithful pledge-keeper. Is
not this a pretty good foundation on which to build?"
I have thus quoted at considerable length from Mr. Leupp,
because he probably more than any other executive set on foot
the execution of what I regard as the little less than infamous
policies underlying the laws put upon the statute books by the
Dawes Conunission. And yet Leupp was doing what he con-
sidered his duty under the law, and seemingly approved thereof.
Nevertheless from the tone of his writings I am impressed with
the thought that in much that he did he felt in his heart as did
General Crook, as quoted in the preface (p. vi) to A Century of
Dishonor, where we read:
"General Crook expressed the feelings of the army when he
replied to a friend who said, 'It is hard to go on such a cam-
paign,' 'Yes, it is hard; but, sir, the hardest thing is to go and
fight those whom you know are right.' "
No one probably, from actual contact, knew the Indians
better than did General Crook. He evidently abhorred their
cruel treatment by the government.
They were the wild, free children of Nature and the call of
the wild thrilled their every fiber, planted there by Divinity,
which they could not repress if they would. And knowing this,
when our government rounded up the Five Civilized Tribes
about the early thirties, and forced them at the point of the
bayonet to seek a home in the wild West, it bound itself by the
most solemn treaties never to allow the white man to intrude on
them there; and then to its discredit it repealed its treaties.
Nevertheless, apologists say that the Indian invited white
intruders to despoil them of their homes a second time. Turn
from these bold and unsupported statements to the recorded
facts and see how false they are.
Thus, in Senate Document No. 143, 59th Congress, 1st session,
"Proposed State of Sequoyah," on page 14 we read as follows:
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"At a general convention of the commissioners of the
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Cherokee, and Seminole nations
at South McAlester, November 12, 1896, it was declared by
suitable resolutions, among other things, that the earnest and
repeated insistence of the United States demanding a relinquish-
ment of the tribal governments would involve the follow-
ing:
"Our people must relinquish a government to which they
are most deeply attached, they must give up their customs and
habits, which have become essential to their happiness.
"They must conform to duties and habits to which they are
totally unaccustomed and which would be irksome and un-
pleasant in the extreme, and especially to the thousands of non-
English-speaking people.
"Each individual will have to build new outside fences on
north and south, east and west lines, according to the lines newly
surveyed by the United States.
"Our citizens will have to move houses, fences, corrals,
etc., and change their orchards, water supply, fields, etc.,
and other establishments to conform to these new lines of
survey.
"Our citizens would lose their free pasturage of catde
that have formerly grazed on the open range, will require the
building of fences around small pastures for such cattle, and
providing necessary forage for such stock.
"Our people who have formerly gotten their winter's supply
of meat and annual food from swine on the open mast will be
compelled to bring them home and build especial close pens and
provide food for them.
"Our people will be driven to abandon all the previously
constructed roads, and must of necessity build new roads for
traveling north and south, east and west, which will impose a
new expense on our people.
"Our people will, under the new conditions, be required to
come in close personal contact with numerous impecunious
persons from other States, who will endeavor to better their
condition in the Indian country and will subject our people to
the same line of small, exasperating, and aggressive trespassing
that drove the Indians in Kansas, the Shawnees, Delawares, and
Pottawatomies, and others, out of the State for refuge in the
Indian Territory."
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Dr. Barrows (p. 195) quotes Francis A. Walker, Indian
Commissioner, in his book, The Indian Question, as sa3dng:
"There is scarcely one of the ninety-two reservations at
present established (1874), o" which white men have not effected
a lodgment; many swarm with squatters, who hold their place
by intimidating the rightful owners; while in more than one case
the Indians have been wholly dispossessed, and are wanderers
upon the face of the earth."
Who knew better than Walker the real facts, or doubts that
he spoke the truth?
Dr. Barrows brought out his book, The Indians* Side of the
Indian Question, in 1887, and entertained great hopes that the
proposed Dawes policies would eventuate in great good to the
Indians, though he pointed out that it all depended on the good
faith of the governing officials in the protection of Indian rights
under the law as written. On page 104 he quotes Senator Dawes
assa3dng: ''Government has never kept its promises to the
Indians, and there are no indications that it ever will."
Entertaining these views how could any one expect the
Dawes laws to be fairly administered?
It is evident that the controlling thought underl3dng the new
policy foreshadowed in the report of the Dawes Commission was
to cut up by the roots every Indian treaty, take from the Indians
their lands, cut them up, compel each Indian to accept a few
acres in severalty, then throw the balance on the open market,
well knowing that the average Indian was not fitted to continue
in the ownership thereof, and that eventually the white man
would supersede the Indian in the ownership of Indian lands.
To a large extent this object has been accomplished, and the
nefarious work is still marching on.
To illustrate how completely the nefarious plan to despoil
the Indians of their lands, so that the ownership thereof might
be enjoyed by the white man, is succeeding, I will here quote from
a letter of Honorable Gabe E. Parker, Superintendent of the
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Five Civilized Tribes, of November 19, 1920, in answer to my
question, About what is now the number of the acres owned in
fee by the Chickasaw Indians?
Mr. Parker answers :
''Approximately 2,987,000 acres were allotted to Chickasaws
by blood and intermarriage, and 180,000 acres to Chickasaw
freedmen, making a total of 2,197,000 allotted to all classes of
enrolled Chickasaws. It is estimated that from fifty per cent to
seventy-five per cent of the Chickasaws have alienated their
land, leaving approximately 650,000 acres still held by them
individually in fee. All of the tribal land in the Chickasaw
nation has been allotted or sold, except approximately three
hundred acres still belonging to the tribe. There remains un-
sold tribal property in the Choctaw nation worth approximately
$12,000,000, in which the Chickasaws own about one-fourth
interest."
No one would expect the average Indian to be able to keep
the cash he received from the sale of the unallotted land, and as
to the land allotted in severalty we see that which the whites
anticipated has taken place, and that from fifty to seventy-five
per cent of the Chickasaws have not where to lay their heads,
made homeless in the country which was theirs by right, and
which they owned in fee simple, not only under the Choctaw
treaty of 1830, under which the Chickasaws claim they purchased
part of the Choctaw country by and with the consent and agree-
ment of the United States government, but also in pursuance of
this treaty the United States government issued its patent or
deed to the Indians, the conveying part whereof is in these words
as shown (p. 6) by Bond:
'That the United States of America, in consideration of the
premises and in execution of the agreement and stipulation in
the aforesaid treaty, have given and granted, and by these patents
do give and grant, unto the said Choctaw nation the aforesaid
'tract of country west of the Mississippi,' to be conveyed by the
aforesaid article, 'tn fee simple to thtm and their descendants^ to
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inure to them while they shall exist as a nation and live on it/
liable to no transfer or alienations, except to the United States
or with their consent."
How could the United States, with any show of justice,
against the will and over the protest of the Chickasaws repudiate
its own fee simple deed?
As stated above Leupp was the Indian Commissioner when
the so-called Dawes agreement with the Indians was put into
force and effect, and in 1910 he published The Indian and His
Problem, which I have read with much interest, and though he
favored the Dawes policy, still he was a witness to the abhorrence
of the Indians to that policy ; for on page 85 he says :
"For a number of years after the allotment S3rstem had
become well established, most of the Indians used to resist
stubbornly the efforts of the government to give them lands in
severalty. They would run away when the Allotting Agent
with his crew of assistants came into their neighborhood, and
conceal themselves in the thicket, or ride back over the hills,
leaving only a cloud of dust to mark their pathless course. If
they had long enough warning of his coming, they would dis-
appear in the night, so that he would find nothing but an empty
camp. The allotment statutes, however, had anticipated such a
contingency by providing that, should any Indian refuse or
neglect to make his own selection of land, it should be officially
made for him after a specified interval of waiting."
In this connection we should remember the clauses in the
Dawes so-called agreement, forbidding the ownership by any
Indian of any large amount of land, which were evidently in-
serted in order to prevent such capable Indians as might by
chance appear to become the owners of large tracts, thus paralyz-
ing all capable or ambitious Indians, so as to make all Indians
indiscriminately an easy prey to the white land grabber.
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Illogical Arfomenl Agmlnst Ownership in i
The argument of Senator Dawes and all those who, from the
beginning, have lent a helping hand in despoiling the Indians
of their right to hold their land in common, usually assumed the
form of an interrogatory ; thus, why should the Indians be allowed
to hold thousands of acres in common, only cultivating a small
part thereof, instead of cutting it up into small tracts so that it
might be owned in severalty and cultivated in small farms by
poor white people?
In the first place it is sound law, and fortified by conunon
sense, that a person has a right to use his own land in any manner
he sees fit, so long as his use thereof in no way injures other
people.
When the Chickasaws, as well as all the Five Civilized
tribes, were literally driven from their ancient homes east of the
Mississippi at the point of the bayonet of United States troops
they were guaranteed by our government the right to forever
hold their property in common; for this was a fundamental
principle of their conception of what was just and right among
themselves; and this conception was as sacred to them as religion
itself, and was a part of their spiritual life. To deprive them of
this sacred right was worse than to rob them of their worldly
goods.
But was the white man logical, nay, was he even sincere
when he said the Indians should not be allowed to own their
land in common in the Indian territory, which is only a part of
the State of Oklahoma, because the poor white man had an un-
challenged right to cultivate all this continent in small tracts
suitable to his means?
Let us see.
The fertile Mississippi delta, more fertile than the valley
of the Nile, much of which formerly belonged to the Chickasaws,
is now mostly owned by wealthy men in large tracts, from one
thousand to ten thousand acres often being owned by one man,
while the poor man is forced to a state of tenantry. Large parts
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of the blue grass regions of Kentucky are owned in tracts com-
prising thousands of acres, where the millionaire raises nothing
but fine race horses, for his amusement, and no poor man would
think of asking to cultivate these race horse preserves.
Like conditions obtain all over this country, and in New
England large parts of counties, comprising thousands of acres,
have been bought up by millionaires and converted into game
preserves where the plow-share is never permitted to enter; and
what for? Merely to satisfy the whim or caprice of the wealthy
men; to experiment in raising wild game, but not for general use;
and as for the poor man, he is permitted to live on a crust of
bread, softened by the tears of poverty, and would probably be
suspidoned of lunacy, were he to insist on a right to cultivate a
part of the preserve to make bread and meat for himself and
family.
Nor is this all, for nearly all the absolute necessities of life
are monopolized by the rich, and niggardly doled out to the poor;
as witness the ownership of petroleum, stored in the bowels of
the earth by a beneficent Creator for his children, the sons of men.
And, yet, this indispensable commodity, with its almost
countless derivatives, is owned in monopoly by a very few in-
dividuals, who are rich beyond the dream of avarice. King
Croesus, who ruled over a vast region, was so rich in his day,
according to the conceptions of what was then a wealthy man,
that his very name was coined into the language of men as a
symbol of the greatest possible measure of wealth.
And yet the riches of Croesus were but as "thirty cents"
when compared to the wealth of the present day coal-oil
magnate. It can now be said as truly as of old, ''Man's
inhumanity to man makes countless thousands moan!"
Nor judged by other standards, can our refusal to allow the
Indians to hold their land in common, be justified.
The United States has set apart various forest, game, and
other preserves by the hundreds of thousands square miles, many
times greater in area than several Indian territories, all to be held
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in common forever for the pleasure, and not cultivation, of all the
people and to be enjoyed by them in common, and where wild
game of all kinds may thrive in natural luxuriance, making of it
a veritable happy hunting ground — according to the conception
of the primitive Indian an ideal heaven; and yet the Indians may
own nothing in common; and why? simply because he is an
Indian.
But leaving aside the Indian's religion and philosophy of
life, which made it necessary that all land should be held in
common, so that there might be no rich or poor Indians, how can
the conduct of the white man be justified in the light of the
Christian religion which he professes?
St. Paul was one of the greatest men who ever trod this
earth, and said: "And all that believed were together, and had
all things common"; and he also warned us that the love of
money was the root of all evil.
Jesus of Nazareth taught that we should take no care for
tomorrow, what we would eat or what we should drink, saying:
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil
not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
Now all of this so fits in with the Indian conception of
religion and philosophy that we are not surprised when Eastman
says (p. 142) that when he was unfolding to the far Western
Indians for the first time in their lives the teachings of Jesus as
to self-denial, and as to sharing our last morsel with our neighbor,
an Indian at once spoke up, expressing his surprise, saying that
was the religion of the Indians, while another of the older men,
after long reflection, said: "I have come to the conclusion that
this Jesus was an Indian."
The sad truth is that we preach one religion, but practice
another. E^tman is a Sioux Indian, has a finished university
training, is a physician, a lecturer and author of note, well and
widely known for his great intelligence and accomplishments.
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His book From Deep Woods to Civilization is well worth reading
by any one who may desire to have a true insight to Indian
psychology.
Chapter VIII (p. Ii6), treating of war with the politicians,
graphically sets forth his disillusionments as to the supposed
honesty of public officials by the swindling operations of the
white undertings among reservation Indians, how by "short
changes" the unlettered Indians were fleeced of thousands of
dollars on pay day.
When a loud protest went up from missionaries and honest
white men, an honest inspector was sent to the reservation, who
made a report exposing the fraud. This report was promptly
suppressed, and another agent sent out, and by manipulations
he whitewashed the whole affair, and many of the honest men
who sought to do justice to the Indians were traduced, while
others were dismissed from the service, and Eastman, who was
physician to the reservation, was given to understand that he
would be transferred to another field in the service, but he
indignantly resigned, severing his connection with the govern-
ment.
The case was carried to Washington to the President and
even to Senator Dawes (p. 133), the professed special friend of
the Indians, but the politicians were so bulwarked and buttressed
at Washington that fraud and corruption triumphed.
Chapter IX (p. 136), "Civilization as Preached and Prac-
ticed," is a revelation as to the lobbyists at Washington, and
how almost impossible it is to present the justice of any Indian
complainant for redress before Congress; but these discreditable
details lie outside the scope of this sketch.
We are not surprised to learn that when Eastman became
thus disillusioned, he was sorely tempted to return to the wild
woods and the faith of his fathers; but finally the example of the
many men and women who not only preached, but practiced the
Christian religion, thereby making their religion a part of their
lives, won the day (p. 151) for Eastman and for the white man's
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civilization, which would scarcely have been possible, except
for his unusual intellectual endowments and accomplishments.
Robbing Indians According to Law-
Reference has elsewhere been made to various devices by
which the whites cheated the Indians, from the low device of
short counting and changing money, all the way up to more
complicated cheating; but the rapacity of the whites did not
stop with these processes, for they devised methods which I
denominate robbing the Indians according to law.
To the average reader this would seem a thing incredible
in the light of the twentieth century; nevertheless it is only too
shamefully true.
The grafters had become so bold that on March 7, 1904,
President Roosevelt appointed Charles J. Bonaparte and Clinton
Rogers Woodruff, Special Inspectors in the matter of alleged
abuses and irregularities in the public service of the Indian
Territory.
The inspectors were men of known ability and integrity,
and set about the performance of the duties imposed upon them
in an earnest manner, after which they made an elaborate report,
embraced in Senate Document 189, 58th Congress, 2nd Session,
which is illuminating to those who may desire to read the whole
story; but obviously only slight reference can be made thereto
in this sketch. Suffice it to say that many abuses were pointed
out, and it was also pointed out (p. 26) that the real Indians in
Oklahoma were fast dying out (to quote):
"Not, in most cases, from disease or vice, but, in the striking
and pathetic words of one of them who testified before us, for
want of hope ; or, in other words, because their present environ-
ment is so unsympathetic, and the impossibility for them to hold
their own in the competition to which they are already exposed,
and which will grow more severe every day hereafter, is so mani-
fest that the future holds out to them no prospect which makes
life worth living. One of the witnesses examined before us, a man
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of life-long experience with Indians, and, as it seemed to us,
exceptionally impartial and guarded in his statements, described
the average full-blood Indian as about the equal, intellectually
and morally, of a white child of ten; and the facts disclosed by
our inquiry lead us to believe that this description contains an
exceptionally large measure of truth."
It would be difficult to state in so few words the unhappy and
almost hopeless situation for the Indians. With the unexpected
wealth that was developed in the Indian country by the exploita-
tion of its mineral wealth and vast deposits of oil, there was a
field opened for the grafters possibly without a parallel in the
history of this country, and they lost no time or means in pil-
fering to the uttermost farthing.
Because a full-blood Indian proves as easy a victim to be
cheated and swindled as a child of ten years, it must not be
concluded that in all respects he is the same as a mere child; far
from it. I have endeavored to show elsewhere that the ownership
of property in severalty is repugnant to every instinct and moral
conception of the Indian; and so ingrained is this conception in
his mental and moral make up, that it is a part of his very exist-
ence; hence he is as a child in respect to these matters. Let the
home of the same Indian be invaded, or should he be called to
arms, then he is not only as fearless as the bravest of the brave,
but will suffer torture and death without one word of complaint,
and rather deride and defy his enemy to the last breath, thus
proving his contempt of death and his unconquerable will.
Rev. J. S. Murrow went as a missionary to live among the
Indians of Oklahoma in 1857, called, as he says, by the Holy
Spirit, while that country was wild and supposed to be barren
to a large extent, devoting his life to the spiritual welfare of the
Indians, and so continued up to at least 1912, when he published
a pamphlet. The Indian^s Side, in order that the world might
realize, at least in part, the infamy of grafters in robbing the
Indians, for whose welfare Murrow had devoted fifty-five years
of his life.
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In order that it may not be supposed that I have incor-
rectly overstated the situation I will quote from Murrow (p. 28),
who says:
"All Indians love their children devotedly, and are exceed-
ingly kind to them. Of course, among all civilized people, aye
and uncivilized too, parents, when living, are the natural guard-
ians of their own children. But those brutal grafters conceived a
plan to get an order from Congress or from the Secretary of the
Interior, granting to white men the right to become guardians,
not only of orphans but also of all Indian minors. In this they
succeeded, and the federal judges, some six or eight for the
whole territory, were empowered to appoint guardians for all
Indian minors and were given jurisdiction over all probate
business. This was before statehood. As soon as this was done,
hundreds of Spirits of Greed came from all parts of the United
States, seeking the guardianship of Indian minors, especially
orphans, of whom there were a great many. Probably the world
never saw before such an interest in orphan children. Of course,
these men cared nothing for the persons of the children, but were
especially anxious about their estates. Scores of Spirits of
Progress traveled all over the full-blood settlements, buying up
minor children. They paid all the way from five to twenty-five
dollars for a child, with some candy, tobacco, toys or cheap
jewelry thrown in for good measure. Then they went before
some federal judge, with letters of application for the guardian-
ship of the children on their lists.
**I sat in a court room one day and heard a man from Kansas
City, who was a great land speculator and lumber dealer, make
application to a federal judge for the guardianship of one hundred
and seventy-five Choctaw children. This man had secured a
large number in the Chickasaw nation. He did not conceal his
purpose to file these children's allotments in the great rich pine
forests of the Choctaw nation. If he had succeeded, it would
have made him several times a millionaire. Fortunately, how-
ever, the judge had some conscience and declined to grant the
request\ However, the man has now immense claims on Indian
lands."
We also learn from Murrow (p. 29) that the grafters made
it a business to look up any sick Indian, take him some tempting
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food, and if death appeared to be near, then a doctor was em-
ployed, and in return the grafter managed to have a will drawn,
conveying the estate of the sick Indian to this white angel of
mercy!
I will forbear to quote further from Murrow, lest it might
be assumed that the natural S3anpathy by reason of his spiritual
labors had clouded his vision as to the material mistreatment of
the people to whom he had dedicated a life of service for his
Lord. From official sources, however, the shameful story is also
told in language more forcible, if possible, than that of Murrow.
Warren K. Morehead, a member of the United States Board
of Indian Commissioners, also brought out a pamphlet of
forty- two pages soon after that of Murrow appeared, entitled
Our National Problem^ and he called Oklahoma The Land of
GuardiansI
Morehead traveled all over Oklahoma in 1913 to learn for
himself the truth as to the grafting to which the members of the
Five Civilized Tribes were subjected, and having thus learned
at first-hands the truth, he published the details of case after
case, giving names of the grafters, names of their victims, and
how robbed, the amounts pilfered, and, in short, facts [)ertaining
to each case, all of which can be read by any one who may wish
further details. Morehead wrote to me May 9, 1921, that if any
of the statements in the pamphlet had not been true, the persons
mentioned would probably have sued him for libel long since; but
as Morehead is still in the service and militant, it may be as-
sumed that the grafters are consoling themselves for the ex[)ose by
the comforting reflection that they now enjoy the fruits of their
frauds.
On page 35 Morehead says:
"I never dreamed that the famous Five Civilized Tribes,
once so prosperous, had sunk into such poverty and distress,
until I beheld with my own eyes what our removal of restrictions
has brought about.
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''Mr. Kelsey, Mr. Mott, Mr. Gresham, Commissioner
Wright, and all the other loyal men now engaged in fighting a
heroic battle in Oklahoma, are powerless unless Congress will do
for the Oklahoma Indians today what it should have done
several years ago. Our public men should realize that unless
we afford the protection to which these poor people are clearly
entitled by every law of both God and man, we will plunge the
remnants of the famous Five Civilized Tribes into the depths of
despair. It is not mere rhetoric, it is not an exaggeration, but
on the contrary it is the cold, naked truth that unless we revolu-
tionize and remedy conditions in the State of Oklahoma, we
shall have tens of thousands of homeless paupers to support."
Let us take another step and view the situation as exposed
in the halls of Congress, December 13, 1912, in an address by the
Honorable Charles H. Burke, then a Representative from South
Dakota, and recently (192 1) appointed by President Harding
Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Mr. Burke thus denounced
the Oklahoma courts :
"Mr. Chairman, on former occasions I and others on this
side of the House have questioned the integrity and the honesty
of the probate courts of Oklahoma, and I want to say right now
at the outset that, in my opinion, in the probate courts in that
portion of Oklahoma where the Five Civilized Tribes reside some
of the judges are corrupt and dishonest, and a large number of
them are indifferent in the discharge of the duties of their office,
so far as the affairs of Indian minors and Indians generally are
concerned, and particularly in guardianship matters."
As might be expected, Mr. Burke was often interrupted by
questions from other members, and I must content myself with
only one other extract from his speech, because it gives the cold
statistical information which exposes the infamy practiced more
fully than mere words of description. We read further on p. 9
as follows:
"Mr. Burke of South Dakota. Before I get through, I will
give the gentlemen some figures on that. Summing up the
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aggregate of the eight counties, for I have not time to take each
county, it shows that the total number of so called professional
guardianships is 2,320.
Total amount of funds handled l3>896,693.o6
Total amount of attome3rs' fees 346,095.39
Total court costs 138,20546
Total guardian fees 279,18249
Total expense of guardianship 763483.34
"Percentage costs of administration, as I have already
stated, 19.3 per cent of the amount handled.
"It also shows:
"Total number of competent guardianships is 534.
Total amount of funds handled $11346,523.07
Total amount of attorneys' fees 21,76241
Total court costs 11,295.92
Total guardian fees 19,972.58
Total expense of guardianship 53f030.9i
"Percentage cost of administration, 3.1 per cent of the
amount handled.
"These two classes include only guardianships of tribal
minors. This aggregate shows the total number of white
guardianships is 203.
Total amount of funds handled $328,536.00
Total amount of attorneys* fees 3,117.94
Total court costs 2,625.51
Total guardian fees 2,021.40
Total expense of guardianship 7»755«85
"Percentage cost of administration, 2.3 per cent of the
amount handled."
It will be observed that the amounts handled by the so-called
professional guardians were about three times those handled by
legitimate Indian guardians, while the amounts handled by
white guardians for white children were only about one-tenth in
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amount of those handled by white grafters for Indian children,
showing the richness of the spoils handled by the grafters.
It is also a significant fact that while the percentage of cost
of administration by the grafters was 19.3 per cent of the amount
handled, that of legitimate guardians for Indian children was
only 3.1 per cent of the amount handled, while that of white
guardians for white children was only 2.3 per cent of the amount
handled.
It thus appears that the Oklahoma courts awarded to white
grafters nearly nine times more for the administration of the
estates of Indian children than the same courts allowed white
men for the administration of the estates of white children.
And, yet, beginning with the first opinion of Marshall
down to and including the latest deliverance of the United States
Supreme Court, it has been said and repeated thousands of times
that the United States is the guardian, and the Indians are its
wards, for whose welfare the deepest solicitude is always ex-
pressed; that the Indian problem is a political one, over which
Congress has unbridled control, and that the halls of Congress
afford the only asylum to which the American Indian can flee for
protection. What a mockery! This is by no means all.
There was attached and made a part of the speech of Mr.
Burke the report of M. L. Mott, the able Creek lawyer for the
Creek nation, to the Secretary of the Interior on this subject, upon
which favorable comment was made, it being an exhaustive study
of the details of guardianships embraced in the summary given
by Mr. Burke and quoted above, of 2,320 cases of Creek guardian-
ships, whereas there were 4,339 additional Creek guardianships
not reported upon at all, not to mention guardianships for Indian
children of other nations. As to these 4,339 cases, Mr. Mott
says the guardians had made no reports, or the papers and court
files were in the hands of guardians, or inaccessible, and in all
of these cases it was found impossible to secure reports.
It thus appears that in a majority of the guardianships
so-called, no reports were made, and who doubts that this was
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because in most instances the entire estates of Indian minors
were appropriated outright by their white "professional" guar-
dians.
Mott pointed out that the grafters had persistently and
tenaciously contended that the full-bloods were competent to
manage their own affairs; and that this they would continue to
clamor for with a view of despoiling them of their homesteads;
and time has vindicated what he said. On page 31 he says:
'Trior to the act of May 27, 1908, the Indian land grafters
in Oklahoma had secured from full-blood Indians deeds to thous-
ands of tracts of inherited lands. These deeds were secured by
all kinds of fraud and for comparatively no consideration, and
the lands so conveyed were worth into the millions."
In a letter of Joseph H. Choate, dated April 3, 1916, he
pointed out how helpless the full-blood Indian was to contend
with the white grafter, and that the Supreme Court had recently
so adjudged in the case of Tiger vs. Western Investment Co,, 221
U. S., 286-297, and Mr. Choate quoted from that opinion as
follows:
"That full-blood Indians of the Five Tribes are, as a class,
incompetent must be assumed, not only from the legislation of
Congress with respect to them, but from the finding of the Court
of Claims where, in the case of Brown & Gritts vs. United States
(44 C. Cls., 283), it was expressly found that full-blood Cher-
okees, whose right to alienate their lands was forbidden by the
legislation contemporaneous with that involved in the case at
bar, were, as a class, unable to speak the English language and
incompetent to guard their interest from designing persons who
were constantly attempting to induce them to part with their
property at grossly inadequate compensation."
It may be here noted that Mr. Choate was then an honorary
president of the Indian Rights Association, with headquarters in
the Drexel Building, Philadelphia, which for years has rendered
the greatest service to all who under most disadvantageous con-
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ditions have labored for at least a modicum of justice for the
Indiems. The Association depends for means upon dues paid
by a benevolent membership, who feel it a sense of duty to pro-
tect, as far as possible, the friendless aborigines of this country.
M. K. SniflFen is at present the able secretary of the Association,
and on April 15, 1913, in a paper, The Record of Thirty Years,
summarized the activities of the Association during that period,
and annually the Association issues a report of its activities; and
to these sources I must refer those who may desire to look deeper
into the subject.
Hie JudleUry Sustains Congress-
Congress having cut up by the roots ever treaty made with
the Indiems, there was nothing left except to appeal to the United
States Supreme Court, and I regret that this appeal was made
in vain. We learn from Leupp (p. 82) that the Indian Rights
Association made that appeal in the name of Lone Wolf, a prom-
inent Kiowa chief, and the opinion in the case can now be read in
187 U. S. 553, 47 L. Ed., p. 299, delivered on January 5, 1903; and
according to Leupp it blasted every hope of the Indians and their
white friends. In substance the opinion declared that the
questions involved were of a political character, and that Con-
gress might at will, without let or hindremce from the judiciary,
disregard every treaty made with the Indians from the foundation
of the government, for which there was no remedy. Believing
that this opinion, as well as others that preceded it, are unsound
both in law and the very right of the matter, a short review of
the questions involved will disclose the reasons for my opinion.
Article VI of the United States Constitution reads, in part,
as follows:
"All treaties made, or which shall be made, under the auth-
ority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ;
and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith -
standing."
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The Indians had a right to believe that this clause meant
what it said.
The noted case of the Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia^ 5 Peters
I, 8 L. Ed. 25, has been already commented upon, wherein it was
held that the American Indians were not a foreign state, but that
they had a right of occupancy of the country in their possession,
the court declaring on page 48 that the ''Indians have rights of
occupancy to their lands as sacred as the fee simple, absolute of
the whites;" and this quoted excerpt has been repeatedly af-
firmed in subsequent cases.
Chief Justice Marshall, answering in part the argument of
William Wirt, said :
''So much of the argument as was intended to prove the
character of the Cherokees as a State, as a distinct political
society separated from others, capable of managing its own affairs
and governing itself, has, in the opinion of a majority of the
judges, been completely successful. They have been uniformly
treated as a State from the settlement of our country. The
numerous treaties made with them by the United States recognize
them as a people capable of maintaining the relations of peace
and war, of being responsible in their political character for any
violation of their engagements, or for any aggression committed
on the citizens of the United States by any individual of their
community. Laws have been made and enacted in the spirit of
these treaties. The acts of our government plainly recognize
the Cherokee nation as a State, and the courts are bound by
those acts."
At this time the United States was comparatively weak and
the Indians comparatively strong, and their standing as a State,
perfectly competent to enter into a treaty, was freely acknowl-
edged and judicially determined.
The Chief Justice said further:
"Their relations to the United States resemble that of a
ward to his guardian. They look to our government for pro-
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tection; rely upon its kindness and its power; appeal to it for
relief to their wants; and address the president as their father."
In this connection it is well to recall that whatever resent-
ments may have been cherished by the whites towards the
Cherokees or other Indian nations, none could be cherished
against the Chickasaws.
They never raised the hatchet against the English-speaking
whites, and notwithstanding their warlike spirit, they never shed
the blood of any man who spoke the English language. On the
contrary they were always their allies and unfailing friends in
war as well as in peace.
When in 1 832-1 834 the United States forced the Chickasaws
to ^^ee to leave their homes in north Mississippi, in order that
the whites might possess and enjoy the same, they expressed
their desire to find another home within the domains of this
country west of the Mississippi, and the treaty then reads:
"Should they (the Chickasaws) do so, the government of
the United States hereby consents to protect and defend them
against the inroads of any other tribe of Indians, and from the
whites; and agree to keep them without the limits of any state
or territory."
The meaning of this language is plain and unmistakable,
and in substance is the same as that used in similar treaties
with other Indian nations when they were removed from their
ancient homes east of the Mississippi to give room for the whites.
The Supreme Court based its decision upholding the power
or authority of Congress by statute, at will, to override solemn
treaties with the Indians, upon the broad proposition that a
treaty between nations rests alone upon the good faith of the
respective nations, and that for a breach the final and only
recourse is a declaration of war by the aggrieved nation. This is
sound law and good logic where the contracting parties are
foreign states, the one toward the other; but is it applicable
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where the Indian nation is declared to be no/ a foreign nation,
and, moreover, where the relation of the United States towards
the Indians is declared to be that of a guardian towards his
ward?
I insist that there is neither in law or in morals any legal
analogy between the two cases. In their weakened and helpless
condition at the times the later decisions were made, the idea of
the Indians declaring war against the United States all know
would have been the height of folly, and the court never intimated
that such a thing was to be thought of or was in the contemplation
of either party to the Indian treaties.
Again, as the United States was the guardian of the Chicka-
saws, how could the guardian, consistently with any acknowl-
edged principles of law or justice, ruthlessly and against the will
and over the protest of its ward violate the terms of its solemn
treaty, and in effect turn its ward out of house and home, which
it had purchased from the Choctaws by and with the consent of
the guardian?
To tolerate such conduct would be to justify the acts of a
guardian who would fashion the shield designed to protect the
ward into a sword for the purpose therewith to thrust it into
the vitals of the ward.
Nor am I alone in this opinion.
It will be found that in the Lone Wolf and other cases, the
Supreme Court refers, as an authority, to the earlier case of
Cherokee Tobacco vs. United States, 1 1 Wallace 6i6, 20 L. Ed. 227,
the opinion of the court being delivered by Judge Swayne in 1870.
There appeared for the Indians such distinguished counsel
as Albert Pike, A. H. Garland, Benj. F. Butler, Robert W.
Johnson, and Elias C. Boudinot; and speaking of them Judge
Swayne said: *The views of counsel in this court have rarely
been more elaborately presented"; reminding us of the efforts
of that great lawyer, William Wirt, thirty-eight years prior
thereto, in defense of the rights of the same nation before the
same court, but all in vain.
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In this tobacco case a tax had been levied on Cherokee
tobacco, in acknowledged violation of a solemn treaty with that
nation; but the validity of the tax was upheld, the Cherokee
treaty to the contrary notwithstanding.
That great lawyer, Judge Bradley, with whom concurred
Judge Davis,dissented ;and among other things JudgeBradleysaid :
'The case before us is, besides, a peculiar one. The exempt
jurisdiction here depends on a solemn treaty entered into between
the United States government and the Cherokee nation, in
which the good faith of the government is involved, and not on
a mere municipal law."
This excerpt contains the germ of the principle of law for
which I contend. The court had declared over and over again
that the government bore a fiduciary or trust relation towards
the Indians, and that its treaties with them were unlike treaties
with a foreign power, were sui generis^ and the engagements of
the government therein must be sacredly kept.
It has likewise been declared by that court that, where
private rights are secured or protected under an ordinary treaty,
the courts have jurisdiction to enforce such rights at the suit of
the injured party. (Head Money cases 112 U. S. 580, 598, 28
L. Ed. 798; quoted in re Cooper 143 U. S. 472, 36 L. Ed. 232.)
Then why should not the United States courts have pro-
tected the peculiar rights of the Indians under its treaties?
In the Forum of Conscience—
Can the violation of Indian treaties be defended in the
forum of conscience? I think not.
The German emperor, William II, is quoted as having said
in 1900, ''If one wishes to decide something in this world, it is
not the pen alone that will do it, if unsupported by the power of
the sword."
When early in August, 1914, the British Ambassador, Sir
Edward Goschen, called upon Von Bethmann-Hollweg, the
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Imperial German Chancellor, to take his final leave, stating as
his reason the declaration of war by England against the German
empire, the German chancellor expressed his great surprise that
England should declare war for a "scrap of paper." The "scrap
of paper" referred to was the treaty of 1839, in which the British
had guaranteed the integrity of Belgium, and reaffirmed it in
1870, the German government being a party to the treaty.
This deliberate violation of the terms of a treaty not only brought
the British empire into the world-wide war against Germany,
but so shocked the conscience of mankind that eventually the
United States was drawn into the conflict, and in addition it
arrayed nearly every civilized nation against Germany; so that
the phrase, "a scrap of paper," has become current as words of
reproach, representing the entire faithlessness of the German
empire.
As a result of the Germanic view-point that a treaty is but
"a scrap of paper," ten millions of men perished upon the field
of battle, while twenty other millions of men were made lame
and halt, or otherwise disabled, and millions of still other men,
women, and children have suffered worse than death, and civili-
zation itself was almost upon the brink of destruction. In the
meantime the German empire, at least for the time being, has
perished, its people are in sackcloth and ashes, and the German
emperor who inspired the thought of treating a solemn treaty
"as a scrap of paper," is a fugitive from justice, and the subject
of the execrations of all mankind.
Were not the treaties of the United States with the Indians,
if anything more sacred than the treaty of England and Germany
guaranteeing the integrity of Belgian soil?
Private enterprise raised large sums of money to quicken the
public conscience, and thus aroused Congress to make large
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appropriations to create a public reserve or park named Sequoia,
after the great Indian Sequoyah; so that posterity might enjoy
the pleasure of looking upon the largest and tallest trees upon the
globe; and likewise public enterprise and governmental appro-
priations have joined in the good work of saving from destruction
the remnant of the vast and countless millions of bisons or
buffaloes, which once roamed over North America, so that these
distinctive American animals might not perish from the face of
the earth.
If the mere insensate trees and the brutes of the earth are
worth so much for preservation, are not the red men, possessing
some of the finest characteristics which ennoble human nature,
the free, wild children of Nature, worthy of our greatest solicitude,
and worthy of preservation as we found them, and as our Father
in heaven fashioned their minds and bodies?
I think so; nay, I know it.
I believe that the Albert Pike treaty, of all those written,
represents the best thought and philosophy upon which our
treatment of the Indians should have been grounded. Briefly
stated, it provided that the country of the Choctaws and Chicka-
saws was to be held by them in fee simple (pot a mere occupancy
right), and that this was to continue "so long as grass shall
grow and water run"; that no state or territory should ever
pass laws for the government of the Indians; that no part of
their country should ever be annexed to any other territory or
province; nor should any attempt be made, except upon their
unsolicited application, to erect their country by itself into a
state or territory; that they should jointly be entitled to a delegate
to represent them in Congress; that if afterwards they desired
their country and people to be admitted into the Union, as a
separate state, they should be allowed so to do, without regard
to population, upon equal terms in all respects as one of the
original states.
These were the terms for which the Indians had struggled
from the beginning, and such as they were entitled to, and it
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furnished a road of honor that both races could have traveled
and which the whites should have forced its own people to
pursue.
I believe that Helen Hunt Jackson in telling the story of
the Indians as treated by the United States government, well
and truly called her book A Century of Dishonor. I note that
Mr. Leupp (p. 82) says
"that what has been so sweepingly denounced as a 'cen-
tury of dishonor' might better be described, as far as the govern-
ment's operations are concerned, as an era of mutual misunder-
standing."
It is noticeable that the ''mutual misunderstandings" are
not pointed out by Mr. Leupp. The Indians always knew what
they wanted ; that is to be let alone ; this the whites equally well
understood and which they as deliberately denied. How helpless
the Indians were in this respect Mr. Leupp himself demonstrates,
in telling in what respects he endeavored to ameliorate their
conditions; and among other things he attempted to turn a large
surplus of Crow country into a horse farm, as the tribe was
noted for its horsemanship; but he tells us (pp. 91, 92) the plan
"died of inanition so uniformly fatal to Indian enterprises which
have not a big profit for some white man directly behind them."
This is the whole story in a nutshell.
Not only indifference on the part of the whites but a reckless
disregard of the known and acknowledged rights of the Five
Civilized Tribes of Indians has led to their present unfortunate
condition.
If Mr. Leupp, with all of his natural ability and accom-
plishments, joined with that prestige which was his as the oc-
cupant of a high governmental office in the Indian service, could
not secure the passage of a comparatively small piece of remedial
legislation for the Indians, what chance did or does the friendless
Indian stand to secure legislation, however just, where white
men have opposing claims, or suppose such legislation will
infringe on their designs?
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And the Supreme Q>urt says that the halls of Congress
furnish the last and only refuge of the Indians for that justice so
long denied them! Will a brighter day dawn for the Indians?
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DOUGLASS H. JOHNSTON
The last governor elected by the Chickasaw nation and still
in office to look after the interests of the Chickasaws.
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CHAPTER XIII
THE CmCKASAWS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTUET
Having traced the story of the Chickasaws, as the light of
history has fallen upon them, since De Soto marched his army
into their country on December 17, 1540, now nearly four
hundred years ago, we are to close this short sketch of them in an
endeavor to acquaint the reader in a short space how they appear
in the white light of the twentieth century. This is not an easy
task.
That the Indian has a distinctive individuality all his own,
and worthy of preservation as a national asset, is convincingly
shown by the fact that he is here today, notwithstanding his
conquest and the hardships of war, pestilence, and famine which
he has endured for generations.
He has shown his fortitude, stoicism, and steadfastness of
character; he has demonstrated his love of freedom, in proof of
which he has shown his contempt of death ; and he has also shown
his contempt of the petty worries and burdens of life, which
caused in 1920 over six thousand whites in this country to commit
suicide, or more suicides than every man, woman, and child in
the Chickasaw nation, while countless other whites have suf-
fered nervous breakdowns; and amid all of the changes through
which he has been called upon to pass, so repugnant to his nature
and temperament, the Indian has emerged with a keenness of
observation that should excite our admiration.
He needs no apologist.
And, moreover, the North American Indian has left the
indelible impress of the nobility of his character upon the people
who succeeded him in the possession of this continent.
It would be strange if it, were otherwise.
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Before bidding a final adieu to the ancient Chickasaw nation*
whose prowess so successfully withstood all invaders of their
vast territory east of the Mississippi for so many generations, I
will pause to record a short sketch of the Chickasaw Guards, a
famous military company of Memphis, named in honor of the
intrepid Chickasaw nation, whose chief entrepot was where
Memphis now is.
The ClilckMaw Guards—
Consciously or unconsciously, when the Chickasaws were
forced to leave in 1836 the last remnant of that great domain
over which for centuries they had by their prowess remained the
undisputed overlords, they left upon the white men who succeed-
ed them the imperishable impress of their martial spirit — a
monument to their valor more lasting than stone and more
enduring than brass.
An account of the valor and martial spirit of their white
successors in the various subsequent wars lies outside the scope of
this sketch ; but at the risk of being charged with a digression, I
will here give a short account of the Chickasaw Guards, worthy
successors to the Chickasaw warriors of the most ancient
times.
For the facts connected with this story in detail I am in-
debted to General Arthur R. Taylor, a life-long friend, who in
1901 prepared for his own library a manuscript "History of the
Chickasaw Guards," which I regret to say has never been printed,
and which should find a place in our libraries, thereby filling an
important place in local history.
As late as 1874 remnants of Carpet Bag Misrule were still
in evidence in the South, especially in those parts of Mississippi
and Arkansas contingent to Memphis. There had been out-
breaks, which created an uneasy feeling, and apprehensions were
expressed of more violent public disorders, and the means to
check or ward off future conflicts, restore confidence in the en-
forcement of law and order, and safeguard the welfare of all
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concerned, became a matter of the most serious discussion in
private meetings as well as in the public press.
In June, 1874, W. P. Martin, a deputy sheriff, in waiting on
the Criminal Court, invited some friends to a meeting in the
Criminal Court room, which at that time was at the comer of
Second Street and Jefferson Avenue, and out of this meeting
there grew up the most famous militeuy company in times of
peace, whose members distinguished themselves in times of war,
known to the annals of this part of the country.
At a subsequent meeting the company was organized.
This meeting occurred on June 30, and sixty-five names were
enrolled. R. P. Duncan, who had served in the Virginia army
as a staff officer, with the rank of major, and General G. W*
Gordon, who, as a commander of a Tennessee brigade, had won
fame under Johnston and Hood in the western army, were
placed in nomination for the office of captain.
The two candidates were law partners. Major Duncan was
present, and on being elected made a neat speech, accepting the
office.
W. P. Martin, in compliment to his exertions in organizing
the company, was made first lieutenant. James R. Wright, who
under that great soldier, Robert E. Lee, had served the Confed-
eracy as sergeant in the Norfolk Blues through the entire war,
was made second lieutenant; P. A. Ralston, third lieutenant.
The election of non-commissioned officers resulted in the
following selections :
L.W.Mix First Sergeant
Richard Wright (that matchless soldier,
perfect gentleman, and devoted
friend to all) Second Sergeant
Robert D. Speed Third Sei^eant
C. L. McKinney Fourth Sei^eant
C. M. Bowen Fifth Sergeant
A. A. Smithwick First Corporal
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J. A. Wooldridge Second Corporal
N. B. Camp Third Corporal
W. A. Sneed Fourth Corporal
All of the above were elected by written ballot. Of the
commissioned officers, Duncan, Wright, and Ralston were
present. Sam T. Cames, who was absent (having been called to
New York that day), was defeated for ensign by John H. Poston,
the majority thinking Carnes too small a man to be trusted with
the company flag. At that time the ensign was also the secre-
tary and treasurer of the company. Lieutenant Ralston, who
with two others had been appointed to select a suitable name for
the company, submitted two names, viz: "The Bluff City
Rifles," and "The Chickasaw Guards." The vote having been
taken, "Chickasaw Guards" was chosen.
Eighteen prospective members whose names were on the
list never appeared, and the following is a list of the privates,
many of whom were promoted from time to time, holding the
highest ranks in the military organizations of the state.
Privates
Agee, G. W.
Armstead, R. A.
Bectal, George
Bettis, R. C.
Bragg, F. S.
Buchanan, E. C.
Cames, S. T.
Cole, C. M.
Crook, George
Frierson, Frank
Frierson, L. S.
Gordon, G. W.
Harris, R. W.
Kelso, Hal.
Martin, Branch
McDowell, S. I.
McNutt, W. C.
Moon, W. D.
Park, Frank
Penn, Lytt.
Pillow, R. G.
Proudfit, A. H.
Semmes, J. M.
Semmes, R.
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Smith, B. Voorhies, C. J.
Smith, Wash. G.
Williams, Mc.
Taylor, A. R. Wooldridge, B. L.
Wright, C. P.
Viglina, P. A, Wright, T. A.
In due course there came up for discussion the kind, and
especially the color, of the uniforms to be adopted by the com-
pany, which called forth much fervid oratory. The late much
respected G. W. Agee made an impressive speech, and concluded
by saying,
"That for this body to adopt the blue would be a disgrace
to the bleaching bones of the historic dead now lying on the
battlefield of Shiloh."
Notwithstanding this eloquent and earnest appeal, those
present voted to adopt the blue color, thus showing that a spirit
of conservatism brooked over the members of the company.
Nor was the company organized too early, for thirty-eight
days after its organization, or on August 7, 1874, it was ordered
to Somerville, Tennessee, in the adjoining county of Fayette, to
put down what was supposed to be an impending riot or outbreak;
but the very presence of the company, under arms, calmed the
excited populace, and no further disorder occurred.
The trouble originated in an altercation between a Mr.
Hemdon and a radical negro leader by the name of Warre. The
brave, though reckless Oscar Burton, came to the assistance of
his friend Herndon, and managed to get in the first shot, wounding
Warre, who fled the country and escaped. The Rives brothers,
the three principal Carpet Bag office holders in that county,
came to the rescue of Warre, and attempted to arrest Burton,
and though Burton was shot in thirteen different places, he sur-
vived the conflict, and succeeded in killing all three of the Rives
brothers.
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CompetltlYe DrlUs—
The company grew in strength in the public esteem and,
as the company vainly supposed, in drilling and tactics; never-
theless, there is no teacher like experience, as the company sadly
learned in answering the challenge of the Porter Rifles and other
military companies to undergo a competitive drilling at Nashville
on June 21, 1876, whereat the Porter Rifles were easy winners
over the Chickasaw Guards, who returned to Memphis wiser
though sadder men.
I believe it was Wendell Phillips who said, "What is defeat?
Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something
better"; and this was the meaning of the Nashville defeat to the
Chickasaws; for on October 24, 1876, in answer to another
challenge, the Porter Rifles met defeat at the hands of the
Chickasaws, who then entered on a series of triumphal conquests
all over the country.
During the yellow fever epidemics at Memphis in 1878 and
1879, the Chickasaw Guards planned and carried out the most
successful military tours known to America up to that time,
visiting St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis,
Indiana, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky,
Nashville, Tennessee, and other cities, where they gave exhibition
drills for the benefit of the yellow fever sufferers, winning for the
company a nation-wide reputation for the best drilled company
in the country, and carrying off countless honors.
From this list the drill teams of 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1882
were made up and are known as the Old Chickasaws. General
Taylor furnished me with this list.
The Chickasaw Drhx Team
S. T. Carnes, Capt. Richard Wright, 1st Sgt.
N. B. Camp, ist Lieut. Chas. E. Waldran, 2nd Sgt.
T. A. Lamb, 2nd Lieut. A. R. Taylor, srd Sgt.
Harry Allen, ard Lieut. R. W. Harris, 4th Sgt.
W. L. Clapp, 4th Lieut. Sam A. Pepper, 5th Sgt.
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Walter W.Talbert,
1st Corp.
Sam J. Hayes, 2nd Corp.
John C. Henderson,
3rd Corp.
A. H. Proudfit, 4th Corp.
Privates
Allen, Richard H.
Allen, Tom H.
Anderson, Kellar
Asher, Allen
Bailey, H. W.
Bradley, J. M.
Chappell, Lamar
Chidester, W. C.
Chiles, Hayes
Clapp,J.W.
Cooper, Robert T.
Crews, Frank
Crook, Geo. W.
Donelson, L. R^
Duval, A. L.
Edmonds, J. Howard
Guion, H. L.
Harris, Chas. Q.
Hessig, Fred.
Houchens, J. B.
Hunter, Harry A.
Johnson, Tom F.
Johnson, Walter M.
Jones, James B.
Jones, W. A. (Sergeant)
Joseph, C. A.
Kirkland, James
McNutt,W.C.
Parrish, H. J.
Peters, I. F.
Phillips, Sam H.
Proudfit, James P.
Raines, Hunter
Sannoner, J. A.
Semmes, Raphael
Smith, Preston
Sneed, W. A.
Sp>eed, John S.
Steel, W. J.
Tyler, Jno. W.
Waldran, John D.
Warner, William
White, Tom W.
Wildberger, W. P.
(Sergeant)
Wright, L. B.
Wright, Tom A.
ChlckMaw Guards In World-Wide War-
Further discussion along these lines would lead to unneces*
sary details. Suffice it to say that what are now called the Old
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Chickasaws had on their list a son of Admiral Raphael Semmes,
sons of President Jefferson Davis, General Preston Smith, and
General Gideon Pillow; and the company was at one time com-
manded by General George W. Gordon, one of the youngest
Confederate brigadier-generals, who at his death was a member
of the United States Congress from the Memphis District.
Another member, W. L. Clapp, was afterwards one of the
best mayors Memphis ever had; and in addition the company
furnished the only two brigadier-generals commanding the
National Guards up to the beginning of the late world-wide war,
viz: Brigadier-General Samuel T. Games and Brigadier-
General Arthur R. Taylor, both of whom survive, enjoying the
unbounded respect and confidence of their fellow-ddzens.
Isaac F. Peters, now of Los Angeles, California, afterwards be-
came Colonel Peters.
General Taylor has given certain descriptive names to the
company, according to given epochs in which the various mem-
bers served.
Thus, the company from its organization in June, 1874, to
1885 is designated the "Old Chicks"; and the company then
being turned over to younger men, he designated them as "Inter-
mediate Chicks"; while in 1891 another set of new men took
charge, called the "New Chicks," and rendered signal services to
the state in 1891-1892 in what was then called the Coal Creek
war, an uprising in the coal fields in east Tennessee, the company
being under the command of Captain Harry Allen in 1891 and
Captain Wm. H. Kyle in 1892.
The "New Chicks," under Captain Wm. H. Kyle, now
Major Kyle, U. S. A., of Washington, D. C, spent nine months on
the Mexican border, and afterwards entered the world-wide war;
and it is a remarkable fact that ninety' per cent of them were
made commissioned officers, and by their deeds of daring on the
fields of France and Flanders added new luster to the name of the
famous Chickasaw Guards, worthily bearing the name of the
Chickasaws who, by their intrepidity and unconquerable spirit
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and prowess, so greatly contributed to make it possible for the
English-speaking people to possess and rule the continent of
North America.
I am indebted to Captain Walter C. Chandler, now State
Senator, Major William H. Kyle, of Washington, D. C, and
Captain Joe R. T. Ransom, all of whom were members of the
Chickasaw Guards and served with distinction in the world-wide
war, for a roster of the Chickasaw Guards, rank and file, as of the
beginning of the great war. Alphabetically arranged that roll
is as follows:
Lieut. Marshall C. Adams
Pvt. James Alexander
Lieut. Henry G. Armstrong
Lieut. Robert W. Bailey,
Jr.
Lieut. C. Grovenor Beard
Sgt. Arthur M. Bowen, Jr.
Lieut. Frank S. Bright
Lieut. Job. W. Bruce
Capt. Hugh E. Bucking-
ham
Capt. Eugene Calahan
Lieut. Albert A. Campbell
Lieut. Alfred B. Carter, Jr.
Lieut. Thomas W. Carter
Lieut. Charles H. Cham-
berlin
Major Reed M. Chambers
Capt. Hugh C. Chandler
Capt. Walter C. Chandler
Capt. William H. Chand-
ler, Jr.
Lieut. John Clough
Capt. Charles E. Craddock
Lieut. Thomas K. Creson
Lieut. Earl Culpepper
Sgt. Elgin H. Curry
Sgt. Jas. S. Davant, Jr.
Pvt. George Dixon
Capt. Andrew J. Donelson
Capt. Frank T. Donelson
Lieut. Frank M. Dooley
Sgt. Richard R. Douglass,
Jr.
Capt. James S. Driver, Jr.
Lieut. Thomas W, Deupree
Major Enoch Ensley
Capt. Leonard E, Farley
Pvt. George H. Fox
Lieut. George S. Fox
Lieut. William E. Franklin
Major Will Ganong
Capt. Frank D. Grantham
Lieut. George Gunby
Corp. Marco C. Gunn
Lieut. Julius Gunther
Sgt. Joseph Gregory Hays
Capt. Robert G. Heard
Bugler Ferdinand Heckle
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Lieut. Hugh M. Heiskell
Sgt. Jesse Hunt
Cook Robert B. Hunt
Pvt. Mann Hunter
Lieut. Will Johnston
Sgt. Harry M. Joy
Capt. William M. Joy
Capt. Guy E. Joyner
Major Milton Knowlton
Capt. William H. Kyle
Lieut. Frank S. Latham
Corp. Henry M. LeBos-
quett
Lieut. Joseph Duncan Mal-
lory
Lieut. Harold G. Mattison
Major Silas McBee, Jr.
Lieut. William P. Mo
Donald
Capt. Max McKay
Lieut. Albert Miltimore
Lieut. Eugene C. Mitchell
Sgt. George D. Mitch^l
Pvt. George Moriarty
Major Waddy W. Oursler
Pvt. Lucius Patton
Corp. Sam Pepper, Jr.
Capt. Julian Phelan
Lieut. John Postell
Lieut. Lucas Proudfit
Capt. Ira A. Ramsey
Capt. Joe R. T. Ransom
Pvt. Oswald P. Ransom
Lieut. Paul Ravises
Lieut. George Read, Jr.
Sgt. Leon Reed
Capt. James D. Rhea
Capt. Jules B. Rozier, Jr.
Mechanic John Sadler
Lieut. Edward Sanford
Capt. William A. Schmitt
Capt. William P. Scoby
Capt. James C. Scrubbs
Sgt. Douglass Shepherd
Pvt. Percy Sholars
Lieut. Russell B. Simmons
Lieut. Harry Smith
Capt. William M. Stanton
Lieut. Thomas S. Tate
Corp. George E. Tatum
Lieut. Herbert Taylor
Sgt. Wallace C. Thompson
Lieut. Leslie Walden
Sgt. Herman Ward
Lieut. Allen Wardle
Lieut. William T. Watson
Lieut. Richard Welsh
Lieut. Robert Wilkinson,
Jr.
Lieut. Auvergne Williams
Sgt. Pauls. Wolf
It is thought that this furnishes a remarkable showing, in
that ninety per cent of the company were either commissioned
or non-commissioned officers in the greatest of all wars. From
an examination of the roll it will be seen that there were six
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majors, twenty-five captains, forty-two lieutenants, twelve
sergeants, five corporals, eight privates, one bugler, one mechanic,
and one cook, making a total of one hundred and one for the
entire company.
In referring to the fact that so many of the company filled
offices, I would not have it understood that I depreciate the
great service and the just meed of praise due to the privates in
the ranks, who, daring all dangers, regardless of what they
wore, with no golden collar, epaulette, or star, offered all they
had, placed life itself upon the altar of their country, strong of
arm and stem of heart.
It has happened that some of the ablest men remained
privates in great wars; thus Private John Allen of Lee County,
Mississippi, in which the Chickasaws once lived, and where they
fought and won the battle of Ackia, was a private throughout
the dvil war, and for years afterwards was a distinguished con-
gressman; the late United States Senator Thomas B. Turley
and our fellow-citizen West J- Crawford, so long president of
the Conunerdal Appeal Publishing Co., both served as privates
in the ranks of the soldiers of the South, and were honored by
the people of Memphis; and Sergeant James S. Davant, Jr.
whose name appears in the foregoing roster as sergeant, declined
an offered captaincy in the great war, preferring to remain with
the boys in the ranks.
When the Chickasaw Guards returned from the Border in
the spring of 1917, they were mustered out of the federal service
but were again called out April 13, 1917, and again were sent to
Nashville to rejoin the famous First Tennessee Infantry Regi-
ment, over one hundred years old. While on the Border, some of
them had taken examinations for commissions in the Officers*
Reserve Corps. When the training camps opened May 15, 1917,
those who had received commissions were ordered to report to
Fort Oglethorpe and their commissions became effective. Many
others from the company attended either the first or subsequent
training camps, and received their conunissions. Upon being
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commissioned their connection with the old company was severed,
and they went to whatever organization they were assigned,
as in the case of Joe R. T. Ransom, who was ordered within ten
days after reporting to Oglethorpe to report to Governors Island,
N. Y., for foreign service, and when he arrived at Governors
Island, he was assigned to the famous i6th Infantry, First Di-
vision, and so sailed with the first troops to go to France, em-
barking June 9, and sailing June 12, 1917.
We shall see in the fourteenth or concluding chapter that
Sergeant Otis W. Leader, a Chickasaw Indian, likewise served
in the famous i6th Regiment, where he won undying fame,
which we would naturally expect from a descendant of the un-
conquerable Chickasaws.
As showing that modesty usually accompanies intrepidity,
it may be mentioned that the foregoing list was furnished me by
Captain Joe R. T. Ransom, from whom I had several notes, and
we had some interviews, and after all of these, I learned to my
astonishment, in a casual conversation with Captain A. J.
Donelson, that Captain Ransom was decorated with the French
croix de guerre (with palm) for bravery in action during the
Franco-American offensive near Soissons, July 18-23, 1918.
In the manner indicated above officers from the ranks of
the Chickasaw Guards were scattered in almost every division
and branch of the service.
Several members of the Chickasaw Guards were wounded,
but I regret I could not procure a complete list of these. Five
of them made the supreme sacrifice while serving their country
abroad, as follows:
Sergeant Jesse Hunt, with a machine gun batallion, was
killed in action at Soissons, France, September 23, 1918.
Lieutenant Frank S. Latham, in the aviation service, was
accidentally killed in the training area at Issouden, France, on
August 21, 1918.
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Lieutenant Henry Guion Armstrong, in the aviation service,
was killed while flying over No Man's Land by a stray shot from
our own artillery, in the Argonne Forest, near Verdun, France,
on October 4, 1918.
Lieutenant Herbert Taylor, serving in the infantry, was
wounded in action at Chateau Thierry, July 24, 1918, and soon
died of his wounds.
First Lieutenant Thomas S. Tate, of the 8ist Division In-
fantry, was killed in action November 9, 1918, only two days
before the armistice, in the Woevre Valley ne^ Grimecourt.
In addition to the foregoing it may be mentioned that
Lieutenant H. Allen Wardle enlisted in the aviation service at
Memphis in April, 191 7, and after training both in this country
and France, he was Ferry Pilot at Orly Field, Paris, from March
to June, 1918; was shot down and captured by the Germans
near Ham, while flying in an English scout plane from Norwich,
England, to Paris, France, June 26, 1918; remained a prisoner
until after the Armistice, arriving in France, through Switzer-
land, in December, 1918, and received an honorable discharge
in February, 1919.
Major Reed M. Chambers served with distinction in the
aviation department, commanding the first American Aero to
go to the front.
He was in command of the 94th Aero Squadron, having
succeeded Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, when the "ace of aces"
returned to the United States. Major Chambers was officially
credited with having destroyed seven enemy airplanes and un-
officially credited with four other victories. He was awarded the
distinguished service cross with three citations, the Legion of
Honor, and the croix de guerre with four citations, returning
home laden with honors.
Certain Indians Made CItlien»—
It appears that no general law provided a means for United
States citizenship of the Indians until February 8, 1887, when
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Congress passed the general allotment act, which provided for
the general allotment of lands in severalty, and declared all
Indians bom within the limits of the United States, who should
comply with certain conditions, to be citizens of the United
States.
This act was followed in 1906 by what was called the Burke
act, under which the issuance of a fee simple patent was made the
primary legal requirement for citizenship.
However, the act of 1887 excluded from its provisions as to
citizenship the members of the Five Civilized Tribes, composed
of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminole
Indians. By the act of March 3, 1901, the general allotment law
was so amended as to make every Indian in the Indian Territory
eligible to be a citizen of the United States, and under this law the
members of the Five Civilized Tribes, who had received allotments,
and their children became citizens of the United States.
Under these laws the right to exercise the elective franchise
was conferred upon all Indians who had become citizens. This
the rank and file of the Indians never sought, and, indeed, did
not want. However, the right to vote was used as a catchword
to further the extension of the Dawes' Policy.
As might well have been anticipated, the wily political white
*'boss" was lying in wait and lost no time in "rounding up" and
voting the unsuspecting Indian, thereby debauching the ballot
to such an extent as to call for further amendments of the law.
Those who may desire to know more of the details of these
discreditable matters may learn of them from Mr. Leupp (p. 36
e/ seq,)f though he favored the so-called Dawes Laws.
In the fourth section of the constitution of the State of
Oklahoma, of date July 16, 1907, it is declared:
'The people inhabiting the State do agree and declare that
they forever disclaim all right and title in or to any unappro-
priated lands lying within the boundaries thereof, and to all
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lands lying within said limits owned or held by any Indian tribe
or nation; and until the title to any such public land shall have
been extinguished by the United States, tihe same shall be and
remain subject to the jurisdiction, disposal, and control of the
United States."
By the forty-third section of the same constitution it was
also provided:
"The qualified electors of the State shall be male citizens of
the United States and male persons of Indian descent of the
United States who are over the age of twenty-one."
The result is that the Chickasaw Indians are now full-
fledged citizens, both of the United States and of the State of
Oklahoma.
It should be borne in mind, however, that the great bulk of
the Indians held their lands in tribal or communal interests, but
these communal interests have been broken up to a large extent
by transferring the tribal or communal title into individual
ownership under the various allotment laws. Under these allot-
ment laws the Indians did not have the right to dispose of their
property for a period of twenty years, and in some other patents
there was a period of trust for the same length of time. Thus
there arose the anomalous situation of citizens of the United
States and of the State, and yet they were not free to dispose of
their lands, the right of disposition being wisely withheld under
the protection of the laws of the federal government.
On the one hand the Indian Commissioner has been besieged
by misguided persons, who assumed and no doubt supposed that
they were the friends of the Indians, to cut off all restrictions and
allow all Indians, whatever their various capacities were, to
sell and dispose of their property at will. There was, of course,
as there probably always will be, crafty men lying in wait to
fleece the unsuspecting Indian of his patrimony as soon as
legal restraints were so loosened as to make the Indian an
easy victim. The policy of the present Indian Commissioner has
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been to give full control over their property to Indians who,
he was satisfied, were qualified to look after their business
affairs.
The present Indian Commissioner, Hon. Cato Sells, has been
in office, as I understand, since 1913, and in his report to the
Secretary of the Interior for the year ending June 30, 1920
(p. 40), says:
"This tentative plan brought encours^ng results and
largely decided me in announcing the 'Declaration of Policy'
of April 17, 1917, which provides that a broad, liberal policy
shall henceforth prevail, to the end that every Indian of twenty-
one years or over, as soon as ascertained to be as competent to
transact his own business as the average white man, shall be
given full control of his lands and funds and thus cease to be a
ward of the government. This policy was further greatly en-
larged by the subsequent declaration to give a fee patent to, or
release from United States control in other ways, every allottee
(twenty-one years of age and competent) who had at least one-
half white blood.
''Under these broader policies, the total number of Indians
released from government supervision has reached nearly 21,000,
Oklahoma sharing a large percentage.
"In the years prior to 1913 somewhat over 6,000 fee patents
had been isdued, and from that year to the date of the new
policy about 3,542 fee patents were issued, approximating 9,500.
It will be seen that under this liberal procedure many more
Indians have been released from government control since 1917
than were released in all prior years.
"Under various acts of Congress the restrictions on the
control of lands of many of the Five Tribes* allottees were ab-
solutely removed, and the Indians and intermarried whites
given full responsibilities of citizenship. As rapidly as con-
ditions will properly permit, we hope to place in the hands of
every In^dian who is competent the full control of all his trust
property; and I venture to suggest that it would be in the in-
terest of all the good citizens of Oklahoma, not only as a business
proposition but for other high considerations, to give encourage-
ment to every Indian released from government control, to the
end that his property may be kept intact and that he may be
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shielded from those who might seek to involve him in transactions
that would result in the loss of his lands or money.
**1 have held to the principle of protecting the Indian in his
property rights until he shows a reasonable capacity for taking
care of himself in competition with the white man, believing that
this is scarcely a greater service to the one than to the other.
No State can tfirive on the pauperism of any considerable element
of its population. There is something wrong with the social,
civic, and economic standards of any State where there is a
large, improvident class of citizens."
I have thus quoted at large, so that the present status of
the Indians might correctly appear, and also that the views of
the Commissioner as to the future policy to be pursued may
appear in his own language.
The statement that the state should be protected against
the pauperism of any considerable element of its population, I
suppose is pointed at the Indians, the fair implication being
that reference is had to their presumed future pauperism.
In my view this is but an extension of the time old and un-
just policy that has marked the treatment of the North American
Indian by the government from the beginning. Mark, the state
is to be protected from the Indian and his supposed pauperism,
at least such is the inference to be drawn from the language.
The welfare of the Indian is evidently regarded as of secondary
consideration.
The benevolent suggestion that it would be to the interest
of all good citizens to give encouragement to every Indian released
from government control, so that he might be shielded from
those who would fleece him of his lands or money, would be
amusing, if it did not carry with it the suggestion of a conscious-
ness that such a fate awaits many defenseless Indians. Such
benevolent suggestion would have no more effect to stay the
hand of rapacity and greed than a soft southern zephyr would
have when caught in the embrace of a cyclone on a western
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The vice of the position and theory of the Commissioner
consists in the assumption that in the government's treatment
of the Indian his interests must be entirely subordinated to
those of the whites; that is, the Indian is to be treated as an
intruder, and his presence is to be tolerated only upon certain
conditions, pains, and penalties as may be conducive to his
neighbor, the views and interests of the Indian to the contrary
notwithstanding.
True, it is not so phrased by officials, but that is what their
theory or treatment means when reduced to its last analysis.
What right has the white man to complain of the presence
of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma?
Take the case of the Chickasaws; they were found by the
white man possessed of their ancient domain east of the Missis-
sippi for generations before the white man came, and looking on the
outline of the new world claimed to own it in fee, under the
so-called right of title by reason of original discovery, though,
of course, his discovery was second to that of the Indians. When
by the right of might the Chickasaws were despoiled of their
ancient homes and driven west, the white men directed him to
buy a new home there, which he did, receiving a patent in fee
from the government, guaranteeing that no white man's govern-
ment would ever rule over him and that he would be allowed to
hold the title to his new home in common, and not in severalty, and
that no white man should ever intrude upon him in his new
home. Reford Bond very correctly stated to the congressional
sub-committee in 1914 that no innocent purchaser, for value in
due course of business, ever possessed a more perfect title to
his property than did the Chickasaws to their new homes in the
West.
Did the government respect its treaties, its patents, or its
solemn engagements?
Not in the least.
The United States not only allowed white intruders to enter
but erected first a territorial and then a state government over
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the Indian country, first having abolished the right of the Indians
to hold their property in common over their most solemn pro-
test, and it is now insisting that the day be hastened so that an
opportunity may be afforded the whites to secure what little
land is still held in severalty by some of the Indians, under the
plea that the state should not suffer from the presence of pau-
pers!
Disguise it as they may under plausible verbiage, these are
the plain facts.
In the first place the Indians are not paupers; but if so,
who made them such?
When George Washington callied upon Piomingo and the
Chickasaws to come to the rescue of federal troops under
General St. Clair and General Wayne in their batdes with
the Northwestern Confederation of Indians north of the Ohio,
fighting under Little Turtie, did he then call them paupers?
When General James Robertson sought the protection of
the same Chickasaws to prevent the destruction of the infant
white settlement where the capital of Tennessee now stands,
did he then intimate that they were paupers, or that their room
was preferred to their company?
In 1888 Chief Justice Fuller (130 U. S. 122), quoting largely
from Professor Pomeroy's Equity Jurisprudence^ said:
''Whenever the legal title to property is obtained through
means or under circumstances which render it unconscientious
for the holder of the legal titie to retain and enjoy the beneficial
interest, equity impresses a constructive trust on the property
thus acquired in favor of the one who is truly and equitably
entitled to the same, although he may never, perhaps, have had
any legal estate therein; and a court of equity has jurisdiction
to reach the property either in the hands of the original wrong
doer, or in the hands of any subsequent holder, until a purchaser
of it in good faith and without notice acquires a higher right and
takes the property relieved from the trust." (Pomeroy's Eq.
Jur., Sec. 1053.)
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These principles have received the unanimous approval of
all the courts and text writers, but, of course, they were written
in respect to the private rights of men as against each other;
but is not the obligation of this great republic to respect its solemn
engagements, and not wrest from others their property, as
sacred, nay, more sacred, than the obligations and duties of
private citizens?
When the government perpetrated these wrongs on the
defenseless Indians, it had constituted itself the self-styled
guardian of the Indians.
Having despoiled its wards of their estates, why does not
the government stand in the relation of trustee to the Indians
thus despoiled, to the uttermost farthing?
If the government was compelled to respond to the just
claims of the Indians, according to these principles of equity
jurisprudence, then, so far from being paupers, the Chickasaws
would be rich beyond the dream of avarice.
The Chickasaws as Cltliens of Oklahoma-
It is a far cry from the wild banks of the Chucaca (Tom-
bigbee) River in the wilderness of the new world, when Hernando
De Soto first looked into the faces of the intrepid Chickasaws
in 1540 to the white light of the twentieth century at the capital
of Oklahoma, the youngest and one of the proudest states of
the American commonwealth.
De Soto found the Chickasaws of his day to be imperious,
self-respecting, self-contained lovers of their homes and of
freedom, which they prized more than life itself.
Their descendants today are citizens of the great State of
Oklahoma, self-contained and self-respecting; and, moreover,
still lovers of their homes and country, for we shall see that upon
the ensanguined fields of France and Flanders they proved their
love of freedom and that they are worthy descendants of the
primitive and unconquerable Chickasaws, who now sleep east of
the great Mississippi River.
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What momentous changes have taken place since 1540, as
generation after generation and century after century have
rolled into the silent eternity of the past!
The pope still sits upon the throne of St. Peter in the Vati-
can, but possesses only the shadow of the prerogatives and po¥rers
of his predecessors in the fifteenth century; when in the plenitude
of his power he gave to Spain all the worlds and peoples that
might be discovered west of an imaginary line drawn from pole
to pole, one hundred leagues west of the Azores; while to Portugal
he made a like gift of all other worlds and peoples that might be
discovered east of the imaginary line referred to.
So late as 1870 the people of Italy, under the leadership of
Garibaldi, wrenched from the successor of St. Peter the last
remnant of his temporal power; while in the spiritual kingdom
his sovereignty is challenged by the far-flung ranks of the many
creeds marching under the banners of Protestantism, the spiritual
children of Martin Luther, who died six years after De Soto first
saw the Chickasaws.
As to the proud and disdainful kingdoms of Spain and Portu-
gal, while the one still remains a kingdom and the other is now a
republic, still they are but shadows of their ancient proportions.
Upon the continent of North America, as successors to the
Indians, there has sprung up the great American common-
wealth, which, in wealth, in numbers, and in prowess, stands
almost without a rival among the great powers of the globe.
Amid all of these wonderful changes the Chickasaws are
still here, and can give a good account of their struggles and
present condition.
If a survival of the fittest is to be taken as the acid test of
worthiness to survive, then the existence of the present day
Chickasaws attest the nobility of the characters of the primitive
Chickasaws, who, though so small in point of numbers, yet ex-
cited the wonder and admiration of all of the earliest travelers in
the wilderness of America at their prowess and the dread and
respect for them entertained by all other Indian nations, though
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many of them exceeded in numbers ten times all of the Chickasaw
people.
I have searched in vain to ascertain the exact number of the
Chickasaws at the time of their removal from Mississippi in 1836.
As near as I can ascertain, in 1822 they numbered 3,600 souls; and
having adapted themselves to the modes of life and sentiments of
their white neighbors, they were slaveholders and were a pros-
perous people. After their removal westward, and having
settled on the western confines of the Choctaw country, the wild
Indians of the plains made Warlike inroads upon the Chickasa^^,
but were so summarily chastised that the Chickasaws were left
free and soon began a new prosperity. I see it stated in some
reference authorities that after their removal the Chickasaws
began to lag behind the other Indians in the Territory, the reason
ascribed being that they had become lazy, owing to their large
annuity of $60,000 to be distributed among their population, then
estimated at 4,200 souls. This was before the Civil War and
after they had been admitted into the council of the Choctaws,
the two nations becoming to a certain extent one composite
people.
It should be borne in mind, however, that their rights and
prerogatives were not as full as those of the Choctaws, whom
they had always defeated in battle, especially in the French wars,
and upon whom it is to be presumed they looked as scarcely their
equals. Chaffing under these handicaps they appealed to the
President and succeeded in securing a separate government for
themselves, and after this it is agreed that they began anew to
make rapid progress.
The people inhabiting the Indian Territory proper b^;an a
movement for statehood, which eventuated in the adoption of a
constitution in 1905, the new state to be called Sequoyah, in
honor of the great Cherokee of that name, an honor that his
memory was entitled to in every respect. I have examined with
interest and profit the memorial (Senate Document No. 143)
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which was presented to Congress in January, 1906, pra3dng Con-
gress to admit the proposed new State of Sequoyah; but it was
ruled otherwise.
When the movement for statehood became assured, the
Chickasaws were its active supporters, and Honorable William H.
Murray, a Chickasaw by marriage, presided over the convention
which adopted the present constitution of Oklahoma, and many
Chickasaws were members of that convention, among them being
Honorable Charles D. Carter, who has represented his district in
Congress since statehood. Governor Lee Cruce, a Chickasaw by
marriage, was the second governor of Oklahoma and the Chick-
asaws have taken a prominent part in public affairs.
It would be a mistake to suppose, however, that the Chick-
asaws have only displayed ability in the political field, for not
long since colored supplements of a Washington paper carried the
picture of Frank Overton Colbert in his studio as an artist, he
being a descendant of the noted Chickasaw family of Colberts,
for some generations conspicuous and able leaders of the Chicka-
saw people, noted hereinbefore.
Mr. Colbert made his home in Washington for several
years, finally removing to New York, where he made an exhibition
of thirty of his paintings in a Fifth Avenue gallery. Colbert is
still a young man and described in the Daily Oklahoman of May
8, 192 1, as dark, dapper, and alert, with an unwavering glance,
sleek black hair, sharp nose, and uncommonly graceful in his
walk and gestures.
For the first time in the history of New York, an American
Indian, in the person of Colbert, exhibited his painting on Fifth
Avenue. It is said he has tried to express the religious myths
of the Hopi, Navajo, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Sioux Indians,
and that all are exquisitely drawn, subtle and beautiful in color,
and have a rare savor of the earth and the emotional simplicity
of the aboriginal American.
The success of this young Chickasaw reminds us that Leupp
declared the aboriginal American possessed a highly artistic
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temperament, though, of course, owing to his almost entire want
of culture along these lines, it found expression only in the
rudest manner.
The Name Oklahoma a Chickasaw Word—
I have often seen it stated that the beautiful and musical
name of Oklahoma, meaning red people, is from the Choctaw
language; and while I do not profess to understand either the
Choctaw or Chickasaw language, still I venture the opinion that
its original derivation was from the Chickasaw tongue. There
was an ancient town in the Chickasaw country, and now in
Marshall County, Mississippi, named Chulahoma, or in English
red fox, and the well known road, and its forerunner, the Indian
trail leading therefrom to the Chickasaw Bluffs, the chief entrepot
of the Chickasaws, and still in use, is also known as the Chula-
homa Road, thus indicating that this word, so like the word
Oklahoma, was of Chickasaw origin.
Again, the beautiful word Coahoma, ancient of days, now
the name of the fertile and well known county in north Mississip-
pi, was originally the name of the noted Chickasaw chief of that
name, coahoma meaning red panther or red cat. Coahoma was
known to the English also as William McGillivray, and lived to
an old age.
We learn from Warren (p. 560) that Coahoma served under
Washington, and was commissioned by him as a captain in the
United States Army, stationed at Fort Pitt, now Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania.
Warren adds that in a letter to himself from J. N. Walton,
dated Aberdeen, Mississippi, May 15, 1881, he says:
,'I have seen his commission, and it is now in the possession of
his son near Fort Towson, Choctaw and Chickasaw nation, West."
In all probability the war in which Coahoma was conunissioned
a captain by Washington was the war in the Northwest in 1791
and subsequent years, in which the United States troops were
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commanded first by General St. Clair, and afterwards by Gen-
eral Wayne, while the Northwest Confederated Indian Tribes
were led by the great Indian chief, Little Turtle. Piomingo was
also commissioned a captain by Washington and served in that war.
The name Coahoma is strikingly like that of Oklahoma.'
Where is there a more musical word and pleasing to the ear
than Okolona, the name of the charming little city of Chickasaw
County, Mississippi, the former home of the Chickasaws? We
learn from Leftwich (7 Miss. Hist. Soc., p. 270) that this city was
named for a herdsman of the noted Chickasaw, Levi Colbert, on
account of the quiet manners of the herdsman, he being named
"Okolona, which means calm or peaceful."
It is not a long step from Okolona to Oklahoma.
Bancroft (2, p. 97) first writes of the Chickasaws as the
cheerful, brave, and invincible allies of the English, the most
intrepid warriors of the South; after which he speaks of the Choc-
taws, and in reference to their language he adds: "Their dialect
of the Mobilian so nearly resembles that of the Chickasaws that
they almost seemed but one nation."
The reference would seem to mean that he regarded the
Chickasaw tongue as the dominant language.
The reader is here referred to what is said in Chapter VIII
under the sub-title, "Language of the Chickasaws," where it will
be seen that the Chickasaws had so imposed their language upon
all of their more numerous neighbors that it was adopted as the
trade language over a vast country far beyond the limits of
their own very extended domain.
DuPratz (p. 310), who knew the Chickasaws as early as
1720, Romans (p. 59), who visited them in i77i,Nuttall (p. 288)
in 1819 and Pickett (p. 133), as well as practically all the early
writers, join in stating that the Chickasaw language was used
almost universally among all adjacent tribes. DuPratz, than
whom no one possessed better opportunities to know whereof he
spoke, added: "Those who speak it (Chickasaw) best value
themselves upon it."
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In other words neighboring nations considered it a badge of
honor to be able to speak in the Chickasaw tongue.
In a letter to me, Mrs. Anna Guy Addington, a Chickasaw,
proud of her ancestry, writes that the name Oklahoma in the
Indian tongue is soft and musical, and unlike the pronunciation
of the whites; thus reminding us of what that eminent writer and
traveler Bartram (p. 417) said of the Chickasaw language, to
the effect that it was soft, musical, and pleasing to the ear, and
that the women in particular spoke so fine and soft as to remind
you of the prattling of children or the singing of birds.
As is well known, the Choctaws outnumbered the Chicka-
saws some four or five to one, and the Choctaws yielded to white
pressure in Mississippi earlier than did the Chickasaws, the
great bulk of the Choctaws moving to their new home in the
West in 1831, leaving a minority of their numbers in Mississippi,
who ever since are known as the Mississippi Choctaws.
The Chickasaws had failed in more than one effort to find a
suitable home in the West, but eventually purchased there a
part of the Choctaw country, to which they removed in 1836;
and under an agreement the two nations for many purposes
became one composite body, and thereafter were called and
known as the Choctaws and Chickasaws. The Chickasaws
were so greatly outnumbered, and in addition there were certain
restrictions thrown around them that they became restive, and
finally through an appeal to the president secured complete
autonomy, as shown hereinbefore. Roosevelt has very correctly
said that the Chickasaws were more closely knit together than
any other of the great Muskhogean confederation, and the whole
nation worked in unison. No doubt this was the spirit causing
them to chafe at somewhat losing their identity while connected
with the Choctaws.
The Choctaws, though so greatly outnumbering the Chick-
asaws, feared them, and to the discredit of the Choctaws, as
noted by their ardent friend Cushman, they joined the French
army marching from the South in 1736, to meet another French
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and Indian army coming down from what is now Canada, in the
Chickasaw country, for the purpose of exterminating the Chicka-
saw nation; but both armies met an ignominious defeat at the
hands of the invincible Chickasaws. A like army of French and
Choctaws from the South met in the Chickasaw country a like
French and Indian army coming from Canada in the year 1839,
and with no better success than in 1836.
These campaigns have been the wonder and admiration of
all historians, the details whereof appear at large in the ninth
chapter, ante.
To the public at large, however, in recent years, the Choc-
taws apparently were the dominant factors; and hence, even in
the derivation of a word such as Oklahoma, as the Choctaw and
Chickasaw languages were so nearly the same, it was assumed
that the word was of Choctaw origin ; whereas in point of fact it
was in all probability derived from the Chickasaw tongue.
Since the foregoing was written, in a letter to me from
Reford Bond, the eminent Chickasaw attorney at law, it is stated
that his mother, Mrs. Adelaide Johnson Bond, speaks the Chicka-
saw language fluently and that the name Oklahoma has the same
meaning in the Chickasaw and Choctaw languages.
Wherefore, as the Chickasaw language was unquestionably
the dominant language, it would seem that the deduction that
the word Oklahoma is of Chickasaw origin, is correct.
I may add that the mother of Mrs. Bond was named Rebecca
Courtney Johnson, and was reputed, when young, the champion
swimmer among the Chickasaws; and it is said that when the
Chickasaws moved west, she plunged into the turbid waters of
the Mississippi and swam unaided across to its western shore.
The Present Chickasaw Population—
The present population of the Chickasaw nation, as usually
given, is stated as 10,966, but in this aggregate there are in-
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eluded the descendants of their former slaves, who number
4,662, and these being deducted from the above total leaves
the whole Chickasaw population, 6,304 souls.
Other Indians having adopted their former slaves as members
of their tribes, their freedmen are properly numbered as members
of their respective tribes; but this the proud Chickasaws per-
sistently refused; nevertheless, the government as persistently
classifies Chickasaw freedmen as Chickasaws, probably more
from force of habit than otherwise.
After carefully going over the statistics as to population
in the report of Sells (p. 70) and of Gabe E. Parker, Superin-
tendent for the Five Civilized Tribes, ending June 30, 1920 (p. 7),
it seems that the total number of Chickasaws as stated above is
made up of full-bloods, half-bloods, etc., as follows:
Full bloods If5i5
Mixed, three-fourths or more 258
One-half to three-fourths 708
Less than one-half, including intermarried whites . . 3,823
Total 6,304
But of these I understand there are intermarried
whites 645
This leaves the present number of Chickasaws by
blood 5,659
The tables showing the distribution of common school funds
among the Chickasaws, as well as a letter from Superintendent
Parker, show that the great bulk of the Chickasaws live in the
country and not in cities or towns.
In their primitive state, it will be recalled that, while they
lived in towns, which was necessary for safety and defense, still
their houses were not close together, but some distance apart,
having near them their open plots of ground for cultiva-
tion.
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It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that they still prefer
the open country, and the free life there, which is not to be
found elsewhere.
The above is a creditable showing, and while the details of
the population show a considerable infusion of white blood, that
is no doubt explained by the fact that Chickasaw women, ac-
cording to all early travelers, were exceptionally attractive; and,
moreover, we learn from Haywood that they were exceptionally
virtuous, while we learn from that early (1758) traveler. Major
Robert Rogers, that their men "were not at all troubled with a
spirit of jealousy, and say it bemeans a man to suspect a woman's
chastity." Major Rogers, that rather remarkable writer, then
adds in reference to the Chickasaws:
"They are tall, well shaped, and handsome featured, es-
pecially their women, far exceeding in beauty any other nation
in the Southland."
In this connection it will be recalled that Adair, who first
went to their country in 1744, and lived among them for several
years, also speaks in glowing terms of the beauty, grace, and
coquettish manners of the Chickasaw girls.
Who would blame the sturdy young white pioneer for
falling easy captives to the dark-eyed daughters of the forest
as thus pictured, especially when they prized themselves so
highly, and were more highly prized by the young Chickasaw
warriors.
If we look to the number of white intermarriages among the
remaining four civilized tribes, we will find that, proportionately
speaking, there are over four times as many whites intermarried
among the Chickasaws as among the four remaining tribes.
Thus, Sells (1820, p. 64) reports the total number of Indians by
blood among the Five Civilized Tribes as 75,519 and the inter-
married whites among them as 2,582.
On page 70 Sells gives the intermarried whites among the
Chickasaws as 645. By simple calculation it will appear that,
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whereas among the four remaining civilized tribes there are
slightly over thirty-six Indians by blood to every intermarried
white, there are only a little over eight Chickasaws by blood to
each intermarried white; thus showing a very marked preference
of whites for the Chickasaws as compared to the remaining
four civilized tribes, at least in the matter of intermarriages.
I can not, however, refrain from expressing the hope that
the day may be distant when the last true type of the proud and
intrepid Chickasaw may cease to appear among the many people
who will mingle and commingle in this great republic, once the
exclusive home of the aboriginal American Indian. In that far
distant day in the future, when the history of the Chickasaws is
written in the clear light of truth, free from bias and prejudice,
many a proud dame, as well as gallant man, will with pride, in
tracing their descent, count back to the time when some Chicka-
saw was the progenitor of their families, as even now it is a badge
of honor for the first families of Virginia to count Pocahontas
among their ancient forebears.
Unsold Tribal Property-
Mr. Parker, the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes,
in his 1920 report (p. 8) gives his estimate of the value of the
unsold Choctaw and Chickasaw tribal property as follows:
Estimated Value of Unsold Tribal Property
(Including amounts uncollected from sale of lands and minerals.)
Tribal schools and improvements $105,000.00
2,219 town lots 40,000.00
Unsold lands, including timber lands, and
surface of segregated coal and asphalt
lands 680,975.00
Amount uncollected from land sold i»755i 147-43
Amount uncollected from sale of coal and
asphalt minerals 1,220,829.79
Coal and asphalt mineral deposits 111273,715.98
Total $15,075,668.20
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Approximately three-fourths of these properties belong to
the Choctaws, and the remainder to the Chickasaws.
This is a very considerable aggregate of values, and» as I
understand, it represents all that is left of the once vast tribal
properties held in common by these two nations, and all that
remains to be disposed of as Congress may direct.
In Vol. II, p. 282; of the Handbook of American Indians,
compiled by the United States Bureau of Ethnology, and re-
garded as a standard authority, there is set forth in detail many
popular fallacies with respect to our Indians. Among them is
mentioned the belief by many that the Indians were nomads,
whereas, in point of fact, they both claimed and occupied well
defined districts or parts of the country, their rights thereto
being acknowledged and respected by all other Indians, except
when in some war of conquest or otherwise, a tribe was subdued
and its country in whole or in part was taken over by the victor,
precisely as do civilized countries at the present day.
Another popular fallacy pointed out in the authority re-
ferred to is the idea that individual Indians or families owned
parts of their country in severalty, as is the custom among white
people; whereas such a conception was repugnant to an Indian's
views of right and justice; for they held tenaciously to the idea
that the right and title to the soil was vested in the whole tribe,
which owned it in common for the equal benefit of all the members
of the tribe, each one of whom had the unquestioned right to
occupy and cultivate any portion of the common property not
in the actual occupancy of another.
This view as to common ownership in the tribe was but the
natural sequence of that admirable trait of their character, and
that is, they were absolutely without mercenary ideas. From
this conception it followed that an Indian would, without ques-
tion or hesitancy, divide his last morsel of food with another
who was in need. To these characteristics I have already re-
ferred; hence we are not surprised that the Indians fought in
and out of season every attempt to destroy the common owner-
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ship of their property. Living with this conception of property
there could be no such thing as poor people and rich people in a
tribe, nor were there any class distinctions whatever.
These conceptions are ingrained into the hearts and minds
of the Indians, and the proposed forcible ownership of property
in severalty outraged their feelings. Moreover, it has a very
practical side to the Indian; and that consists in the inability
of many of them, and especially the full bloods, to rid themselves
of the idea of communal ownership, and what is more unfortunate,
their inability to change their very natures so as to compete with
the average white man in the ownership of property in severalty,
and to make a competency for himself and family according to
the white man's conception. It is a notorious fact that the
average Indian has no conception of the value of money ac-
cording to the views of the whites; hence he falls an easy victim
to the unscrupulous.
In view of these facts, would it not be a wise and humane
policy to convert at least the greater part of the unsold communal
tribal property of the Chickasaws and Choctaws into a tribal
trust fund, to be controlled by a board composed of members
of the respective nations, the income of the fund to be ad-
ministered and paid out, not per capita, but for the benefit of
such members as, owing to sickness, physical or mental inca-
pacity or otherwise, need either permanent or temporary as-
sistance.
A charter could be taken out so that there could be a corpo-
rate entity to administer the fund, and to this corporation benevo-
lent persons could make gifts, donations, and legacies, as could
also governmental agencies, and in this way a fund sufficient
in amount would accumulate to meet the beneficent purpose
for which it was designed. The regular stock argument alwa3rs
at hand and often used, to the effect that a per capita annuity
paid to Indians has the tendency to make them lazy and create
paupers of them, would not apply here, because when it appeared
to the Board that any one was taking advantage of the trust fund
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to live in idleness, then a cessation of pa3mients would dis-
illusion him as to the objects of the beneficent tribal fund, and he
would be summarily thrown on his own resources. If the United
States were to create such a fund outright for indigent Chicka-
saws, it would be but returning to them a paltry part of that
vast debt, not only of gratitude but of property, of which, in
years gone by, it so unjustly deprived them.
It may truthfully be said that these are but the suggestions
of one who has never mingled with the Indians, and there-
fore is without practical experience as to their necess-
ities or wishes.
It may be answered that the source from which they come
is at least entirely disinterested, and the subject under con-
sideration is one upon which any one of intelligence is entitled
to form and express an opinion.
The Present Chickasaw Officials—
It is difficult for persons unfamiliar with Indian affairs to
realize the very numerous, varied, and large monied values of
the matters which must be handled by the Superintendent of
the Five Civilized Tribes, not to mention all other Indians
falling under the care of the Indian Commissioner. In his 1920
report (p. 6) Mr. Parker says:
"The cashier handled a total of $47,668,996.02, including
receipts and disbursements of all classes of funds, perhaps the
largest in the history of the office.
"The correspondence continued heavy during the year.
Approximately 1,000,000 pieces of mail were handled."
In order to properly dispatch this business, due regard being
had to the respective rights of the various tribes, it is manifest
not only that trained men representing the government should
be in authority, but in addition representatives of each nation
are necessary to look after the varied interests of the various
nations inter sese.
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The following constitute the present officials representing
the Chickasaw nation and their respective salaries:
Salary
Douglas H. Johnston, Governor, Emet, Okla-
homa $3,000.00
Ludie Johnston, Tribal Secretary, Milbum,
Oklahoma 1,000.00
Eastman Johnston, Tribal Interpreter, Tisho-
mingo, Oklahoma 300.00
J. Hamp Willis, Mining Trustee, Kingston,
Oklahoma 4,000.00
Reford Bond, Tribal Attorney, Chickasha,
Oklahoma 5,000.00
Indian Population of the United States—
In this connection it may be of interest to note the present
Indian population throughout the United States, exclusive of
Alaska; according to the report of Commissioner Sells for 1920
(p. 64), the aggregate Indian population is 336,337; but this
includes 23,405 freedmen and 2,582 whites by intermarriage.
Deducting these there are left 310,350 Indians by blood,
and if to these we add 2,582 whites by intermarriage, we have
as the total Indian population, 312,932. These figures are
doubtless approximately correct, and are according to the report
of the Indian Commissioner.
There has been the greatest diversity of opinion as to the
probable Indian population of North America when Columbus
first discovered the new world.
In Vol. II, p. 287, of the Handbook of American Indians it is
said:
''A careful study of population conditions for the whole
territory north of Mexico, taking each geographic section sep-
arately, indicates a total population, at the time of the coming
of the white man, of nearly 1,150,000 Indians, which is believed
to be within ten per cent of the actual number. Of this total
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846,000 were within the limits of the United States proper,
220,000 in British America, 72,000 in Alaska, and 10,000 in
Greenland. The original total is now reduced to about 403,000, a
decrease of about sixty-five per cent. The complete study is
expected to form the subject of a future bulletin of the Bureau of
American Ethnology. (J. M.)"
This is probably as near correct as any estimate that can
now be made.
There has also been considerable difference of opinion as to
the Indian population in comparatively recent years. In 1836,
the year of the removal of the Chickasaws to the West, the
superintendent of Indian affairs reported the Indian population
as 253,464; the United States census for 1850 at 400,764, though
for the same year Schoolcraft (an excellent authority) put the
figure at 388,229; for i860 the Indian office reported 254,300;
the United States Census for 1880 at 322,534; same for 1890 at
248,253; report of the Indian office for 1910 at 270,544; same for
1910, 304,950; same for 1920 at 336,337. It may be of interest
to give the present Indian population throughout the various
States, as given by commissioner Sells (p. 64) for 1920 as follows:
Alabama 909
Arizona 42,400
Arkansas 460
California 16,241
Colorado 796
Connecticut 152
Delaware 5
District of Columbia 68
Florida 454
Georgia 95
Idaho 4,048
Illinois 188
Indiana 279
Iowa 345
Kansas 1,466
Kentucky 234
Louisiana 780
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Maine 892
Maryland 55
Massachusetts 688
Michigan 7»5io
Minnesota 12,681
Mississippi 1400
Missouri 313
Montana 12,377
Nebraska 2,461
Nevada 5,900
New Hampshire 34
New Jersey 168
New Mexico 21,530
New York 6,432
North Carolina 8,268
North Dakota 9,018
Ohio 127
Oklahoma 1 19,255
Oregon 6,629
Pennsylvania 300
Rhode Island 284
South Carolina 331
South Dakota 23,010
Tennessee 216
Texas 702
Utah 3,057
Vermont 26
Virginia 539
Washington 11,114
West Virginia 36
Wisconsin 10,319
Wyoming i,748
Total 336,337
We thus have a total of 336»337
Deduct the number of negroes 23,405
Also intermarried whites 2,582 25,987
Which leaves Indians by blood in the States. . . 310,350
Add the total Indians and Eskimos in Alaska . 26,231
Grand total Indians and Eskimos 336,581
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In a letter to me of March ii, 192 1, from L. A. Kalbach,
acting Commissioner of Education, it is stated that the Eskimos
fringe the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, the Eskimos
being very different from the Indian population, which he
divides into three separate and distinct races as follows: The
Athabascans, who live on the interior watersheds of the Yukon,
Kuskokwim, and Copper Rivers; the Aleuts, who occupy the
Aleutian chain of islands which project far towards Asia, dividing
the Pacific Ocean from Bering Sea; and the Thlinkets, who dwell
in the Sitkan Archipelago, constituting the most southern of the
Alaskan Indians. I regret that Mr. Kalbach was unable to give
me the numbers in each group separately, or even the number of
Eskimos separately, his only available information being that the
"native" population of Alaska according to the census of 1920
was 26,231.
According to the report of Thomas Riggs, Jr., Governor of
Alaska for 1920 (p. 59), the nations of Alaska can be developed
so as to become a great factor in the economic life of the Territory,
there being now found among them in the southern part of
Alaska clergymen, teachers, merchants, and navigators, while
others own their homes and fishing vessels, and a few are com-
paratively wealthy. The other natives of Alaska have not im-
proved so fast, due in a great measure to the inaccessibility of
their homes, though the Eskimos who inhabit the Yukon delta,
Seward Peninsula, and the Arctic coast are being rapidly develop-
ed through school facilities for the young, and reindeer herding
for the adults. In 1892, and continuing for ten years, 1,280 rein-
deer, through the initiative of Dr. Sheldon Jackson, were im-
ported by the government from Siberia to Alaska, and these had
increased, according to the opinion of Governor Riggs (p. 63), in
1820, to 180,000, while others estimated the number at 200,000,
and large quantities of reindeer meat are now shipped to the
States, there finding a ready market, with the confident belief
that Arctic America will eventually prove one of the important
areas for the meat supply of the States.
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To those who may desire further particulars of these far-
away native Americans, their country, its game, and other
resources, I refer them to the report of Governor Riggs and Bulle-
tin 1919, No. 40, Work of the Bureau of Education for the l^atiues
of Alaska, igi7'igi8.
It may be noted, however, that the most important Alaskan
industry is that of its fisheries, salmon being the most important,
but large quantities of halibut, herring, cod, whales, dams,
trout and miscellaneous fish are taken, the normal value approxi-
mating $50,000,000, but owing to over-fishing this great national
asset is seriously menaced.
Some fifteen years ago the fur seal herd of the Pribilof group
of Islands in Bering Sea, and especially on St. Paul and St.
George Islands, was on the verge of extinction, owing to indis-
criminate pelagic sealing; but after many years of international
diplomacy measures of protection were adopted, by which the
herd of fur seals has increased to approximately 525,000 animals,
yielding the government a net annual sum of approximately
$3,000,000.
The fisheries now need drastic measures similar to those that
saved the fur seal from extinction; and the sea otter, whose fur
is most highly prized, is now near extinction, only one pelt being
reported as taken from a body found dead, valued at $300.
The average values of some other pelts are as follows:
black fox, $150.00; blue fox, $130.00; blue Pribilof Island fox,
$195-31; cross fox, $35.00; silver gray fox, $55-33; white fox,
$46.00; white Pribilof Island fox, $55.33; glacier bear, $30.00:
land otter, $25.00; lynx, $42.00; mink, $9.00; martin, $32.00;
fur seal, $50.00; wolf, $19.00; arctic hare, 20 cents, while the
squirrel pelts are at the bottom and valued at 3 cents
only.
What is called the Northern herd of caribou of approximately
60,000 animals, is reported as somewhat depleted, owing to
over-hunting by the natives, due to a shortage of last year's
fishing, while what is called the international migratory herd of
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300,000 caribou was split into a greater number of runs, possibly
due to mining activity on the Stewart River.
As stated above, the aggregate of 336,337 for the United
States, exclusive of Alaska, contained 23,405 negroes and 2,582
intermarried whites; and I take it for granted that in the totals
given for the various decades, the negroes and intermarried
whites were also included therein.
Upon the whole it would appear that many of the Indians
have become to a large extent adapted to their present
surroundings and environments, and are to a certain extent
stabilized in the matter of health and a reasonable and
normal increase in population, though it would seem that the
full-bloods are doomed to extinction at not a very distant
day.
In the Handbook of American Indians (Vol. II, p. 285) the
current belief that a half-breed or Indian of mixed blood is a
moral degenerate is classed among ''popular fallacies"; and it is
declared that in various parts of the country there are many
mixed bloods of undoubted ability and of high moral standing,
and there is no evidence to prove that the low moral status of the
average mixed bloods of the frontier is a necessary result of
mixture of blood, but there is much to indicate that it arises from
his unfortunate environments.
This is unquestionably true.
OffleUl Washington ▼&• Official Washlnctoit-
One of the most difficult of all things to obtain is correct in-
formation. Though it may seem strange, this applies to official-
dom at Washington as well as elsewhere. There are thousands
of people in Washington holding sinecure positions, and when a
letter is sent there for information, it usually is sent to one of
these who know little and care less about the importance of full
and correct information.
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About the only way the average citizen can receive attention
to inquiries is to approach officials through a Senator or Q>ngres5-
man, and then there is no assurance of obtaining precise informa-
tion.
I spent considerable time in procuring the information set
out above in detail as to the Indian population in the States as
well as in Alaska, and was no little surprised upon seeing in the
morning paper a dispatch from Washington of June 23, 192 1,
stating that the Indian population of the various States was only
242,959 as compared to a reported Indian population in 1910 of
265,683.
Here is a decrease in Indian population during the last
decade of 22,724, of which 18,876 of the decrease was reported
from Oklahoma.
The door for fraud was wider open in Oklahoma than else-
where.
As seen hereinbefore, according to the report from the Indian
Bureau the total Indian population in the States in 1920 was
310,350, and deducting therefrom 242,959, reported by the
Census Bureau of the same date, we have a discrepancy of 67,391.
No one pretends that in point of fact there was any such
decrease in the Indian population. The dispatch stated that
the decrease was probably due in part to the enumeration as
Indians in 1910, and as whites in 1920, of persons having only
slight traces of Indian blood, and this is repeated in an article
on the subject in the Literary Digest of July 9, 1921, that being the
reason assigned at Washington.
In a letter to Senator Kenneth McKellar I asked for specific
information, numbering my inquiries, so as to elicit precise in-
formation on various matters, with a view of getting at the very
roots of this great discrepancy, not only between the census re-
ports of 1 910 and 1920, but between those reports and those from
the Indian office set out at large hereinbefore. I received an
answer from the Director of the Census, but not full answers to
the questions asked. The letter from the Director is as follows.
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"Your letter of June 28, 1921, addressed to Senator McKellar
has been referred to this bureau for reply.
''According to the returns of the Fourteenth Census, taken
as of January i, 1920, there were 242,959 persons in continental
United States returned as Indians. This represents the returns
made on the population schedules by the census enumerators,
who obtained the information, so far as possible, from the head
or some other member of the family. It is obviously impossible
to make the census figures check to the reports of the Indian
Office. No special schedule for Indians was used at the Fourteenth
Census, as in 1910, and no data was collected for Indians other
than that collected for the population in general. The enumera-
tors were instructed to return persons as Indians who reported
themselves as such or who were adjudged to be Indians in the
communities in which they resided. It is undoubtedly true that
many persons with a small per cent of Indian blood did not re-
turn themselves as Indians at the census.
**No inquiries were made at the Fourteenth Census regarding
Indians who were freedmen, per cent of Indian blood, or inter-
marriage with whites. The children of Indians intermarried with
whites are, in most cases, reported as Indians.
"According to the returns of the Fourteenth Census (1920),
there were 26,558 persons in Alaska returned as Indians, of
whom 13,698 were reported as Eskimos."
Where is there any reflecting person who is willing to accept
from complacent Washington officialdom the reasons put forth
for the great and striking discrepancies in the various reports as
to the Indian population in the year 1920?
Evidently there are reasons therefor.
These reasons are not creditable to the whites.
The years preceding the census of 1910 were the years in
which the United States tore up by the roots every Indian
treaty, thereby abolishing the rights of the Indians to hold
their land in common, and compelling them to accept small
parts in severalty, the balance of their property to be sold
and the proceeds to be distributed per capita among the
Indians.
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It was then enacted that in order to ascertain who composed
the Indians of the various tribes to share in the allotments to
be made and to share in the per capita distributions, rolls should
be made up showing who were Chickasaws* Choctaws, CTherokees,
etc., and this was done.
This opened a wide door for whites to commit perjury in
order to have themselves enrolled as Indians, so that they could
thereby not only have valuable land allotted to them and their
families but also get a share of the millions upon millions to be
distributed per capita among real Indians.
Perjury is an ugly word.
I regret to use it.
The government undertook to make up these rolls, and on
the floor of Congress in 1914 Murray (p. 42) charged that the
government made a criminal "botch" of it. He explained that
there had been admitted to the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian
rolls 4,000 fraudulent claimants who secured a judgment in
their favor by the Supreme Court of the United States for $20,-
000,000 worth of property.
Nearly every law firm of ability in Oklahoma was in the
service of these fraudulent claimants, but a firm was finally
retained which, after seven years of battle, succeeded in the
almost impossible task of securing a reversal of the previous
judgment of the United States Supreme Court. It seems that
one of the main instrumentalities by which this result was
obtained was the creation by Congress of a citizenship court to
purge these rolls, the result being that of the 4,000 claimants
all were declared fraudulent except 133.
Space forbids further extensive details as to other fraudulent
paddings of other Indian rolls, and it is clear that there was not
a thorough purging thereof, this being commonly reported and
believed. However, it may serve to enlighten the public in
general to place on record at least one sample of the manner in
which by frauds and perjuries white men had themselves officially
enrolled as Indians.
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On page 42 Murray says:
"To illustrate the frauds in those cases, there is one that I
remember distinctly now, which was admitted with eighty-seven
claimants, taking nearly $400,000 worth of property. When they
found their written evidence, the testimony that they were
Indians was sworn to by five of the most prominent men of the
State of Arkansas. Mr. Cornish went to Arkansas and asked
one of the judges of that State who was supposed to have been a
witness, 'What do you know about this testimony'? The judge
ejaculated, 'I never heard of it; I never swore to that.' Then
Cornish went to a prominent lawyer whose deposition was in the
case, and that lawyer protested, 'I never heard of it.' So with all
the others of these five witnesses. Then he hunted up the notary
public who had certified to the depositions and jurat, and found
that the notary had died five years before the depositions were
taken. Not only the testimony but the jurat of the notary public
were forged in the office of the lawyer representing these eighty-
seven claimants. The entire case was manufactured out of blue
sky. Of course, they were wiped from the rolls. So with the
balance of them."
When the fraudulent claimants were stricken from the rolls,
they, and especially their many hungry lawyers, set up a howl as
they saw millions slipping from them, and even the paper of a
United States Senator, wittingly or unwittingly, joined in the
systematic propaganda, charging that the court had been bribed.
That court was composed of Judge Adams of North Carolina,
Judge Weaver of Ohio, and Judge Foote, of California, and it
became the duty of the court to fix the fee of Mansfield, Mc-
Murray, and Cornish, attorneys who succeeded in purging the
rolls then under review, and their fee was fixed at $750,000, or
four and one-half per cent of the amounts saved their clients,
whereas the fraudulent claimants had agreed to pay their
attorneys, in case of success, from twenty-five to fifty per cent
of the anticipated recoveries.
So widespread and bold became this insolent propaganda
that a libel suit was instituted, and it is almost needless to say
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that the cause of the fraudulent claimants and their attorneys
went down in defeat.
If any one should suppose, however, that this defeat put an
end to systematic efforts to reopen and pad Indian rolls, then
he could scarcely be more mistaken; but this is another
story.
Raids on the rolls of all other Indians were made, supported
by perjuries and subornation of perjuries, and from this class
of whites such expressions as "there is no good Indian except a
dead Indian," have their origin.
As seen above, 4,000 whites (less 133) succeeded not only in
having themselves enrolled as Indians but in hoodwinking the
United States Supreme Court, the greatest tribunal in the
world, into solemnly declaring that they were Indians; that is to
say, adjudging that white was red.
Every one of these whites, as well as all other fraudulent
whites, the exact number of whom will never be known, were
enrolling themselves as Indians, and, of course, the Indian
Commissioner could but report them as Indians, whatever his
private opinion may have been.
In order to make a showing in keeping with the farce that
was being enacted, there can be no reasonable doubt that these
fraudulent claimants returned themselves as Indians when the
census of 1910 was taken.
By the time the 1920 census was reached, the opportunity
had passed when by perjuries these whites could amass a fortune
overnight by reporting themselves as Indians; and no doubt
thousands, either themselves or through members of their
families, as was permitted by the census office, truly returned
themselves as whites. Here no oath was required.
Having succeeded in having their names enrolled in the
Indian office by perjury and subornation of perjury, a much
greater difficulty confronted fraudulent claimants, and doubt-
less they were less free to declare the truth when faced by former
oaths. This explains, at least in part, the great difference between
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the census report of the Indian population and that made by the
Indian office. .
The 1920 Official Census report Is doubtless approximately
correct; and who doubts that the great apparent decrease in the
Indian population, in the decade preceding 1920, is due to the
fact that thousands of white men were fraudulently enrolled and
had reported themselves as Indians?
If any doubt lingers as to whether the proper deductions
have been drawn as to the reasons for the apparent decrease in
the Indian population, then I think that lingering doubt will
disappear when the Indian and Eskimo populations of Alaska,
as reported by the Census Bureau for 1920, is compared with the
returns of the Commissioner of Education for Alaska, under
whose jurisdiction this matter comes.
In Alaska a white man could not get rich overnight by
swearing he was an Indian, hence there was no temptation to
perjury; and what do we find?
The Official Census for 1920 shows the combined
Indian and Eskimo population for Alaska 26,558
The Bureau of Education for the same period
reports the combined Indian and Eskimo
population 26,231
327
The census office actually reports 327 more natives in Alaska
than does the Board of Education.
As stated above, the door for fraud was wider open in Okla-
homa than anywhere else, and we are scarcely surprised to read
that of the "reported" decrease in the Indian population of 22,724
in the decade from 1910 to 1920, 18,876 of this decrease occurred
in Oklahoma.
Doubtless the official report of the census office for 1920 is
approximately correct; and taking that as a basis the number of
native aboriginal Americans may be thus stated:
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Indians in the various States of the Union 242,959
Indians in Alaska 12,860
Eskimos in Alaska I3»698
Total aborigines in the States and Alaska 269,517
I was surprised to learn that there were more Eskimos than
Indians in Alaska.
If we deduct from the number of aborigines as reported by
the Indian office and the Bureau of Education in Alaska, which
we have seen aggregate 336,581, the aggregate as reported by
the census office, 269,517, we have a discrepancy of 67,064.
The Present General Condition of the Indians—
Closely connected with the present population of the
various Indian tribes there arises the inquiry as to the present
general conditions that surround our Indians; and upon this
important inquiry it is encouraging to read from the 1920 report
(p. 10) of Commissioner Sells as follows:
The Indian's industrial progress is especially noteworthy.
'Their individual funds on deposit have increased in the
last eight years in excess of $20,000,000. During that period
they have expended for homes and modem farm implements
$18,000,000, and have added $13,000,000 to their capital in
live stock.
'The Indian's transformation from a game hunter and wan-
derer to a settled landholder and home builder is everywhere
evident. Nearly 37,000 Indian farmers are cultivating almost a
million acres, 47,000 are engaged in stock raising, and their
live stock is worth close to $38,000,000. Their last year's income
from the sale of crops and live stock was approximately $14,-
000,000. The Indians are dependable wageworkers. Their
annual earnings in public and private service exceed $3,000,000.
Their number receiving rations and supplies not paid for in
labor has decreased one-half in the last seven years.
'There are not many defenders of the earlier processes of
treaty making and treaty breaking, but the constructive plan,
followed now for nearly a third of a century, of allotting the
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Indians land in severalty, of conducting hospitals and schools
for physical and mental betterment, and providing them guid-
ance in the productive use of the soil and its related industries,
if not a perfect one, is the best plan yet devised for a dependent
people, and is amply justified by results."
Commissioner Sells deserves commendation for resolutely
opposing, during his eight years as Indian Commissioner, the
exploiting of Indians at fairs or shows, by having them dressed
fantastically* and engaging them in weird dances and the like
for the amusement of the passing throng.
There is much in the native life and primeval characteristics
of the North American Indians that is worthy of preservation,
and these will be preserved, but not by exploiting the Indians,
indicated above.
It is wrong to take the unthinking Indian away from his
family and friends to make up the so-called Wild West Shows, in
order to gamer in a few dollars for the white showman. It is far
better for the Indian to remain at home with his family, care for
them, his stock, and his farm, than to wander over the country,
living apparently in an uncivilized condition, thereby turning
his thoughts and aspirations rather to the past than to the
future, where his final destiny is to be wrought out.
Children In School-
Commissioner Sells for 1920 (p. 44) reports that of the twenty
thousand children of the Five Civilized Tribes who attended
school seventeen thousand were in the public schools, and all
were encouraged to enter these schools as an eflFective agency for
shaping their lives along correct lines of citizenship. But we
learn from the report of A. S. Wyly, Supervisor, etc., attached to
the report of Gabe E. Parker (p. 46) for 1920, that, on account
of the innate timidity and reticence of many of the Indian chil-
dren, and I take it especially of the full-bloods, that the tribal
boarding schools still have a distinct field of usefulness not
covered by the public schools.
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This is a matter of great importance and should always be
borne in mind. It would be worse than useless to endeavor to
force these innately reticent and timid children into the public
schools. Racial characteristics can not be thus broken down, but
instead the possibilities of future development of the Indian
child would be destroyed.
In reference to the boarding schools Wiley (p. 45) says:
'The boarding schools are maintained only in the Five
Tribes for the education of Indian children exclusively. Eight
private, State, and denominational schools have contracts for
the education of 602 Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian pupils, but
these schools also enroll white children. The public schools are
open to all Indian children." * * *
And on the next page (46), in reference to academic and
industrial instruction, he further reports:
"The course of study adopted in 1915 for Indian schools is
in use, with some modi^cations to meet local conditions, at the
tribal boarding schools. The course combines in a practical way
academic and industrial training and instruction and is designed
to prepare Indian boys and girls to meet the everyday problems of
life,to make them self-reliant and self-helpful, and to assist them
to assume the duties and obligations of American citizenship.
*'At schools where girls are enrolled, there are facilities for
teaching sewing, cooking, laundering, nursing, and home making.
With the exception of Cherokee and Bloomfield, separate cottages
are provided for this work. The boys are taught farming, stock
raising, dairying, carpentry, etc., with special emphasis on
farming and allied subjects. Carpenter shops are provided, and,
while the industrial equipment generally is not all that is desired,
it is sufficient for substantial compliance with the requirements of
the course of study.
''Attention is called to the table submitted herewith giving
information concerning the boarding schools. There were 1,409
children enrolled, with 836 full-bloods and 288 others of one-half
Indian blood or more. The average attendance was 1,060, and
44 pupils completed the course of study. The tribal boarding
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schools still have a distinct field of- usefulness, as they are in the
main accommodating Indian children who do not have first-class
school facilities at their homes and who, on account of their
innate timidity and reticent disposition, would perhaps not
attend public schools where white children are in the majority.
The course of study is peculiarly adapted to the economic .needs
of the Indian, and affords instruction and training that could not
be obtained in the average rural school. The boarding schools
should be continued as long as there are available tribal funds."
Upon reading the report of the Supervisor, A. S. Wyly
(p. 49), it appeared that in the eleven counties of the Chickasaw
nation, 3,082 Chickasaw children were accounted for, apparently
as in the common schools; and seeing in other places that there
were Chickasaw children in tribal boarding schools, non-reserva-
tion and contract schools, I wrote the supervisor and received
from him a letter of February 23, 1921, in which he states that
the Chickasaws and Choctaws are closely associated, and that,
in his opinion, from the above aggregate of 3,082 children, there
should be deducted 582, as representing approximately Choctaw
children embraced therein, thus leaving 2,500 as the school
population of Chickasaw children between the ages of six and
twenty-one years; and that of this number he estimated that
there are enrolled.
In the public schools about 2,050
Add to this number (in public schools) :
Chickasaw children in tribal boarding schools ... 137
Chickasaw children in nonreservation schools . . 27
Chickasaw children in contract schools 209
Total Chickasaw Indians in school 2,423
This, I presume, is approximately correct, and if so, it makes
a good showing.
Mr. Wyly estimates that of all the Chickasaw Indians not
exceeding twelve or fifteen per cent are unable to speak English;
while Reford Bond writes:
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"In my judgment every Chickasaw in Oklahoma can
speak some English when moved by the proper spirit, and about
ninety per cent of the Chickasaws have a fairly good English
vocabulary."
Chrlstlanttir and the Chickasaws—
Draper well observes,
"No spectacle can be presented to the thoughtful mind more
solemn, more mournful than that of the dying of an ancient
religion, which in its day has given consolation to many genera-
tions of men."
As fidelity was one of the outstanding characteristics of the
Chickasaws, we are not surprised that they did not readily
relinquish their ancient faith, but clung to its consolations long
after the white man had invaded, and many of them had settled
and lived among them for years. The conversation between
John Wesley and the young Chickasaw chief Paustoobee, in 1736,
is set out in full in the eighth chapter, and it will be recalled that
when Mr. Wesley asked the young chief whether the Chickasaws
desired a missionary to visit and teach them the Christian
religion, Paustoobee very frankly said no; adding that they were
then at war and did not know whether they would survive or not,
but in case peace returned, they would be glad to be taught.
The Chickasaws had just fought Bienville in the battle of
Ackia, and six days prior thereto had defeated D'Artaguette, and
the war, as we know, was by no means at an end, but lasted for
years.
According to Haman (10 Pub. Miss. Hist. Soc., p. 212) Rev.
Joseph BuUen, of Worcester, Massachusetts, was the first minister
to preach the gospel to the Chickasaws, having been sent out by
the Presbyterian Missionary Board of New York, in 1779, as a
missionary to the Chickasaws, to serve one year only, which he
did. He then received a second con:..iission for a term of three
years, and about the middle of March, 1800, he set out with his
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wife and children from Windham County, Vermont, on his long
and perilous journey, and at Bedford, Pennsylvania, several of
his family were taken sick, and one daughter just blooming into
womanhood passed from the cares and hardships of the wilderness
to that reward for which the father had dedicated himself and
family. No one can contemplate without feelings of admiration
that long line of godly men and women who, forsaking all the
comforts and pleasures of civilized society, traversed the wilds
of America to endure the hardships and discomforts of the wilder-
ness, often at the cost of life itself, in order that they might point
the untutored Indians to the life of Jesus, that thereby they might
be led upward and heavenward.
Their only recompense was a consciousness that they were
serving their Lord and the consolations of that religious faith and
those Christian graces which, under all temporal ills, ever sustain
the faithful Christian and adorn the pathway of his earthly
pilgrimage.
But for these godly lives, and those also of many laymen,
some of them government officials, who practiced in their lives
the precepts they taught, the Indians would never have embraced
Christianity, the teachings of which were so often the very
antithesis of the treatment they received at the hands of the
whites.
The Reverend Bullen reached the Chickasaws and preached
to them, but his term having expired, there was an hiatus in
religious efforts for the Chickasaws until the year 1819, when the
synod of South Carolina resolved to send the Gospel to the South-
western Indians, and sent out Rev. David Humphries and Rev.
Thomas C. Stuart, the latter then a young licentiate, and they
finally reached the Chickasaws; but Humphries concluded he was
unfitted for the work. Not so with Stuart, who put on the whole
armor in the service of his Master; and in 1820 the Chickasaws in
council assembled granted permission to him to establish a
mission among them, and the new king, Ishtehotopa, granted
a charter to that eifect. In January, 1821, Mr. Stuart selected
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the place to establish his permanent mission on the Chickasaw
Trail, eight or nine miles south of the present Pontotoc, Missis-
sippi, and named it Monroe Mission, in honor of the then Presi-
dent of the United States. Houses were built, a farm opened, a
school established and the Gospel was preached to the Indians
with much success, though the preaching was through an in-
terpreter.
Stuart continued his work among the Chickasaws until their
removal west in 1836, and feeling a longing to be with and minis-
ter to them again, he visited their country in the West in 1856;
and after his return he stated that he had an exceedingly pleasant
visit, but not unmingled with sad reflections, as so many with whom
he had gone to the house of God in happier days had long since
passed away. Stuart was universally respected and loved by
both the Indians and whites, and was affectionately called
Father Stuart; he lived until his ninetieth year, passing from
time to eternity and his heavenly reward in Tupelo, Mississippi,
in 1883. His ashes were carried to and interred in the old
Chickasaw cemetery near Pontotoc, Mississippi, there to rest
side by side with the mortal remains of his red brethren, whom
he had served so long, and who loved him so well, some account
of which may be seen in Chapter XII, ante.
According to Love (11 Pub. Miss. Hist. Soc., p. 401), among
others who were missionaries to the Chickasaws may be men-
tioned Rev. William C. Blair and Mrs. Blair, 1823-1830; Rev,
Hugh Wilson and Mrs. Wilson, 1823-1835; Rev. James Holmes
and Mrs. Sara V. Holmes, 1824-1833; while the assistant mis-
sionaries were Prudence Wilson, 1822-1835; Emeline H. Rich-
mond, 1825-1833; Samuel C. Pearson and Mrs. Pearson, 1828-
1829; and John L. Mosby, 1831-1833.
We also learn from Miss Abel (Slaveholders and Secession-
istSt pp. 41 and 42) that at the beginning of the Civil War the
Methodist Episcopal Church South had a strong membership
among the Chickasaws, and Reford Bond writes that at the
present time the Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Chris-
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tians, and Catholics are all represented among the Chickasaws
and we may conclude that practically all of them have embraced
the Christian religion.
It may be mentioned that the Reverend James Holmes,
D. D., and his wife, Mrs. Sara V. Holmes, moved to and lived in
Tipton County, Tennessee, for many years, leaving a consider-
able posterity, they being the grandparents of the late noted
lawyer Holmes Cummins, and of Embry R. Holmes, now and for
years past a writer upon the staif of the Commercial Appeal.
ChlekMftw and Choctow Claim ¥8. United States—
A reproduced photograph of Governor Douglass H. John-
ston can be seen at the beginning of this chapter, and as shown
hereinbefore he was the last governor elected by the Chickasaw
people, and he has been retained in office for many years, under
the title of governor, to represent the Chickasaw people in the
many complicated and important questions which arise from
time to time. He has proven a wise counselor.
Neither space or a history of the Chickasaws will admit of
any sketch of his activities; but some time since he issued a
message of the deepest interest to the Chickasaw and Choctaw
nations, and as it seems to me very meritorious, I will give a
summary of the claim which he has presented with force on behalf
of the Chickasaws and Choctaws against the United States,
arising under the treaty of 1866, which is treated at large herein-
before.
The claim arises in particular under the third article of that
treaty which is quoted in haec verba in the chapter referred to;
wherefore it is only necessary here to give a summary of the
claim.
By the treaty of 1866 the Chickasaws and Choctaws ceded
certain lands to the United States for certain specified purposes;
that is, for the settlement thereon of friendly Indians, some of
whom were being forced out of Kansas by the rising tide of white
emigration, and their settlement there would aid them and the
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whites settling in the places from which such Indians were re-
moved.
The treaty also provided for the fund of $300,000 heretofore
discussed, and which was to be held by the United States in
trust, and to be used to remove the freedmen in these two nations,
in case they were removed ; but if the tribes adopted their freed-
men as members thereof, then the $300,000 was to go to the tribes.
As we know, the Chickasaws refused to adopt their former
slaves, and while there is some question made as to the adoption
of the freedmen by the Choctaws, still the freedmen were in point
of fact never removed, and the Chickasaws never received any
part of the $300,000. The claim of the Chickasaws is that the
conveyance of the lands in question was in the nature of a lease,
and that while the treaty uses the word ''ceded," that the Indians
did not understand that ''ceded" was used in its technical sense;
the undisposed part of these lands by the Indians now aggregate
some 6,000,000 acres which were disposed of by the United States
to white settlers, from whom they received many millions of
dollars, and the Chickasaws and Choctaws have a righteous
claim against the United States therefor.
In support of the claim it is pointed out that certain friendly
Indians settled on a part of the "ceded" land, and that Congress,
recognizing the equity of the tribes, appropriated money to
compensate the Chickasaws and Choctaws, the land being
described as "leased district," thus showing that Congress under-
stood the wording of the treaty to mean precisely what the In-
dians have always claimed they understood its meaning to be.
The claim of the Indians was presented to the Court of
Claims, which decided the case in favor of the Indians; but on
appeal to the United States Supreme Court the decision of the
lower court was reversed, it would seem, upon the technical
meaning of the word "cede." However, the right of the case was
so apparent that, in its opinion, the court said further that an
equitable claim on behalf of the Indians could be presented to Con-
gress, and this is the object of the appeal of Governor Johnston.
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It would seem that when this claim is finally to be passed
upon by Congressmen who are in no way responsible for mis-
treatment of the Chickasaws by their predecessors, Congress
should remember:
(i) That the warlike and intrepid Chickasaws never shed
the blood of a man who spoke the English tongue, but that un-
ceasingly they fought by his side against all comers, Spanish,
French, and all hostile tribes; and especially remember the blood
they shed and the sacrifices they made to win this continent for
those who speak the English language.
(2) That they were forced at the point of the bayonet to
become exiles from their homes east of the Mississippi, which
they in a great measure won for our race, and that promises and
guarantees were so lavishly given and so faithlessly broken.
(3) The tragic circumstances under which the treaty of
1866 was forced upon them under threats of confiscation and
other dire punishments, and that the small modicum of justice
to the Indians therein contained was only obtained after a long
and seemingly hopeless struggle, through the aid of counsel, at
a cost to them in money of $750,000, poor as they were.
(4) That Congress itself has recognized that the Indians
understood that this land was "leased," and not "ceded"; that
the Supreme and other Courts have said thousands of times that
an Indian treaty must be interpreted as meaning precisely what
the Indians understood it to mean, and not otherwise; and that
the Indians understood it to mean that the land was merely
"leased," and not "ceded."
(5) That while the Supreme Court decided against the
Indians, still the Court of Claims, composed of learned lawyers,
decided in favor of the Indians; and that even the Supreme
Court recognized the propriety of Congress affording the identical
relief now prayed for by the Indians.
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CHAPTER XIV
THE WORLD-WIDE WAR; AND HEREIN OF OTIS W. LEADER
The law of comp)ensation runs like a thread through all
the activities of mankind, and in war as well as in peace, though
we do not often bear this in mind. The late world-wide war, the
most stupendous, and in many respects the most atrocious,
forms no exception to the general law of compensation, at least
in so far as the North American Indian was concerned.
Though a conquered and subject race, still their wills are
unconquered, and it may be added in many cases unconquerable,
and this, coupled with a serenity of mind and temperament
characteristic of the race, together with a courage worthy of
profound admiration, won for them an enviable record not sur-
passed by any race which participated in the great conflict.
We can not deny that there are many things in the history
of the treatment of the Indians by our government which the
Indians have just cause to resent; and likewise there are many
reasons why they should not love the white man and his govern-
ment. Nevertheless, the Indian usually does not lose his poise,
and it became apparent to them that what menaced the white
man menaced them also and their well being; in short, that their
destiny was wrapped up in the destiny of all Americans, and
without hesitation they threw themselves and all they had or
held dear into the great conflict, cheerfully enlisting and going
abroad to strangle autocracy on foreign soil. Those who have
read this sketch attentively will not be surprised at this, for, of
all men, probably the Chickasaws were excelled by none in their
contempt for class distinctions. They had no leaders except
those who won leadership by deeds of daring or otherwise; and
even in council the greatest leader had only his own vote, while
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SERGEANT OTIS W. LEADER
A young Chickasaw who was decorated for distinguished services in action in the
World War, and whose portrait was painted by order of the French
Government as a typical aboriginal American
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out of council he was treated precisely like other members of
the tribe, for they detested sycophancy, and when a distinguished
leader passed from time to eternity, there was no such foolish
law as that his heirs would inherit his honors or title. It did not
take the Indian long to see which was the right side or where his
duty called him, and we are not surprised to read that ten thous-
and Indians were in the service, the most of them enlisting as
volunteers, not waiting for conscription.
Their subscriptions to the various Liberty loans, Victory
loans, etc., approximating $25,000,000, certainly is a good show-
ing in this respect; they likewise organized branches of the Red
Cross, and formed knitting and sewing societies, all these activi-
ties extending to far-away Alaska.
It was wisely ordered that, in entering the service, Indians
must not form separate companies or commands, but must
enlist along with white troops upon an equal footing in all
respects. The unanimous testimony of all Indian agents, school
superintendents, and those in authority throughout the country
is to the eifect that the experience of the Indians, serving side
by side with the whites, was the best possible training that
they could have received. Thus, instances are given where full-
bloods entered the service unable to speak English, but returned
home with a good English vocabulary, while the timid gained
confidence and a soldierly bearing of the highest order. And as
to those who entered the army with a fair education, their
constant contact with better educated whites rendered them
conscious of their deficiencies, generating a worthy emulation for
self-improvement, which was noted in all Indians who saw
active service.
Dlsiliiffiiislied Service of Otis W. Leftder—
At the beginning of this chapter there is reproduced the
photograph of Sergeant Otis W. Leader, whose distinguished
services in the great war aic mentioned by Commissioner Sells
(p. 17) in his 1919 report, though he is therein reported as a
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three-fourths Choctaw, whereas he is in point of fact a Chickasaw.
The error arose owing to the fact that Leader, although bom a
Chickasaw, was enrolled as a Choctaw. Governor Johnston
wrote that he knew the father of Leader, that father and son
were Chickasaws, the son attending a Chickasaw school, and
that it not infrequently happened that a Chickasaw was en-
rolled as a Choctaw and a Choctaw as a Chickasaw, mentioning
an instance where twin brothers were enrolled, one as a Chickasaw
and the other as a Choctaw.
A letter from Leader confirmed the fact that by birth he was
a Chickasaw, and he proved himself a worthy descendant of the
primitive Chickasaws, who were the bravest of the brave; and
a brief account of Leader's services will here be given.
Leader was a resident of Oklahoma when a state of war was
declared, but it so happened that on April 5, 1917, while in Fort
Worth, Texas, in the interest of some parties desiring to purchase
cattle, an idle rumor reached him that he was suspected of being
a German spy, and, stung by the imputation, on April 17, he
applied to the McAlister, Oklahoma, recruiting station for ser-
vice, and was accepted and given two weeks to wind up his
affairs. Reporting to Oklahoma City, May i, he was transferred
to Fort Logan, Colorado, from there to El Paso, Texas, and
assigned to Company H in the famous i6th Infantry regiment*
of the regular army and sailed with that command oveiteas
about June i, 191 7, arriving at St. Nazaire, France, June 25,
and, on the morning of the 26th, the boats glided through the
locks amid the welcoming cheers of the French, for the arrival
of thesie, the first American troops, was hailed as a very bene-
diction from heaven, bringing renewed hope of victory which
had been so long deferred as to make the heart sick. The other
regiments to ehare this distinction with the Sixteenth were the
Eighteenth, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-eighth. With bands
playing and colors flying, the hardened veterans of the famous
Sixteenth first encamped on French soil, and among these
hardened veterans was the Chickasaw lad fresh and raw from the
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plains of Oklahoma. How lonely he must have felt amid so many
veterans of another race, three thousand miles across the sea
and in a foreign land; and all these changes had taken place
within the short space of two months and three weeks; and yet
we will see that this Indian lad was soon to prove in valor,
course, and resourcefulness the equal of any of the vast hosts
that landed on foreign soil to challenge autocracy and to offer
their lives that freedom might not perish among men
In due course the regiment marched to its first encampment
and then came rain and mud, but neither storm or sunshine
interfered in any way with the hard discipline that was to follow
at once to train these first Americans for trench warfare, under
the tutels^e of French officers who for three years had endured
all its horrors. Then came also the trip to Paris, and the second
battalion of the Sixteenth was there when the historic words were
uttered by Pershing, "Lafayette, we are here!"
It so happened, or was so ordained, that these first American
troops arrived in Paris on July 3, and, on the glorious fourth
Paris threw off for the time being her weeds of mourning, and
amid a strange intermingling of tears and laughter, shouts of
joy and songs and music that stirred the souls of men, they
marched through the streets of Paris. The parade was reviewed
by President Poincare and Marshal Joffre, and, as the troops
passed, the people exclaimed, "What giants they are!" but the
Americans marched stolidly along, looking neither to the right or
the left; and it was said that there was a faraway look in their
eyes, as though a premonition had crept into their consciousness
that a in few short days hundreds of this famous regiment would
be cold in death, while other hundreds, torn by shot and shell,
would be left as mere human wrecks to spend the remainder of
their days in pain and anguish, many of them languishing for
days and years, and languishing, to die.
* The fair women of France were there with tears and kisses,
and with their elegant lace handkerchiefs they wiped the sweat
and the grime from the bronzed brows of these men, who, for-
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saking their peaceful homes in far-away America, had crossed
the seas to give their lives that France and the world might be
free.
Then came the hard training at Gondrecourt, soon to be
followed on November 3, 1917, by the Bathlemont raid, care-
fully planned by the Germans, who cherished the hope that by
this first blow at the Americans, German prowess would so
triumph as to cow and break the spirit of the invading hosts,
but destiny and valor ruled otherwise.
It was about ten o'clock at night when the second battalion
of the Sixteenth relieved the French along the rim of a hill that
butted out toward the Rhine — Marne Canal; and this, their
first tour of duty in the trenches, was in what was apparently a
quiet sector, and the stillness of the desert brooded over the
scene.
But the Huns, ever alert, succeeded through traitorous
signals from Bathlemont, in learning of the very hour when the
Americans relieved the French; and now the day {der tag) had
come to throw the German veterans, with three years' training
in trench warfare, upon the unsuspecting and comparatively
raw American troops, and wipe them out of existence.
About three o'clock in the morning of November 3, 1917,
hell's warfare suddenly broke loose; No Man's Land and the
heavens were illumined by a blinding flare, while ton upon ton
of Krupp shells from Krupp artillery swept the American sector,
accompanied by the rattle of machine guns. The wily Hun had
cut the wires, so that no call for relief could be sent to the Ameri-
can artillery. The heavy German shells ripped up the American
trenches, while torpedoes tore away the wire barricade for the
onrush of the Germans, and some two hundred and fifty of the
raiders, long drilled and trained for this very moment, rushed
upon the Americans, and at last Americans were at grips with
the Germans, and with the result that the world was sooA to
know that the Germans had met their destiny in the unconquer-
able freemen of America. When daylight came, it was seen that
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a sergeant and ten of his men had been taken by the Germans,
that five were wounded, and that Corporal James B. Gresham,
Privates Thomas Enright and Merle D. Hay, all of Company F,
were lying in the muddy trenches, cold in death, the first Ameri-
cans to make the supreme sacrifice for America and the world.
The Chickasaw lad, Leader, was there in the strife with one of
the two machine gun crews supporting the left flank of Company
F, upon which the attack was made; and while this was a minor
action, in so far as the casualties were concerned, still it stirred
all America, and, it may be added, Europe as well.
At the second battle of the Mame, Leader was a corporal
in charge of one of the two machine gun crews, and while ad-
vancing in the face of the enemy, his entire gun crew and gun
were blown off the face of the earth, he alone surviving.
Recovering from shell shock. Leader seized a rifle and ad-
vanced under fire with the infantry, being lost three days from
his company, and while the infantry had the attention of the
Germans, Leader crawled through an oatfield, down a small
branch or ditch, and in this manner worked his way in behind
the enemy and was within sixty feet of them before discovered,
and having them covered with an automatic rifle, captured two
machine guns and eighteen prisoners.
This occurred on July 28, 1918, the third day out, in the
second battle of the Marne, at the Aisne-Marne sector.
The strategy of the young Chickasaw had worked like a
charm. The American infantry was advancing on the crews of
these machine guns under a withering fire. When the Germans
suddenly discovered the young Indian in the rear, with his
automatic rifle leveled on them, they naturally supposed that he
had ample reinforcements at hand, and losing their nerve, they
likewise lost the day, surrendering unconditionally.
Who doubts that the courage, the genius for strategy, and
the inspiration which enabled this young Chickasaw to outwit
and overcome the trained and hardened Prussian Guards in the
most colossal war in the annals of the world, was inherited by
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him from his ancient progenitors, who came near destroying
De Soto and his army in 1 541? The battle of Soissons was the
great counter-offensive of the Allies, and the famous Sixteenth
Regiment was in the midst of the battle, and when relieved on
the fifth day, the casualties for the whole regiment were, killed,
204; wounded, 940; missing, 590; total 1,734, and still they
fought on to the last.
The chaplain of the regiment (name not given) has this to
say (p. 10) in the story of the Sixteenth.
'The story of the regiment involves at every turn the story
of that larger military unit of which it is a part, the Division.
The history of the First Division in France has not yet been
written, and the world at large has yet to learn of its heroic
achievements. Let it be here recorded that the Sixteenth is
proud, above all else, because it belongs to the invincible First, —
first to arrive in France; first in sector; first to fire a shot at the
Germans; first to attack; first to conduct a raid; first to be raided;
first to capture prisoners; first to inflict casualties; first to shed its
blood; first in the number of casualties suffered; first to be cited
in general orders; first in the number of division, corps and
army commanders and general staff officers produced from its
personnel."
This was the command under which the fate of the Chicka-
saw leid was thrown by the fortunes of war, and he proved him-
self a worthy member of that famous regiment.
In conclusion it may be said that Leader fought and was
wounded and gassed at Cantigny, May 28, 1918; fought at
Soissons, Chateau-Thierry, July 18, 1918; fought in St. Mihiel
Salient, September 12, 1918; fought in the Argonne Forest,
October i, 1918, where he was again wounded and gassed; was
cited for distinguished service, and was awarded the distinguished
service cross.
It is also of interest to note that this young Chickasaw was
selected by the French government as a model aboriginal Ameri-
can, and the French artist De Warreux painted his portrait,
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which now graces the art museum in Paris, and that his portrait
likewise hangs in the capital city of Oklahoma.
Was not the selection of the Chickasaw lad, Otis W. Leader,
by the great French republic to have his portrait painted as a
typical aboriginal warrior a strange fortune, a strange destiny?
Ten thousand American Indians, representing every tribe from
the warm waters of the Rio Grande to the frozen seas upon the
far-away shores of the Arctic Ocean, were in France, battling side
by side with French soldiers for the freedom of mankind. A
worthy inspiration prompted the French nation, as a mark of its
appreciation, to select one from the ten thousand, whose portrait
should grace their hall of fame as a silent testimonial of the
nation's eidministration and gratitude for the courage, intrepidity,
and nobility of character which prompted these Indians to for-
sake their far-away homes and offer their lives for French freedom
upon French soil.
Was it a strange fortune, or are we justified in believing that
destiny and an overruling Providence so ordered it, that of all
the Indians in France a Chickasaw Indian whose ancestors were
the inveterate foes of the French, and rescued from their dominion
that vast domain of our country east of the Mississippi, should
be selected as one out of ten thousand?
Whatever may be the conclusion of the casuist or philosopher
with respect to this matter, I do not think we should be surprised
to learn that at the first call of their country, present day Chicka-
saws promptly answered that call, as Piomingo and his Chicka-
saws promptly answered the call of George Washington, and as
their more remote ancestors answered the call of Englishmen
before the Revolutionary War; for fidelity was always one of the
noble traits of their character, and they were ever found side by
side with English-speaking men, wherever they were called by
the fortunes of war or peace.
The uniform testimony of all is that Leader is quite modest
and retiring in his temperament and disposition, and it may be
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added that at the end of the war he returned to the farm near
Gerty, Oklahoma, where on April 30, 1920, he was married to
Miss Myrtle Smith, of Oklahoma city.
In giving the story of Leader it should be noted that there
were many other young Chickasaws who saw service abroad,
many being wounded and gassed, while still others gave their
lives in defense of their country, but had I all the facts, space
would forbid an extensive account thereof However we may
take the story of Leader's distinguished services as convincing
evidence that the blood of the unconquerable spirit and in-
domitable will of the primitive Chickasaw still courses through
the veins and animates the souls of our modem Chickasaw
citizens of Oklahoma and of the United States of America. Nor
should it be supposed that the Chickasaws formed an exception,
or that other Indians were less ready to offer their all upon the
altar of their country in defense of the freedom of mankind.
In this connection I will quote from Commissioner Sells
(pp. 17 and 18) in his 1919 report, omitting his reference to
Leader, where he says:
** Among those who won the croix de guerre was volunteer
John Harper, a full-blood Uncompahgre Ute, of which details are
lacking at this time; Chester Armstrong Fourbear, a full-blood
Sioux of South Dakota, cited for bravery in swift running as a
messenger at Bellicourt; Ordnance Sgt. James M. Gordon of
Wisconsin, cited for rescuing while under shell-fire a second
lieutenant of the French army who was wounded while on an
inspection tour; Nicholas E. Brown, a full-blood Choctaw, who
when killed was a corporal in the I42d Infantry, composed largely
of Oklahoma Indians, the honor being posthumously awarded;
Marty Beaver, a full-blood Creek, on the military records as
Bob Carr, an orphan boy who enlisted in Company F, 1426
Infantry, Thirty-sixth Division, details at present lacking.
''Alfred G. Bailey, a Cherokee of Oklahoma, had been in
regular service with General Pershing in Mexico. He was a
sergeant when killed in action in France and was awarded the
distinguished service cross for creeping into the enemy's lines
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alone far in eidvance of his regiment, where, unaided, he killed
two German machine gunners and captured a third with his gun,
"Walter G. Sevalia, of Brule, Wis., a corporal in Company
F, Seventh Engineers, was cited for extraordinary heroism in
action near Breuilles, France, in November, 1918. He swam
the Meuse under terrific fire, with a cable for a pontoon bridge,
and later carried another cable over the Est Canal and across
an open field covered by enemy guns. At this time he was
wounded, but returned, bearing a message of great importance.
"Probably no more brilliant instance is recorded than that
furnished by Private Joseph Oklahombi, a full-blood Choctaw,
of Company D, 141st Infantry, whose home is at Bismark,
Oklahoma, and who received the croix de guerre under the order
of Marshal Petain, commander-in-chief of the French armies
of the east. A translation of the order follows:
" 'Under a violent barrage, dashed to the attack of an enemy
position, covering about 210 yards through barbed-wire entangle-
ments. He rushed on machine-gun nests, capturing 171 prisoners.
He stormed a strongly held position containing more than fifty
guns, and a number of trench mortars. Turned the captured
guns on the enemy, and held the position for four days, in spite
of a constant barrage of large projectiles and of gas shells.
Crossed No Man's Lapd many times to get information con-
cerning the enemy, and to assist his wounded comrades!*
"Such deeds of highest service to unborn generations are a
part of the glorious conclusion wrought by American arms and
will out-live all memorial bronze and marble, for they will inspire
the song and story of immortal tradition, and though recorded
history may fail, these things that have been written into the
psychology of human freedom and justice will endure."
The last sentence quoted from the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs is indeed eloquent, and breathes a noble spirit of patrio-
tism not often to be found in the usually prosaic official report
to the head of one of the great departments at Washington.
It is believed, however, that it will meet a hearty response
in the heart of every patriot who may read this report.
Paradoxical as it may seem, when this country called on
the North American Indians to leave their homes and offer their
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lives upon the altar of this country, upon foreign soil, many of
these Indians were not citizens of the United States, whose flag
they were called to defend, although their ancestors occupied
and owned this country for ages before Columbus set sail in 1492,
which eventuated in the discovery of a new world.
The laws of the white man denied to them this citizenship.
Hon. Charles D. Carter has labored greatly in this matter,
and did succeed in passing a bill through the House making
nearly all the Indians citizens, but this bill was defeated
in the Senate.
On June 5, 1919, Honorable Homer P. Snyder, Chairman
of the Committee on Indian Affairs in the House of Representa-
tives, introduced a bill granting citizenship to certain Indians,
and this bill became a law on November 6, 1919. This act pro-
vides that every American Indian who served in the military or
Naval establishments of the United States, and who has received
an honorable discharge, is now a citizen of the United States,
if he so desires.
This was a tardy though well deserved act of justice.
This citizenship was not given, holvever, until the spirits
of some of these Indian lads were standing guard upon the banks
of the Meuse and the Mame, beneath the silent moon; and while
they fell upon the field of battle with their faces to the east, their
hearts were at home in the west upon the open plains of far-
away America.
Of them it may be said in the words of Theodore O'Hara, a
soldier of the South,
"On fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spreeid.
But glory guards, with solemn round.
The bivouac of the dead."
No storied urn or sculptured stone tells us of the valor, the
patriotism, and the deeds of daring of the aborigines of America,
and about all that there now remains in our country to remind
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us of this noble people are a few soft and beautiful Indian names,
scattered here and there, especially the names of rivers and streams
This is especially so in the ancient homes of the Chickasaws
east of the Mississippi, where nearly all the rivers and streams
bear Chickasaw names. Each of these, as it flows silently ever
onward towards the ocean, the mother ol all waters, whispers
softly of the intrepid and unconquerable warriors who once
sported upon its waves, and who were as much at home upon the
bosom of the deep as upon the land. Sitting besides these streams,
if we but give leave to our memories to wander to the days when
the Chickasaws were the unchallenged overlords of their vast
domains, like the sweet memory of a dream, they whisper to us
of their deeds of daring and the nobility of their characters.
But are not the Chickasaws and all of the North American
Indians entitled to something more than beautiful dreams?
Is the day not near at hand, is it not here now, when these
beautiful tributes of praise and patriotism, so eloquently por-
trayed by the Indian Commissioner, should be translated into
belated acts of justice, acts of a material character, and in that
way repair, as far as that can be done, the many injustices of
the past?
We may at least indulge the hope that as a new congress
succeeds a new congress in the coming years, with the bright
light of truth shining upon the national Indian problem, a better
and a brighter day will dawn for the Chickasaws, as well as for
all other North American Indians.
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INDEX
Abel, Annie H., quoted 403, 406, 506
Aclda —
BatUe of 255
Country adjacent described. 256
Adair, James —
His book 6
Prowess of Chickasaws on
water 273
Quoted 201, 202, 204, 207, 208, 220
His prophecy fulfilled 278
Adultery, how punished 187
Agee, G. W., mentioned 450
Agriculture, progress in South 378
Alaska, Indian —
Population of 490
Industries of 402,493
Allen, "Private" John, men-
tioned 465
Allotments, laws as to 468
Alsobrook, W. W., mentioned. . 15
Altitude, Chickasaw coimtry ,62, 63
Of Memphis 104
Alvord and Bidgood, their
book and researches 234
Amusements of Chickasaws. . 205
Appearance of Chickasaws
174, 175, 176
Armstrong, Henry Guion,
killed in world-wide war . . 467
Atlantis, the 4
Azores, the 4
Bancroft, George —
On place where Mississippi
was discovered 54
Home of Chickasaws 93
Estimate of 153
Chickasaws on rivers 274
Barton, R. M., address De Soto
Memorial 162-165
Bartram, William —
His character and writings. 171
Quoted 175,179,181,202,211-214
Batts and Pallam explora-
tions 234
Bayou Gayoso, described, fish
in 109
Bethel Place, residence of P.
C.Bethel 117
Biedma, Hernandez de —
His narrative and character. 80
Quoted at large 83,84
Bienville, Jean Baptiste Le-
moyne, Sieur de —
Sketch of 239
Makes war on Chickasaws
249,250
His fort described 256
Second war with Chicka-
saws 264,265
Letter of resignation 268
Blocker, Milton, mentioned. . 113
Blount, Gov. W., at Nashville,
conference 341
Bonaparte, Charles J., special
report as to abuses in In-
dian country 438
Bond, Reford —
Quoted as to title of Chicka-
saws 398
Attorney for Chickasaws . . 488
As to English, spoken by
Chickasaws 503
Bossu, Jean Bernard, on
Chickasaws 271
Bourne, Edward G., discov-
eries of De Soto 34, 36
Bradley, Judge J. P., opinion
in Cherokee Tobacco Case 450
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I nd
e X
Brown, John, claims Chicka-
saw land near Savannah. . 353
Brown's Hill named for Dr.
R. F. Brown 117
Brul^, Etienne, discoveries of
140,141
Bryce, James, on Southern
people 384
Buckingham, Miles S., men-
tioned 110
Burke, Hon. Charles H.—
His address in Congress
exposing professional
guardians 442
New Indian commissioner. 442
Carnes, Gen. Sam. T., men-
tioned 458,460
Carter, Charles D.—
Quoted on Chickasaw tra-
ditions 22,23
Served with distinction 420, 520
Chairman Sequoyah memo-
rial 366
Former Secretary of Chicka-
saws 420
Mentioned 477
Catfish Bay 109
Catron, Chief Justice John,
on right of title by dis-
covery 293
Cemetery, ancient, at Pon-
totoc 399
Centenary of Memphis —
Executive Committee 156
Of Chickasaw triumphs 394
Chalmers, Judge H. H. —
Mentioned 168
General J. R., mentioned ... 168
Chambers, Major Reed M.,
noted aviator in world-
wide war 467
Chandler, Walter C, men-
tioned 463
Character —
Private, of Chickasaws 179
What we might learn there-
from 223
Children, treatment of. . 193-196
Chautauqua, Lake of, empties
into Mississippi 140
Cherokees —
Claim lands of Chickasaws
303,328,329
Number of warriors 306
'Branch of Iroquois 358
Chesterton, G. K., on charac-
ter of early Virginians. . . 373
Chickasaws —
Origin of 14
Traditions as to origin of . 16, 17
Separation from Choctawsl9, 20
Dawn of history for 29
Reached by De Soto 34
The original 36
Who and what they were ... 37
Battles with De Soto 40
Receive De Soto 41
Cause of battle with De Soto 48
Chiefs of, in 1540 40
Challenge of Spaniards to
single combat 50
Trails of 57-60
Endurance in running 60
Their home country 92
Long trail to the Mississippi 94
Their intermediate trail 94
Their short-cut trail 95
Water route to Great Lakes
140,142
Home life of 170
Their appearance 174-176
Private character 179, 180
Their language 181-183
Dwelling houses 183
Names of towns 185
Courtship and marriage 186, 187
Marital relations 187-189
Names of 192,193
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Chickasaws — Continued
Treatment of children. .198-195
Food given to world 195-197
What they ate 20Q-203
Their medicine 204
Amusements 205
As hunters 205, 206
Their endurance 206
Their government 208-212
Their religion 213-219
Making war 220
Mound builders 221-223
What we might learn from
them 22^227
Eloquence 227-229
History from De Soto until
first treaty with United
States 232 and following
Their country in 1682 238
Meet Iberville and Bien-
viUe 239
Population of 242
Friends of English 243
Why hostile to French 244
Cause of war with French . 247
Defeat D'Artaguette. . . .251-254
Defeat Bienville 255-263
Second war with Bienville
264^268
War with Vaudreuil 269, 270
Prowess on Mississippi Riv-
er 271
Defied the French 276
First council with English . . 277
Historic points in Chicka-
saw country and map of
same »5-291
Defeat Shawnees 302
Country of, described by
RogeiB 304,305
Treaties with United States
805-325
Claim country near Savan-
nah 353
Story since 1832 394
Chickasaws — Continued
Centenary of triumphs. .394,395
Exiled in 1836 394
Removal west 396
Ptu-chase new home 397
In Civil War 402
Treaty with Confederacy.. 406
Desolations of Civil War. . . 408
Clung to South 411
Treaty of 1866 412-415
Struggle for racial ptu-ity . . . 415
Constitutions and laws of,
419,420
Dawes Agreement 420, 421
All treaties with, abrogated
421-424
Protest against dissolution
of tribal government . . 430
Despoiled of land 431-433
In the twentieth century,
characteristics of 455r
Left impress on people who
succeeded them 455
Equitable claims 473
Made citizens 474
Present population of. . .481, 482
Unsold property 484-487
Bovurd for indigent suggest-
ed 486
Present officials 488
School children 501-504
Present religion 505-507
Claim vs. United States507-509
In world-wide war 511-519
Appeal in their behalf, for
justice 521
Rolls padded by white per-
jury 496
Chickasaw Bluffs-
Fourth described 104
Beauty of 110, 111
Country opposite 133
The four located 237
Earliest settlers 353
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Chickasaw Guards —
Short sketch of 466
Naming 458
First service 459
First defeat of 460
Successful tours 460
Rank and file of 460
In world-wide war 462
Casualties among 467
Honors in great war 464
Chidester, Walter, mentioned . 7
Chisca village described by
Garcilaso 125
House of cacique on high
mound 126
Cacique or chief spoken of,
Chisca 126
Chisca, village in East Ten-
nessee 32
Choate, Joseph H., quoted. . . 445
Choctaws —
Cushman among 14
Origin of 17-27
As Mound Builders 24
Could not swim 143
War with Chickasaws 244
Number of warriors 304
Join French against Chick-
asaws 250, 260, 266
Tom by dissensions 270
Favor French 275
D'Tocqueville on removal . . 397
Citizenship —
Conferred on certain In-
dians 468
Conferred on Chickasaws . . 475
Participants in world-wide
war made citizens 520
Civil War—
Chickasaws in 402
Chickasaws sought by South 403
Neglected by North 404
Desolation of 409
Claiborne, J. F. H.—
Admiration for Chickasaws . 51
On cause of hostility of
Chickasaws to French . 244
Clapp, W. L., mentioned 462
Clark, Champ, on Sequoyah . . 366
Colbert, Frank O., Chickasaw
artist 477
Colbert, Levi, high character
of 317
Colbert, William, speech for
United States 352
Career of 411
Columbus —
Voyage of discovery 1
Claims by right of discovery 2
Congress sets aside all trea-
ties 422
Constitution and laws of
Chickasaws 420
Cotton crop, value of 379
Cotton Gin Port, described .. . 255
Courtship and marriage. . . 186, 187
Crawford, West J., mentioned 466
Creeks —
Number of warriors 306
Defeated by Chickasaws — 347
Crum, C. L.—
On country from Holly
Springs to New Albany 76
To erect De Soto marker 160
Map of historic points . . . 285, 289
Cummins, Holmes, men-
tioned 507
Curd, C. H., trip with 71
Cruse, Gov. Lee, second gov-
ernor 477
Cushman —
His book 15
Quoted 16, 19, 114, 207, 221
Cypress —
Brakes, described 68
Bald, described 68
Lone sentinel 69
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D'Artaguette, Chevalier, sig-
nal defeat 251
Davant, James S., Jr., com-
mended 466
Dawes, agreement 420
Dawes commission report
422-424
Dr. Barrows on 431
Criticized 424r431
Illogical argument vs. own-
ership in common 434
Indians defrauded by 468
De L'lsle—
His map' 97
Further considered 154
De Soto, Hernando —
Early life 29
Lands in Florida 31
Reaches Chickasaws 35
Battles with Chickasaws ... 40
How received by Chick-
asaws 41
Cause of battles 48
Narratives quoted and com-
pared 79
Route to the Mississippi
River 92
At Chickasaw Bluffs 104
Camps near a river bank... 118
Crosses the Mississippi 131
At the Mississippi 129
Lake in Minnesota named
for 140,168
Fish taken where Mississip-
pi was discovered 145
Memorial at Memphis erect-
ed 156,157
Tomb of, by Walter Malone. 162
Honored by Minnesota and
Mississippi 168
Had no cannon 257
De Tocqueville, Alexis —
Mentioned 55
On slavery in the South. ... 383
On removal of Choctaws 397
Discovery, right of title by . . . 293
Douglass, G. M., mentioned . . 131
Duncan, R. P., captain of
Chickasaw Guards 458
Du Pratz, M. LeParge,
describes primeval
beauty of Memphis Ill
Quoted 245,246
Eastman, Charles A. —
Quoted 436
His book and works 437
Edmonds, Richard H.—
Gives statistics on Southern
crops and industries 380
Editorial on Southern peo-
ple 392
Ellis, Mary L. M., mentioned . 113
Eloquence of Indians
228-230,327,328,329
Elvas, Gentleman of —
His character and narrative 79
Quoted at large 81
Endtu-ance of Chickasaws 206
English—
Chickasaws, friends of 244
Gain control of South 277
First council with Chicka-
saws 278
First in Mississippi basin
explorations 235
Eskimos —
Appearance and origin of . . . 7
Number in Alaska 494
Farley, John W.—
His monograph 386
Statistics and politics 386
His views as to negro prob-
lem 386
Ferguson, Kenneth, early set-
tler 353
Fish taken by De Soto 145
Five Civilized Tribes —
Defined 370
Driven from home 425
Their character 427
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Fontaine, Captain J. D., men-
tioned 98
Food siven to world by In-
dians, of Chickasaws . . 115, 201
Forrest, N. B., mentioned 169
Foster, George E., quoted. 301, 328
Freedmen, Chickasaws refuse
to adopt 416
French —
Cause of hostility of Chick-
asaws to 255
Extirpate Natchez 246
Cause of war with Chicka-
saws 248
French Nancy, adopted by
Chickasaws 255
Gailor, Bishop Thomas F., on
De Soto memorial 157
Gaines, J. Paul-
Mentioned 106
Reproduces Lusher 's map. . 148
Reproduces Tindall's map. . 257
Drawn map of historic
points in Chickasaw
country 286
Garcilaso de la Vega —
His character and narrative
79,122
Quoted 50,123-125
Gayoso, Bayou —
Described 109
Fish in 110
Gayoso, Manuel De Lemos —
Writes to Piomingo 345
Conference with Piomingo. 348
His character 346
Pen picture of 349
Gentes, how Chickasaws were
divided into 190
Gist, George, father of Sequo-
yah 358
Goodwin, Robert B., trans-
lates Richlet's Florida 125
Gordon, Gen. George W. —
Member Chickasaw Guards 458
Mentioned 462
Government of Chickasaws... 209
Grafters preying on Indians. . 439
Grant, Jesse R., gives views of
Gen. Grant 393
Grant, U. S., on Southern peo-
ple 392
Guardians —
Professional 440
How they robbed Indian
orphans 440
Statistics as to frauds of 443
Guion, Major Isaac,at Chicka-
saw Blufifs 351
Haiti, fate under negro rule . . . 375
Halbert, H. S., quoted as to
smaller tribes 275
Hamilton, Peter H., an ex-
cellent authority, quoted. 239
Hay good, Atticus G., on the
negro problem 385
Helena Trace 97
Henderson, Col. Richard —
Mentioned 303
At Sycamore Shoals 329
Historic points in Chickasaw
country and map thereof. 286
Hog and hominy first meet. . . 47
Holly Springs-
Name of 55
Roads to 96
Holmes, Finley , mentioned . . . 169
Holmes, Francis, mentioned . . 169
Holmes, J. E., address of 166
Holmes, Rev. James, and Em-
bry M 507
Home of Chickasaws 93
Life of 171
Houses of Chickasaws 183
Hunt, Sgt. Jesse, killed in
action 467
Hunters, Chickasaws as 206
530
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Iberville I Pierre Le Moyne,
Sieurde, sketch of 239
Indians —
Origin of 1
Origin of the name 2
Probable origin 7-13
How they preserved histor-
ical events 16
Their rights to the soil 203
Had able defenders 297
Encouraged to make debts. . 311
Interest on money 319
Well understood purposes of
whites 327
Eloquence of 22^230, 234
Helplessness of, shown 424
Wide divergence as to 426
Desire for ownership, in
common 434
Robbed according to law . . 439
Easily cheated 439
Conception as to Jesus 436
Certain, made citizens 468
Progress of 493
In world-wide war 510-519
Participants in world-wide
war made citizens 520
In census of 1920 474
Rolls of, padded by per-
jury of whites 496, 496
Indian Rights Association,
work of 446
Interpretation of language. . 55
Jackson, Andrew, acquire in-
terest in Rice Grant 316
Jackson, Helen Hunt —
Her book, A Century of
Dishonor 453
Japanese, discoveries of 6
Jarratt, J. B., on supposed
De Soto relics 289
Jefferson, Thomas —
On the Indians 228
Endeavors to befriend
Chickasaws 311
On slavery 374
Johnston, Gov. Douglass H.,
argument against adop-
tion of slaves, presents
claims vs. United States 418
Johnstone, George, Governor
of west Florida 277
Jones, L. B., quoted 74
Judiciary sustains congress in
abrogation of all treaties . 446
Justice of its views criti-
cized 446
Opinions of, in the forum of
conscience 451
Kyle, William H., mentioned. 463
Labauve, Felix, mentioned . . . 169
Lafayette, Marquis D. —
Speech of Mushalatubbee to, 229
Lamar, L. Q. C, on the Union 381
Language of Chickasaws 181
Laps, appearance and origin
of 7
La Salle, Chevalier de, expedi-
tion of 236
Latham, Lieut. F. S., killed in
world-wide war 467
Latrobe, John H. B., counsel
for Chickasaws 413
Lawrence, Wm. L.» assistance
of 418
Lawson, John —
His character and writings. 215
Quoted 180
Leader, Otis W.—
Sketch of his distinguished
service in world-wide
war 511
Receives distinguished ser-
vice cross 518
His portrait painted by
French 518
League of Nations will be
eventually adopted 371
531
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Leftwich, Geo. J.—
Indian trails 59
Quoted as to Bienville's fort 256
On Chickasaws 275
Leupp, Francis E.—
As Indian commissioner 423
Quoted 426
Why quoted 429
Lewis, Theodore H.—
Mentioned 79
As historian, etc 86
His conclusions criticized.
86-107
Lincecum, Dr. Gideon —
Among the Choctaws 20
As to Mound Builders 24
Quoted 20,24-26
Literary Digest—
Quoted as to League of Na-
tions 371
Quotes Chesterton 373
Lloyd, HI wood, canoe trip on
Mississippi 141
Logan, speech of 228
Lone Wolf, case of 449
Love, W. A., quoted 507
Lowe, Dr. E. N. , letter of 62
Lusher's map referred to, as
reproduced by J. Paul
Gaines. (See at back of
this book.) 75, 95-98
Paul Gaines 147
Lynchings of negroes in South
and North 391
Magellan, Ferdinand, nearly
circumnavigates the globe 3
Malone, F. J. —
His death mentioned 65
Mentioned 169
On fate of the negro 385
His views of 386
Malone, John T., mentioned. . 169
Malone, Walter—
De Soto at Mississippi 129
Presentation of Hernando
De Soto to King and
Queen 164
Tomb of De Soto 162
Place of birth 169
Manufacturers Record—
Statistics from 380
Editorial on Southern people 392
Maps —
As to their value 97
Of DeLisle 97,154
Lusher's (see at back of this
book).
Of historic points in Missis-
sippi (see at close of
Chapter DC) 286
Marquette, Pierre, quoted as
to Chickasaws 234
Marriage and divorce, pro-
hibited within certain de-
grees 187-191
Marshall, John—
On right of title by dis-
covery 296
Opinion in Cherokee case ... 447
Martin, Francis Xavier,
sketch of 268
Martin, W. P., mentioned 458
McFarland, Judge L. B., men-
tioned 173
Medicine of Chickasaws 204
Memorial, De Soto, inscrip-
tions 158
Memphis —
DuPratz describes the beau-
ty of primeval site of . . . 104
De Soto discovers Mississip-
pi River on site of 116-133
Fort Prudhomme not site of 239
Centenary of 156
Birth of 314
532
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Minnesota names lake for
DcSoto 168
Missionaries, their lives of de-
votion to the service of
the Indians 605
Mississippi names county
for De Soto 168,169
Negro population decreased 380
Historic points in and map
of same 286
Mississippi River —
Importance of discovery — 140
Described 140-143
Number of iBsh taken 145
Prowess of Chickasaws on . . 272
Mitla, ruins of 16
Mizon, Miss Ada, article of. . 152
Mizell, William, early settler. 353
Mobile, founded by Iberville
and Bienville 150
Montaigne, Michael De, his
opinions of Indians 230
Moorehead, Warren K., his
work and pamphlet
quoted ..?... 441
Morgan, J. B., mentioned 169
Moscoso, Luis de, master of
the camp 49
Mott, M. L., report of 445
Mounds (Indian) —
Where Mississippi discover-
ed 126
Near Indian villages 136
Mound Builders —
Indians were 24
Chickasaws as 221
Mound City, Arkansas, coun-
try adjacent described 100
Murray, William H.—
Mentioned 447
Quoted 427
President Const. Con 477
Murrow, Rev. J. S.—
His services and pamphlet . . 439
Quoted 440
Mushalatubbee, speech of, to
Lafayette 230
Names of Chickasaw towns . . 185
Of children 192
Natchez —
The furthest advanced 12
Cause of extirpation 246
Not due to Chickasaws 246
Nashville —
Conference in 1792 57, 340
Robertson, father of 306
National Geographic Maga-
zine, quoted from on con-
ditions in Haiti 377
Needham, Thomas, explora-
tions of 235
Negro —
Rule in the South over-
thrown 374
Incapacity to rule shown in
Haiti 375
Sentiments of South to-
ward 386
Decreasing in population
in census of 1920 385-389
New Orleans, founded by
Bienville 239
Nome, Alaska, visit to 8
Nonconnah, Creek —
And its bottom described . 65, 105
A small river 120
Oconostota, speech of, to Hen-
derson, etc 330
Oglethorpe, James —
Founds Georgia 300
League with Chickasaws ... 39
Oklahoma, name of probably
a Chickasaw word 479
Origin of Indians 1, 14-27
Origin of Chickasaws 14^27
Origin of Muskhogeans 27
533
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Orphans of Indians, how
robbed by law 440
Ortiz, Juan, captivity 31
Overton, John —
Buys rice grant 316
Founder of Memphis 316
Owen, Robert L., on Sequoyah 366
Ownership in common, ar-
gument for 434
Parkman, Francis, error as to
English explorations 235
Pashby, C. C, letter of 62
Paustoobee, young Chickasaw
chief, gives religious views 216
Perrier, M., extirpates the
Natchez 247
Peters, Col. Isaac F., men-
tioned 462
Phelan, James —
Quoted on century of dis-
honor 329
Quotes speech of Oconosto-
ta 330
Pickett, Albert J.—
His wri tings and character . . 173
Quoted 178,186,206
His tribute to Chickasaws . . 282
Pigeons, wild, described 71
Pigeon Roost Creek 75
Pigeon Roost Road, described 65
Pigeon Roost and Chulahoma
Turnpike 100
Pike, Albert-
Treaty by 407
His character 408
Letter to Holmes 410
Piomingo —
Describes boundaries of
Chickasaws 57
Sketch of 331
Could not read 332
Meaning of name 332
Birth and death 333
Piomingo — Continued
First heard of 333
Friend of Robertson 337
Aids St. Clair and Wayne
338-344
Washington's letter 340
Nashville conference 340
Describes Chickasaw coun-
try 342
Marked for assassination . . . 344
Conference with Gayoso . . . 348
Last appearance 351
Speaks for United States.. 352
Family of 354
Honored 355
Street named for 357
Pontotoc—
City of 05
Ancient cemetery 400
Pontotoc, county of W
Pontotoc Ridge described. . . .59-03
Pope gives worlds to Spain
and Portugal 394
Poplar Ridge 107
Population —
Of primitive Chickasaws 243, 477
Of Choctaws 243
Of Creeks 243
Of Cherokees and others. ... 243
Present Indian 481
Present Chickasaw 482
Present Indian 488
Porter, James D., article by . . 115
Prudhomme Fort site not
that of Memphis 236
Quizquiz —
Location 116
Near Mississippi River 116
De Soto captures 118
Rainfall in Chickasaw coun-
try 61
Ranjel, Rodrigo —
Character and narrative. ... 81
Quoted at large 85
634
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Ransom, Capt. Joe R. T.—
Mentioned 464
Decorated for bravery in
action 467
Rawlings, J. J., character and
quoted 103
Religion —
Of Chickasaws 213-215
Embrace Christian 505
Reynolds, Benj., remembered
by Chickasaws 325
Riano, Juan, embassador men-
tioned 166
Rice and Ramsey Grants on
Chickasaw Blufif 315
Robertson, James —
League with Chickasaws — 39
Founder of Nashville 306
Died among Chickasaws 346
Rogers, Major Robert, on
Chickasaws 304
Romans, Bernard —
Visits Chickasaws 182
Quoted 185
Roosevelt, President —
Appoints special inspectors
for Indian country 439
Quoted 182
Ross, W. T., quoted as to name,
etc., of Holly Springs 55
Rowland, Dr. Dunbar —
On where Mississippi was
discovered 52
Shifts his defense as to
topography and geology 55
Conclusions questioned 107
Salt licks and value 112
Game at 114
Prized by Chickasaws 115
Schools, Chickasaw children
in 502
Sells, Hon. Cato—
Policy as Indian commis-
sioner 470
Quoted 470,471
Policy discussed 471
Commended 501
On service of Indians in
world-wide war 619
Sequoyah —
Statue in Statuary Hall 299
Sketch of 358
Mother of 369
Devoted mother 360
Skilled silversmith 361
Wife of 362
Invents syllabic alphabet. . . 362
Philosophy of invention 364
Alphabet described 364
Teaches little daughter 365
In the Hall of Fame 366
Last days of 367
Bom in Tennessee 360-366
Proposed state of 430, 476
Shands,G.D., mentioned 169
Shawnees, thrust by Chicka-
saws from Tennessee . . . 302
Shea, John Gilmary —
Quoted 152
Quotes Marquette 234
Simon, the Brave, account of
his bravery 262
Slavery —
Jefferson on 374
Chickasaws refuse to adopt
slaves 416
Sniffen, M. K., mentioned .... 446
South, the, and intellectual
men 368
Five Civilized Tribes 370
Southern men's labors in for-
mation of United States 370
Parts taken by Jefferson,
Washington, Madison,
Monroe, Marshall, Wil-
son 370
535
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e X
South, the, and Intellectual
men — Continued
After abolition of slavery . . . 374
Example of Haiti 375
After emancipation, pros-
perity of 379
Attitude towards union 381
Grant, U. S., on people of,
in census of 1020 392
Speckled Snake, speech to
Jackson 328
Story, Joseph, dissents in fa-
vor of Indians 299
Stratton. B. M., as to wild
pigeons 74
Stuart, Rev. T. C, centenary
of labors for Chickasaws. 400
Swaney, W. B.—
OnMarshall 372
Safeguards of liberty, on
Jefiferson 374
Swanton, John R. —
On Adair 5
Mentioned 139
Tate, Lieut. Thomas S., killed
in world-wide war 467
Taylor, Gen. Arthur R.—
Mentioned 304
His history of Chickasaw
Guards 467
Mentioned 464
Tindall, George Gaines, map
reproduced 257
Tishomingo, annuity provid-
ed,... 320
County, etc., named for. . . 321
Topography —
Of Chickasaw country 62
Of Chickasaw Bluff 104
Trace of Chickasaws —
Superiority of 57
To Natchez ceded to United
SUtes 59
Trace of Chickasaws— Con-
tinued
To Chickasaw Bluff 59
Short cut 65-96
From Holly Springs to New
Albany 76
Indian traces everywhere
over country 58
Helena, on Lusher's map 97
Trails, see Trace.
Treaties—
The first treaties with the
Chickasaws 292-306
Title by discovery 293
First or unofficial, with
Chickasaws 301
Of 1786 307
Of 1801 306
Ceding Natchez trail 308
Of 1805 310
Of 1816 313
Preceding birth of Memphis 314
Heart breaking, of 1832-34.
United States agrees
never to disturb Chick-
asaws in new home 318
Of Washington, 1852 399
Of Washington. 1855 401
Not creditable 401
Treaty with Confederacy .. . 407
Of 1866 413
Congress set aside all, abro-
gation of in the forum
of conscience 451
Claim of Chickasaws vs.
United States under
treaty of 1866 508
Tuggle, George R., mentioned 118
Turley, Thomas B., mentioned 466
Turner, Dr. B. F.—
Address of dedication of
De Soto memorial 150
Upham, Warren, describes
Lake Hernando De Soto.. 168
686
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Vance, Re. H., mentioned 169
Vaudreuil, Marquis De, war
with Chickasaws 270
Vikings, discoveries of 6
Walker, Francis A., quoted on
white intruders 431
War-
How made by Chickasaws . . 220
World-wide, Indians in 510
Chickasaws in 512
First Americans killed 514
Wardle, Ueut. H. Allen, cap-
tured in world-wide war . . 467
Washington, Booker, a wise
counsellor 385
Washington, George —
Letter to Piomingo 340
Confirms boundaries of
Chickasaw country 344
Lionizes Piomingo 345
Talks to Chickasaws 345
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, aided
by the Chickasaws 344
Wesley, Rev. John, interview
with Chickasaw Chief.... 216
Westbrook, J. H. P., men-
tioned 169
Wheatley, Seth, mentioned ... 110
White, Chief Justice E. D.,
appointed 382
White, T. W., mentioned 169
Winchester, James —
One of proprietors of Mem-
phis 316
Locates state line 316
Winsor, Justin, misquoted.. 152
Winston, E. T.—
On hog and hominy 47
De Soto's route 99
Mentioned 400
Furnishes data for map of
historic points in Chick-
asaw country 286
Wirt, William, ably defends
Indians 297
Wolf River described 105
Wolf's Friend-
Character 400
Friend of Spaniards 352
Wood, Abraham, early explo-
rations 235
Woodrufif, Clinton R., special
report on abuses in Indian
country 439
Wutteh—
Mother of Sequoyah 360
Devoted wife and mother. . . 360
Wyly, A. S., report as super-
visor 503
Young, Judge J. P. —
On where Mississippi was
discovered 52
Pigeon Roost Road 75
His article on Fort Prud-
homme 238
Zapico, Emilio —
His visit to Memphis 156
Address accepting copy of
Hernando De Soto 167
iSenobe —
Father DeMembre 236
Quoted 236
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