Qualla Town, North Carolina, May, 1848.
In the present letter I purpose to give you a brief historical
account of certain celebrated Cherokee Indians, who are deservedly
considered as among the bright particular stars of their nation.
Some of them are dead, and some still living, but they were all born
in this mountain land, and it is meet that I should award to each a
“passing paragraph of praise.”
The first individual that I would mention is Yo-na-gus-ka, or the
_Drowning Bear_. He was the principal chief of the Qualla Indians,
and died in the year 1838, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.
When the Cherokees were invited to remove west of the Mississippi in
1809, he petitioned President Jefferson that he might be permitted
to remain with his followers, among his native mountains, and his
prayer was granted. He was eminently a peace chief, but obstinately
declined every invitation of the Government to emigrate, and would
probably have shed his blood and that of all his warriors in
defending his rights. When about sixty years of age he had a severe
fit of sickness, which terminated in a trance; this apparent
suspension of all his faculties lasted about twenty-four hours,
during which period he was supposed to be dead. It so happened,
however, that he recovered, and on resuming his speech, told his
attendants that he had been to the spirit land, and held communion
with his friends who had been long dead, that they were all very
happy. He also stated that he had seen many white men, and that some
of them appeared to be unhappy. The Great Spirit talked with him,
and told him his time was not yet come to leave the world; that he
had been a good and honest man, and that he must return to his
people, and govern them with great care and affection, so that he
might finally come and live with the Great Spirit for ever.
Subsequently to that time his people gave him a new name, which was
Yon-na-yous-ta, or _How like an Indian_. He governed his people like
a father, and was universally beloved. It was at his suggestion that
Mr. Thomas was adopted into the Cherokee nation; the prominent
reasons assigned for such a desire on his part being that Thomas had
proved himself to be the Indian’s friend, and was alone in the
world, having no father or brother. Mr. Thomas exerted a great
influence over him, and among the measures which the former
recommended was the adoption of a temperance society for the
improvement of himself and people, who were all addicted to the
intoxicating bowl. He was a true patriot at heart, and on being
reasoned into a correct state of mind, he expressed his
determination to create a reform. He first reformed himself, and
then summoned a council of all his people, ostensibly but secretly,
for the purpose of establishing a temperance society. At this
council he made a speech to the effect that they knew he had been an
intemperate man, and had discouraged the use of strong drink, which
he was confident was rapidly annihilating his nation; he expected to
be with his people but a short time, and to extricate them from the
great evil he had mentioned was the real purpose of the Great Spirit
in prolonging his life; he also spoke of the many evils to families
and individuals resulting from intemperance; and when he concluded,
it is said that his entire audience were in tears. Taking advantage
of this triumph, he called his scribe, (for he himself was an
illiterate man,) and requested him to write these words upon a sheet
of paper: “The undersigned drink no more whiskey;” to which pledge
he requested that his name should be attached. Every member of the
council appended his name to the paper, and thus was established the
first temperance society among the Cherokees, which has already
accomplished wonders. Among the regulations which he afterwards
proclaimed, was one that each Indian should pay a fine of two
shillings for every offence committed in breaking the pledge, and
that the money thus collected should be expended in extending the
boundaries of their territory. And here it may be well to mention
the fact, that though this “father of temperance” among the Indians
had been extremely dissipated during a period of thirty years, he
was never known, even in _the way of medicine_, to touch a drop of
spirits after his first temperance speech.
The reputation of Yo-na-gus-ka as an orator was co-extensive with
his entire nation. He not only understood the art of working upon
the feelings and clothing his thoughts in the most appropriate
imagery, but the thoughts themselves were invariably sound, and his
arguments unanswerable. From many examples of his reasoning I select
one. When once invited by the officers of Government to remove
westward, even after he and his people had become citizenized, he
was informed that in the West he would have an abundance of the most
fertile land, with plenty of game; also a government of his own;
that he would be undisturbed by the whites, and that the United
States Government would ever protect him from future molestation. In
replying to this invitation, as he stood in the midst of armed
soldiers, he remarked in substance as follows: “I am an old man, and
have counted the snows of almost eighty winters. My hair, which is
now very white, was once like the raven’s wing. I can remember when
the white man had not seen the smoke of our cabins westward of the
Blue Ridge, and I have watched the establishment of all his
settlements, even to the Father of Waters. The march of the white is
still towards the setting sun, and I know that he will never be
satisfied until he reaches the shore of the great water. It is
foolish in you to tell me that the whites will not trouble the poor
Cherokee in the Western country. The white man’s nature and the
Indian’s fate tell a different story. Sooner or later one Government
must cover the whole continent, and the red people, if not scattered
among the autumn leaves, will become a part of the American nation.
As to the white man’s promises of protection, they have been too
often broken; they are like the reeds in yonder river—they are all
lies. North Carolina had acknowledged our title to these lands, and
the United States had guarantied that title; but all this did not
prevent the Government from taking away our lands by force; and, not
only that, but sold the very cow of the poor Indian and his gun, so
as to compel him to leave his country. Is this what the white man
calls justice and protection? No, we will not go to the West. We
wanted to become the children of North Carolina, and she has
received us as such, and passed a law for our protection, and we
will continue to raise our corn in this very land. The people of
Carolina have always been very kind to us, and we know they will
never oppress us. You say the land in the West is much better than
it is here. That very fact is an argument on our side. The white man
must have rich land to do his great business, but the Indian can be
happy with poorer land. The white man must have a flat country for
his plough to run easy, but we can get along even among the rocks on
the mountains. We never shall do what you want us to do. I don’t
like you for your pretended kindness. I always advise my people to
keep their backs for ever turned towards the setting sun, and never
to leave the land of their fathers. I tell them they must live like
good citizens; never forget the kindness of North Carolina, and
always be ready to help her in time of war. I have nothing more to
say.”
When Yo-na-gus-ka was about to die, he summoned his chiefs and
warriors by his bed-side, and talked to them at great length upon
the importance of temperance, and in opposition to the idea of their
emigrating to the West, and made them swear that they would never
abandon the graves of their fathers, or his own grave, which is now
marked by a pile of stones on the margin of the Soco. In personal
appearance he was very handsome, and left two wives. He was the
owner of considerable property, and among his possessions was an old
negro named _Cudjo_. This man is now living, and on questioning him
about his former master he replied: “If Yo-na-gus-ka had had
larning, I b’lieve he’d been a very great man. He never allowed
himself to be called _master_, for he said Cudjo was his brother,
and not his slave. He was a great friend o’ mine, and when he died,
I felt as if I didn’t care about living any longer myself; but
Yo-na-gus-ka is gone, and poor old Cudjo is still alive and well.”
The second character that I will introduce to my readers is now
living in Qualla Town. His name is _Salola_, or the _Squirrel_. He
is quite a young man, and has a remarkably thoughtful face. He is
the blacksmith of his nation, and with some assistance supplies the
whole of Qualla Town with all their axes and ploughs; but what is
more, he has manufactured a number of very superior rifles and
pistols, including stock, barrel, and lock; and he is also the
builder of grist-mills, which grind all the corn which his people
eat. A specimen of his workmanship, in the way of a rifle, may be
seen at the Patent-Office, in Washington, where it was deposited by
Mr. Thomas; and I believe Salola is the first Indian who ever
manufactured an entire gun. But, when it is remembered that he never
received a particle of education in any of the mechanic arts, but is
entirely self-taught, his attainments must be considered truly
remarkable.
That he labors under every disadvantage in his most worthy calling,
may be shown by the fact that he uses a _flint-stone_ for an anvil,
and a _water-blast_ for a bellows. In every particular he is a most
worthy man, and though unable to speak the English tongue, is a very
good scholar in his own language. He is the husband of a Catawba
woman, whom he married _before he could speak one word of her own
tongue, or she could speak Cherokee_; but they have now established
a language of their own, by which they get along very well. Salola,
upon the whole, is an honor to the country, and one whose services
in some iron or steel establishment of the eastern cities would be
of great value. Is there not some gentleman in Philadelphia or
New-York who would take pleasure in patronizing this mechanical
prodigy of the wilderness?
Another of the characters I intended to mention is named _Euchella_.
He is a very worthy chief, and now in the afternoon of his days. He
is quite celebrated among his people as a warrior, but is
principally famous for important services rendered by him to the
United States Government during the Cherokee troubles. He, and a
band of one hundred followers, first attracted public attention by
evading, for upwards of a whole year, the officers of Government who
had been commanded to remove the party beyond the Mississippi. It
having been ascertained, however, that Euchella could not easily be
captured, and would never submit to leave his country, it was
determined that an overture should be made, by which he and his
brotherhood of warriors could be secured to assist the whites in
their troublesome efforts to capture three Indians who had murdered
a number of soldiers. The instrument employed to effect a
reconciliation was the Indian trader, Mr. Thomas, who succeeded in
appointing a meeting with Euchella on a remote mountain-top.
During this interviev, Mr. Thomas remonstrated with Euchella, and
told him that, if he would join the whites, he might remain in
Carolina, and be at peace. “I cannot be at peace,” replied the
warrior, “because it is now a whole year that your soldiers have
hunted me like a wild deer. I have suffered from the white man more
than I can bear. I had a wife and a little child—a brave,
bright-eyed boy—and because I would not become your slave, they were
left to starve upon the mountains. Yes; and I buried them with my
own hand, at midnight. For a whole week at a time have I been
without bread myself, and this in my own country too. I cannot bear
to think upon my wrongs, and I scorn your proposition.” It so
happened, however, that he partially relented, and having submitted
the proposition to his warriors, whom he summoned to his side by a
whoop, they agreed to accept it, and from that time Euchella became
an ally of the army. It was by the efforts of Euchella and his band
that the _murderers_ already mentioned were arrested and punished.
They had been condemned by a court martial, and sentenced to be
shot, and the scorn of death manifested by one of them, named
Charley, is worth recording. He had been given into the hands of
Euchella, and when he was tied to the tree, by one arm, where he was
to die, (to which confinement he submitted without a murmur,) he
asked permission to make a few remarks, which was of course granted,
and he spoke as follows: “And is it by your hands, Euchella, that I
am to die? We have been brothers together; but Euchella has promised
to be the white man’s friend, and he must do his duty, and poor
Charley is to suffer because he loved his country. O, Euchella! if
the Cherokee people now beyond the Mississippi carried my heart in
their bosoms, they never would have left their beautiful native
land—their own mountain land. I am not afraid to die; O, no, I want
to die, for my heart is very heavy, heavier than lead. But,
Euchella, there is one favor that I would ask at your hands. You
know that I had a little boy, who was lost among the mountains. I
want you to find that boy, if he is not dead, and tell him that the
last words of his father were that he must never go beyond the
Father of Waters, but die in the land of his birth. It is sweet to
die in one’s own country, and to be buried by the margin of one’s
native stream.” After the bandage had been placed over his eyes, a
little delay occurred in the order of execution, when Charley gently
raised the bandage, and saw a dozen of Euchella’s warriors in the
very act of firing; he then replaced the cloth, without manifesting
the least anxiety or moving a muscle, and in a moment more the poor
savage was weltering in his blood. And so did all three of the
murderers perish.
Another name, famous in the unwritten annals of Cherokee history, is
that of an Indian named _Guess_, who was the inventor of the
Cherokee alphabet. This alphabet contains eighty-six characters,
each one of which represents a distinct sound. It can be acquired,
by an apt scholar, in the course of ten days, and is now the
foundation of the Cherokee literature. Guess died at the West in the
year 1842.
The individual who translated the New Testament was an educated
Indian, named _Elias Boudinot_, who lost his life by the hand of an
Indian assassin. At the time of his death he was engaged upon a
translation of the Bible, and was cut down in the midst of his
usefulness, in 1839, merely because he had the fearlessness and the
honesty to disagree with a majority of the Arkansas Cherokees in
regard to a certain treaty. _John Ridge_, also an educated Indian,
and his father, Major _Ridge_, were brave and honorable men, who
were the friends of Boudinot, and like him perished by the hands of
assassins, at the same time and for the same cause. The elder
_Ridge_ acted a conspicuous part in the battle of the Horse-Shoe, in
the Creek war; while the younger _Ridge_ was mainly distinguished
for his intelligence and the happy influence of his life and good
works.