Chapter XI: Indian Territory in 1863, January to June Inclusive (2)

[Footnote 761: Duval to Colonel John King, June 30, 1863, Ibid., no. 268, p. 110.]

[Footnote 762: Livermore, _Story of the Civil War_, part iii, book i, p. 255.]

[Footnote 763: Davis to Holmes, February 26, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 849-850.]

[Footnote 764: Davis to Holmes, January 28, 1863, Ibid., 846-847.]

[Footnote 765: The necessity was exceedingly great. Take, for instance, the situation at Fort Smith, where the citizens themselves asked for the establishment of martial law in order that lives and property might be reasonably secure [Crosby to Mayor Joseph Bennett, January 10, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, pp. 33-34].]

political pressure was exerted in Richmond[766] and the Arkansas delegation in Congress demanded Hindman's recall,[767] Holmes's displacement, and Kirby Smith's appointment. The loss of that historic fort, Arkansas Post,[768] also a tardy appreciation of the economic value of the Arkansas Valley and, incidentally, of the entire Trans-Mississippi Department,[769] had really determined matters; but, fortunately, the supersedure of Holmes by Smith did not affect the position of Steele.

Steele divined that the Federals would naturally make an early attempt to occupy in force the country north of the Arkansas River and beyond it to the southward in what had hitherto been a strictly Confederate stronghold. It was his intention to forestall them. The two Cherokee regiments constituted, for some little time, his best available troops and them he kept in almost constant motion.[770] His great reliance, and well it might be, was upon Stand Watie, whom he had

[Footnote 766: Davis to Garland, March 28, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 861-863; Davis to the Arkansas delegation, March 30, 1863, Ibid., 863-865.]

[Footnote 767: Hindman was not immediately recalled; but he soon manifested an unwillingness to continue under Holmes [Ibid., 848]. He had very pronounced opinions about some of his associates. Price he thought of as a breeder of factions and Holmes as an honest man but unsystematic. In the summer, he actually asked for an assignment to Indian Territory [Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, 895].]

[Footnote 768: Livermore, _Story of the Civil War_, part iii, book i, 85. Davis would fain have believed that so great a disaster had not befallen the Confederate arms [Letter to Holmes, January 28, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 847].]

[Footnote 769: Perhaps, it is scarcely fair to intimate that the Trans-Mississippi Department was regarded as unimportant at this stage. It was only relatively so. In proof of that, see Davis to Governor Flanagin, April 3, 1863, Ibid., 865-866; Davis to Johnson, July 14, 1863, Ibid., 879-880. When Kirby Smith tarried late in the assumption of his enlarged duties, Secretary Seddon pointed out the increasingly great significance of them [Letter to Smith, March 18, 1863, Ibid., vol. xxii, part ii, pp. 802-803].]

[Footnote 770: Steele to Cabell, April 18, 1863, _Confederate Records_, no. 270, p. 199.]

brought up betimes within convenient distance of Fort Smith[771] and with whom, in April, Phillips's men had two successful encounters, on the fourteenth[772] and the twenty-fifth. The one of the twenty-fifth was at Webber's Falls and especially noteworthy, since, as a Federal victory, it prevented a convening of the secessionist Cherokee Council,[773] for which, so important did he deem it, Steele had planned an extra protection.[774] The completeness of the Federal victory was marred by the loss of Dr. Gillpatrick,[775] who had so excellently served the ends of diplomacy between the Indian Expedition and John Ross.

Through May and June, engagements, petty in themselves but contributing each its mite to ultimate success or failure, occupied detachments of the opposing Indian forces with considerable frequency.[776] Two, devised by Cooper, those of the fourteenth[777] and twentieth[778] of May may be said to characterize the entire

[Footnote 771: "You will order Colonel Stand Watie to move his command down the Ark. River to some point in the vicinity of Fort Smith."--CROSBY to Cooper, February 14, 1863, Ibid., p. 90.]

[Footnote 772: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 37.]

[Footnote 773: Phillips to Curtis, April 26, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 314-315; Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 40-41. Mrs. Anderson, in her _Life of General Stand Watie_, denies categorically that the meeting of the council was interrupted on this occasion [p. 22] and cites the recollections of "living veterans" in proof.]

[Footnote 774: "I am directed by the General Com'dg to say that he deems it advisable that you should move your Hd. Qrs. higher up the river, say in the vicinity of Webber's Falls or Pheasant Bluff. He is desirous that you should be somewhere near the Council when that body meets, so that any attempt of the enemy to interfere with their deliberations may be thwarted by you."--DUVAL to Cooper, April 22, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 209.]

[Footnote 775: Britton, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 42.]

[Footnote 776:--Ibid., vol. ii, chapters vi and vii.]

[Footnote 777: _Official Records_, vol. liii, supplement, 469.]

[Footnote 778:--Ibid., vol. xxii, part i, 337-338; _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 34.]

series and were nothing but fruitless demonstrations to seize the Federal grazing herds. A brilliant cavalry raid, undertaken by Stand Watie and for the same purpose, a little later, was slightly more successful;[779] but even its fair showing was reversed in the subsequent skirmish at Greenleaf Prairie, June 16.[780] To the northward, something more serious was happening, since actions, having their impetus in Arkansas,[781] were endangering Phillips's line of communication with Fort Scott, his base and his depot of supplies. In reality, Phillips was hard pressed and no one knew better than he how precarious his situation was. Among his minor troubles was the refusal of his Creeks to charge in the engagement of May 20.

The refusal of the Creeks to charge was not, however, indicative of any widespread disaffection.[782] So

[Footnote 779: Anderson, 20-21. Interestingly enough, about this time Cooper reported that he could get plenty of beef where he was and at a comparatively low price, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, pp. 60-61.]

[Footnote 780: _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part i, 348-352.]

[Footnote 781: Not all got their impetus there. The following letter although not sent, contains internal evidence that Cooper was concocting some of them:

"I learn unofficially that Gen'l Cooper, having received notice of the approach of a train of supplies for Gibson, was about crossing the Arkansas with the largest part of his force, to intercept it. It is reported that the train would have been in 15 miles of Gibson last night. If Gen'l Cooper succeeds Phillips will leave soon, if not he will probably remain some time longer. Be prepared to move in case he leaves."--STEELE to Cabell, June 24, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, p. 96.]

[Footnote 782: The following letter shows the nature of the Creek disaffection:

DEAR GREAT FATHER: Sir, The wicked rebellion in the United States has caused a division in the Nation. Some of our many loving leaders have joined the rebels merely for speculation and consequently divided our people and that brought ruin in our Nation. They had help near and ours was far so that our ruin was sure. We saw this plain beforehand. Therefore we concluded to go to you our great father, remembering the treaty that you have made with us long ago in which you promised us protection. This was the cause that made us to go and meet you in your white house about eighteen months ago and there laid our complaint before you, as a weaker brother wronged of his rights by a stronger brother and you promised us your protection; but before we got back to our people they were (cont.)]

honorably had Phillips been conducting himself with reference to Indian affairs, so promptly and generously had he discharged his obligations to the refugees who had been harbored at Neosho--they had all returned now from exile[783]--so successfully had he everywhere encountered the foe that the Indians, far and wide, were beginning to look to him for succor,[784] many of them to

[Footnote 782: (cont.) made to leave their humble and peaceful home and also all their property and traveled towards north in the woods without roads not only that but they were followed, so that they had to fight three battles so as to keep their families from being taken away from them. In the last fight they were overpowered by a superior force so they had to get away the best way they can and most every thing they had was taken away from them ... Now this was the way we left our country and this was the condition of our people when we entered within the bounds of the State of Kansas ...

Now Great Father you have promised to help us in clearing out our country so that we could bring back our families to their homes and moreover we have enlisted as home guards to defend our country and it will be twelve months in a few weeks ... but there is nothing done as yet in our country. We have spent our time in the states of Mo. and Arks. and in the Cherokee Nation. We are here in Ft. Gibson over a month. Our enemies are just across the river and our pickets and theirs are fighting most every day ...

There is only three regts. of Indians and a few whites are here. Our enemy are gathering fast from all sides ...

A soldier's rights we know but little but it seems to us that our rations are getting shorter all the time but that may be on account of the teams for it have to be hauled a great ways.--CREEKS to the President of the United States, May 16, 1863, Office of Indian Affairs, General Files, _Creek_, 1860-1869, O 6 of 1863.]

[Footnote 783: Britton's account of the return of the Cherokee exiles is recommended for perusal. It could scarcely be excelled. See, _Civil War on the Border_, vol. ii, 34-37.]

[Footnote 784: Certain proceedings of Carruth and Martin would seem to suggest that they were endeavoring to reap the reward of Phillips's labors, by negotiating, somewhat prematurely, for an inter-tribal council. Coffin may have endorsed it, but Dole had not [Dole to Coffin, July 8, 1863, Indian Office _Letter Book_, no. 71, p. 116]. The pretext for calling such a council lay in fairly recent doings of the wild tribes. The subjoined letters and extracts of letters will elucidate the subject: February 7, Coffin reported to Dole [General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1863-1864] that the wild Indians had been raiding on the Verdigris and Fall Rivers into the Creek and Cherokee countries, "jayhawking property," and bringing it into Kansas and selling it to the settlers. Some of the cattle obtained in this way had been (cont.)]

wonder, whether in joining the Confederacy, they had not made a terrible mistake, a miscalculation beyond all remedying.

To the Confederates, tragically enough, the Indian's tale of woe and of regret had a different meaning. The

[Footnote 784: (cont.) sold by a settler to the contractor and fed to the Indians. Jim Ned's band of wild Delawares, returning from such a jayhawking expedition, had stolen some Osage ponies and had become involved in a fight in which two Delawares had been killed [Coffin to Dole, February 12, 1863, ibid., _Neosho_, C 73 of 1863]. Coffin prevailed upon Jim Ned to stop the jayhawking excursions; inasmuch as "Considerable bad feeling exists on the part of the Cherokees in consequence of the bringing up ... a great many cattle, ponies, and mules, which they allege belong to the Cherokee refugees ..." [Coffin to Dole, February 24, 1863, Indian Office General Files, _Southern Superintendency_, 1863-1864].

Feelings of hostility continued to exist, notwithstanding, between the civilized and uncivilized red men and "aided materially the emissaries of the Rebellion in fomenting discords and warlike raids upon whites as well as Indians ..." [Coffin to Dole, June 25, 1863, Ibid., C 325]. It was under such circumstances that Carruth took it upon himself to arrange an inter-tribal council. This is his report [Carruth to Coffin, June 17, 1863, Ibid.,]. His action was seconded by Martin [Martin to Coffin, June 18, 1863, Ibid.,]:

"I left Belmont (the temporary Wichita agency) May 26th to hold a Council with the Indians of the Wichita Agency, who have not as yet reached Kansas ... I found ... upon reaching Fall River ... that the Wichitas alone had sent over 100 men. We reached the Ark. River May 31st. After having been compelled to purchase some provisions for the number of people, who have come, that were not provided for. The next day we were joined by the Kickapoos and Sacs, and here I was informed by the Kickapoos, that no runner had gone through to the Cadoes and Comanches from them, as we had heard at Belmont, yet I learned, that these tribes were then camped at the Big Bend, some sixty miles above and waiting at this point: I sent three Wichitas--among them the Chief--some Ionies, Wacoes, and Tawa Kuwus through to them calling on their Chiefs to come and have a 'talk.'

"They reached us on the 8th of June, and after furnishing the presents I had taken to them all the different tribes were called to Council. Present were, Arapahoes, Lipans, Comanches, Kioways, Sac and Foxes, Kickapoos and Cadoes besides the Indians who went out with me.

"All of them are true to the Government of the United States, but some are at war with each other. I proposed to them to make peace with all the tribes friendly to our Government, so that their 'Great Father' might view all of them alike.

"To this they agreed, and a Council was called to which the Osages, Potawatomies, Shians, Sac and Foxes, in fact all the tribes at variance, are (cont.)]

tale had been told many times of late and every time with a new emphasis upon that part of it that recounted delusion and betrayal. For quite a while now the Indians had been feeling themselves neglected. Steele was aware of the fact but helpless. When told of treaty rights he had to plead ignorance; for he had never seen the treaties and had no official knowledge of their contents. He was exercising the functions of superintendent _ex officio_, not because the post had ever been specifically conferred upon him or instructions sent, but because he had come to his command to find it, in nearly every aspect, Indian and no agent or superintendent at hand to take charge [785] of affairs that were

[Footnote 784: (cont.) to be invited, to hold a grand peace Council near the mouth of the Little Arkansas River within six weeks. Meanwhile they are to send runners to notify these tribes to gather on the Arkansas, sixty miles above, that they may be within reach of our call when we get to the Council ground. Subsistence will have to be provided for at least 10000 Indians at that time. They will expect something from the Government to convince them of its power to carry through its promises. Some of the Cadoes and Comanches connected with this Agency, after coming to the Arkansas, returned to Fort Cobb. These will all come back to this Council. Their desire is to be subsisted on the Little Arkansas, some 70 miles from Emporia until the war closes.

"They argue like this, 'The Government once sent us our provisions to Fort Cobb over 300 miles from Fort Smith. We do not want to live near the whites, because of troubles between them and us in regard to ponies, timber, fields, green corn, etc. Our subsistence can be hauled to the mouth of the Little Arkansas, easier by far, than it was formerly from Fort Smith, and by being at this point we shall be removed from the abodes of the whites, so they cannot steal our ponies, nor can our people trouble them.'

"I believe they are right. I have had more trouble the past winter in settling difficulties between the Indians and whites on account of trades, stolen horses, broken fences, etc. than from all other causes combined.

"I cannot get all the Indians of this Agency together this side of the Little Arkansas. That point will be near enough the Texan frontier for the Indians to go home easily when the war closes. It is on the direct route to Fort Cobb. They are opposed to going via Fort Gibson ..."]

[Footnote 785: Without legislating on the subject, and without intending it, the Confederacy had virtually put into effect, a recommendation of Hindman's that "The superintendencies, agencies, etc., should be abolished, and a purely military establishment substituted ..." [_Official Records_, vol. xiii, p. 51.].]

ordinarily not strictly within the range of military cognizance.

General Steele, like many another, was inclined to think that the red men greatly over-estimated their own importance; for they failed to "see and understand how small a portion of the field"[786] they really occupied. To Steele, it was not Indian Territory that was valuable but Texas. For him the Indian country, barren by reason of the drouth, denuded of its live stock, a prey to jayhawker, famine, and pestilence, did nothing more than measure the distance between the Federals and the rich Texan grain-fields, from whence he fondly hoped an inexhaustible supply of flour[787] for the Confederates was to come. In short, the great and wonderful expanse that had been given to the Indian for a perpetual home was a mere buffer.

But it was a buffer, throbbing with life, and that was something Steele dared not ignore and could not if he would. With such a consciousness, when the secessionist Cherokees were making arrangements for their council at Webber's Falls in April, he hastened to propitiate them ahead of time by addressing them "through the medium of their wants" for he feared what might be their action[788] should they assemble with a

[Footnote 786: Steele to Wigfall, April 15, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 820.]

[Footnote 787: Steele's letter books furnish much evidence on this score. A large portion has been published in the _Official Records_. During the period covered by this chapter, he was drawing his supply of flour from Riddle's Station, "on the Fort Smith and Boggy Road" [_Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 270, p. 252] in charge of which was Captain Hardin of Bass's Texas Cavalry. He expected to draw from Arkansas likewise [Steele to Major S.J. Lee, June 9, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, pp. 70-71; Duval to Hardin, June 16, 1863, Ibid., p. 81; Steele to Lee, June 17, 1863, Ibid., pp. 87-88].]

[Footnote 788: "Enclosed please find a letter to Col. Adair, and a note from him forwarding it. I send it for the consideration of General Holmes. The (cont.)]

grievance[789] against the Confederacy in their hearts. Protection against the oncoming enemy and relief from want were the things the Indians craved, so, short though his own supplies were, Steele had to make provision for the helpless and indigent natives, the feeding of whom became a fruitful and constantly increasing source of embarrassment.[790]

Just and generous as General Steele endeavored to

[Footnote 788: (cont.) subject is one of grave importance. If a regiment of infantry could be spared to take post at this place and General Cabell could be permitted to include it in his command, I would go more into the nation and would be able soon to give the required protection. The troops from Red River have been ordered up and should be some distance on the way before this. I fear the meeting of the Cherokee Council which takes place on the 20th ... unless more troops arrive before they act."--STEELE to Anderson, April 15, 1863, _Confederate Records_, no. 270, p. 194.

This was not the first time Steele had expressed a wish to go into the Nation. March 20th, when writing to Anderson [Ibid., p. 150], he had thought it of "paramount importance" that he visit all parts of his command. Concerning his apprehension about the prospective work of the Cherokee Council, he wrote quite candidly to Wigfall [_Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 821].]

[Footnote 789: The letter to Colonel W.P. Adair, written by one of his adjutants, J.A. Scales, April 12, 1863 [Ibid., 821-822], is a creditable presentation of the Cherokee grievance.]

[Footnote 790: Steele here presents certain phases of the embarrassment,

"... The matter of feeding destitute Indians has been all through a vexatious one, the greatest trouble being to find in each neighborhood a reliable person to receive the quota for that neighborhood. These people seem more indifferent to the wants of others than any I have seen; they are not willing to do the least thing to assist in helping their own people who are destitute. I have, in many instances, been unable to get wagons to haul the flour given them. I have incurred a great responsibility in using army rations in this way and to the extent that I have. I have endeavored to give to all destitute and to sell at cost to those who are able to purchase. In this matter the Nation has been more favored than the adjacent States. I am told by Mr. Boudinot that a bill was passed by the Cherokee Council, taking the matter into their own hands. I hope it is so. In which case I shall cease issuing to others who have not, like them, been driven from their homes. Dr. Walker was appointed to superintend this matter, some system being necessary to prevent the same persons from drawing from different commissaries ..."--STEELE to D.H. Cooper, June 15, 1863, _Confederate Records_, chap. 2, no. 268, pp. 80-81.]

be in the matter of attention to Indian necessities, his efforts were unappreciated largely because of evil influences at work to undermine him and to advance Douglas H. Cooper. Steele had his points of vulnerability, his inability to check the Federal advance and his remoteness from the scene of action, his headquarters being at Fort Smith. Connected with the second point and charged against him were all the bad practices of those men who, in their political or military control of Indian Territory, had allowed Arkansas to be their chief concern. Such practices became the foundation stone of a general Indian dissatisfaction and, concomitantry, Douglas H. Cooper, of insatiable ambition, posed as the exponent of the idea that the safety of Indian Territory was an end in itself.

The kind of separate military organization that constituted Steele's command was not enough for the Indians. Seemingly, they desired the restoration of the old Pike department, but not such as it had been in the days of the controversy with Hindman but such as it always was in Pike's imagination. The Creeks were among the first to declare that this was their desire. They addressed[791] themselves to President Davis[792] and

[Footnote 791: Mory Kanard and Echo Harjo to President Davis, May 18, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1118-1119.]

[Footnote 792: Davis, in his message of January 12, 1863 [Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the Confederacy_, vol. i, 295] had revealed an acquaintance with some Indian dissatisfaction but intimated that it had been dispelled, it having arisen "from a misapprehension of the intentions of the Government ..." It was undoubtedly to allay apprehension on the part of the Indians that Miles, in the house of Representatives, offered the following resolution, February 17, 1863:

"_Resolved_, That the Government of the Confederate States has witnessed with feelings of no ordinary gratification the loyalty and good faith of the larger portion of its Indian allies west of the State of Arkansas.

"_Resolved further_, That no effort of the Confederate Government shall be spared to protect them fully in all their rights and to assist them in defending their country against the encroachments of all enemies." [_Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States_, vol. vi, 113].]

boldly said that their country had "been treated as a mere appendage of Arkansas, where needy politicians and _protégés_ of Arkansas members of Congress must be quartered." The Seminoles followed suit,[793] although in a congratulatory way, after a rumor had reached them that the Creek request for a separate department of Indian Territory was about to be granted. The rumor was false and in June Tandy Walker, on behalf of the Choctaws, reopened the whole subject.[794] A few days earlier, the Cherokees had filed their complaint but it was of a different character, more fundamental, more gravely portentous.

The Cherokee complaint took the form of a deliberate charge of contemplated bad faith on the part of the Confederate government. E.C. Boudinot, the Cherokee delegate in the Southern Congress, had recently returned from Richmond, empowered to submit a certain proposal to his constituents. The text of the proposal does not appear in the records but its nature,[795] after account be taken of some exaggeration attributable to the extreme of indignation, can be inferred from the formal protest[796] against it, which was drawn up at Prairie Springs in the Cherokee Nation about fifteen miles from Fort Gibson on the twenty-first of June and signed by Samuel M. Taylor, acting assistant chief, John Spears of the Executive Council, and Alexander Foreman, president of the convention. To all intents and purposes the Cherokees were asked, in return for some paltry offices chiefly military, to institute a sort of system of military land grants. White people were to be induced to enlist in their behalf and were then to

[Footnote 793: June 6, 1863, _Official Records_, vol. xxii, part ii, 1120.]

[Footnote 794: June 24, 1863, Ibid., 1122-1123.]

[Footnote 795: Steele's letter to Kirby Smith, June 24, 1863 [Ibid., 883-884], gives some hint of its nature also.]

[Footnote 796:--Ibid., 1120-1122.]

be allowed to settle, on equal terms with the Cherokees, within the Cherokee country. The proposal, as construed by Taylor and his party, was nothing more or less than a suggestion that the Cherokees surrender their nationality, their political integrity, the one thing above everything else that they had sought to preserve when they entered into an active alliance with the Confederate States. So sordid was the bargain proposed, so unequal, that the thought obtrudes itself that a base advantage was about to be taken of the Cherokee necessities and that the objectors were justified in insinuating that Boudinot and his political friends were to be the chief beneficiaries. The Cherokee country was already practically lost to the Confederacy. Might it not be advisable to distribute the tribal lands, secure individual holdings, while vested rights might still accrue; for, should bad come to worse, private parties could with more chance of success prosecute a claim than could a commonalty, which in its national or corporate capacity had committed treason and thereby forfeited its rights. One part of the Cherokee protest merits quotation here. Its noble indignation ought to have been proof enough for anybody.

... We were present when the treaty was made, were a party to it,
and rejoiced when it was done. In that treaty our rights to
our country as a Nation were guaranteed to us forever, and the
Confederate States promised to protect us in them. We enlisted
under the banner of those States, and have fought in defense of
our country under that treaty and for the rights of the South for
nearly two years. We have been driven from our homes, and suffered
severe hardships, privations, and losses, and now we are informed,
when brighter prospects are before us, that you think it best for
us to give part of our lands to our white friends; that, to defend
our country and keep troops for our protection, we must raise and
enlist them from

our own territory, and that it is actually necessary that they are
citizens of our country to enable us to keep them with us. To do
this would be the end of our national existence and the ruin of
our people. Two things above all others we hold most dear, our
nationality and the welfare of our people. Had the war been our
own, there would have been justice in the proposition, but it is
that of another nation. We are allies, assisting in establishing
the rights and independence of another nation. We, therefore, in
justice to ourselves and our people, cannot agree to give a part
of our domain as an inducement to citizens of another Government
to fight their own battles and for their own country; besides, it
would open a door to admit as citizens of our Nation the worst
class of citizens of the Confederate States ...