since the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty had put the Leased District under
the jurisdiction of the C. S. A., there was very little for the reservees
themselves to do, except take the protection and other things offered by
the Confederacy (the Comanches of the Prairie and Staked Plain had
promised to become reservees on the Leased District) and be content. Pike
did not bother about promising to make them citizens eventually or about
making them admit the legality of the institution of slavery. Their
political status had never been high and it was no higher under the
Confederacy than it had been under the Union.
[384] The Tonkawas seem to have been the ones who were the most completely
persuaded of all to adhere to the South and they continued unwaveringly
loyal thereafter to its failing fortunes [S. S. Scott to Governor
Winchester Colbert, dated Fort Arbuckle, November 10, 1862; Colbert to
Scott, same date; Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. vi, 6; Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1863, House _Executive Documents_, 38th
congress, first session, vol. iii, 143; Indian Office, _Report Book_, no.
19, pp. 186-188]. Apparently the Confederacy was rather careful in
carrying out its obligations to the Tonkawas. Among the _Leeper Papers_
are various documents proving this, such as an unsigned receipt for money
received from Pike, July 19, 1862, to carry out the terms of Articles XVI
and XVII of the treaty of August 12, 1861; and a copy of a letter, from
Leeper probably, to J. J. Sturm, commissary, dated November 30, 1861,
complaining that Sturm had not followed "instructions in making issues to
Tonkahua Indians."
[385] _Journal_, vol. i, 565.
[386] Message of Dec. 12, 1861 [Richardson, _op. cit._, vol. i, 149-151;
_Official Register_, fourth ser., vol. i, 785-786].
[387] This report I have been unable to find.
[388]
The pecuniary obligations of these treaties are of great importance.
Apart from the annuities secured to them by former treaties, and which
we are to assume by those now submitted, these tribes have large
permanent funds in the hands of the Government of the United States as
their trustee. These funds may be divided into three classes: First.
Money which the Government of the United States stipulated to invest
in its own stocks or stocks of the States, and which has been partly
invested in its own stocks and partly uninvested, remains in its
Treasury, but upon which it is bound to pay interest. Second. Funds
invested in the stocks of States not members of this Confederacy.
Third. Money invested in stocks of States now members of this
Confederacy.... By the treaties now submitted to you the first and
second class are absolutely assumed by this Government; but this
Government only undertakes as trustee to collect the third class from
the States which owe the money and pay over the amounts to the Indians
when collected. It is fortunate for the Indians and ourselves that the
amounts embraced in classes one and two are relatively small, and the
obligations incurred by their assumption cannot be onerous, as the
amount due by States of the Confederacy on account of investments in
the funds of Northern Indians considerably exceeds the amount to be
assumed under this provision of the treaties. We thereby have the
means to compel the Government of the United States to do justice to
the Indians within the jurisdiction of the Confederate States, or to
indemnify ourselves for its breach of faith.
... I also submit to you the report of Albert Pike, the commissioner,
which contains a history of his negotiations and submits his reasons
for a departure from his instructions in relation to the pecuniary
obligations to be incurred. [The reference here is to a letter from
Pike to Toombs, May 20, 1861, _Official Records_, first ser., vol.
iii, 581.] In view of the circumstances by which we are surrounded,
the great importance of preserving peace with the Indians on the
frontier of Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri, and not least, because of
the spirit these tribes have manifested in making common cause with us
in the war now existing, I recommend the assumption of the stipulated
pecuniary obligations, and, with the modifications herein suggested,
that the treaties submitted be ratified.--_Official Records_, fourth
ser., vol. i, 786.
[389] _Official Record_, fourth ser., vol. i, 785-786.
[390] _Journal_, vol. i, 564, 565.
[391] --_Ibid._, 590-596.
[392] --_Ibid._, 590-591.
[393] _Statutes at Large_, 330.
[394] _Journal_, vol. i, 591-592.
[395] _Statutes at Large_, 331.
[396] _Journal_, vol. i, 597.
[397] --_Ibid._, 593.
[398] _Statutes at Large_, 367.
[399] _Journal_, 601.
[400] --_Ibid._, 598.
[401] _Statutes at Large_, 331.
[402] _Statutes at Large_, 331.
[403] _Journal_, vol. i, 610.
[404] --_Ibid._
[405] --_Ibid._, 632-633.
[406] --_Ibid._, 634.
[407] --_Ibid._, 635.
[408] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 574.
[409] Chief Justice M. H. McWillie of La Mesilla, Arizona, was among the
number. See his letter to President Davis, June 30, 1861, quoted in
_Official Records_, vol. iv, 96.
[410] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 578-579.
[411] --_Ibid._, vol. i, 618.
[412] Letter to Johnson, May 11, 1861, _ibid._, vol. iii, 572.
[413] Letter to Toombs, May 20, 1861, _ibid._, 581.
[414] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 14.
[415] Act of March 2, 1861, U. S. _Statutes at Large_, vol. xii, 239.
[416] On the twenty-second of May, Whitney reported, generally, on the
condition of several tribes:
Owing to the extremely dangerous state of political affairs in
Missouri especially along the line of the H. & St. Jo. RR., I have
refrained from writing to you.... Although the _Delawares_ were not
especially refered to in my instructions yet I visited the Mission &
Agent as it was quite convenient ... and ascertained to my complete
satisfaction ... that they were a wealthy tribe and that although many
of their individual members were _necessitous_ yet they were not of
the _destitute_ kind contemplated by your department: 2d. that the new
agent who had heard of this movement towards relief was very anxious
to make it appear that his tribe was very needy & to have large
amounts of relief furnished at his residence on the Missouri River
away from the agency & also from a central point....
I next visited the Osage River Agency and ascertained that all of the
tribes belonging to that Agency were in rather a destitute condition,
they having used and still (are) using their school fund in buying
provisions: the Miamis of that agency I found to be the most needy &
it might be said that they were _suffering_ to some extent....
... In reference to the Neosho Agency, as that was such a long
distance I engaged three trains of wagons before leaving
Leavenworth....
Whitney speaks harshly of the Osages as lazy vagabonds and continues,
... The general famine throughout Kansas had but little to do with
their sufferings as they cultivate nothing of consequence ... and
therefore ... they are not morally & strictly proper objects of
government charity....
... Systematic and well planned solicitations had been and are being
made by Missourians to them to take up arms against the borderers to
which the people throughout this entire section feared they might be
induced on account of the neglect of Government [and because the
whites steal their ponies]--Land Files, _Central Superintendency,
1852-1869_, W223.
Note that Whitney thought the reports of border ruffian inducements,
though true in a measure, had been exaggerated. On the eighth of June, he
reported again,
When I got within reach of the H. & St. J. R. R. it became apparent
that my produce would be at best somewhat exposed to seizure by the
secessionists and that such hazard would be very greatly enhanced if
it was known to be government property and especially if it should be
known to be going to the Indians whom the Missourians were even then
as was reported upon authority endeavoring to excite against the
borderers....--Land Files, _Central Superintendency, 1852-1869_, W223.
Slaughter had less to report; but even he, on the twenty-first of June,
said, while insisting that the reports had been exaggerated,
I have no doubt overtures have been held out to them [the more
northern tribes], but whether from authorized parties from [the] South
no one can tell. It is all matter of conjecture. A general council of
the tribes it is understood has been solicited by some of the Southern
Indians, but I doubt whether it will be held.--General Files, _Central
Superintendency, 1860-1862_, S404.
Slaughter further surmised, from personal observations, that the northern
tribes would remain loyal to the United States. See his letter to Dole,
June 15, 1861. Other people were of the same opinion, although, in early
1861, the various tribes had much to complain of, much to make them
discontented and therefore very susceptible to bad influences. Some of the
Miamis were preferring charges against Agent Clover for misapplication of
funds and other things [Louis Lefontaine, etc. to Greenwood, January 13,
1861, Land Files, _Osage River, 1860-1866_]; the Kaws were suffering and
R. S. Stevens slowly working out the details of his preposterous graft in
the construction of houses for them [M. C. Dickey to Greenwood, February
26, 1861, General Files, _Kansas, 1855-1862_, D250, and same to same,
March 1, 1861, _ibid._, D251]; the Shawnees were having the usual troubles
over their tribal elections, Joseph White having recently been elected
second chief in place of Eli Blackhoof [Robinson to Greenwood, February
19, 1861, Land Files, _Shawnee, 1860-1865_]; and then, even farther north,
from among the Otoes, came additional complaints; for Agent Dennison, who
by the way, became a secessionist and a defaulter [Dole to Thaddeus
Stevens, May 26, 1862, Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, pp. 388-386],
was withholding annuities and an uprising was threatening in consequence
[General Files, _Otoe, 1856-1862_].
[417] The alien influence extended itself even to the wild Indians of the
Plains. On the sixth of August, 1861 [General Files, _Pottawatomie,
1855-1861_, B704], Branch reported bad news that he had received from
Agent Ross regarding the hostile approach of these Indians and remarked,
I think there can be little doubt but what emissaries of the Rebels
have been and are actively engaged in creating dissatisfaction against
the government with every tribe of Indians that they dare approach on
that subject.
As soon as I can get the business of this office in a shape so I can
conveniently leave my office duties I propose visiting the most of the
tribes under this superintendency with a view to reconciling them and
enjoining peace....
Similarly Captain Elmer Otis from Fort Wise, August 27, 1861, and A. G.
Boone from the Upper Arkansas Agency, September 7, 1861, reported the
Texans' tampering with the Kiowas [Land Files, _Upper Arkansas,
1855-1865_, O40, B772], who seem successfully to have resisted their
threats and their blandishments. The Comanches of Texas were also
approached but they fled rather than yield [Boone to Mix, October 19,
1861, _ibid._, B361]. They, however, importunately demanded a treaty from
the United States government in return for their loyalty. They were poor,
they said, and had lost their hunting-grounds. Boone made good use of them
as scouts and spies against the Texans [Letter of December 14, 1861,
_ibid._, B1006]. They were of the Comanches who had treated with Pike and
who had solemnly pledged themselves, under duress and temporary
excitement, to amity and allegiance. Secret agents from the South went
also among the Blackfeet and Agent Thomas G. McCulloch sent an ex-employee
of the American Fur Company, named Alexander Culbertson and married to the
daughter of the Blackfeet chief, as a secret agent to counteract their
influence [General Files, _Central Superintendency, 1860-1862_].
[418] Letter to Walker, July 18, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser.,
vol. iii, 611].
[419] The scarcity of arms proved to be a serious matter. On the thirtieth
of July, the assistant-quartermaster general, George W. Clark, telegraphed
to Walker that arms had not yet arrived and that the Indians, encamped at
the Old Choctaw Agency, were, in consequence, showing signs of discontent
[_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 620].
[420] Cooper probably spoke the truth, for the Choctaws and Chickasaws
together had a population of twenty-three thousand.
In 1861, the Indian population of the Southern Superintendency was, as
reported by Dole upon inquiry from Hon. J. S. Phelps of Missouri [John C.
G. Kennedy, of the Census Office, to Dole, August 9, 1861]:
Chickasaws 5,000
Choctaws 18,000
Cherokees 21,000
Creeks 13,550
Seminoles (of which 1,247 were males) 2,267
[Dole's answer, August 10, 1861].
In April, the report from the Indian Office had been:
Choctaws 18,000
Chickasaws 5,000
-------
Total 23,000
Creeks 13,550
Cherokees 17,530
Seminoles 2,267
Neosho Agency 4,863
Leased District 2,500
-------
Total 63,710
[Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12].
[421] Letter to President Davis [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii,
614].
[422] Identical with Article I of both the Cherokee and the Choctaw and
Chickasaw, but different from the Seminole in that the Seminole provided
simply for "perpetual peace and friendship."
[423] The corresponding Choctaw and Chickasaw Article [XLIX] stipulated
that the colonel of the regiment should be appointed by the president. Of
course, Douglas H. Cooper, was at this time, the one and only candidate
for the place and there is no doubt that the exception was made for his
especial benefit. However, Pike objected to his holding, in addition to
the colonelcy, the office of Indian agent [_Official Records_, first ser.,
vol. iii, 614].
Agent Garrett wanted the position of colonel in the Creek regiment and
Pike recommended him, but McCulloch objected saying,
I hope the appointment will not be made, for Colonel Garrett is in no
way qualified for the position, and from what I know of his habits, I
am satisfied that a worse appointment could not be made.--_Official
Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 597.
This was before the treaty had been negotiated and, after it had been
negotiated, Pike wrote to Walker as follows:
When I recommended the appointment of William H. Garrett, the present
agent for the Creeks, to be colonel of the Creek regiment, I had not
sufficiently estimated the ambition and desire for distinction of the
leading men of that nation, and I also supposed that Mr. Garrett,
popular with them as an agent, would be acceptable as colonel of their
regiment; but when I concluded with them the very important treaty of
July 10, instant, they strenuously insisted that the colonel of the
regiment to be raised should be elected by the men. As the public
interest did not require I should insist upon a contrary provision, by
which I might have jeoparded the treaty, I yielded, and the
consequence is that by the treaty, as signed and ratified by the Creek
council, the field officers are all to be elected by the men of the
regiment.
This being the case, I have this day written Colonel Garrett,
requesting him to inform the Creeks immediately, as I have already
done, that notwithstanding his appointment they will elect their
colonel. If he should not do so he will cause much mischief, and would
deserve severe censure; but I do not doubt he will promptly do
it....--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 623-624.
On the twenty-fourth of August, the matter was settled at Richmond by
Walker's writing to Pike,
In order that there shall be no misunderstanding with the friendly
Indians west of Arkansas, this Department is anxious that the article
in the treaty made by you, guaranteeing to them the right of selecting
their own field officers, shall be carried out in good faith. The name
of Mr. Garrett will therefore be dropped as colonel of the Creek
regiment, and that regiment will proceed to elect its own officers.
The regiment being formed among the Seminoles will exercise the same
right. Reassure the tribes of the perfect sincerity of this Government
toward them.--_Ibid._, 671.
The corresponding Cherokee Article [XL] differed slightly from the Creek.
It seems to have taken certain things, like the choice of officers, both
company and field, for granted. It reads thus:
In consideration of the common interest of the Cherokee Nation and the
Confederate States, and of the protection and rights guaranteed to the
said nation by this treaty, the Cherokee Nation hereby agrees that it
will raise and furnish a regiment of ten companies of mounted men,
with two reserve companies, if allowed, to serve in the armies of the
Confederate States for twelve months; the men shall be armed by the
Confederate States, receive the same pay and allowances as other
mounted troops in the service, and not be moved beyond the limits of
the Indian country west of Arkansas without their consent.
[424] Identical with Article LI of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty and
with Article LXI of the Cherokee.
[425] Identical with Article L of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty, with
Article XLII of the Cherokee, and with Article XXXVI of the Seminole.
[426] Identical with Article LII of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty and
with Article XLIII of the Cherokee.
[427] Fremont reported to Townsend, August 13, 1861, that Cherokee
half-breeds, judging from the muster roll and from the corroborating
testimony of prisoners, were with McCulloch in this battle, fought about
ten miles south of Springfield, August 10, 1861 [_Official Records_, first
ser., vol. iii, 54]. Connelley says, in 1861, Quantrill, returning from
Texas, lingered in the Cherokee Nation with a half-breed Cherokee, Joel
Mayes,
Who, many years after the war, was elected Head Chief of the Nation.
Mayes espoused the cause of the Confederacy and was captain of a
company or band of Cherokees who followed General Ben McCulloch to
Missouri.--_Quantrill and the Border Wars_, 198.
A letter, written by McCulloch to Colonel John Drew, September 1, 1861,
seems to indicate that individual Cherokees had joined him [_Official
Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 691].
[428] The Federal defeat was believed by contemporaries to have been due
to mismanagement, to army friction, to the incompetency and sloth of
Sigel, and to Fremont's failure to reinforce the redoubtable Lyon, who
fell in the engagement. An investigation into Sigel's conduct was
subsequently made by Halleck, Sigel's bitter enemy. Halleck hated Sigel,
because Sigel so greatly admired Fremont, whom Halleck supplanted; and
because Sigel was the hero of the Germans, and one of them. For the
Germans, Halleck had a great antipathy. Many of them were
"pfaelzisch-badischen Revolutionaere" and Halleck regarded them as
adventurers or as refugees from justice. They in turn referred to Halleck
as one of the West Point "bunglers" who were so numerous in the northern
army, the really efficient and capable West Pointers, so they said, having
all gone with the South [Kaufmann's "Sigel und Halleck" in
_Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblaetter_, Band, 210-216, October 1910].
[429] Even in the latter part of May, these were so serious as to threaten
a Cherokee civil war [Letter of John Crawford, May 21, 1861, General
Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_; Mix to Crawford, June 4, 1861, Indian
Office, _Letter Book_, no. 66, pp. 15-16].
[430] Ben McCulloch to Walker, September 2, 1861 [_Official Records_,
first ser., vol. iii, 692]; Pike to Benjamin, December 25, 1861 [_ibid._,
vol. viii, 720].
[431] "Meetings and Proceedings of the Executive Council of the Cherokee
Nation, July 2, 1861" [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515].
[432] See "Meetings and Proceedings of the Cherokee Executive Council,
August 1, 1861" [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515].
[433] Pike to Ross, August 1, 1861 [_ibid._].
[434]
A general meeting of the Cherokee people was held at Tahlequah on
Wednesday, the 21st day of August, 1861. It was called by the
executive of the Cherokee Nation for the purpose of giving the
Cherokee people an opportunity to express their opinions in relation
to subjects of deep interest to themselves as individuals and as a
nation. The number of persons in attendance, almost exclusively adult
males, was about 4,000, whose deportment was characterized by good
order and propriety, and the expression of whose opinions and feelings
was frank, cordial, and of marked unanimity.--_Report of the
Proceedings at Tahlequah, August 21, 1861_, transmitted to General
McCulloch by the Executive Council, August 24, 1861 [_Official
Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 673].
[435] Evan Jones of the Baptist Mission, Cherokee Nation, to Dole, dated
Lawrence, Kansas, November 2, 1861 [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_,
J503].
[436] W. S. Robertson, who for twelve years had been "teaching in the
Tullahassee Manual Labor School in the Creek Nation under the care of the
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions" [Robertson's Letter of September
30, 1861, General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1615].
Robertson says, that
Having witnessed the whole struggle between the Loyal & War parties,
when the latter prevailed, I was on the 25{th} of August ordered by a
party of the "Creek Light Horse" acting under the written orders of
Moty Kenard and Jacob Derrysaw, Chief of the Creeks, to leave within
twenty-four hours from the Creek country. I retired to my friends at
Park Hill in the Cherokee where the same struggle was going on.
At Park Hill I enjoyed every facility for knowing the feelings of the
people, the designs of the Executive.
When at last the Rebel flag flaunted over the council ground at
Tahlequah, I left the Cherokee country with my family, and after
encountering many dangers, succeeded in reaching Rolla, on the 23{rd}
Sept. without giving any pledge to the enemy.
Having written to the Sec. of the Interior (from St. Louis, Oct.
1{st}) stating my long residence among the Creeks and Cherokees, my
means of information, and my desire to give any information that would
benefit our Gov't or my loyal friends among the Indians--and having
forwarded all the printed correspondence between the Rebels and Chief
Ross (except the last letter of the Rebel commissioner, Albert Pike)
together with Chief Ross' speech at the Cherokee Convention at
Tahlequah, on the 21{st} of Aug. and the resolutions passed at said
Convention, without receiving any answer, I concluded that Col.
Humphrey's (of Tenn.) mysterious movements were all right, that he was
loyal, and kept our Gov't well informed as to the Rebel doings among
the Indians. That I had redeemed my pledge to loyal Creeks &
Cherokees.
Recent letters from St. Louis, & New York stating that "Gov't agents
are seeking information everywhere," and urging me to write to "Gen.
Hunter" & Washington, induce me to send you my address, to urge you in
the name of humanity and justice not to take decisive measures against
the betrayed and oppressed people, until you have heard all that can
be said in their behalf.--Letter to Department of the Interior and
referred to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated January 7, 1862
[General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1664].
Mix answered it February 14, 1862 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67,
P. 357].
In a somewhat earlier letter, the one from which the extract, in the body
of the text was taken, Robertson had said,
I am ... deeply interested in their welfare, acquainted with the
feelings of the people, well informed as to the men and measures which
have detached these nations from their allegiance to the U. S.
Chief among the traitors were not only the Superintendent of that
District, and the Agents under him appointed by the late
Administration but others claiming to have received commissions as
Indian Agents "since the 4{th} of March last" from the U. S. Gov't.