Chapter C: B. JOHNSON, Washington

Spoke too late, like Irishman who swallowed egg. Arsenal in hands of
Governor.

EDMUND BURGEVIN.

_Official Records_, first ser., vol. liii, supplement, 617.

The senders and recipients of the telegraphic dispatches were, with one or two exceptions, all relatives of each other, and all in public life. Robert Ward Johnson and William K. Sebastian were, at the time, United States senators from Arkansas; Thomas C. Hindman and Albert Rust were Arkansas representatives in Congress; Albert Pike was in Washington, prosecuting the Choctaw Indian claim; Edmund Burgevin was the attorney-general of Arkansas and a brother-in-law of Governor Rector; Richard H. Johnson and James Johnson were brothers of Robert W. Johnson, the former being proprietor and editor of the Little Rock _Democrat_ and the latter, in future years, a colonel in the Confederate army. In 1868, R. W. Johnson moved to Washington City and became the law partner of Albert Pike. [Arkansas Historical Association, _Publications_, vol. ii, 268.] Hindman was the man who sneered at the precautions taken to insure President-elect Lincoln's safety [Stanwood, _History of Presidential Elections_, 235]. Sebastian was expelled from the Senate because of his southern sympathies; but, as he really took no active part in the Confederate movements, the resolution of expulsion was rescinded in 1878.

[164] It would be interesting to know whether Elias Rector had as yet formulated any such plan for personal aggrandizement such as must have been in his mind when he wrote the letter to Douglas H. Cooper that called forth from Cooper the following response:

_Private & Confidential_

_Copy_

FORT SMITH May 1st 1861.

MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR

Dr. Sir: I have concluded to act upon the suggestion yours of the 28th
Ultimo contains.

If we work this thing shrewdly we can make a fortune each, satisfy the
Indians, stand fair before the North, and revel in the unwavering
confidence of our Southern Confederacy.

My share of the eighty thousand in gold you can leave on deposite with
Meyer Bro, subject to my order. Write me soon. COOPER. Indian Office,
General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1863-1864_, I435.

The foregoing letter of Cooper's was one of those referred to in the following telegraphic communication from Special Agent G. B. Stockton to Secretary Usher, dated Fort Smith, Arkansas, February 20, 1864:

I have just found & have now in this office a large desk containing
indian papers treaties correspondence of Cooper Rector & others,
correspondence of W. P. Dole as late as May fifteenth 1861 vouchers
abstracts & correspondence convicting Rector & Cooper of enticing the
various tribes to become enemies of the U. S. The papers extend back
as far as 1834 will you please direct me what disposition to make of
them.

Secretary Usher referred the matter to the Office of Indian Affairs and Mix instructed Stockton to send the papers on to Washington [Letter of February 20, 1864]. This Stockton did and notified the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in this wise, by telegraph:

I have boxed the Indian Papers which I found at this place, and this
day send them by wagons to Leavenworth City, Kansas, to be thence
forwarded by the American Express Company.

There seems to have been considerable delay in their transmittal after they had passed into the custodianship of the express company but they eventually reached the Indian Office and to-day form part of the Fort Smith collection.

[165] The melodious refrain of this,

That fine Arkansas gentleman,
Close to the Choctaw line.

unconsciously brings our one of the very ideas sought to be conveyed by the present chapter; namely, the extremely close connection between Arkansas and Indian Territory.

[166] This old, old song, "written on the model and to the air of 'The Old Country Gentleman'," runs thus:

The song I'll sing, though lately made, it tells of olden days,
Of a good old Scottish gentleman, of good old Scottish ways;
When our barons bold kept house and hold, and sung their olden lays
And drove with speed across the Tweed, auld Scotland's bluidy faes,
Like brave old Scottish gentlemen, all of the olden time.

_Scottish Songs_, printed by W. G. Blackie and Company (Glasgow).

[167] The commissioners to whom Ogden referred in his letter of February 15, 1861, may have been the tangible evidence of Governor Rector's first attempt to influence the Indians.

[168] Fleming, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama_, 46, footnote 1.

[169] Smith, _Debates of the Alabama Convention_, 443-444; _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol i, 3.

[170] Governor Moore had appointed the commissioners, including Hubbard, on his own initiative before the convention met. See his address, Smith's _Debates_, 35.

[171] House _Journal_, Arkansas, 38.

[172] House _Journal_, Arkansas, 314, 445.

[173] January 12, 1861.

[174] The resolution is found in House _Journal_, Arkansas, 167 and in _Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 307. Its text is as follows:

_Resolved_, That no money or property of any kind whatever, now in the
hands of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, or of any Indian agent,
being placed there, or designed for the Indians on the western
frontier of Arkansas, shall be seized, but that the same shall so
remain to be applied to and for the use of the several Indian Nations,
faithfully, as was designed when so placed in their hands for
disbursement.

And the people of the State of Arkansas, here in sovereign convention
assembled, do hereby pledge the sovereignty of the State of Arkansas,
that everything in their power shall be done to compel a faithful
application of all money and property now in the hands of persons or
agents designed and intended for the several Indian tribes west of
Arkansas.

Adopted in and by the convention May 9, 1861.

DAVID WALKER, President of the Arkansas State Convention.

Attest. ELIAS C. BOUDINOT, Secretary of the Convention.

[175]

BOONSBOROUGH, ARK., May 9, 1861.

HON. JOHN ROSS:

Dear Sir: The momentous issues that now engross the attention of the
American people cannot but have elicited your interest and attention
as well as ours. The unfortunate resort of an arbitrament of arms
seems now to be the only alternative. Our State has of necessity to
co-operate with her natural allies, the Southern States. It is now
only a question of North and South, and the "hardest must fend off."
We expect manfully to bear our part of the privations and sacrifices
which the times require of Southern people.

This being our attitude in this great contest, it is natural for us to
desire, and we think we may say we have a right, to know what position
will be taken by those who may greatly conduce to our interests as
friends or to our injury as enemies. Not knowing your political status
in this present contest as the head of the Cherokee Nation, we request
you to inform as by letter, at your earliest convenience, whether you
will co-operate with the Northern or Southern section, now so
unhappily and hopelessly divided. We earnestly hope to find in you and
your people true allies and active friends; but if, unfortunately, you
prefer to retain your connection with the Northern Government and give
them aid and comfort, we want to know that, as we prefer an open enemy
to a doubtful friend.

With considerations of high regard, we are, your obedient servants,

MARK BEAN,
W. B. WELCH,
E. W. MACCLURE,
JOHN SPENCER,
J. A. MCCOLLOCH,
J. M. LACY,
J. P. CARNAHAN,
_And many others_.

_Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 493-494; Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515.

[176] Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 683-684; vol. xiii, 490-491.

[177] Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 683.

[178] In a letter to A. B. Greenwood, dated Fort Smith, February 13, 1861, he says:

On the 11th Inst. I sent a dispatch to you asking for Troops and
yesterday rec'd an answer making enquiries as to the Object for which
they are wanted, and asking if the Governor's Commissioner was here &
what was his Object.

I have just replyed in a Dispatch, that the Gov. has no Com. here and
has had none. I suppose you have been Tehlegraphed that there was a
Com. and that for mischief. Now the following are the facts in the
case as far as I have been able to learn them. On Saturday or Sunday
last there came a young man by the name of Gains called Dr. Gains from
Little Rock. He stated his object was to visit the Indian Tribes west
of this to cultivate with them friendly Relations and stated moreover
that he was authorized to do so by the Gov. of Arkansas. When I
returned your Dispatch I went to Dr. Gains and asked him in the
presents of witnesses if he was acting as Com. for the Gov. of
Arkansas he replyed that he was not, and now Sir I am sorry to learn
to day that a rumor is afloat that I am here to aid in taking this
post & that by having Troops sent from here to weaken the forces.
Nothing can be more false. In the first place, the Citizens have no
Disposition to interfere with this post in any way and the truth is I
see no persons but the Officers and I will not judge of their motives.

Them and myself are all friendly as far as I know except it may be
they object to a Speach I made here on Monday night last. I can say
and prove by all the best citizens of the Place that my remarks were
mild and conciliatory and could not be objectionable to any true
Southern man this the citizens of the City will bare me out, the truth
is the only objection they could make to my speech was that it was
unanswerable. I told you the same when in Washington. I appeal to the
Citizens for the truth of what I say. I desire troops to protect the
Cherokees from Abolition forays from Kansas & the Neutral land. I am
told that there are three times the No. of Intruders now that there
was there last fall and that violent threats have been made by Kansas.

In the next place I can do nothing without Troops there and a No. of
lawless murderers in the Nation that cannot without Troops, and I told
you those things when with you last and in addition to the above facts
the Troops can live and support quite as comfortable and for less
money out there than they can here.--Indian Office, General Files,
_Cherokee, 1859-1865_.

[179] The proof appeared in the correspondence of John B. Ogden, commissioner of the district court of the United States for the western district of Arkansas. On March 4, 1861, Ogden wrote from Van Buren to the Secretary of the Interior the following letter:

Having learned on the 15th of Feb{y} last from rumor the person
appointed as Com{r} had been sent by Gov. Rector of the State of
Arkansas to the Indian tribes upon our frontier for co-operation in
secession movements, and the same being in violation of treaty
stipulations and the laws enacted by Congress regulating trade and
Intercourse, I addressed a letter of inquiry to John Ross principal
chief of the Cherokee Nation in relation to the same, which letter
accompanies this with his reply--The letter to me I think was intended
to be confidential from its language and from my conversation with the
messenger who was the bearer of it to me, of this however I cannot
positively judge and have thought best to forward the same. John Ross
was unable to give me an imediate answer as he was not personally
advised of the subject matter. But upon the return of Mr W. P. Ross
who was a delegate from the Cherokees to a General Council being held
of the tribes West of Arkansas in relation to their own international
policy, he became advised of the matter of inquiry and for the purpose
of furnishing the required information sent Mr W. P. Ross the bearer
of this letter to Van Buren that he might fully communicate with me in
the matter. I learn from him that one Dr J. J. Gains late editor of a
secession sheet at Little Rock, did attend the said Council held by
the Indian tribes west of Ark{s} in the Choctaw Nation, and that said
Gains announced to the Council his mission to be that of a Com{r} from
Arkansas accredited by the Gov{r} to consult with them in relation to
co-operation with the seceding States--That he submitted a written
Statement to them in reference to their interests and future relations
in the event of a dissolution of the Union--but that he was guarded in
his propositions--You will learn from M{r} John Ross' letter that he
informs me officially that the present (agent) of the Cherokees "is
officiously advocating the secession policy of the southern States and
that his endeavoring to influence the Cherokees to take sides and act
in Concert with the Seceding States."--I can state from my own
information that when said Agent is in Ark{s} he is invariably to be
found upon the stump "open-mouthed and--" for disunion, to the great
anoyance of the good people of the Country. These people should be
heard and their grievances redressed and the causes removed, and some
man of correct constitutional morals appointed in his stead. We have
hosts of such men in this State, and as the Incoming Administration
are not advised of persons in this country, allow me to suggest that
on application to the Hon. A. B. Greenwood now of Washington the
selection of a suitable person could be named. I have no doubt, that
would be satisfactory--pardon this apparent officiousness--At this
time my great anxiety for the preservation of the Union must be my
apology for what I have said.

I also enclose you a copy of a permit furnished me by M{r} Ross issued
by said agent.--Indian Office, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_,
O32.

_Inclosures_

1. John Ogden to John Ross, February 15, 1861.

2. John Ross to John B. Ogden, February 28, 1861.

3. CHEROKEE AGENCY, near Tahlequah, C. N.

Isaac G. Freeman, a citizen of what was formerly the United States and
a farmer by occupation has permission to remain with J. C. Cunningham
near Park Hill in said Nation and labor for the said Cunningham for
twelve months from this date subject to be removed by the Agent at any
time for cause.

R. J. COWART, U. S. Cherokee Agent.

[Endorsement] A true copy from the original as taken by me March 1st
1861

WILL P. ROSS

4. Newspaper clippings, one containing the Choctaw resolutions of
February 7, 1861, and the other this:

Dr. J. J. Gains, (an old editor) dropped in upon us, last week, on his
way to Little Rock, from the Indian country. His mission was one of
peace, and not to "_incite rebellion_" as was telegraphed to
Washington City, by some officious person. We were glad to learn from
him, that our border friends are all right.

[180] General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515; _Official Records_, first ser., vol. xiii, 491-492.

[181] Stephens says they were almost equally divided on the question of secession [_Constitutional View of the Late War between the States_, vol. ii, 363].

[182] On April 20, 1861.

[183] Stephens, _op. cit._, vol. ii, 375; _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 674, 687.

[184] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 686.

[185] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 369.

[186] The importance of such an alliance seems never to have been lost sight of. In his message of May 6, 1861, Governor Rector called attention to the fact that Arkansas was the most exposed state in the Union, because of the Indians on the west [_Journal_, 153]. In various ways, he emphasized the strategical value of Indian Territory [_ibid._, 156].

[187] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 183.

[188] See page 183.

[189] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 189.

[190] --_Ibid._, 295.

[191] N. Bart Pearce had just been created by the convention "brigadier-general of Arkansas, to command the Western frontier."

[192] On the thirteenth of May, the Confederate War Department had assigned Ben McCulloch to the command of the district embracing Indian Territory.

[193] _Journal_, Arkansas Convention, 369.

[194] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. i, 691.

[195] These resolutions are found in the _Official Record_, first ser., vol. iii, 585-587 and are as follows:

_Resolutions of the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Chickasaw Legislature assembled_, May 25, 1861: Whereas the Government
of the United States has been broken up by the secession of a large
number of States composing the Federal Union--that the dissolution has
been followed by war between the parties; and whereas the destruction
of the Union as it existed by the Federal Constitution is irreparable,
and consequently the Government of the United States as it was when
the Chickasaw and other Indian nations formed alliances and treaties
with it no longer exists; and whereas the Lincoln Government,
pretending to represent said Union, has shown by its course towards
us, in withdrawing from our country the protection of the Federal
troops, and withholding, unjustly and unlawfully, our money placed in
the hands of the Government of the United States as trustee, to be
applied for our benefit, a total disregard of treaty obligations
toward us; and whereas our geographical position, our social and
domestic institutions, our feelings and sympathies, all attach us to
our Southern friends, against whom is about to be waged a war of
subjugation or extermination, of conquest and confiscation--a war
which, if we can judge from the declarations of the political
partisans of the Lincoln Government, will surpass the French
Revolution in scenes of blood and that of San Domingo in atrocious
horrors; and whereas it is impossible that the Chickasaws, deprived of
their money and destitute of all means of separate self-protection,
can maintain neutrality or escape the storm which is about to burst
upon the South, but, on the contrary, would be suspected, oppressed,
and plundered alternately by armed bands from the North, South, East,
and West; and whereas we have an abiding confidence that all our
rights--tribal and individual--secured to as under treaties with the
United States, will be fully recognized, guaranteed, and protected by
our friends of the Confederate States; and whereas as a Southern
people we consider their cause our own: Therefore,

_Be it resolved by the Chickasaw Legislature assembled_, 1st. That the
dissolution of the Federal Union, under which the Government of the
United States existed, has absolved the Chickasaws from allegiance to
any foreign government whatever; that the current of the events of the
last few months has left the Chickasaw Nation _independent_, the
people thereof free to form such alliances, and take such steps to
secure their own safety, happiness, and future welfare as may to them
seem best.

2d. _Resolved_, That our neighboring Indian nations--Choctaws,
Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Osages, Senecas, Quapaws, Comanches,
Kiowas, together with the fragmentary bands of Delawares, Kickapoos,
Caddoes, Wichitas, and others within the Choctaw and Chickasaw country
who are similarly situated with ourselves, be invited to co-operate,
in order to secure the independence of the Indian nations and the
defense of the territory they inhabit from Northern invasion by the
Lincoln hordes and Kansas robbers, who have plundered and oppressed
our red brethren among them, and who doubtless would extend towards us
the protection which the wolf gives to the lamb should they succeed in
overrunning our country; that the Chickasaws pledge themselves to
resist by all means and to the death any such invasion of the lands
occupied by themselves or by any of the Indian nations; and that their
country shall not be occupied or passed through by the Lincoln forces
for the purpose of invading our neighbors, the States of Arkansas and
Texas, but, on the contrary, any attempt to do so will be regarded as
an act of war against ourselves, and should be resisted by all the
Indian nations as insulting to themselves and tending to endanger
their Territorial rights.

3d. _Resolved_, That it is expedient, at the very earliest day
possible, that commissioners from other Indian nations for the purpose
of forming a league or confederation among them for mutual safety and
protection, and also to the Confederate States in order to enter into
such alliance and to conclude such treaties as may be necessary to
secure the rights, interest, and welfare of the Indian tribes, and
that the co-operation of all the Indian nations west of the State of
Arkansas and south of Kansas be invited for the attainment of these
objects.

4th. _Resolved_, That the Chickasaws look with confidence especially
to the Choctaws (whose interests are an closely interwoven with their
own, and who were the first through their national council to declare
their sympathy for, and their determination, in case of a permanent
dissolution of the Federal Union, to adhere to the Southern States),
and hope they will speedily unite with us in such measures as may be
necessary for the defense of our common country and a union with our
natural allies, the Confederate States of America.

5th. _Resolved_, That while the Chickasaw people entertain the most
sincere friendship for the people of the neighboring States of Texas
and Arkansas, and are deeply grateful for the prompt offer from them
of assistance in all measures of defense necessary for the protection
of our country against hostile invasion, we are desirous to hold
undisputed possession of our lands and all forts and other places
lately occupied by the Federal troops and other officers and persons
acting under the authority of the United States, and that the governor
of the Chickasaw Nation be, and he is hereby, instructed to take
immediate steps to obtain possession of all such forts and places
within the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and have the same
garrisoned, if possible, by Chickasaw troops, or else by troops acting
expressly under and by virtue of the authority of the Chickasaw or
Choctaw nations, until such time as said forts, Indian agencies, etc.,
may be transferred by treaty to the Confederate States.

6th. _Resolved_, That the governor of the Chickasaw Nation be, and he
is hereby, instructed to issue his proclamation to the Chickasaw
Nation, declaring their _independence_, and calling upon the Chickasaw
warriors to form themselves into volunteer companies of such strength
and with such officers (to be chosen by themselves) as the governor
may prescribe, to report themselves by filing their company rolls at
the Chickasaw Agency, and to hold themselves, with the best arms and
ammunition, together with a reasonable supply of provisions, in
readiness at a minute's warning to turn out, under the orders of the
commanding general of the Chickasaws, for the defense of their country
or to aid the civil authorities in the enforcement of the laws.

7th. _Resolved_, That we have full faith and confidence in the justice
of the cause in which we are embarked, and that we appeal to the
Chickasaw people to be prepared to meet the conflict which will
surely, and perhaps speedily, take place, and hereby call upon every
man capable of bearing arms to be ready to defend his home and family,
his country and his property, and to render prompt obedience to all
orders from the officers set over them.

9th [8th]. _Resolved_, That the governor cause these resolutions to be
published in the National Register, at the Boggy Depot, and copies
thereof sent to the several Indian nations, to the governors of the
adjacent States, to the President of the Confederate States, and to
Abraham Lincoln, President of the Black Republican Party.

Passed the House of Representatives May 25, 1865.

A. ALEXANAN, Speaker House Representatives.

Attest: C. CARTER, Clerk House Representatives

Passed the Senate.

JOHN E. ANDERSON, President of Senate.

Attest: JAMES N. MCLISH, Clerk of Senate.

Approved, Tishomingo, May 25, 1861.