The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 69
[335] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
The Cherokee Nation of Indians.
About the time of -the proclamation of the treaty of '66, the Sec-
retary of the Interior recommended to the commissioners to restore
John Ross to the chieftaincy from which they had removed him.
The old leader, however, had passed beyond the clemency of his
judges; he lay stricken with a mortal sickness, and died within a
few days at Washington, at the advanced age of seventy-six years.
He was of Scotch-Indian parentage, and his character was strongly
marked with the thrift of one side, the cunning of the other, and
the persistency of both. Though only a half-breed, he was always
the champion of the full-blooded Cherokees in any conflict between
them and their brethren of mixed descent. His career, though not
altogether an admirable one, was, throughout its course, singularly
remarkable.
By virtue of a provision in the treaty of '66, a body -of Delawares
and a fragmentary band of Munsees, also about eight hundred
Shawnees, were assigned homes in the Cherokee domain, and were
merged into the great family tribe of the Cherokees. The Osages,
the Kaws, the Pawnees, the Poncas, the Otoes, and the Missourias,
also acquired homestead tracts in the Cherokee reservation, but
they still preserved their tribal independence and identity. This
infusion of a new strain into the national life of the Cherokees
seemed to bring together the fragments of this broken people. A
season of peace blessed their unhappy dwellings, and abundant
harvests rewarded their reluctant toil. Two years of such content-
ment served to soften the asperities that had so long divided them,
and to cover their past with a healing oblivion.
Under another provision of this treaty of '66, the Congress of
the United ,States, by grants of lands and privileges, secured the
construction of two important railroads through the Indian Terri-
tory. Both opened vast regions to civilization, -and peopled them
with a multitude of its pioneers. Many of these did not go beyond
the Cherokee lands, and so great was their number, and so largely
augmented by other alien residents and by the irruption of negro
freedmen, that the Cherokees, realizing their feeble minority and
the danger that threatened their power, enacted laws that limited
the privileges of citizenship to their o'wn unmixed people, and that
provided for the removal of all others beyond their borders. These
acts were resisted, not only by the sufferers under them, but by the
United States government, whose authority was thereby superseded,
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899, periodical, 1898/1899; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101011/m1/73/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.