the Southern Superintendency compells me to recommend, most earnestly,
the immediate removal of the present incumbent of the Seminole Agency,
The performance of this unpleasant duty is forced upon me by the
following consideration,--
1st The neglect of duty and disregard of the orders and Regulations of
the Department in absenting himself repeatedly and for protracted
periods, from his Agency without authority for so doing; to the
prejudice of the public interests entrusted to him,--
On this point I presume it is not necessary for me to enlarge, or to
urge upon the Department my views of the paramount necessity of Indian
Agents residing at their Agencies and being at all times present at
their Stations as well to cultivate the respect and confidence, and a
just knowledge of the character and wants of the people entrusted to
their care, as to be in position to execute promptly the orders, and
to promote the views of the Department,--
2nd I consider him unworthy of the trust reposed in him from certain
facts connected with the late payment of money to the Indians under
his charge, which have come to my knowledge--
Of the $90,000 recently paid to those Indians, appropriated by
Congress expressly to pay such of them as should remove under the late
Treaty; for their improvements and to assist in defraying their
removal expences I have ascertained, and it is notorious, that
thirteen thousand Dollars or more passed into the hands of Mr
Washbourne, through Collusion with the principal Chiefs, $5000 of
which he received under a private Contract with Senator Yulee of
Florida for services in obtaining the consent of the Chiefs to the
payment of thirty thousand dollars of this money to Senator Yulee on
an old claim presented by him of long standing in behalf of one Gov
Humphreys of Florida. The balance of the $13000 received by Mr
Washbourne was probably awarded him in consideration of his permitting
the Chiefs to appropriate certain portions of the money they paid over
to them in trust for the legetimate claimants, to their own use and
benefit,
I have informed you in a late letter of the pains I took to make the
Chiefs acquainted with the true object of the appropriations. Having
been instructed to pay over the whole amount to the authorities of the
Nation, this was all I could do in furtherance of the intentions of
Congress; my efforts to accomplish which were thus frustrated by Mr
Washbourne and his advances.--
3d The breach of good faith in the Chiefs towards the Indians,
prompted by Mr Washbourne in the distribution of this $90.000 as
explained in my late letter, has incensed the Indians to such degree
that bloodshed has been threatened and is seriously to be
apprehended,--
4th The influence of Mr Washbourne over the Chiefs acquired through
his Collusion with them in this swindling the intended legal
recipients of this money is such that, the Chiefs have intimated that
they will not send a delegation to Florida unless Mr Washbourne shall
accompany them, and I have reason to believe that in case he is not
permited to accompany them, he is prepared to throw every obstacle in
the way of the accomplishment of this, so much desired measure of the
Government,
The conduct of the Chiefs and their Agent in the distribution of the
$90000 and the enclosed letter from Mr Jacoway U S Marshal of this
District, whose acquaintance you have made, taken in connection with
the declarations of the Chiefs, that they will not go without him (or
that they desire that he should go with and have charge of them)
justifies the apprehension that there is another scheme in embryo
between them to perpetrate another swindle. Should circumstances
favour its accomplishment; and if it is the intention of the
Department to charge me with conducting the negotiations of a
Delegation to Florida, I must decline the performance of this duty if
one in whom I have so little confidence is permited to accompany the
Delegation in the capacity of Agent; for I hesitate not to say, that
if disappointed in his hopes of making a profitable employment of his
influence he would exert himself to defeat any negotiations that might
be set on foot, and there is good reason to fear that he might be
successful,--
For these reasons I beg leave respectfully to urge upon the Department
the immediate removal of Mr Washbourne and the appointment in his
stead of some gentleman who will perform the duties of the office with
a high appreciation of the trust confided to him and with a view,
rather to the honest discharge of this trust, than to his own profit,
I make this communication direct to the Sec't of Interior instead of
sending it through the Indian office for the reason that I learn that
the Comr Ind Affrs is absent on official acct.
[477] Agent Elder to Coffin, September 30, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 37]; Coffin to Dole, October 2, 1861 [_ibid._,
p. 38]; Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. iii, 33.
[478] We the loyal Cherokee Delegation acknowledge the execution of the
treaty of Oct. 7, 1861. But we solemnly declare that the execution of the
Treaty was procured by the coercion of the rebel army [Land Files, _Indian
Talks, Councils, etc._, Box 4, 1865-1866].
[479] Hon. J. S. Phelps to C. B. Smith, dated Rolla, Mo., October 3, 1861
[General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, P44].
[480] A difference of opinion seems to exist as to the original object of
the organization of Drew's regiment. When Ross wrote his despatches to
McCulloch concerning the proceedings at Tahlequah, he sent them for
transmission to the C. S. A. quartermaster at Fort Smith, Major George W.
Clark, to whom he imparted the information that the Cherokees were going
to raise a regiment of mounted men immediately and place it under the
command of Colonel John Drew, "to meet any emergency that may arise."
"Having espoused," said he, "the cause of the Confederate States, we hope
to render efficient service in the protracted war which now threatens the
country, and to be treated with a liberality and confidence becoming the
Confederate States."--Moore's _Rebellion Record_, vol. iii, 155, Document
63-1/2.
Those, who afterwards wanted to put the Cherokee position in the best
possible light, declared repeatedly that Drew's regiment had no sectional
bias in the work mapped out for it, that it was nothing more than a home
guard. Writing to Dole, January 21, 1862, the Reverend Evan Jones said,
A regiment of Cherokees was raised for home protection, composed of
one company for each of eight Districts, and either two or three
companies for the District of Tahlequah. But these were altogether
separate and distinct from the rebel force.... The great majority of
officers and men, in this case, being decidedly loyal Union men Four
of the Captains and four hundred men, gave evidence of their loyalty,
in the part they acted, at the battle in which Opothleyoholo was
attacked by the Texan rangers & rebel Creeks & Choctaws, under
Cooper....--General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, J556.
[481] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 355.
[482] Cooley's Report to President Johnson, February 25, 1866. This letter
was found in the loose files of the Indian Office and is not to be found
in Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 15, where it would properly belong.
[483] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 321.
[484] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 35: Indian
Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, p. 176.
[485]
Enclosed pleaz find a coppy of a Commission given by General Lane to
E. H. Carruth together with coppies of Letters sent by him to the
various Tribes in the Indian Territory. I had an interview with Mr.
Carruth yesterday. I find him a very Inteligent man and thougherly
posted as to all matters relating to the Southern Indians he is very
confident that most if not all the Southern Indians written to will
Send deligations to Fort Scott as requested there ware three Creek
Indians came up to se General Lane who came to Iola for Caruthe to go
with them to General Lane which he did and they ware the barers of
letters of which the enclosed are coppies. I am going to Fort Scott
today and will make arrangements with Agent Elder to give the notice
imediately on their arrival or Bring them to Humboldt. I shall try to
secure the assistance of Mr. Caruthe tho he is now a voluntear in the
Home Guards for protection. I very much feer the service required of
me at the Sacks & Fox and Kaw agencies will take me to far off but
will try to attend to all if possible--General Files, _Southern
Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348.
[486] Manypenny to Dean, April 9, 1855 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no.
51, pp. 232-233].
[487] Extract from commission, dated Fort Scott, August 30, 1861, issued
to Carruth by authority of J. H. Lane, Commanding the Kansas Brigade
[_ibid._].
[488] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1865, p. 328.
[489] The loyal Creeks testified, in 1865, that they sent their "chief"
and others to Washington and leave the reader to infer that the chief
meant was "Sands;" but the accredited delegates were most certainly Mik-ko
Hut-kee, Bob Deer, and Jo Ellis. These three men signed their names, or
rather attached their mark, to an address to the president of which the
following is a certified copy:
SHAWNEE AGENCY, LEXINGTON, September 18, 1861.
Sir, we the Chiefs, Head Men, and Warriors, of the Creek Nation of
Indians, in the Indian Territory, through our delegates, the
undersigned desire to state to your excellency the condition of our
people. Owing to the want of correct information as to condition of
the Country and Government our people are in great distress. Men have
come among us, who claim to represent a New Government, who tell us
that the Government represented by Our Great Father at Washington, has
turned against us and intends to drive us from our homes and take away
our property, they tell us that we have nothing to hope from our old
Father and that all the Friends of the Indian have joined the New
Government. And that the New Government is ready to make treaties with
the Indians and do all and more for them than they can claim under
their old treaties. they ask us to join their armies and help sustain
the Government that is willing to do so much for us. But we doubted
their statements and promises and went to talk with the Agent and
Superintendent which Our father has always kept among us but they were
both gone and then some of our people began to think that Our Great
Father had forsaken us and a very few joined the Army of the New
Government and our people were in great trouble and we called a Grand
Council of the Chiefs of Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Shawnees,
Senecas, Quapaws, Kickapoos, Delawares, Weas, Peankeshaws, Witchetaws
Tribes and bands of Comanches, Seminoles, and Cadoes. And after a long
discussion of the source of their troubles, decided to remain loyal to
our Government and if possible neutral. The Chiefs went among their
people (and as a general thing) counteracted the influence of the
emissaries of the New Government. But these emissaries are still among
us giving us great trouble, while our Government has no one who can
officially represent itself. And we most earnestly ask that some
person shall be sent here who shall meet the Chiefs of the above
mentioned tribes in Council at some suitable place, and then make
known to them the condition, policy and wishes of the Government so
far as the interests of the Indians are concerned. If your Excellency
should deem it best to comply with our request, we would suggest that
Humboldt Allen County Kansas be the place for holding the Council. A
notice sent to the Agent of the Shawnees, will immediately be
forwarded by a messinger to the Chiefs. Very Respectfully, your
Obedient Servants
WHITE CHIEF X his mark
BOBB DEER X his mark
JOSEPH ELLIS X his mark Interpreter
P.S. The Choctaws were not present at the Council and we have reason
to feer that they have gone with the Southern Confederacy. It will
take near forty days to notify the Chiefs and get them together after
the notice gets at this place.
WHITE CHIEF X his mark
[490] They also saw Agent Abbot [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_,
1865, p. 330] and received new assurances from him.
[491] Perchance the same letter, either the original or a copy of which,
Superintendent Branch transmitted to Dole along with an explanatory letter
from Agent Abbott. The "talk" of the Creek chiefs was accompanied by a
sort of Seminole and Chickasaw endorsement. Dole replied to the Creek and
Seminole delegate appeals, November 16, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter
Book_, no. 67, pp. 78-79]. This is what the Creek chiefs said:
CREEK NAT. Aug 15, 1861.
Now I write to the President our Great Father who removed us to our
present homes, & made a treaty, and you said that in our new homes we
should be defended from all interference from any people and that no
white people in the whole world should ever molest us unless they come
from the sky but the land should be ours as long as grass grew or
waters run, and should we be injured by anybody you would come with
your soldiers & punish them, but now the wolf has come, men who are
strangers tread our soil, our children are frightened & the mothers
cannot sleep for fear. This is our situation now. When we made our
Treaty at Washington you assured us that our children should laugh
around our houses without fear, & we believed you. Then our Great
Father was strong. And now we raise our hands to him we want his help
to keep off the intruder & make our homes again happy as they used to
be....
I was at Washington when you treated with us, and now White People are
trying take our people away to fight against us and you. I am alive. I
well remember the treaty. My ears are open & my memory is good. This
is the letter of Your Children by
OPOTHLEHOYOLA
OUKTAHNASERHARJO
The Seminoles also send the same word & the full Indians of the
Chickasaws too send to the P--
The reply to this letter was made by Dole, November 56, 1862. See Indian
Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, pp. 79-80.
Pascofar the chief of Seminoles was present, he was not able to come
with us now but sent word. And if our Great Father want us we will
come to see him.
MICEO HULKA JO ELLIS
ROB DEER
General Files, _Creek, 1860-1869_, B787.
[492]
There is a delegation of the Creeks now at Gen'l Lanes Head Quarters.
We wish to see delegations from the tribes loyal to the U. S.
Government. You will send us a delegation who will report to the Head
Quarters of the Kansas Brigade where commissioners of the Government
will meet and confer with them.
You are probably aware of the falsehoods resorted to by the enemies of
the U. S. to induce the Indians to withdraw their allegiance from the
Government. Could you come in person it would be grattifying to the
Commissioners.--Letter of September 11, 1861 [General Files, _Southern
Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348].
[493]
Your letter by Micco Hutka is received. You will send a delegation of
your best men to meet the Commissioners of the United States
Government in Kansas.
I am authorized to inform you that the President will not forget you.
Our armies will soon go south and those of your people who are true
and loyal to the Government will be treated as friends--Your rights &
property will be respected. The Commissioners from the Confederate
States have deceived you they have two tongues.
They wanted to get the Indians to fight and they will rob and plunder
you if they can get you into trouble. But the President is stil alive
his soldiers will soon drive these men who have treacherously violated
your homes from the land they have entered. When your Delegates Return
to you they will be able to inform you when and where your monies will
be paid those who stole your orphan funds will be punished and you
will learn that the people who are tru to the Government which has so
long protected you are your Friends.--Letter to Opoth-le-ho-yo-ho,
Ho-so-tau-hah-sas Hayo, dated Barnesville, September 11,
1861.--General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, C1348.
The author's opinion is that the mistakes in spelling were made by the
illiterate Coffin, who probably made a copy of Carruth's letters for
transmission to the Indian Office. He may also have made a slight
alteration in the date of the letter to the Creeks; for the original of
the letter, bearing the date of September 10, 1861, was found in
Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la's camp after the Battle of Chustenahlah, December 26,
1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 25].
[494] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 26.
[495] In his letter to the Seminole chiefs and headmen, Carruth reminds
them that he was with them when letters came from Pike and that Pike "is
the man who has tried so hard to get your lands sectionalized" and asks,
"who brought up a bill in Congress to bring your tribes under Territorial
laws, Johnson of Arkansas...."
[496] --_Ibid._, 26.
[497] Coffin to Dole, October 2, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
_Report_, 1861, pp. 38-39].
[498] Evan Jones wrote, October 31, 1861 [Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
_Report_, 1861, pp. 41-43] that he had found it impossible to get anyone
who would undertake to carry a message to John Ross. The risk was too
great.
[499] Dole to Hunter, November 16, 1861 [_ibid._, p. 44].
[500]
On consultation with Gen'l Jas. H. Lane he thinks an auxiliary
Regiment of Indians are necessary to the service and could be used to
great advantage in this department. If it meets with your approbation
I would like and ask the privilege of Raising such Regt which I think
I could do in thirty days. I have made my estimate of the number of
men which I think would be furnished by each tribe as follows
Iowas & Kickapoos 225
Delawares 125
Potawatomies 250
Shawnees, Miamies, & Weas 100
Sacks & Foxes 250
Senecas & Wyandotts 125
----
1075
This will be laid before you by Gen{l} Lane in person I hope it will
meet with your approval and that you will grant the permission to
raise the Regt and if necessary I have no doubt but a Brigade of
Indians could be organized by embracing the Osages and Loyal Creeks
and Cherokees.--Letter of October 10, 1861 [General Files, _Delaware,
1855-1861_].
[501] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 553.
[502] I am not certain of the exact date of Lane's departure for
Washington. Spring says [_Kansas_, 279] that he went there in November.
When an Indian delegation reached Fort Scott, seeking him, some time about
the middle of the month, he had already handed over his command to Colonel
James Montgomery and "had gone to Washington" [Cutler to Coffin, September
30, 1862, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1862, p. 138]. Yet
Dole's letter to General Hunter would convey the impression that Lane was
still in Kansas the middle of the month and expected to be there on the
twenty-fourth. I am also in doubt as to when Hunter reached his post. He
communicated with Agent Cutler from St. Louis, November 20, 1861 [_ibid._,
1861, p. 44]. Hunter and Lane may very well have met even outside of
Kansas and have exchanged views and opinions that would have given a basis
for the representations that Lane must have made to Lincoln and Cameron
regarding Hunter's approval of the "Jayhawking Brigade." McClellan seems
to have advised the forward movement in the direction of the Indian
Territory; for he says, when writing to Hunter, December 11, 1861
[_Official Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 428]:
Immediately after you were assigned to your present department I
requested the Adjutant-General to inform you that it was deemed
expedient to organize an expedition under your command to secure the
Indian territory west of Arkansas, as well as to make a descent upon
Northern Texas, in connection with one to strike at Western Texas from
the Gulf. The general was to invite your prompt attention to this
subject, and to ask you to indicate the necessary force and means for
the undertaking.
It is only fair to say that Lane had always advocated a more southern
concentration of forces. He more than any other northern man seems to have
appreciated fully the importance of Indian Territory. He continually
recommended using Fort Scott as a base for such military operations as had
the protection of Kansas as their main object.
[503] Hunter to Thomas, dated Leavenworth, January 15, 1862 [General
Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_].
[504] In January, 1862, Hunter deplored the fact that his request had not
been acceded to and said,
Had this permission been promptly granted, I have every reason to
believe that the present disastrous state of affairs, in the Indian
country west of Arkansas, could have been avoided. I now again
respectfully repeat my request--_Ibid._
[505] Dole to Hunter, November 16, 1861 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no.
67, PP. 80-82; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, pp. 43-44].
[506] Lane's proposed conference called for the assembling of
representatives of Kansas tribes as well as of Indian Territory tribes.
Judging from Hunter's letter to Agent Cutler of November 20, 1861
[Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, pp. 44-45], I infer that
Hunter's conference was to be confined to the southern Indians. The
purpose of Lane's must have been represented to the Kansas Indians as
Creek needs [Shawnee "talk" to the Creeks, November 15, 1861, _ibid._, p.
45]. Hunter intended to hold his conference at his headquarters, Fort
Leavenworth, which was making the southern Indians come a pretty long way
[Hunter to Cutler, November 20, 1861, _ibid._, p. 44; Dole to Cutler,
December 3, 1861, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, p. 107].
[507] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 567.
[508] Major-general H. W. Halleck was to command the sister department of
Missouri.
[509] _Abraham Lincoln_, vol. v, 81-82.
[510]
I earnestly request and recommend the establishment of a new military
department, to be composed of Kansas, the Indian country, and so much
of Arkansas and the Territories as may be thought advisable to include
therein.--LANE to Lincoln, dated Leavenworth City, Kansas, October 9,
1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 529].
[511] By the end of July, the First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw
Mounted Rifles had been completely organized [_Official Records_, first
ser., vol. iii, 620, 624] and eight companies of a prospective Creek
regiment [_ibid._, 624]. By October twenty-second, when McCulloch ordered
him [_ibid._, 721] to take up a position in the Cherokee Neutral Lands,
Stand Watie's battalion had apparently reached the proportions of a
regiment, the First Cherokee Mounted Rifles. On the twenty-seventh of
November, Pike who was then in Richmond informed Benjamin,
We have now in the service four regiments, numbering in all some 3,500
men, besides the Seminole troops and other detached companies,
increasing the number to over 4,000. An additional regiment has been
offered by the Choctaws and another can be raised among the Creeks. If
I have the authority I can enlist even the malcontents among that
people. I can place in the field (arms being supplied) 7,500 Indian
troops, not counting the Comanches and Osages, whom I would only
employ in case of an invasion of the Indian country....--_Official
Records_, first ser., vol. viii, 697.
A supposed report of Agent Garrett, sent to the United States Indian
Office under the following endorsement, is not without interest as bearing
upon the strength of the Confederacy within the Indian country:
The copy of a letter herewith, is without signature, but is said to be
in the handwriting of the late Col. Garret, who at that date, was U.
S. Indian Agent of the Creeks. It is not of much importance, but yet,
as historical and statistical, is nor without some interest. I
obtained it a few weeks ago, found among other papers at the Agency,
and I presume is a retained copy of the original.
CREEK AGENCY C. N. Dec. 16th 1861.