Chapter C: STREET, Aug. 19, '53 (1)

To GEO. W. MANYPENNY ESQ., Com. of Indian Affairs,

Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of
yesterday with the accompanying copy of a letter to the Hon. Mr.
Atchison, and make my thanks to you for this mark of your attention.
The reply will be immediately forwarded to Meas Ami, to be published
in the same paper in which your note to me covering the map on which
the Indian's cessions & reserves west of Missouri, was published. Very
respectfully, Sir, Yr. obt. servant,

THOMAS H. BENTON.

Indian Office _Miscellaneous Files, 1851-1854._

[20] Ray, _op. cit._, 86; Connelley, in Kansas Historical Society, _Collections_, vol. vi, 102; Connelley, _Provincial Government of Nebraska Territory_, pp. 24, 30 _et seq._

The Wyandots took an active part in the Kansas election troubles. For some evidence of that, see, House _Reports_, 34th congress, first session, no. 200, pp. 22, 266.

[21] By the treaty of 1837 [Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 486], the Choctaws, for a money consideration as was natural, agreed to let the Chickasaws occupy their country jointly with themselves and form a Chickasaw District within it that should be on a par with the other districts (Moo-sho-le-tubbee, Apucks-hu-nubbe, and Push-ma-ta-ha), or political units, of the Choctaw Nation. The arrangement meant political consolidation, one General Council serving for the two tribes, but each tribe retaining control of its own annuities. The boundaries of the Chickasaw District proved the subject of a contention, constant and bitter. Civil war was almost precipitated more than once. Finally, in 1855, the political connection was brought to an end by the terms of the Treaty of Washington [Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 706], negotiated in that year.

[22] See Report of C. C. Copeland to Cooper, August 27, 1855.

[23] A secret society is said to have been formed in Missouri for the express purpose of gaining the Shawnee land for slavery.

[24] Dean wrote to Butler, November 29, 1855 [_Letter Press Book_] saying that the disturbed state of things in Kansas was having a very serious effect upon the Cherokee Neutral Land. Early in 1857, Butler reported that he had given notice that if intruders had not removed themselves by spring he would have them removed by the military [Butler to Dean, January 9, 1857]. Manypenny approved Butler's course of action which is quite significant, considering that the federal administration was supposed to be unreservedly committed to the pro-slavery cause and the intruders were pro-slavery men from across the border.

[25] Andrew Dorn took charge of the Neosho Agency, to which these reservations as well as the Quapaw, Seneca, and Seneca and Shawnee belonged, in 1855 and regularly had occasion to complain of intruders. White people seem to have felt that they could with impunity encroach upon the New York Indian lands because they were only sparsely settled and because the Indian title was in dispute.

[26] Apart from any sectional desire to obtain the Indian country, would-be settlers seem to have been attracted thither from a mistaken notion that there were mines of precious metals west of Missouri [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1858].

[27] As early as 1857, the Sacs and Foxes of Missouri were reported as looking for a new home to the southward, in a less rigorous climate, and, with that purpose in mind, they visited the Cherokees. When the Delaware treaty of 1860 was being negotiated, the Delawares expressed themselves as very anxious to get away from white interference, to leave Kansas. The Ottawas thought and thought rightly, forsooth, judging from the experience of the past, that removal would do no good. They declared a preference for United States citizenship and tribal allotment [Jotham Meeker, Baptist missionary, to Agent James, September 4, 1854, also Agent James's _Report_, 1857]. At this same period, Agent Dorn reported that the Kansas River Shawnees were desirous of joining those of the Neosho Agency. Greenwood replied, January 18, 1860, that the subject of allowing the northern Indians to go south was then under consideration by the department [Letter to Superintendent Rector].

[28] The evidence of this is to be found in a letter from W. G. Coffin to Dole, June 17, 1861 [_Neosho Files, 1838-1865_, C1223].

[29] For information on this subject, see Carroll's _American Church History_, 19, 93, 253-254, 302.

[30] Feeling that, under the treaty of 1854, they were free to choose whatever denomination they pleased to reside among them, the Kickapoos expressed a preference for the Methodist Episcopal Church South, but the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions was already established among their neighbors of the Otoe and Missouria and Great Nemaha Agencies, their own agent, Mr. Baldwin, was a Presbyterian, and so, before long, in some almost unaccountable way, they found that the Presbyterians (Old School) had obtained an entry upon their reserve and had established a mission school there. The Kickapoos were indignant, as well they had a right to be, and made as much trouble as they possibly could for the Presbyterians. In 1860, the Presbyterian Board vacated the premises and the Methodist Episcopal Church South took possession, Agent Badger favoring the change. The change was of but short duration, however; for, in 1861, the Southern Methodists, finding the sympathy of the Kickapoos was mainly with the federal element, took their departure.

[31] Ray, _op. cit._, 86, footnote 107.

[32] The most flourishing schools seem to have been the Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholics did not greatly concern themselves, as a church organization, with the slavery agitation, and St. Mary's Mission and the Osage Manual Labor School were scarcely affected by the war and not at all by the troubles that presaged its approach.

[33] The Baptist school among the Potawatomies closed in 1861. See Appendix.

[34] House _Report_, 34th congress, first session, no. 200, pp. 14, 18, 94, 425.

[35] See Indian Office, _Special File, no. 220_.

[36] The work of the American Board among the Cherokees was discontinued just before the war [_Missionary Herald_, 1861, p. 11; American Board _Report_, 1860, p. 137].

[37] The four were: "Park hill, five miles south from Tahlequah; Dwight, forty-two miles south-southwest from Tahlequah; Fairfield, twenty-five miles southeast from Tahlequah; Lee's creek, forty-three miles southeast from Tahlequah"--Commissioner of Indian Affairs [_Report_, 1859, p. 173]. There had been a fifth, an out station.

[38] The Congregational schools among the Choctaws were: Iyanubbi, near the Arkansas line; Wheelock, eighteen miles east of Doaksville; and Chuahla, one mile from Doaksville.

[39] The Southern Baptist Convention had not been long in the county prior to the Civil War. The Methodist Episcopal Church South had no schools but several missionaries. The American Baptist Missionary Union had a number of meeting-houses.

[40] The Presbyterians (Old School) established Wah-pa-nuc-ka Institute for young women, forty miles north of Red River and one and one-eighth miles west of the Choctaw and Chickasaw line; but differences arose between the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions and the Chickasaw authorities, neither institutional nor sectional, but purely financial, which caused the Presbyterians to abandon the school in 1860 [C. H. Wilson, attorney for the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, to Cooper, April 16, 1860]. The Presbyterian schools among the Choctaws were: Spencer Academy, "located on the old military road leading from Fort Towson to Fort Smith, about ten miles north of Fort Towson," and Koonsha Female Seminary. Both of them were under the Presbyterian Board. A third institution, Armstrong Academy, belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterians. The Southern Methodists had Bloomfield Academy, Colbert Institute, and the Chickasaw Manual Labor School among the Chickasaws; and the Fort Coffee and New Hope academies, for boys and girls respectively, among the Choctaws.

[41] The Seminoles were late in manifesting an interest in education, and, when interest did arise among them, John Jumper, the chief, declared for boarding-schools and asked that such be established under the Presbyterian Board, the same that had influence among their near neighbors, the Creeks.

[42] The American Board itself was inclined to be non-committal and temporizing [Garrison, op. cit., vol. iii, 30]. The _Missionary Herald_, so valuable an historical source as it proved itself to be for Indian removals, is strangely silent on the great subject of negro slavery among the Indians. Its references to it are only very occasional and never more than incidental.

[43] Kingsbury was superintendent of the Chuahla Female Seminary.

[44] Worcester died, April, 1859 [_Missionary Herald_, 1859, p. 187; 1860, p. 12].

[45] _Missionary Herald_, 1859, pp. 335-336; 1860, p. 12; The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, _Report_, 1856, p. 195.

[46] Report of C. C. Copeland, 1860.

[47] Cooper was also Chickasaw agent. On the fifth of October, 1854, some of the principal men of the Chickasaw Nation, Cyrus Harris, James Gamble, Sampson Folsom, Jackson Frazier, and D. Colbert, petitioned President Pierce for the removal of Agent Andrew J. Smith on charges of official irregularity and gross immorality. A year later, Superintendent Dean reiterated the charges. Smith's commission was revoked, November 9, 1855; and, in March, 1856, Cooper was assigned the Chickasaws as an additional charge. Henceforth, the two tribes had an agent in common.

[48] This note itself bore no date but there is documentary proof that it was received at Fort Smith, November 27, 1854. It is to be found in the Indian Office among the _Fort Smith Papers_.

[49] The allusion is, of course, to the "higher law" doctrine expressed in Seward's Senate Speech of March 11, 1850.

[50] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, pp. 190-191.

The letter of Dr. Treat referred to by Agent Cooper is herewith given. It is accompanied by the letter that covered it and that letter, as it is found among the _Fort Smith Papers_ in the United States Indian Office, bears a record to the effect that the copy of it was transmitted by the southern superintendent to Washington, November 28, 1855.

FORT TOWSON Nov. 16, 1855

SIR: I have the pleasure to forward a copy of letter, addressed to the
Rev{d} S. B. Treat, Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by C. Kingsbury and
others--Missionaries among the Choctaws--and request the same may be
transmitted to the Hon Comr of Indian Affairs for the information of
the Government of the United States.

The letter as you will perceive refers to an exciting and highly
important subject--in which the States adjoining the Indian Territory
are deeply & directly interested, as well as the Choctaw People.

I cannot refrain from the expression of my gratification at the
position assured in this letter by the old and valued Missionaries
among the Choctaws. The copy was handed to me by Rev{d} Cyrus
Kingsbury, one of the signers to the original letter. Respectfully

DOUGLAS H. COOPER, U. S. Agent for Choctaws

Hon. C. M. Dean, Supt. Indian Affairs,
Ft Smith.

[_Inclosure_]--_Copy_

PINE RIDGE, CHOC. NA. Nov. 15, 1855.

REV. S. B. TREAT, Cor. Secretary of the A.B.C.F.M.

Rev. & Dear Brother, When the Rev. G. W. Wood visited us as a
deputation from the Prudential Committee, he treated us, our views,
and _our practice_ so kindly, and spoke to us so many encouraging
words, that we were constrained to meet him in a similar spirit of
concilliation. We were willing to re-examine the difference in views
on the subject of slavery, which for a long time had existed between
the Committee and ourselves, and to see if there was not common ground
on which we could stand together.

At the opening of the meeting at Good Water, Mr. Wood laid aside the
letter of June 22nd '/48. This was a subject we were not to discuss.
He then introduced, by way of compromise, as we understood it, certain
articles to show that there were principles, or modes of expression,
in relation to slavery, in which there was substantial agreement. To
these articles, though not expressed in every particular as we could
have wished, (and after some of them had been modified by oral
explanations,) we gave our assent, for the sake of peace. We hoped it
would put an end to agitation on a subject which had so long troubled
us, and hindered us in our work. We took it for granted that the
Committee had yielded certain important points, insisted on in the
letter of June 22nd '/48. This gladdened our hearts, and disposed us
to meet Mr. Wood's proposal in a spirit of concilliation and
confidence. We are not skilled in diplomacy, and had no thought that
we were assenting to articles which would be considered as covering
the whole ground of the letter of June 22nd. The first intimation that
we had been mistaken, was from a statement made by Mr. Wood, in New
York, that the result of the meeting at Good Water "_involved no
change of views or action_ on the part of the Prudential Committee and
Secretaries."

In Mr. Wood's report to the Pru. Com. which was read at Utica, the
Good Water document was placed in such a relation on to other
statements, as to make the impression that we had given our full and
willing assent to the entire letter of June 22d. The Com. on that
Report, of which Dr. Beman was chairman, say, "The great end aimed at
by the Pru. Com. in their correspondence with these missions for
several years; and by the Board at their last annual meeting; has been
substantially accomplished."

This is a result we had not anticipated. We can not consent to be thus
made to sanction principles and sentiments which are contrary to our
known, deliberate, and settled convictions of right, and to what we
understand to be the teachings of the word of God. We are fully
convinced that we can not go with the Committee and the Board, as to
the manner in which as Ministers of the Gospel and Missionaries we are
to deal with slavery. We believe the instructions of the Apostles, in
relation to this subject, are a sufficient guide, and that if followed
the best interests of society, as well as of the Church, will be
secured.

We have no wish to give the Com. or the Board farther trouble on this
subject. As there is no prospect that our views can be brought to
harmonize, we must request that our relations to the A.B.C.F.M. may be
dissolved in a way that will do the least harm to the Board, and to
our Mission.

We have endeavored to seek Divine guidance in this difficult matter,
and we desire to do that which shall be most for the glory of our
Divine Master, and the best interests of his cause among this people.
We regret the course we feel compelled to take, but we can see no
other relief from our present embarassment. Fraternally and truly
yours,

(Signed) C. KINGSBURY C. C. COPELAND
C. BYINGTON O. P. STARK
E. HOTCHKIN

[51] That the Buchanan administration did endorse pro-slavery policy and actions requires no proof today. The findings of the Covode committee of investigation, 1860, are in themselves sufficient evidence, were other evidence lacking, of the intensely partisan and corrupt character of the Democratic regime just prior to the Civil War. Of the officials, having Indian concerns in charge, the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs are, for present purposes, alone important. Buchanan's Secretary of the Interior was Jacob Thompson, who had formerly been a representative in Congress from Mississippi and had thrown all the weight of his influence in favor of the Lecompton constitution for Kansas [Rhodes, J. F. _History of the United States_, vol. ii, 277]. After his retirement from Buchanan's cabinet, Thompson served as commissioner from Mississippi, working in North Carolina for the accomplishment of secession [Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. i, 5]. A. B. Greenwood of Arkansas was Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Buchanan's time. He also had been in Congress and, while there, had served on the House Committee of Investigation into Brooks's attack upon Sumner. He formed with Howell Cobb of Georgia the minority element [Von Holst, vol. v, 324].

[52] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1860, p. 129.

[53] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, p. 172.

[54] Greenwood to Rector, March 14, 1860 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 63, p. 128]; Greenwood to Cowart, March 14, 1860 [_ibid._, 125].

[55] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1860. See also additional documents in Appendix B.

[56] The following extract from the _Fort Smith Times_ of February 3, 1859 makes particular mention of the Reverend Evan Jones:

In the _True Democrat_ of the 19th inst., we find an article credited
to the _Fort Smith Times_, in which the Rev. Evan Jones, a Baptist
Missionary, residing near the State line, Washington county, is
handled rather roughly so far as words are concerned. He is said to be
an abolitionist, and a very dangerous man, meddling with the affairs
of the Cherokees, and teaching them abolition principles.

"As such reports will be circulated to the prejudice of the Southern
Baptists, we hereby request some of our Brethren in the northwest part
of the State to write us the grounds for such reports.

"Is the 'Rev. Evan Jones' connected with any Missionary Society and if
so, what one?

"We hope shortly to hear more concerning this matter."

The above notice is from the first number of the _Arkansas Baptist_, a
new paper just published in Little Rock, P. S. G. Watson, Editor. It
was not our intention to cast any reflections on the Baptist Church by
noticing the Rev. gentleman named above, as we have great respect for
the Church. We deny, however, that Mr. Jones "is handled roughly so
far as words are concerned," for there are no harsh words or epithets
in the article referred to; but he is _handled roughly_ so far as
_facts_ are concerned. He is a Missionary Baptist, and the society by
which he is supported, has, we believe, its headquarters in Boston,
Mass. Mr. Jones' conduct has been fully reported to the Indian office,
at Washington, by a number of the Cherokees, and by their Agent, Mr.
George Butler, to whom we refer the editor of the _Baptist_, for the
truth of the charges we have made against him; and, if they are not
satisfactory we can give a full history of Evan Jones' conduct for a
number of years, well known among the Cherokees.

In connection with the foregoing newspaper extract, it is well to note that Richard Johnson was the editor of the _True Democrat_. Richard was a brother of Robert W. Johnson who represented one faction of the Democratic party in Arkansas while Thomas C. Hindman represented another. This was before their devotion to the Confederate cause had made them friends. Robert W. Johnson served in the United States Congress, first as representative, then as senator. He was later a senator in the Confederate States Congress. The Johnson family, although not so numerous as the Rector family, was, like it, strongly secessionistic.

[57] Greenwood to Thompson, June 4, 1860 [Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, pp. 323-324].

[58] Connelley, _Quantrill and the Border Wars_, 147-149, 152.

[59] Siebert, _Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom_, 284.

[60] This party came to be known, almost exclusively, as the Treaty Party. After the murder of John Ridge, from whom the party took its name, his nephew, Stand Watie, became its leader. Stand Watie figured conspicuously on the southern side in the Civil War.

[61] A good general account of these Cherokee factional disputes may be found in Thomas Valentine Parker's _Cherokee Indians_.

[62] Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 561; Polk's _Diary_ (Quaife's edition), vol. ii, 80.

[63] George Butler to Dean, January 9, 1857.

[64] "... The Cherokee Council is in session, tho they do not seem to be doing much. It will hold about four weeks yet. I will stay till it breaks. I think the Councilmen seem to be split on some questions. It seems as if there are two parties. One is called the land selling party & those opposed to selling the land (that is Neutral lands). They passed a bill last council to sell it. Congress would not have anything to do with it & in fact they got up a protest against selling it & sent it to Washington City & they did not sell the land."--Extract from J. C. Dickinson to Captain Mark T. Tatum, dated Tahlequah, October 16, 1860 [_Fort Smith Papers_].

[65] Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 388.

[66] Rector to Greenwood, June 14, 1860.

[67] Tuckabatche Micco and other Creek chiefs wished the southern Comanches to be located somewhere between the Red and Arkansas Rivers. That might or might not have meant a settlement upon the actual Creek reservation. Manypenny promised to look into the matter and find out whether there were any vacant lands in the region designated [Manypenny to Dean, May 25, 1855, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 51, pp. 444-445].

[68] Dean to Manypenny, November 24, 1856, and related documents [General Files, _Chickasaw_, 1854-1858, D304, I400].

[69] For Choctaw political disturbances in 1858, see General Files, _Choctaw_, 1859-1866, I933 and R1004.

[70] Some of the Tonkawas most probably went back to their old Texan hunting-grounds upon the breaking out of the war and were found encamped, in 1866, around San Antonio [Cooley to Sells, February 15, 1866, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 79, p. 293].

[71] The Leased District was designed to accommodate any Indians that the United States government might see fit to place there, exclusive of New Mexican Indians, who had caused the Wichitas a great deal of trouble, and those tribes "whose usual ranges at present are north of the Arkansas River, and whose permanent locations are north of the Canadian...." [Kappler, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 708].

[72] The treatment of the Indians by Texas will be made the subject of a later publication. The story is too long a one to be told here.

[73] Mix to Rector, March 30, 1859 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 60, pp. 386-388].

[74] _Annual Report_, 1857.

[75] Samuel Cooper, the New York man, who was now in United States employ but later became adjutant-general of the Confederacy [Crawford, _Genesis of the Civil War_, 310], made, about this time, a very significant inquiry as to how many Indian warriors there were in the vicinity of the various settlements [Cooper to Mix, January 29, 1856, Indian Office, _Miscellaneous Files, 1858-1863_].

[76] J. Thompson to J. B. Floyd, March 12, 1858 [Indian Office, _Miscellaneous Files_].

[77] By this treaty, the Choctaws had surrendered to the United States all their claims to land beyond the one hundredth degree of west longitude.

[78] Cooper to Rector, June 23, 1858.

[79] Cooper to Rector, June 30, 1858.

[80] Some of the Chickasaws came to Cooper under the lead of the United States interpreter, James Gamble, later Chickasaw delegate in the Confederate Congress.

[81] The Cherokees soon deserted Cooper, no cause assigned. Why they were with him at all can not very easily be explained unless they were looking out for the interests of the "Cherokee Outlet". They may, indeed, have been some refugee Cherokees who, in 1854, were reported as living in the Chickasaw country and consorting with horse thieves and other desperadoes. Under ordinary circumstances, Cooper had no authority to command the actions of Cherokees and his call was to Choctaws and Chickasaws whose agent he was and whose interests were directly involved in the survey then being made.

[82] On the question of the proposed site, see Rector's _Report_, 1859, pp. 307, 309. For Emory's familiarity with the region, note his report of a military reconnaissance undertaken by him in 1846 and 1847 [Pacific Railroad _Surveys_, vol. ii].

[83] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, and accompanying documents.

[84] It would seem that Van Dorn had been ordered by General Twiggs, commanding in Texas, to explore the country between the one hundredth and the one hundred and fourth meridians as far north as the Canadian River. He was to do it quite irrespective of department jurisdictional lines. Van Dorn had the Texan's unrelenting hatred for all Indians and, as was to have been expected, considering the latitude of his orders, soon got himself into trouble. It is interesting to note in connection with this affair and in view of all that followed when Van Dorn and Albert Pike were both serving under the Confederacy, that their dislike of each other dated from Pike's condemnation of Van Dorn's cruel treatment of the Comanches.

[85] The contractor was Charles B. Johnson of Fort Smith. Under the firm name of Johnson & Grimes, this man and Marshal Grimes, also of Arkansas, were able again and again to secure subsistence contracts from Rector and always with the suspicion of fraud attaching. Whenever possible, Rector and his friends eliminated entirely the element of competition. Abram G. Mayers of Fort Smith seems to have been the chief informer against Rector. As a matter of fact, and this must be admitted in extenuation of Rector's conduct, the Indian field service was so grossly mismanaged, officials from the highest to the lowest were so corrupt, that it is not at all surprising that each one [unless by the merest chance he were strong enough morally to resist temptation] took every opportunity he could get to enrich himself at the Indian's expense; for, of course, all such ill-gotten gains came sooner or later out of the Indian fund. Very few Indian officials seem to have been able to pass muster in matters of probity during these troublous times. Secretary Thompson and even Ex-president Pierce were not above suspicion in the Indian's estimation [Article, signed by "Screw Fly" in the _Chickasaw and Choctaw Herald_, February 11, 1859]. Mix was accused of dishonesty, so were Commissioner Dole, Commissioner Cooley, and Secretary Usher, to say nothing of a host of lesser officials.

[86] Supervising agent, Robert S. Neighbors, who had always befriended the Indians when he conveniently could against unfounded charges, was killed soon after the removal by vindictive Texans. S. A. Blain was then given charge of the Texas superintendency in addition to his own Wichita Agency. The consolidation of duties gave the Texans, apparently, a fresh opportunity to lodge complaints against the Wichitas.

[87] These refugees were mostly Delawares and Kickapoos. There were other "strays," or "absentees," scattered here and there over the Indian country. There were Shawnees near the Canadian, Delawares among the Cherokees, and Shawnees and Kickapoos on the southwestern border of the Creek lands.

[88] Matthew Leeper was appointed to succeed S. A. Blain as agent, July, 1860. He had previously been special Indian agent in Texas.

[89] Among the _Leeper Papers_ is found the following:

Notice: All free negroes are notified to leave the Wichita Reserve or
Leased District forthwith, except an old negro who is in charge of
Messrs. Grimes & Rector, who will be permitted to remain a few days.

[M. LEEPER], U. S. Ind. Agt.

Wichita Agency, L. D. Sept. 26, 1860.

[90] The suffering among the Indians must have been very great. There was a complete failure of crops everywhere. Subsistence had to be continued to the Wichitas, the Seminoles were reported absolutely destitute, and even the provident Choctaws were obliged to memorialize Congress for relief on the basis of the Senate award under their treaty of 1855 [General Files, _Choctaw, 1859-1866_]. Out of this application of Choctaw funds to the circumstances of their own pressing needs, came the great scandal of the Choctaw Corn Contract, in which Agent Cooper and many prominent men of the tribe were implicated. In some way Albert Pike was concerned in it also; but it must have been practically the only time a specific charge of anything like peculation could possibly have been brought against any of his transactions. His character for honesty seems to have been impeccable.

[91] In January, 1860, Agent Garrett asked the Creeks in their National Council to consent to the apportionment of the tribal lands. Motty Cunard [Motey Kennard] and Echo Mayo [Echo Harjo] sent the reply of the Council to Garrett, January 19, 1860. It was an unqualified and absolute refusal.

[92] Cooper to Greenwood, March 31, 1860 [General Files, _Choctaw, 1859-1866_, C445].

[93] George E. Baker, _Works of W. H. Seward_ (edition of 1884), vol. iv, 363; Bancroft's _Seward_, vol. ii, 460-470.

[94] _Congressional Globe_, 33rd congress, first session, Appendix, p. 155.

[95] Dean to Manypenny, October 24, 1855 [Dean's _Letter Book_].

[96] INDIAN TRUST FUND

_List of stocks held by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for Indian tribes_

STATE PER CENT AMOUNT

Arkansas 5 $ 3,000.00
Florida 7 132,000.00
Georgia 6 3,500.00
Indiana 5 70,000.00
Kentucky 5 183,000.00
Louisiana 6 37,000.00
Maryland* 6 131,611.82
Missouri 5-1/2 63,000.00
Missouri 6 484,000.00
North Carolina 6 562,000.00
Ohio 6 150,000.00
Pennsylvania* 5 96,000.00
South Carolina 6 125,000.00
Tennessee 5 218,000.00
Tennessee 6 143,000.00
United States 6 251,330.00
Virginia 6 796,800.00
------------
3,449,241.82

*Taxed by the State.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1859, p. 452.

[97] David Hubbard to Ross and McCulloch, June 12, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 497].

[98] The position of the tribes in the northern part of the Indian country, in Kansas, was considerably different from that of the tribes in the southern part, in Oklahoma. Each of the great tribes to the southward had a government of its own that was modelled very largely upon that of the various states. The tribes to the northward had retained, unchanged in essentials, their old tribal community government. Moreover, they had already been obliged to allow themselves to be circumscribed by territorial lines, soon to be state lines; their integrity had been broken in upon; and now they were not of sufficient importance to have, either individually or collectively, anything to say about the sectional affiliation of Kansas. As a matter of fact, they never so much as attempted to take general tribal action in the premises. Neither their situation nor their political organization permitted it.

[99] An interruption to this came in the shape of the indefinitely defined "Cherokee Outlet," which lay north of Texas and in addition occupied the northern part of Indian Territory.

[100] The subjoined map will illustrate the relative position of the individual Indian reservations. Although published in 1867, it is not correct for that date but is fairly correct for 1861. The "reconstruction treaties" of 1866 made various changes in the Indian boundaries but the map takes no account of them.

[101] Van Buren had a short time previously been the headquarters of the Southern Superintendency.

[102] We find that this intimate intercourse extended even to things scholastic; for, though there were plenty of female seminaries, so-called, within Indian Territory, Indian girls regularly attended similar institutions in Fayetteville [Bishop, A. W., _Loyalty on the Frontier_, 143].

[103] Bishop [_Loyalty on the Frontier_, 20] says that to the zeal of the Knights of the Golden Circle, or "Knaves of the Godless Communion," was mainly attributable "the treasonable complexion" of the Arkansas legislature that organized in November of 1860.

[104] The following documents include the act of the Chickasaw Legislature and related correspondence:

Be it enacted by Legislature of the Chickasaw Nation, That the
Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, be and he is hereby authorized to
appoint four Commissioners, one from each county, namely:--Panola,
Pickens, Tishomingo, and Pontotoc County, on the part of the Chickasaw
Nation, to meet a like set of Commissioners appointed respectively by
the Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations, to meet in General
Convention at such time and place That the Chief of the Creek Nation,
may set, for the purpose of entering into some compact, not
inconsistent with the Laws and Treaties of the United States, for the
future security and protection of the rights and Citizens of said
nations, in the event of a change in the United States, and to renew
the harmony and good feeling already established between said Nations
by a compact concluded & entered into on the 14th of Nov. 1859, at
Asbury Mission Creek Nation.

Be it further enacted That said Commissioners shall receive for their
services the sum of One hundred dollars each, and shall report the
proceedings of said Convention to the next session of the Chickasaw
Legislature for its approval or disapproval....

Passed the House Repts as amended Jany 5th 1861.

Passed Senate Jan. 5, 1861. Approved Jan. 5, 1861.

Indian Office General Files--_Cherokee 1859-1865_, C515.

Enclosed please find an Act of the called Session of the Chickasaw
Legislature, the object of which you will readily understand. Your
cooperation, and union of action of the Cherokee people in effecting
the object therein expressed is hereby respectfully solicited.

It will be left to the Principal Chiefs of the Creek Nation to appoint
the time and place of meeting, of which you will have timely notice.--
CYRUS HARRIS, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, to John Ross,
principal chief of the Cherokees, dated Tishomingo, C. N. January 5th,
1861 [_ibid._].

You will please find enclosed a communication from the Gov{r} of the
Chickasaw Nation & an Act of the Chickasaw Legislature calling upon
their Brethren the Creeks to appoint a time & place for a General
Convention of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, and Creeks. We
therefore appoint the 17th inst. to meet at the General Council Ground
of the Creek Nation--At which time & place we will (be) happy to meet
our Brethren the Cherokees.-- JACOB DERRYSAW, acting chief of the
Creek Nation, to John Ross, dated Cowetah, Creek Nation, February 4,
1861 [ibid.].

I was much surprised to receive a proposition for taking action so
formal on a matter so important, without having any previous notice or
understanding about the business, which might have afforded
opportunity to confer with our respective Councils and People.

Although I regret most deeply, the excitement which has arisen among
our White brethren: yet _by us_ it can only be regarded as a family
misunderstanding among themselves. And it behooves us to be careful,
in any movement of ours, to refrain from adopting any measures liable
to be misconstrued or misrepresented:--and in which (at present at
least) we have no direct and proper concern.

I cannot but confidently believe, however, that there is wisdom and
virtue and moderation enough among the people of the United States, to
bring about a peaceable and satisfactory adjustment of their
differences. And I do not think we have the right to anticipate any
contingency adverse to the stability and permanence of the Federal
Union.

Our relations to the United States, as defined by our treaties, are
clear and definite. And the obligations growing out of them easily
ascertained. And it will ever be our wisdom and our interest to adhere
strictly to those obligations, and carefully to guard against being
drawn into any complications which may prove prejudicial to the
interests of our people, or imperil the security we now enjoy under
the protection of the Government of the United States as guaranteed by
our Treaties. In the very worst contingency that can be thought of,
the great National Responsibilities of the United States must and will
be provided for. And should a catastrophe as that referred to in
(your) communication, unhappily occur, then will be the time for us to
take proper steps for securing the rights and interests of our people.

Out of respect to the Chiefs of neighboring Nations, and from the deep
interest I feel for the peace and welfare of our red brethren, I have
deemed it proper to appoint a Delegation to attend the Council
appointed by the Creek Chiefs at your request, on the 17th inst. at
the Gen{l} Council Ground of the Creek Nation, for the purpose of a
friendly interchange of the views & sentiments on the general
interests of our respective Nations.

In the language of our Fathers, I am your

"Elder Friend and Brother"
JOHN ROSS, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation.

Extract from letter to Cyrus Harris, February 9, 1861 [_ibid._].

Previous to the receipt of your Communication enclosing the
proceedings of the Chickasaw Authorities, I had received similar
papers from the "Governor of the Chickasaw Nation."

And I herewith enclose for the information of yourself & people a copy
of my reply. I will appoint a Delegation to attend your Council for
the purpose therein stated.--Ross to Derrysaw, February 9, 1861
[_ibid._].

I have received a communication from the Gov. of the Chickasaw Nation,
with a copy of an Act of their Legislature. And I presume a similar
communication has been received by you. Deeming it important that much
prudence and caution should be exercised by us in regard to the object
of the Governor's communication, I have thought it proper to address
him a letter, giving a brief expression of my views on the subject, a
copy of which I enclose for your information.--Ross to the principal
chief of the Choctaw Nation, February 11, 1861 [_ibid._].

[105] See preceding note.

[106] The Creek Agency was probably chosen because of its convenient situation. It was at the junction of the North Fork and the Canadian and, consequently, in close proximity to three of the reservations and not far distant from the other two.

[107] See Mrs. W. P. Ross, _Life and Times of William P. Ross_.

[108] _American Historical Review_, vol. xv, 282.

[109]

... On your deliberations it will [be] proper for you to advise
discretion, and to guard against any premature movement on our part,
which might produce excitement or be liable to misrepresentation. Our
duty is very plain. We have only to adhere firmly to our respective
Treaties. By them we have placed ourselves under the protection of the
United States, and of no other sovereign whatever. We are bound to
hold no treaty with any foreign Power, or with any individual State or
combination of States nor with Citizens of any State. Nor even with
one another without the interposition and participation of the United
States....

Should any action of the Council be thought desirable, a resolution
might be adopted, to the effect, that we will in all contingencies
rest our interests on the pledged faith of the United States, for the
fulfilment of their obligations. We ought to entertain no apprehension
of any change, that will endanger our interests. The parties holding
the responsibilities of the Federal Government will always be bound to
us. And no measures we have it in our power to adopt can add anything
to the security we now possess. Relying on your intelligence &
discretion I will add no more.--CHIEF ROSS'S instructions to the
Cherokee Delegation, February 12, 1861 [Indian Office General File;
_Cherokee 1859-1865_, C515].

[110] The Indian Office files are full of testimony proving John Ross's wisdom, foresight, sterling worth generally, and absolute devotion to his people. Indeed, his whole biography is written large in the records. His character was impeccable. Judged by any standard whatsoever, he would easily rank as one of the greatest of Indian half-breeds.

[111] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 682.

[112] The evidence of this is to be found in an official letter from Commissioner W. P. Dole to Secretary Caleb B. Smith, under date of April 30, 1861, which reads as follows:

I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a letter, dated 17th.
Inst. from Elias Rector, Esq., Supt. Indian Affairs ... together with
copy of its enclosure, being one addressed to _Col. W. H. Emory_ by
_M. Leeper_, Agent for the Indians within the "Leased District,"
having reference to the removal of the troops from Fort Cobb.

The Government being bound by treaty obligations to protect the
Indians from the incursions of all enemies, I would respectfully ask
to be informed, if it is not its intention to keep in the country a
sufficient force for the purpose.

The Choctaw and Chickasaw delegation--composed of the principal men of
those Nations--while recently in this City expressed great
apprehensions of attack upon their people, by Citizens of Texas and
Arkansas; and these delegations having assured me of their
determination to maintain a neutral position in the anticipated
difficulties throughout our Country, I would recommend that a depot
for arms be established within the Southern Superintendency in order
that the Indians there may be placed in the possession of the means to
defend themselves against any attack....--Indian Office _Report Book_,
no. 12, p. 152.

[113] General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, L632.

[114] The letter can be found in manuscript form in Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, pp. 447-449, and in printed form in Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 34.

[115] _John Ross_, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation; _Cyrus Harris_, governor of the Chickasaw Nation; _M. Kennard_, principal chief of the Lower Creeks; _Echo Hadjo_ [Echo Harjo], principal chief of the Upper Creeks; _George Hudson_, principal chief of the Choctaw Nation; and the unnamed principal chief of the Seminoles west of Arkansas.

[116] It would seem that the letter was not given to Coffin immediately but was held back on account of the insecurity of the mails [Dole to Creek and Seminole chiefs, November 16, 1861, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, pp. 78-79].

[117] The delay was not entirely due to the military situation. Coffin went from Washington to his home in Indiana. He was there on the twentieth, at Annapolis, Parke County, when Dole wrote urging him to hasten on his way,

I herewith enclose a slip taken from the National Intelligencer of
this date, being an extract from the Austin [Texas] State Gazette of
the 4th Instant, by which you will perceive that efforts are being
made to tamper with the Indians within your Superintendency.

By this you will perceive the urgent necessity, that you should
proceed at the earliest moment practicable to the vicinity of the
duties in your charge, that from your personal knowledge of the views
of the Government in relation to these Indians as well as by the
instructions and communications in your possession, you may be able to
thwart the endeavors of any and all who have or shall attempt to
tamper with these tribes and array them in hostility to the
Government.

I deem it of the utmost importance that no time be lost in this
matter, as delay may be disastrous to the public service.--Indian
Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 473.

By the nineteenth of June, Coffin had managed to reach Crawford Seminary, from which place he reported to Dole,

We have at length reached the Indian Territory propper.... I find Mr.
Elder the Agent absent. I learned on my way down here that he had gone
to Fort Scott with the view of locating the Agency there for the
present which I supposed when I wrote you from the Catholic Mission
might be propper from its close proximity to Missouri but as Mr.
Phelps district is opposit here and he a good Union man and has been
Stumping the district and I learn that the Union cause is growing fast
in that part of the State I think there is now at least no Sort of
excuse for removing, the buildings here are ample for a large family,
watter good....--General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_,
C1229.

The sequel showed that Agent Elder was right and Superintendent Coffin wrong about the security of the region. Coffin never reached Fort Smith at all and was soon compelled to vacate the Indian Territory. Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 66, which covers the period from June, 1861 to October, 1861, contains scarcely a letter to prove that the Indian Office was in communication with Indian Territory. Official connection with the country had been completely cut off. Military abandonment and dilatory officials had done their work.

[118] Official instructions were issued to Coffin, then in Washington, on the ninth, and gave him permission to change his headquarters at discretion. The following is an excerpt of the instructions:

You having been appointed by the President to be Superintendent of
Indian Affairs for the Southern Superintendency in place of _Elias
Rector_, Esq. ... You will repair to Fort Smith, Arkansas, as early as
practicable, for the purpose of relieving _Elias Rector_, Esq.

In your progress from Indiana to Fort Smith, should you deem it
expedient and advisable to pass down the Kansas line and among the
Indians in that section, you will make it your business to inquire as
to their sentiments and disposition with reference to the present
disturbances in the neighboring countries, so far as time and
opportunity will enable you to do so. On reaching Fort Smith you will
also inform yourself as to the condition of Affairs there and
surrounding country, and as to the prospect of the business of the
Superintendency being carried on without molestation or other
inconvenience, and should you find it necessary from the circumstances
that may surround you to remove the office of Superintendent from Fort
Smith you are authorized to do so, selecting some eligible point in
the proximate Indian Territory, or if required some point northwardly
among the Indians in Kansas as your best discretion may dictate. I
trust however that this discretionary authority may prove unnecessary
and that in the legitimate discharge of your duties, you may suffer no
interruption from any cause or source whatever. In a report from this
Office of the 30th Ultimo, with reference to anticipated Indian
troubles in your Superintendency consequent upon the removal of the
troops from Fort Cobb, the attention of the _Hon. Secretary of the
Interior_ was called to the subject, and the enquiry as to the policy
of the Government to keep in the country a sufficient force for the
purpose of proper protection; and further calling his attention to the
expression of friendship and loyalty made by the Choctaw and Chickasaw
delegates lately in this City, recommended that a depot for arms be
established within the Southern Superintendency, in order that the
Indians there may be placed in possession of the means to defend
themselves against any attack. As yet no response to this report has
been received....--Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, pp. 442-443.

[119] Douglas H. Cooper, agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws, was from Mississippi; William H. Garrett, agent for the Creeks, was from Alabama; Robert J. Cowart, agent for the Cherokees, was from Georgia; Matthew Leeper, agent for the Indians of the Leased District, was from Texas; and Andrew J. Dorn, agent at the Neosho River Agency, was from Arkansas.

[120] Telegram, Greenwood to Rector, January 19, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 65, p. 104].

[121] For information showing what Indian agents became adherents of the Confederate cause, see, among other things, an extract from a report of Albert Pike to be found in Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 130, pp. 237-238; and a letter from R. W. Johnson to L. P. Walker, published in _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 598.

[122] The evidence on this point is not very convincing, either one way or the other. A number of documents might be cited bearing some brief, vague, or indefinite reference to the steps the Indians took from the beginning. The closing paragraph of the following report from E. H. Carruth, under date of July 11, 1861, is a typical case:

SIR: I know not that any person has given information to any of the
United States officers in regard to the position of the Indian Tribes
connected with the Southern Superintendency.

I am just arrived from the Seminole Country where for a year I have
been employed as [illegible] to induce the Seminoles to establish
schools. In Sept. last the chiefs applied to the Department to set
aside $5000 for this purpose, but never heard from their application,
and their Ag't soon became too deeply interested in the politics of
the Country to pay much attention to the affairs of the tribe.

From the time the secession movement began to ripen into treason, the
Chief of the Seminoles has constantly sought information on the
subject, and whenever I rec'd a mail he would bring an Interpreter &
remain with me until all had been read and explained.

After the Forts west were taken possession of by the Texans, the
tribes living under the protection of Government around Fort Cobb came
into the Seminole Country, seeking the counsel of the Seminoles as to
what they should do, hostility to the Texans, being with them
strengthened by the recollection of recent wrongs. The Seminoles gave
them permission to reside on their lands, and advised them to
interfere with neither party, should both be represented in the
country.

The Texan officers sent several letters among them & left
Commissioners at Cobb to treat with them offering to them the same
protection before enjoyed while the Government of the U. S. was
represented among them. A letter was also sent to the Seminoles signed
by Geo. W. Welch, "Capt-Commanding the Texan troops in the service of
the Southern Confederacy" which asserted that the _Northern people
were determined to take away their lands & negroes_, that the old
Gov't would never be able to fulfill her treaty stipulations and wound
up by asking them to place their interests under the protection of the
Southern Confederacy.

Very soon afterwards Capt. Albert G. Pike "Commissioner for the
Confederate States of America" wrote to the Seminole Chief from the
Creek Agency, asking that he should meet him at that place with six of
his best men fully authorized to treat with him. He also asked for a
body of Seminole warriors, & promised as "good perhaps better treaty"
than their old one. His letter was backed up by one from Washburn
(formerly Seminole Ag't) who gave a glowing description of treason,
representing to the Indians that the U. S. could never pay one dollar
of the moneys due them, that European Nations were committed to the
cause of the Rebels, and entreated, prayed, almost commanded them to
take the step so essential to their political salvation. This Washburn
had once been engaged in a money transaction with two of the Chiefs
which swindled the nation out of many thousands of dollars, and while
they came near losing their heads in the operation, he escaped, &
still enjoys great personal popularity with the tribe. No man knows
better how to approach Indians. He was born among them of missionary
parents, & like all southern men, who regret their northern parentage,
he is the most rabid of violent traitors. The day after these letters
were rec'd the Chief (John Jumper) spent at my house. He felt true to
the treaties, & said that all his people were with the Government,
but, the Forts west were in possession of its enemies, their Agent
would give them no information on the subject, & he feared that his
country would be overrun, if he did not yield.

I told him plainly that Government was shamefully misrepresented, that
the treaties bound him to all the states alike, that the U. S. could
not fall with all the Army & Navy at her disposal, & that should the
South ever succeed in gaining her own independence the free States
would fight till not a man, woman or child was left, before yielding
one inch of Territory to the rebels. The war being entered into not so
much either for or against slavery in the states, as to protect the
Constitutional rights of Government in the Territories. The Chief told
me that all the full Indians everywhere were with the Gov't, that he
did not wish to fight, nor did his people, they had hoped to be left
to themselves untill the whites settled their quarrels, his people had
enough of war in Florida, & were now anxious for peace. He would
however go to the Creek Agency & tell Capt. Pike & Ben McCulloch their
determination. I believe the object of Pike in drawing the Seminoles
to the Creek country was that he could thus bring Creek influence to
bear upon them. When Pike's letter came, the Bearer sent word to the
Chief to meet him ten miles below, where they were read, but this
caution did not keep them out of sight, as the Chief immediately
brought them to me, to whom as clerk they should have come at first,
but a "white man" was declared to be the adviser of the Seminoles, for
whom a black jack limb would soon suffice. I knew it dangerous to
await the arrival of my ranger friends, & with my wife I left on
horseback, traveling in a Kickapoo trail, coming in above the Creek
country, as they had seceded--I was questioned a good deal in the
Cherokee Nation, but not interfered with as I was personally
acquainted with their leading half breeds, and my wife being fortunate
enough to have a Virginia birth and a brother in Missouri.

When within a half hour's travel of the Neosho River, my shot gun was
taken by a company of men, organized that day--the 2d after Seymour
was killed--they said "to clean out Kansas Jay hawkers."

The influence of Capt. Pike the Rebel Commissioner is second to no
man's among the Southern Indians & I fear that he may succeed in his
intrigues with the other tribes, the Creeks, Chickasaws, & Choctaws
having already gone. The Cherokees refuse to go as a Nation, & no one
is a firmer friend to the Union than John Ross, their Chief, but
traitors are scheming, and the half breeds in favor of the South, want
an army to come in, in which event they promise to be "forced in" to
the Arms of Jeff. Davis, & the select crowd of traitors at Montgomery.