Chief John Ross of Ihe Cherokees As a Historical Figure in an Oklahoma History Class at Northeastern State
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- Copyright 1975 by Gary Evan Moulton All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record- ing, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. JOHN ROSS, CHEROKEE CHIEF By GARY EVAN MOULTON N Bachelor of Arts in Education Northeastern State College Tahlequah, Oklahoma 1968 Master of Arts Oklahoma State University Stillwat~r, Oklahoma 1970 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May, 1974 \ TllE5iS 1q'14-D Meil '1J' c.cp, ~ OKLAHOh\A STATE Ut~IVERS.ITY UiRARY MAY 6 1975 · JOHN ROSS, CHEROKEE CHIEF Thesis Approved: Dean of the Graduate College 907122 ii PREFACE I first became acquainted with Chief John Ross of ihe Cherokees as a historical figure in an Oklahoma history class at Northeastern State College at Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the old capital of the Cherokee Nation. Frequently I walked the very grounds over which Ross had strolled more than a century before. Yet no interest in Ross or Cherokee history was sparked in me. Several years later, Ross as a major research topic was suggested in a graduate seminar. I soon discovered that Ross had no adequate biography and, in fact, that a great deal of his life remained a mystery, especially his private and family life and his personal finances. Indeed, even large questions in his political career remained untreated, disputed, or unanswered. I was extremely fortunate in this undertaking in that I was within less than 100 miles of a vast storehouse of Ross materials. At the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, I discovered Ross 1 s personal papers, plus the kind assistance of Marie Keene. Almost as valuable at Gi ]crease Institute was the Lester Hargrett col lection of imprints which recently has been catalogued and published under the editorship of G. P. Edwards, who also lent kind assistance. At Oklahoma Historical Society I found, as have so many students of Indian history before me, that Rella Looney was indispensable for tracing the most obscure documentation in the society's excellent Indian Archives Division. David Winkles in the Oklahoma Historical Society iii Library was especially helpful in tracking down genealogical sources on Ross through old county h.istories and Enmett Starr's unpublished Cherokee genealogical notes. At the University of Oklahoma, Jack D. Haley, Assistant Curator of the Western History Collections, showed me a number of courtesies and guided me to important Ross materials. At the John Vaughn Library at Northeastern State College, Helen Wheat cooperated in my search through the library's Cherokee collection. Ross was a national figure in his day, and many of his letters to leading United States personages are located in collections in other states. Diana Haskell at the Newberry Library traced numerous valuable materials for me in the John Howard Payne Papers, while Nancy G. Boles pointed me to Ross sources in the Wi 11 iam Wirt Papers at the Maryland Historical Society. The historical archives of Georgia and Tennessee maintain Cherokee sources which contain significant Ross corr'espondence. Ruth Corry at the Georgia Department of Archives and History was helpful, and Jean Waggener of the Tennessee St~te Li br·ary and Archives went out of her way way a number of times to do long-distance research and demonstrate that southern hospitality has not declined since Ross 1 s day. To Dr. William Mcloughlin of Brown University and Dr. Walter Vernon of Nashville, Tennessee, I owe a special thanks for information and direction on Ross 1 s religious attachments. Dr. Rennard Strickland of the University of Tulsa and Dr. Thurman Wilkins of Queens College kindly loaned me portions of their personal collections of Cherokee material. Elizabeth Tritle of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College pointed me to sources on the Stapler family, while Ernest H. Winter, Jr., of the Alumni Association of Lawrenceville School gave me needed information iv on the Ross family members who attended the academy during the mid nineteenth century. The Alfred and Millicent Aaronson Fund gave much needed financial support for which I am grateful. At Oklahoma State University I was blessed with a conscientious, interested library staff. In particular, Heather Lloyd, Dixie Mosier, and Corinne Colpitts deserve thanks for their ready assistance with inter-library loan material, while Josh Stroman and Vickie Withers gave me much-needed support in the use of government documents. I also would like to thank the members of my graduate committee for their aid during my graduate program, their careful reading of the dissertation manuscript, and their helpful comments: Dr. Theodore L. Agnew, Jr., Dr. H. James Henderson, Professor Harold V. Sare, and Dr. Robert H. Spaulding, Jr. To Dr. Homer L. Knight, former Head of the History Department,·' owe gratitude for making it possible for me to pursue my graduate career, while Dr. Odie B. Faulk, current Head of the History Department, has continued with similar aid and encourage ment. Dr. J. H. Boggs, Vice President for Academic Affairs, gave me special assistance which made the dissertation project less time consuming. Especially, I owe a great deal to my graduate adviser, Dr. LeRoy H. Fischer, who with his own particular blend of encourage ment and prodding helped me to master ·a number of difficult problems, and whose unsurpassed editorial skills made several tedious issues less trying. I am grateful to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. V. Moulton, for their continued encouragement and faith in my efforts. My children, Kim, Russell, and Luanne, merit special recognition for tolerating an absentee father and for trying to appear interested in stories about v an ancient Indian chief. Especially, I owe so much to Faye--for her constant concern and encouragement that this work be more than an academic exercise. We shared many hours together working toward 1i tera ry exce 11 ence and editor i a 1 consistency, but more than that we shared our lives. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. ANCESTRY AND IDENTITY .•. I I. POLITICAL APPRENTICESHIP 26 II I. THE GEORGIAN THURST 60 IV. CHEROKEE IMPASSE 97 V. TREATY OF NEW ECHOTA 132 VI. YEAR OF DECISION . 162 VI I • INTERREGNUM . • • • . 199 VI I I. SEMBLANCE OF UNITY . 235 IX. TRAVAIL AND TRANQUILITY • 271 X. CIVIL WAR •.. 304 XI. RECONSTRUCTION 338 XI I. IN RETROSPECT 360 BIBLIOGRAPHY .•. , 370 vii CHAPTER I ANCESTRY AND IDENTITY Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dennis N. Cooley moved in closer to be certain that no words or thoughts would be lost in the inter- change with Chief John Ross, the old Cherokee patriarch who lay on a bed before him. Present in that Washington, D. C., hotel room besides Cooley were other United States officials, all anxious to bring the Cherokee treaty negotiations to a close. The time was April 3, 1866, and Ross, though hovering on the brink of death, had been able to elude the machinations of these men who had worked to sign a treaty with his foes designed to break the Cherokee unity that he cherished. Commissioner Cooley was the first to speak: 11 1 learn Mr. Ross that you are Seventy five years of age & have served your Nation over fifty. 11 "Yes Sir," Ross replied: I am an old man, and have served my people and the Govt of the United States a long time, over fifty years. My people have kept me in the harness, not of my seeking, but of their own choice. I have never deceived them, and now I look back, not one act of my public life rises up to upbraid me. I have done the best I could, and today, upon this bed of sickness, my heart approves a 11 I have done. And st i 11 · I am, John Ross, the same John Ross of former years, unchanged.1 . · Few men at such a time can speak of a life so wel 1 spent. The 1oanie1 H. Ross to William P. Ross, April 3, 1866, John Ross Papers, Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Ok 1ahana. 2 ' life that Ross surveyed in those brief moments was incredibly intri cate. Out of the checkered background of white and Indian heritage, a conscious thread of consistency wound its way through the years. Dedication to his people and to a principle had led him once again to Washington to reconstruct his nation on the basis of that singular resolve. The one great aim of his 1 ife, the political and social cohesion of his people, was now fixed on the Cherokee Reconstruction Treaty of 1866, and after his death on August 1, 1866, the unity he had sought so long would be restored briefly. Ross 1 s half-century of leadership spanned an era in which the Cherokees reached the pinnacle of their civilization but were also plunged to the depths of human suffering. The ancestry and childhood of Ross seem an unlikely source for leadership among the Cherokees. Only one-eighth Cherokee, he spoke the language haltingly, and he never learned its written characters after Sequoyah 1 s stroke of brilliance. What tapped him for leadership were qualities that touched the Cherokees• faith--a firm aitachment to their ancient lands and a desire to keep united a people formed in untraceable antiquity. The complexity of Ross•s lineage begins with a remote Scottish figure, Wi 11 iam Shorey, and his ful ]-blooded Cherokee wife, Ghigooie of the Bird Clan.