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YOUTH-IN-THE-STATES: THE MVSKOKE INDIAN NATION’S NINETEENTH CENTURY HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Myra Alexander-Starr, B. S., M. S

*****

The Ohio State University 2000

Dissertation Committee Approved by Dr. Mary Ann D. Sagaria, Adviser

Dr. Robert Lawson

Dr. Amy Zahartick Adviser Education UMI Number 9982515

Copyright 2000 by Alexander-Starr, Myra Lois

All rights reserved.

UMI'

UMI Microform9982S15 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Myra Alexander-Starr 2000 ABSTRACT

In 1876, the Mvskoke, or Creek, Indians began sending their young people to various colleges and universities in the United States. A Mvskoke practice through the 1890s, the program was called "Youth-in-the-States. " Its inception corresponded to the Mvskoke’s new constitutional government, the rising federal threat to open

Mvskoke lands for general settlement, and the influence of non-citizen interpreters on

Mvskoke internal affairs. This study focused on the success of the Youth-in-the States effort. It used James Axtell’s paradigm for finding historical significance in higher education, determine what society wanted of its young, and examine what they actually became. Using ethno-history. the use of ethnological and historical material, it followed four Mvskoke students, who entered a small Presbyterian college, the

University of Wooster (now called the College of Wooster), Ohio, in 1879. In particular, it traces the life of Mvskoke student, William A. Sapulpa, from childhood through early adulthood.

Over all, students had a positive experience at Wooster. Academically, they pursued a rigorous classical curriculum and participated in school activities such as debating and literary societies. Upon their return home, they were immediately placed in clerical and secretarial positions within the Mvskoke government The Mvskokes benefitted from their returning students who returned to fill necessary positions

ii requiring sophisticated bi lingual skills. As the returnees grew in maturity, their experience took them to tribal administration, education, law, and politics.

This study suggests that students may have been able to overcome the difficulties in attending an institution of another society because the Mvskokes-not the university-had made such schooling one of the rites of passage into their new governmental society. Other influential factors included peer presence, sound academic preparation, and interaction with authentic mentorship.

Ill Cvthke, cvtchke ofvtcv, nokis. Mvto.

This is for you. Dad and Mom. I say this and I thank you.

IV ACKNOWLEDGMENT

There are so many people . . .

I wish to thank fîrst, my adviser, Mary Anne Sagaria, for her tremendous patience and absolute encouragement and support. You were always in my comer.

To members of my committee. Dr. Robert Lawson who challenged my thinking; and to Dr. Amy Zaharlick who listened to me as if I were the only person in the world.

I would like to thank the various archivists who patiently guided me through a morass of documents, Joyce Bear, cultural specialist for the Mvskoke (Creek) Nation and Denise Montbarren of the College of Wooster (Ohio) Library. Also to Chester

Cowan at the Oklahoma Historical Society; Doris Yocham and Jim Hubbard of the

Sapulpa, Oklahoma Historical Society; and Heather M. Lloyd, Edmon Low Library

Special Collections, Oklahoma State University. Kindest thanks also goes to the

Bacone College library and Frances Donelson. Other staffs diligently served me at the

Wooster, Ohio public library; the Ohio Historical Society; the University of Oklahoma

Western History Collection; the Muskogee, Oklahoma Regional Public Library’s

Grant Foreman Collection; the University of Tulsa Library’s Alice Robertson collection; and the National Archives American Indian collections in Washington D C. 1 would like to thank the agencies who provided funding at different points of my research, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma; the College of Education and University College at The Ohio State University; the State Regents of Oklahoma, and the Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, Georgia, especially Dr. Ansley

Abraham.

1 would also express my appreciation to those who became my "reflecting wall" as 1 struggled with my ideas: Dr. Michael Green, University of Kentucky; Drs.

L. G. Moses, Russell Dobson, and Kenneth St. Clair, Oklahoma State University; Dr.

Grayson Noley, University of Oklahoma, and my friend and chief sounding board.

Dr. Mary Jane Warde, the Oklahoma Historical Society.

There were the little serendipities when it was least expected, but badly needed. Richard and Dagmar Celeste, Leslie Taylor-AUen, and Dr. James Ronda all spoke words of encouragement at critical points in my attitude. The American Indian

Leadership Program at Penn State University, where the Indian students-so far from home-attended to business with such duty in order to get back to their people. Every day their lives were like words of inspiration.

To the people who sustained me at The Ohio State University, so far away from home. My cohorts Drs. Ken Hale and Barbara Hanniford, who made my student life so sweet so far from home. My dear next door neighbor at Jones Tower, that "real" Indian, Camille Miranda from Madras, India. To University College and my advising unit, especially Virginia Gordon who kept my head on straight. To the first person I ever knew to finish a Ph. D. right before my ^ e s, Jerry Kiel.

VI To Dr. Robert Barger and James Westwater.

To the Columbus, Cleveland, and Dayton Indian Centers, who reminded me that I could be who I was every day, even in Ohio. To Marti Chaatsmith, and her parents Pauline and Dr. Clodus Smith who hosted me on my visits to Columbus. To

Ohio State pals, Dan Cook; Linda Chamberlin Jones; and also far from home,

Raymond Sells of the great Diné people. How firm thy friendship!

To FMs KFGY ("Froggy Radio"), KCBE, WOSU, and KOSU whose music was the support 1 needed to work through the night. To eighteen-wheeler radio stations between Oklahoma and Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D. C., who gave me the energy I needed to keep driving.

To my family, my beautiful Momma, and Hocv, George, Sam, and ail my dear wonderful, wacky nieces and nephews. To Daddy, Aunt Christie, Aunt Sista, and Grandma, now gone beyond, but all sowers to my destiny; Aunt Myrtle who sewed for me, and told me long time ago, "Others want to do what you do, but life won’t let them; you were allowed, so you better do it." To the glorious Mvskokulge of whom 1 have been a proud child every day of my life.

To my sunshine, my daughter Leslie, and my precious grandson, Aaron.

Finally to my beloved husband Moe, who has never known me without my face in a book. Love and patience are something 1 never thought 1 would have in this life, and you have given me both.

vu VITA

July 30, 1939 ...... Born in Flandreau, South Dakota

1962 ...... B. S., University of Tulsa

1987 ...... M. S., Oklahoma State University

1988 ...... Graduate Administrative Associate

Academic Adviser

The Ohio State University

1991 ...... Project Assistant

American Indian Leadership Program,

Pennsylvania State University

1992 ...... Manager, Counseling and Outreach

Native Americans in Biological Science

Dept. Microbiology/Molecular Genetics

Oklahoma State University

FIELD OF STUDY

Major Field; Education Policy and Leadership

Specialty: Higher Education and Student Affairs

vui TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication ...... iv

Acknowledgements ...... v

Vita ...... viii

List of Map Illustrations ...... x

Forward ...... xi

Chapters:

Introduction ...... 1

1 Beautiful and Resistant Indian Territory ...... 27

2 Emergence of Schooling as a Necessity ...... 49

3 Wooster University in an Era of C hange ...... 87

4 The Mvskoke Nation and Higher Education ...... 110

5 William Sapulpa of Cussitah Town ...... 151

6 The Return Home ...... 181

7 Conclusion ...... 222

Map Illustrations ...... 251

Bibliography ...... 258

IX LIST MAP ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration Page

1 The Five Tribes were removed from the Southeastern United States ...... 251

2 The map of routes and trails through the Five Tribes also shows their land base just prior to the American Civil W a r ...... 252

3 Landforms of Oklahoma ...... 253

4 This is Indian Territory, 1889 ...... 254

5 Important places in the Mvskoke Nation, 1894 ...... 255

6 Judicial districts of the Mvskoke Nation, 1867 ...... 256

7 This 1860 map shows that Indian Territory was surrounded by the states of Texas; Missouri; and Arkansas; and the territories of Kansas and New Mexico ...... 257 FORWARD

My deep interest in the study of the role of education in the Mvskoke society began when I finally attempted to read what many historians consider the principal comprehensive scholarly study of the Mvskoke people. The work was Angie Debo’s

The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians.' Previously, I had ignored her work because, frankly, its tiny print was too tightly woven to be an inviting read. As well, I was not receptive to her use of biased language, such as her frrst chapter title, "In Savage Power"; or her constant depiction of the "stubborn fuU- blood"^ verses the "educated mixed-blood."^

During the course of my Master’s studies in curriculum and instruction, I did realize, however, that Debo treated aspects of the Mvskoke contact with anglo schooling. It was my first experience reading about what had, for me, been merely stories at the dinner table, "Asbury Boarding School. . . Leavering School ....

Your grandma went to college . . . she taught in the Creek Nation." For the first time, I realized there was a documented period of time when the Mvskoke Nation had

Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A Histnrv of the Creek Indians (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1941).

nbid., 178.

% id., 179. a school system and that their tiny communities had once sustained primary-level schools in their humble midst.

But, it was Debo’s few words about the Mvskokes attending schools in the

"states" in the 1880s that was the most provocative. Among her descriptions, I found the following:

The Creeks continued to send older students to the "states" for training equivalent to the modem high school or junior college.*

The summary was interesting to me for at least two reasons. First, I am an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Indian Nation, bora into the Deer clan of

Thlopthlocco tribal town. Second, while 1 am interested in the study of all topics in education relating to the Mvskoke, as a practitioner in higher education administration, 1 had become greatly interested in American Indian student access to higher education. Debo’s statement seemed to present a unique challenge, not only to gain more knowledge of my identity, but to inquire after my people’s historical relationship with higher education.

My decision to use William Sapulpa as a focal point of this study was based on two factors. I wanted to counter writers, such as Debo, who leave readers of

Mvskoke history with, from my perspective, a mistaken impression that Mvskoke schooling and leadership of any consequence was a "mixed-blood" experience. As a fuU-blood, William Sapulpa’s experience with schooling after the American Civil War was no different than any male Mvskoke student of that time. At age 12, he arrived

*Ibid., 250.

xii at the TuUahassee Boarding School from a remote area in the northern Muscogee

Nation. Unable to speak English, he was, without a doubt, fresh from an outdoor life where his knowledge of hunting, cattle wrangling, and stick-ball were most Important skills. Yet, he must have been a serious student, having worked his way on to the

Tullahasee honor roll within three years. While the school instructors may have claimed credit for turning this raw material into such an earnest student, he must have received signlfrcant encouragement in his studies from home. Old Sapulpa, the father, saw that all of his sons had some schooling. In an interview with the Oklahoma

Historical Society, one of his children, Sarah, mentioned that though the girls did not attend school, all five of the Sapulpa boys were sent somewhere for schooling.^

Whatever was accomplished at TuUahassee, happened, not In spite of, but because of father.

The other contributing factor for my selection of William Sapulpa was the availability of primary material. At the Oklahoma Historical Society, 1 found treasury receipts and correspondence that intimated that Indeed there had been a Mvskoke experience In higher education after the Civil War. However, It was In the Alice

Robertson Papers, on deposit at the University of Tulsa, where 1 found letters and pictures from the students of this study. A favorite photo Is one where, dressed In suits and ties, the ever-serious William Sapulpa, A. P. McKeUop, Ell Hardage, and

Richard Bruner were together. They had apparently gone to Harry’s Art Gallery In

Wooster-as stamped on the back of the picture-to sit for pictures to send home.

Interview with Sarah Fife, 9 April 1937, Indlan-Ploneer Papers, 472.

xlll I was also able to spend several days at the College of Wooster, Ohio library and the Wayne County, Ohio archives. This stay enabled me to locate annuals, newspapers, and other documents that also mentioned the presence of the Mvskoke students. In fact, I was pleased to note that writer Lucy Notestein mentioned the

Mvskoke students in her history of the University of Wooster."

As I became increasingly familiar with the primary materials of this study, I came to realize that the young men of Wooster were not the only stories to be found.

Cane Hill College, now the University of the Ozarks, received many Mvskoke students, as did Drury and William Jewel Colleges in Missouri. Indexes such as

O’Beime and O’Beime’s Indian Territory: Its Chiefs. Legislators, and Leading Men published in 1892% and D. C. Gideon’s Indian Territory. Landed Estates. County

SeatSr Etc., Etc.. published in 1901* were valuable resources in describing the careers of many Indian Territory students.

1 was well into my study before I realized that a young Mvskoke woman, Lila

Lindsay made a substantial contribution to the Mvskoke school systems after her graduation from college. She is a worthy subject for study in herself for her role in both the educational history of the Muscogee Nation and the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In fact, the role of higher education and the Mvskoke woman has not been treated in

"Lucy Lillian Notestein, Wooster of the Middle West Volume 1/1866-1910 (Kent OH: Kent State University Press, 1971), 293.

' O’Beime, H. F. and E. S., Indian Territory: Its Chiefr. Legislators and trading Men (St Louis MO: C. B. Woodward Co., 1892).

*D. C. Gideon, Indian Territfffy Tanded Tmmty W c F»r Ftr (New Yorit: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1901).

xiv any aspect that I have been able to fînd. William Sapulpa married a Mvskoke girl,

Susanna Biggs, and she herself had been a student at Valparaiso College in Indiana.’

My study of Mvskoke college students is not a comprehensive study of the schooling practices in the Muscogee Nation. In fact, it is not even a complete study of higher education among the Mvskoke. This study was fhuned within one question, only: Of what use was the higher education program, Youth-in-the-States to the

Muscogee Nation, from 1876 to its demise at the onset of Oklahoma statehood in

1907?

The effect of higher education on the lives of this study surely did not end in

1907. In this period the students were in the prime of their lives, in their forties, and the effects of their education were bound to have persisted beyond Oklahoma statehood. I have wondered if they lived through a large period of adjustment, not unlike the jarring experiences of managers and administrators caught in today 's contemporary phenomena of corporate-downsizing.

With their milieu of profiessional existence wiped-out, what they did with their lives may present a study within itself. For example, the period of the onset of

Oklahoma statehood was a wildly chaotic one for Indian people. Fabulous oil discoveries brought out the evil in both Indian and white. Wealthy Indian orphans were left destitute abandoned in wildernesses, or in orphanages. Those who had no schooling were helpless against unscrupulous legal maneuvering for land. Both the

*Undated interview with William Sapulpa. Helen Westbrook Pliers. Oklahoma Historical Society.

XV best and worst of Indian politicians were to find a place in the new Oklahoma government, their access leveraged by years of skill developed in Indian Territory government. Debo also documented this period in And Still the Waters Run. " Were the students of our study found in any of this?

In fact, the Muscogee government did not entirely end. Though the work of the Curtis Act of 1898 set the date of the end of the dissolution of Indian territory tribal governments as March 6, 1906, it did not come to pass. The census and subsequent allotment of Indian lands was fraught with unforeseen complexities, and with the approach of the March date, millions of dollars of land had not sold. So on

April 26, 1906, Congress prolonged the tribal governments in a limited form."

While the Muscogee Nation came to an end, in its place was the government of the

Creek Nation. It would not be surprising that some of the students would be found serving within the context of the new organization. Such was the volume of work, that it was after World War II, before any kind of finality came out of the entire process of allotment."

‘“Angie Debo, And Still the Waters Run (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1940).

"34 Statutes-at-Larye. 148, Section 28.

‘Muriel H. Wright, A Guide to the Indians of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986), 20-21.

xvi INTRODUCTION

"There are perhaps too tew research efforts in higher education designed to assist persons concerned with current problems and issues to profit from experiences of the past." Raymond J. Young, "The Role of Historical Research in Higher Education," ASHE Meeting Paper, November, 1987, ED 292 413, S.

Schooling in Historical American Indian Resistance

Schooling for Conversion

It must be acknowledged that the first role of the college in American Indian education j^as to convert native communities during the English colonial period.

While both Catholics and Protestants worked to convert Indian communities, it was the protestant English that concentrated on the young. Hoping to grasp the children ".

. . before the hereditary stain of ‘savagism’ became indelible. . . ",' they turned to

Colonial schools and colleges. These schools offered no advantage except one, they made it possible for Indian children to be taken Ar away from the distraction of family and friend.

Once into the schools, Indian children were placed under the "birchen government" to counteract what the English perceived as the lax discipline of Indian families. The Onondaga tribe refused Dartmouth founder Eleazer Wheelock’s offer of

'James Axtell, The European and the Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America (New York: Oxford Press, 1981), 66.

1 schooling for their children based on their observation that even the smallest mistake was sufficient for a clubbing or a flogging/

The Iroquois turned down a 1774 offer from William and Mary to enroll their young. ‘Don’t take it the wrong way if we turn you down,’ they had said, ‘we just don’t have the same ideas about education ’

. . . you, who are wise, must know that different nations have different Conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our ideas of this kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours.^

In turn, they offered that if the Virginians would send them their sons, "... we will take great Care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them."*

From the earliest of Colonial times, then, the college campus became a platform of cross-cultural conflict. Bobby Wright and William Tierney typified what went on as a ". . . clash of cultures, the confrontation of lifestyles ...."*

% id., 68.

'Benjamin Franklin, Two Tracts. Information to Those Who Would Remove to America and Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America. 3rd. Ed. (London; Printed for John Stockdale, 1784), 28-29

*Ibid.

'Bobby Wright and William T iem ^, "American Indians in Higher Education: A History of Cultural Conflict," Change. March/April 1991, 12. Colonial Schooling as Resistance

While these historic portrayals were certainly valid and many tribes such as the

Onondagas and the Mvskoke* were clearly turned-off by English schooling, others such as the Lenni Lenapi. or Delaware, were not. Certainly, early students had to endure the adversity of immersion into a foreign culture with a foreign language, and an environment that many native traditionalists considered physically unhealthy, and frankly dissipating. Certainly the schools’s goals were to Christianize and convert, and their chief administrators were the mission societies, and many Indian people did convert to Christianity.

But, it is also plausible that some benefits of English schooling were attractive to some students. Tribal culture, never inert, had to be dynamic and ever enterprising, and Indian people were accustomed to accommodating what was useful to themselves. With the coming of the Europeans, weaponry, tools, and cloth easily found their way into tribal communities, as did horses. But even before the European invasions, the native accommodation of trade languages such as the Muskoghean dialects of the Southeast made exchange possible in hundreds of forest communities as linguistically diverse as the Yamacraw of what is now South Carolina, and the Cha-tah of Mississippi. The arrival of the English language certainly must have challenged the language skills of native leadership. In spite of the fact that mission societies controlled the schools, the educational institutions were a means for gaining systematic and working control of the English language.

*Mvs-ko-kee = mahs-KO-kee. The "v" is pronounced ah

3 Could some Indian leadership view knowledge of the British and their language as an important tool to the self-preservation of the native communities? One elder thought so. Thayendenegea-or. Joseph Brant-was said to be so suspicious of his surroundings at Eleazer Wheelock’s Moor’s Indian school-the precursor to Dartmouth

College-that in the first months, he kept a horse ready at-all-times for a fast getaway.^ Still, be stayed for more than two years, studying both English and

Mohawk, leaving at the approximate age of twenty-one. While he never returned to school, he continued personal study. The Mohawks considered him both leader and elder, whose bi lingual abilities gave him key access to the British. The British looked upon him as their most ablest translator in their Indian Department. He served as a diplomat between the Six Iroquois Nations and the English during the American

Revolution.' For several generations, Brant’s descendants attended Dartmouth.’

During the American Continental Congress of 1776, White Eyes, a Lenni

Lenapi chief, petitioned for help to prepare his young people to deal on equal terms with the Americans. John Hancock reported that the chief requested a "school master to teach their young reading, writing and arithmetic . . . A few year later, his

’R. David Edmunds, American Indian Leaders: Studies in Diversitv (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980), 22.

•Ibid., 22-37.

•Leon B. Richardson, "The Dartmouth Indians," Dartmouth Alumni Magazine XXII (June, 1930), 526, 527 in Kathleen Garrett’s "Dartmouth Alumni in the Indian Territory," The Chronicles of Oklahoma. XXXU, #2 (Summer, 1954), 126, 127.

“Journals of the Continental congress. Vol 4,10 April 1776, 276, quoted in Gregory Schaafs Wampum Belts and Peace Trees: George Morgan. Native Americans, and Revolutionary Democracv (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing Co., 1990), 15. twelve-year-old son was described as ‘comfortably accommodated’ at Colonel George

Morgan’s home and studying in a Princeton school."

In the Southeast, Alexander McGillivray rode the powers of his English literacy to sustain the Mvskoke Indian Confederacy. McGillivray was bom to a

Scottish father and a Mvskoke mother. He was raised in the matrilineal culture of the

Mvskoke which required he be raised and instructed by his mother and her family who were members of the Koasati (kwa-SA-tee) tribe. When Alexander was fourteen, his father Lachlan McGillivray, a merchant among the Mvskoke, sent him to study with a cousin who was a Presbyterian minister in Charleston, South Carolina. There, he studied Greek, Latin, English history, and literature."

McGillivray ’s schooling was cut short by the American Revolution, when his father, a British loyalist, was forced to return to Scotland. He was in his late teens when he returned to the Mvskoke confederacy for good. By the time he had reached his early twenties, McGillivray’s Mvskoke instruction with his analytical and bilingual skills proved to be a timely combination that uniquely fitted him for leadership in

Mvskoke domestic and foreign afhtirs. His mother, Sehoy McGillivray, was a member of the Wind clan, which assured him immediate responsibility among the

"Report of Commissioner of Indian Afkirs, "The Indians at Princeton,” 8 October 1783, in the Journals of the Continental Congress. 1783, 660-661, M247, roll 27, i 19, V 4, 137.

"John Walton Caughey, McGillivray of the Creeks. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1938), 15-16. mekkos. the principal leaders of Koasati. The British early recognized the value of his support and awarded him a commission as a colonel.

As the new United States attempted encroachment into the Mvskoke confederacy, the Mvskokes relied heavily on Alexander McGillivray. In 1780,

Florida and Louisiana fell to Spain, and the Mvskoke were pinned between Spain and the United States. They called for young McGUlivray’s attendance at treaty negotiations and in the end he was able to play Spain against the United States to

Mvskoke benefit." He was barely in his early twenties.

In 1785, members of a United States treaty commission sat down to negotiate with a Mvskoke delegation. The commission, created on the advice of President

George Washington, was a formidable assembly of minds, including graduates from

Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown colleges. The unsuspecting precursors of the Ivy

League were soon entangled with the strong analytical powers of the delegation leader,

Alexander McGillivray, and were completely rebuffed:

It was be [McGillivray] who wrote with the most vigor; he who analyzed the issues with the greatest clarity-he who determined the course of most of the negotiations—he who had a sway with the diplomatic exchanges.'*

Though in 1790, at the Treaty of New York negotiation, the Mvskoke yielded

three million acres to the United States, it was land already occupied and farmed

illegally by Georgians. To the chagrin of the United States, other hoped for lands

"Ibid., 25-27.

"Ibid., 27-28. were returned to the Mvskoke. In acklition, the Mvskoke left the table with U. S. recognition of their sovereignty in the Southeast and a promise of federal protection against American encroachment into Mvskoke boundaries.'^ The treaty would leave the Mvskoke confederacy as a great thorn in American plans for the settlement of the

Southeastern United States.

When McGillivray died in 1793, he was but thirty-four years old. For the

Mvskoke he had been Ho-pue-wa Mekko Hethla. the good child king. He was counted among the Mvskoke "beloved men", a place earned only by those whose proven mature leadership was recognized through out the entire confederacy. The

Spanish and the United States realized they had lost their principal contact within what had become the powerful Mvskoke confederacy.

Schooling in the Cherokee Resistance

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Cherokees became the first tribe to institute compulsive anglo schooling. Their communities extended from northern

Georgia into North Carolina and Tennessee and they anticipated that the U. S. government would soon attempt to remove them from their lands. They hoped that a vigorous and ambitious program of religion and compulsory schooling would forestall their removal from Georgia, and in 1803, the tribe agreed to permit the opening of schools. Within a year, the govemor-who had called them "nits that make lice"- attended their first school presentation on July 4, 1805. He burst into tears crying, "1

"Charles J. Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol n (Washington DC; Government Printing Office, 1904), 25-28. see civilization taking the ground of barbarism, I hear the praise of Jesus succeeding the war whoop of the savage." '

It was in this flush of the growing English literacy, that the genius Sequoyah delivered his simple language syllabary to his nation. Adopted by the Cherokee

Nation in 1821, it enabled native speakers learned to read in the Cherokee language within three days. Until his syllabary, Sequoyah, himself, had never learned to read, nor write in any other previous language. "

By 1826, sixteen schools existed in the Cherokee Nation and students were beginning to attend New England academies. In 1827, the Cherokees established a republican form of government with a written constitution based upon the constitution of the United States. They began publishing a Cherokee-English newspaper, Ihfi

Cherokee Phoenix and Indian Advocate in 1828. By 1830, it was estimated that at least half of the Cherokee male population could read in either English, or Cherokee.

Indian progress, however, not only failed to placate removal attempts, but shook the state of Georgia into a rage, accelerating the drive to have the Cherokees sent from the east. They received no federal intervention and were ultimately moved to the Indian Territory, now part of the state of Oklahoma." Still, their foundations

"Grace Steele Woodward, The Cherokees (Norman: The University of Oklahoma, 1972) 123-125.

"Morris L. Wardell, A Political History of the Cherokee Nation (Norman: The University of Oklahoma, 1938), 14.

"Grant Foreman, The Five Civilized Tribes (University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 1934), 411-426.

8 of literacy survived in their new location, and the Cherokees would establish and maintain a strong educational momentum lasting until Oklahoma statehood in 1907.”

Clearly then, through the eighteenth and nineteenth century, there was at least one Indian nation and many individuals who appeared receptive to an English education. Yet, while their antagonists arrogantly flaunted this acceptance as endorsement of English culture as "the better way", Indian students became some of the foremost leaders in early American Indian resistance movements to English and then American encroachment. Still other students brought their skills back to their communities and devoted their lives in service to their people. Nor were the

Cherokee, as the first tribe to mandate English schools, acquiescing to the "better" white way. If they could learn and practice the English ways, they hoped to demonstrate their right to preserve their lives and their land against the Carolinians and Georgians.

Misconceptions about Higher Indian Education

Indian Higher Education as a Historical Process

It is apparent, then, that there is more to the story of the schooling process in

American Indian communities than European dominance over native cultures. The

history of American Indian higher education, for example, has been so completely

"Thelma Perdue, "Indians in Southern History" in The Impact of Indian History on the Teaching of U. S. History (Chicago: Newbâry Library), 213. neglected as to be nonexistent. This omission not only leaves an incomplete American

Indian history, but strips Indian educational studies of a "true sense of progress.""

A major value of historical research in higher education as well as in all aspects of the educational endeavor is to aid in the detection and understanding of fads and frills."

A case in point is a popular impression of Richard Henry Pratt’s Carlisle

Indian school, which opened in 1870. It is often marked—too casually-as the beginning of Indian Education. Yet, historical studies of Indian Education" have shown that the Carlisle Indian school merely marked the plunge of the U. S. government into schooling as a panacea for "civilizing" Native America. Two hundred and twenty years before U.S. officer Pratt discovered that his Apache prisoners were capable of schooling, Caleb Cheeshahteaumauck, of a New England

Indian tribe, walked out of Harvard College, a graduate in the class of 1652.

Similarly, a perfunctory glance at the contemporary rise of Tribal Colleges- post-secondary institutions administered entirely by Indian tribes-can create the impression that the theme of Indians establishing deeper relationships with higher education is a recent innovation. But as early as the nineteenth century, the Cherokee,

Choctaw, and Mvskokee Indian nations sponsored higher education programs.

Through individual student sponsorship, both the Cherokee and the Choctaw had

" Raymond J. Young, "The Role of Historical Research in Higher Education," ASHE Meeting Paper, November, 1987, ED 292 413, 7.

"Ibid., 7.

"James Axtell, Margaret Connell Szasz, and Bobby Wright among others. 10 extensive relationships with Eastern colleges prior to the American Civil War. The

Muscogee Nation was the first tribe to foster a land-grant institution, awarding Almon

C Bacone land to establish his Indian University at Muskogee, Muscogee Nation in

1879.” Indian University exists today as Bacone College, the oldest higher education institution in Oklahoma.

In fact, tribal colleges were not bom by sudden inspiration, as much as they were part of a process that has been grinding almost imperceptibly within the contours of American higher education. From the inception of New England colonial colleges,

American Indians have moved quietly in-and-out of the history of American higher education. For example, some Ivy League colleges would not have survived had they not been able to convince European financial backers that they were involved in Indian

Education. In the eighteenth century. Harvard, William and Mary, and Dartmouth all received substantial benefit by convincing English benefactors that they were engaged in creating schools for Indian students.” The seventeenth century Virginia Colony, reaped large sums of money for years from deceived benefactors for a non-existent

Henrico College for "the education of the children of those Barbarians."” Thus along

”Creek National Record, Oklahoma Historical Society, Roll 15, Item #360083 and #360084.

”Bobby Wright, "’For the Children of the Infidels’?: American Indian Education in the Colonial Colleges," American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Vol. 12, No. 3, 1988, 1-14: also in ASHE Reader on The History of Higher Education (Needham MA: Ginn & Co., 1989), 53-39.

”Peter Walne, "The Collections for Henrico College, 1616-18" Virginia Magazine and Biography 80 (1972): 260 quoted by Wright, "For tte Children of the Infidels?", 54.

11 with historical credit for saving Colonial lives by imparting food, medicine, and survival knowledge, American Indians are due significant gratitude for the early survival of some Ivy League schools.

Early Individual Experience

Many individual Indians had direct experience with early colleges. Susan La

Flesche, daughter of Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche, received a prize for academic excellence at Hampton Institute, Virginia and finished her residency at Women’s

Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1889. She practiced medicine for the rest of her life among her people.” Just a year after La Fleshe, in 1890, Santee Sioux Dartmouth alumnus, Charles Eastman, graduated from the Boston University School of

Medicine.” Six months later, Eastman attended his own people in the aftermath of the tragic federal attack on Indian families, the Massacre of Wounded Knee,

December 29, 1890.“

Still, neither La Fleshe, nor Eastman, were the first American Indians to attend higher education institutions. Their earliest predecessors were probably Caleb

Cheeshahteaumauk and Joel lacoomis, members of New England tribes who were

“Frederick J. Dockstader, Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership (New York; Van Norstrand Reinhold Co., 1972), 40. Also, To Lead and To Serve: American Indian Education at Hampton Institute. 1878 - 1923 (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 1989), 4.

“Ibid., 40.

"Charles Rasttnan Ohiyesar Charles Eastman. Santee Sioux HJrfaana! University of Illinois, 1983), 58.

12 members of Harvard class of 1665,” Harvard having been established in 1636. lacoomis was killed while going home to Martha's Vineyard for a short visit just days before his graduation. Cheeshahteaumauk died of tuberculosis just months after graduation. Both students left a legacy of several Indian students still in Harvard’s preparatory schools, though none may have graduated through the end of the century.”

The Purpose of this Study

This present study is intended to describe the heretofore unacknowledged history of one American Indian nation's experience in higher education. In 1876, ten years after the American Civil War, the Mvskokee Indian nation funded a program called Youth-in-the States. It financed higher education in the United States for promising students who had completed schooling in the Mvskoke school systems.

In an American Indian history that acknowledged schools as civilization's cruel instrument of conversion, it seemed contradictory that an Indian tribe would fund their young to go East for more study. It was especially incongruous that it was the

Mvskokes, who spent nearly the entire nineteenth century fractured over issues of assimilation and acculturation. Still, it was said that one of the most revered Mvskoke

"Samuel Eliot Morison, Harvard College in the Seventeenth Century. (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1936), 355-356.

“Ibid., 340-353, 354-356.

13 traditional leaders, Opothleyahola. had once called for an educated tribal leadership, to

"stand between us and trouble.""

The Opening of Schools in the Mvskoke Confederacy The Red Stick War. 1811-1813

The first encounter with English schooling for the Mvskoke confederacy was part of a painful tragic process. In the first decade of the 1800s, though the Cherokee to the North, and the Choctaw to the West of the confederacy had accepted schooling in their communities, the Mvskokes maintained a distrustful distance. But, it was in this period, that a U. S. Indian Agent determined to exploit a difference he thought he had identified as a possible weakness in the heretofore seamless Mvskoke

Confederacy.

Living in the remote Appalachian wildernesses of the Southeast, the conservative, or traditional Mvskoke lived around their idulwa (town), shared land in­ common, and regarded the mek-kos (kings), the hilis-haya (medicine men), and tustanugees (warriors) as their leadership. They were often referred to as by the

Europeans as the Upper Creeks. The Lower Creeks, by virtue of living in the coastal areas were the first to interact with the European settlements. Through out the eighteenth century, many had begun to abandon living in idulwas. Instead, they owned and tilled individual farms and plantations as their surrounding white neighbors. They made decisions concerning their communities within themselves

" W. B. Morrison, "Father Murrow," My Oklahoma, v. 1, # 10 (January, 1928), 4 1 .

14 without consultation from the Mvskoke priesthood. Still, they considered themselves as Mvskoke and often presented representatives to the Mvskoke confederacy council meetings.

U. S. Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins recognized this dimension of European acculturation and began seizing opportunities to aggravate these differences to ". . . release a spirit of individuality in the Mvskoke Nation."^ By playing acculturated, individualistic thought against traditional community ways, the agent urged conflict.

This vulnerability played directly into the will of Shawnee activist Tecumseh when he brought an American resistance movement to the Mvskoke communities in 1811. It had instant appeal for many strongly traditional Upper Mvskokes, and in 1813, a civil war broke out. It was the first outright expression of differences between traditional and progressive Mvskokes and would dog them through the rest of the century.

The Red Stick War gave excuse for a United States invasion into the Mvskoke confederacy, made the reputation of Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett as Tndian fighters,’ and erased fifteen percent of the Mvskoke population. The war and subsequent American settlement demands devastated the wilderness lifestyle of the

Mvskokes, and weakened their political hold of the Southeast. In the inevitable treaty that followed, the Mvskokes ceded the fertile lands the Southern plantation owner would eventually call "The Land of Cotton."''

"Benjamin W. Griffith, Jr., McIntosh and Weatherford. Creek Indian Leaders. (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1988), 47.

"Charles Kappler, Indian Laws and Treaties. 107, 155-156.

15 The first schools open

In this dispirited time, the American congress approved on March 3, 1819, a first federal effort at Indian Education/* The government gave various mission societies its small appropriation. In 1822, the Baptists began Withington SchooP and the Methodists opened Asbury School in the Mvskoke confederacy."

To be sure, the agreements were tenuous, and certainly agreement was one thing, and success something else. Cultural animosities from the Red Stick war still hung in the air. Many Mvskokes interpreted school agricultural and mechanical courses as disguised slave labor. The missionaries wanted too much land, and still over-grazed what they received.”

The youth, experienced in contributing to the community good from wilderness larder, were loath to confine themselves to courses conducted in classrooms, or to fit themselves into agriculture and mechanical courses.” But perhaps the greatest reason for apathetical responses to schooling among the Mvskokes was simply-as it had been with many other tribes-schooling was merely an import fostered upon them from the outside.

"3rd U. S. Statutes-at-Large. 516.

"Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indian (Norman; University of Oklahoma Press, 6th Printing, 1989), 85.

"Ibid., 85. Also, Niles Weekly Register #5, Vol., n. (Bound volume XXVI) 4 March, 1824. p.93.

"Michael D. Green, The Politics of Indian Remnval - C reek Government and Society in Crisis (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982), 63-64.

"Debo, Disappearance. 85.

16 Removal to Indian Territory Brings Change

When the Mvskokes removed to Indian Territory, it was the lower Mvskokes, the so-called progressive element—who were the first to go. They were sent away in

1829 for protection after another altercation with Mvskoke traditionalists resulted in the assassination of their leader, William McIntosh. McIntosh had committed the treasonous act of signing away Georgia and Alabama to the United States.”

After the McIntosh contingent-some three to four thousand people-settled in

Indian Territory, a variety of teachers soon appeared. When the Mvskoke traditionalists-numbering some 16,000-arrived in Indian Territory in 1836, the two

Mvskoke factions surprised Indian agents by uniting, but dismayed them for the reason. Their united decision was that all teachers and missionaries were to leave.

The traditionalists, led by Opthleyahola, wanted no contact with the Christian mission teacher. The McIntosh progressives, as slave-holders, wanted to stop the influence exerted by abolitionist teachers.

The Mvskoke Take Control of their Schools

When the Mvskokes extended permission to Robert Loughridge to open a schooling program in 1841, they recognized they would have to accept missionary societies as the main sources of teachers. However, while permitting the entry of teachers, the Mvskokes prohibited prosletyzing. By setting standards for admission to

"The Treaty of Indian Springs of 1826 was the only treaty with an Indian nation that the United States aborrogaW. The treaty was re-negotiated with the U. S. keeping Georgia, returning Alabama to the Creeks, and providing for the McIntosh move to Indian Territory. (Charles J. Kappler, Laws and Treaties. ID. 284-86.

17 their nation, they were, in fact for the first time, taking control of schooling activities in their nation.

The mission society would provide the salaries for the teachers, the Mvskokes would provide construction and maintenance of the buildings.^ By 1845, two boarding schools were completed, Asbury Boarding school, and TuUahasse Boarding school. Asbury was provided by the Methodists, in the south central part of the

Mvskoke nation. TuUahassee was situated some fifteen miles northwest of Ft. Gibson on the south side of the Arkansas River. Ft. Gibson was near the port for all arrivals entering the Mvskoke nation from the Arkansas.^' Under the Mvskoke system, by the 1850s, neighborhood day schools, and the boarding schools had a combined total of some five hundred students.^

TheAgsbyteriaaLcgacy

Loughridge was a Presbyterian and his work gave his denomination a great foothold among the Mvskoke. This denomination placed a great deal of emphasis in schooling and the development of the intellect as part of its Christian obligation. In the same period that Loughridge entered Indian Territory, the Presbyterians were attempting to build a parochial school system in the United States. While these schools were, in part, a reaction against Horace Mann’s secular public school, the

R eport of the Commissioner of Indian Affiiirs. 1845. 62.

^'Debo, Disappearance. 120.

^Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1855 137-138.

18 Presbyterians had always felt that a foundation of faith was impossible without a strong development of the intellect.^

The Presbyterians probably invested much effort into the TuUahassee Manual

Labor boarding school because the Mvskokes would not let them evangelize.

Nevertheless when the Mvskokes lifted this prohibition, schooling was still their major work. At times this concern with the inteUect was a problem to the church men who regularly saw their students retain the old tribal ways, convert to other denominations, or simply divert their spiritual energies into more intellectual pursuits. W. S.

Robertson, Superintendent of TuUahasse would write:

Could we [have] seen our children improving as rapidly in other respects as in education we should have great reason to rejoice - But I fear we are doing more for the head than the heart — making greater effort for the scholarship than the piety of these youth.^

Robertson’s comments would be echoed more than a century later by Lewis

Joseph Sherrill in his study of the Presbyterian parochial school movement. Writer

Sherrill concluded that "... the parochial schools made no distinct contribution to the very task for which they were established, viz., the teaching of the Christian religion in the elementary education."*^ As for the reason for the lack of spiritual success,

Sherrill noted, "Students mastered words of scripture and forms of stating doctrinal

"'Lewis Joseph Sherrill, Presbyterian Parochial Schools 1846-1870 (New York: Amo Press, 1969).

**W. S. Robertson to J. L. Wilson, 17 October 1857, Presbyterian Correspondence Urom Indian Territory, Box 6, Volume 1.

"'Sherrill, Presbyterian Parochial Schools. 173.

19 interpretation of scripture; [but] to the question, 'Understandest thou what thou readest?’ They gave little thought

The strength of the Presbyterians was in their ability to commit to their calling of establishing schools. They established stability and consistency, when one considers that only two Presbyterian mission family names stand out through out the entire era of the Mvskokes in Indian Territory. They were Robert Loughridge and the

W. S. Robertson families. True, other workers arrived to teach the Indian children, but only to have the harsh frontier life dash their altruism. Presbyterian records are dotted with their youthful cries to be allowed to return home. Nevertheless, the endurance of the Loughridge and the Robertson families would place the TuUahassee

Manual Labor School at the heart of schooling in the Mvskoke nation.

While such steadiness eventuaUy lent itself to student persistence and achievement, nothing was probably more influential to Mvskoke school progress than the economic and political pressures bearing down upon them after the American Civil

War. Whether it was radical internal governmental transformations, or the ever land- hungry United States preying upon Indian Territory, the Mvskokes determined that higher education was meant to play a role in preparing to meet these enormous chaUenges.

*Ibid., 174.

20 The Design of this Study

Methodology Ethnehistory

This study utilized ethnology and history to describe the changes occurring

within the Mvskoke confederacy and the Muscogee Nation. Previous writers have called the body of work emerging from such union of ethnology and history, ethno-

history. Described by James Axtell, ethno-history binds historical study with ethnological methods and materials to gain knowledge of the nature and causes of changes in a culture defined by ethnological concepts and categories. Ethno-history enables the study of socio-cultural development over time and space.^

Such a perspective, according to Lester Cappon, has been particularly useful in the study of the impact of outside cultural forces on American Indian communities.

Ethnohistory has been able to ". . . illuminate not merely the Indian in terms of his own society, but each in his own terms and in terms of the other. The study of Indian

white relations must encompass both self-knowledge and knowledge of the other.

Historical Studies of Higher Education

As to the form of this study, it is necessary to turn to James Axtell again.

This time to consider his rationale for the study of the history of higher education.

^James Axtell, The European and the Indian. 5-6.

^quoted by J. Frederick Fauze, "Anglo-Indian Relations in Colonial North America" in Scholars and the Indian Experience. W. R. Swagerty Ed. (Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press, 1984), 82.

21 For such studies to be significant, Axtell has said that they must necessarily "attempt to describe the complex relationships between a society and its educational processes, between what a society wants of its young and what they actually become."" His explanation considered academic culture as part of the larger social culture, and placed colleges and universities in the whole process of ". . . the socialization of the young and the production and diffusions of knowledge in the society."” Though Axtell called the relationship of academic process to societal-want, complex, still his explanation implied a connectedness. Such connectedness was probably true when one had in mind a society whose educational processes evolved from its own ideals and mores.

However, in this study, American Indian students were participating in a schooling process that their society did not originate. The structure of the American college was embedded in European tradition. In Colonial convention, Biblical thought was deemed essential to gain the important leadership characteristics of inspiration, wisdom, and judgement. Thus for nearly three centuries, the college disciplined New

World leadership in Latin and Greek to gain access to the divine thoughts of the Holy

Scriptures.

Axtell’s rationale implies that American Indian experiences in higher education may present additional intricacies for study. What was the expectation of the Indian

"James Axtell, "The Death of the Liberal Arts College," History of Education Quarterly, n . Winter 1971, 339-352, found in The ASHE R«uW nn the History of Higher Education (Needham Heights MA: Ginn & Company, 1989), 109-115.

“Ibid.

22 society that sent their students to school? Can it be determined whether Mvskoke students received schooling relevant to their needs? Was their student experience so identifiably different than that of a student from the greater society? If so, what made it so? How did the College of Wooster fulfill its role in this expectation? How were these expectations realized as the students returned to the Indian Territory to begin their adult lives of leadership?

Axtell extended a simple formula to make sense of the complexities he thought would be found in the kind of studies he proposed. First, determne what society wanted of its young, and then examine what they actually became. Regardless of whether students came from the society that created the higher education institution, or whether they came from a separate society-as for instance, American Indians-lives were still there to be judged by the people who believed in what schooling would produce.

Taking the lead from Axtell’s paradigm, then, this study asks:

1. What was the expectation of the Indian society that sent their

students to school?

2. Were these expectations realized as the students returned to

the Muscogee Nation to begin their adult lives?

Focus of study

Available archival records enabled this study to focus on the second group of

Mvskoke students that entered a small, new Ohio Presbyterian college, the University of Wooster in 1880. A first group had arrived at the college three years before, in

23 1877, and were among the first Mvskoke students-eighteen in all-sent to various institutions in the United States. In 1879, in addition to support for Indian males, the

Mvskoke began supporting women and black freedmen for schooling in the United

States. Among the new 1879 arrivals to Wooster was a young Mvskoke woman,

Tooka Butler.

When the students at Wooster returned to Muscogee Nation, most returned with what today would be called "middle college" experience. They completed a senior high school year, and completed the first two years of college. They returned at a critical period in Mvskokee history-the threatened opening of their lands to U. S. settlement; and, the imminent exchange of tribal sovereignty for that of the government of the new state of Oklahoma.

Study Outline

This study is divided into seven chapters. Chapters one and two furnish a context for the appearance of higher education in Mvskoke thought, describing political pressures and fundamental schooling experiences. Chapters three and four describe the institutional environment the students entered, and contrasts it with the evolving higher education processes in the Muscogee Nation.

Chapter five and six focus on William Sapulpa and his cohorts through their collegiate experiences and return home. Chapter seven concludes the investigation, giving a synopsis of the topic, a discussion of important points, and conclusion.

Finally, the words and Mvskoke are often interchanged, seemingly at random, when referring to the people of this study. Furthermore, the reader will also

24 find nineteenth and twentieth century references to the Muscogee, or Muskokee

Nation. The change in names is a historical reflection of the political dynamics between these people, and the outside forces. The Mvskoke are the people who were never a tribe, but a confederacy of many tribes. Some tribes were distantly related, and others were so different as to have completely different customs and language.

Commonality was found in acceptance of participation in common activities such as the council, the usage of the Mvskokee language in trade, and participation in ceremonials, including the stickball games. When the people were in control of their own destiny, they called themselves, Mvskoke.

The designation Creek Indian came into use with the British in the 18th century to deal with the diversity of the Mvskoke confederacy ." The actual origin of the word, Cisgk, is unclear. However, in eighteenth and nineteenth century usage, it was probably as J. Leitch Wright, Jr. observed, "It was convenient to assert that virtually every Indian in the Southeast who was not a Cherokee, Choctaw, or Chickasaw was

[called] a Creek."”

There are a variety of spellings that attend the pronunciation of the word mahs-

KO-kee. Muscogee. Muskoke. and Muskokee are the spellings noted after the 1867 constitution referring to the constitutional government. Except for the orthography of

"William Bartram, "Observations on the Creek and Cherokee Indians," 1789, from The Creek Source Book. W. C. Sturtevant, Ed. (New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1987), 11.

”J. Leitch Wright, Jr., Creeks and Seminolesr The Destruction and Regeneration of the Muscogulge People (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 3.

25 the name of today’s Muscogee government, the Muscogee National Council adopted, in 1997, Robert Loughridge’s 1853 alphabet as the official national alphabet. Thus, the correct spelling of the name of the people is Mvskoke.”

This study will use the name Mvskoke when referring to the people, but will at times quote writers who use the name Creek. In direct references to the constitutional government will the spelling Muscogee be used, as in Muscogee Nation.

"Muscogee Nation Council, NCA 97-27.

26 CHAPTER I

BEAUTIFUL AND RESISTANT INDIAN TERRITORY

. . . I suggest for your consideration the propriety of setting apart an ample district west of the Mississippi. . . to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy i t . . . President Andrew Jackson from A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Vol. 2. (Washington, D. C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1910), 456-459.

Introduction

By the mid-1870s, all over North America, Indian tribes were desperately contending to save their lands from the ever-encroaching United States. The U. S. cavalry roamed the plains terrorizing Northern tribes, and in June, 1876, the provoked

Sioux nations launched their massive attack on General George Custer and the Seventh

Cavalry. Though their wars were not fought with horse and field strategy, Indian

Territory had also come under similar hostility. Once again, the United States loomed

as a formidable oppressor, set to undo its promises, take Indian lands, and this time to end the power of tribal self-government.

This chapter describes Indian Territory after the American Civil War, its political challenges and cultural uniqueness, as well as its natural resources. It was

Indian Territory’s distinct political status-caused by the 1830 removal treaties-that

27 prompted different strategies of defense. These tactics would be the skills garnered from experienced interaction with anglo Americans and their political institutions.

The Muscogee Nation-the old Mvskoke confederacy reorganized in 1867 as a constitutional govemment-was part of Indian Territory. Its first direct brush with outside encroachment came with the building of a railroad which crossed its Eastern edge. Intended to bring the American East and Mid-west to Texas, the railroad began its intrusion across the Indian Territory in early 1871. Bringing its own work force, the railroads brought in the first major influx of non-Indians among the Mvskoke.

One of the earliest successful resistance efforts carried to Congress by the Indian

Territory nations was to repulse further railroad building. It was nearly fifteen years before another rail line was built across the territory.

Not surprising, it wasn’t long after rail arrival, that resource-rich Indian

Territory began attracting the minds of the industrial age. The demand to turn Indian

Territory over to the United States intensified, and bills in Congress pressured for termination of the Indian governments of Indian Territory. Additional pressure came

from states that shared borders with Indian Territory. These claimed fear of being

neighbors to a country filled and governed by Indians. They also felt that as long as the government settled Indian tribes in the Territory, that it lessened the chances for

opening it to white settlement.

28 The "Civilized Tribes"

In 1876, the actual life of the tribes in Indian Territory was very different from the colorful Plains Indian existence that was splashed across Eastern newspapers. It was so different that frontier photographer W. S. Prettyman refused to photograph what he considered the "civilizing" process he encountered there. He had photographed Oklahoma Territory settlers-wbo called themselves "Boomers"—leaping

into 1890s land rushes. However, it was said that he was unable to "reconcile large- scale farming and livestock raising, permanent dwellings, and fences with Indian

life":*

To him, Indians needed beads and blankets, tipis and savage dances, medicine men and the bloody trophies of war, if they were to be fit for his camera. He could find none of these among the Cherokees or Quapaws.^

It did seem that the photographer’s much sought exotica was seldom seen

among the Territory tribes removed from the Southeastern United States-the

Mvskoke, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole. The U. S. Commissioner of

Indian Affairs Annual Reports substantiated Pretty man’s perspective of the change in

clothing. The document used several reporting categories to demonstrate Indian

adjustment to civilization. Among enumerations of kinds of abodes and agricultural

yields was a heading called "civilized clothing.” The 1876 Commissioner’s report

'Robert E. Cunningham, Ed., Indian Territory: A Frontier Photographic Record by W. S. Pretty man. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957), 160.

nbid.

29 noted that the consolidated populations of these five tribes numbered 56,225, and a// were reported to wear the cloth of the civilized/

There seemed to be other assenting demonstrations of "civilization" in Indian

Territory, as well. Within each tribe, republican governments with executive, legislative, and judicial branches-with each tribe administering their own constitutional balance of powers-replaced ancient governing structures.^ The

Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee had re-organized their governments after their arrival to Indian Territory in the I830s.^ The Seminole and the Mvskoke re­ organized after the Civil War.‘ These Indian republics administered school systems, published newspapers, and meted justice in their courtrooms. Within their boundaries, native Christian church congregations flourished in their midst.

Such tribal refinements, demonstrating large internal adjustments, so pleased the federal policy makers that they began to call these specific tribes, the Five

Civilized Tribes. Certainly, it was these changes that gave policy makers reason to feel that Indian Territory was a place where civilization had taken hold of the Indian.

Here at last was a physical demonstration that the Western ideal had won, the Indian

'U. S. Department of Interior, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1876. (Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Printing Office), 212-213.

* Grant Foreman’s The Five Civilized Tribes. (Norman; University of Oklahoma Press, 1934) summarizes the each tribal government after their arrival removal to Indian Territory.

'Muriel Wright, A Guide to the Indians of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1951, 1986), 90, 105, 74. The Cherokee had a constitution which was written in 1826 before their removal.

‘Ibid., 141, 235.

30 could be like a white man. ‘It is to be regretted,’ lamented the 1876 Commissioner’s report, that all the Indians in the United States cannot be removed to the Indian

Territory.”

The Hope of Resistance

The Mvskokes and other Indian Territory nations, in fact, were appropriating anglo civilization. For instance, the Mvskoke newspaper. The Indian Journal boasted:

"There are thirty young men and maidens. Creek Indians, now in the States attending a higher grade of schools than we have in Indian Territory. . . If not civilized now, we are determined to be."* But to read this statement as an approbation of progress into the white man’s ways, would be to miss the intention of the self-congratulation.

Certainly, the Cherokee editor of the Mvskokee newspaper, W. P. Ross, was a political progressive. A long time, but now retired. Chief of the Cherokee Nation, he was well-educated, and a strong advocate of Christianity and schooling. But the necessity to demonstrate the so-called ‘arts of civilization,’ the literacy, the governmental structures, and even community, had nothing to do with patronization and assimilation.

For the tribes who carried the burden of its label, civilization held exactly the same hope as that of the wars of the embattled Plains tribes. For in 1876, whether one was a Christianized editor of a tribal weekly newspaper, or a member of the great

Tteport of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1876. viii.

Indian Journal. Muscogee Nation, 4 April 1877.

31 Sioux Nations of the North, the essential problem was still the same: United States encroachment. The plains tribes filled Eastern newsprint with battles against the U. S. militia. The Removal tribes of Indian territory intended to demonstrate their appropriation of Western civilization. Both were practicing the same act, resistance.

A School of Diplomacy

While popular writers and frontier photographers ail but ignored Indian

Territory because of its seeming subservience to civilization, many plains tribes came consistently to Indian Territory for counsel. This relationship had begun with a series of councils in the late 1830s when the federal government failed to resolve boundary disputes between the newly arrived Southeastern nations and bordering Southern plains tribes, particularly the Osage, Pawnee, and Kickapoo. On their own, the removal nations met with these tribes and resolved the boundary issues among themselves.

The councils proved so successful that they evolved into periodic forums.’

This relationship continued after the American Civil War and the Mvskoke, in particular, had continued holding councils at their capital, Okmulgee. In hopes of fanning a movement to unite the Indian nations into a U. S. Territory, the United

States government even financed some of these meetings.In the period of the early

1870s, these councils grew as more tribes sent delegations, particularly those who had resettled west of Indian Territory after the Civil War—the Cheyenne-Arapaho, the

’A. M. Gibson, "An Indian Territory United Nations: Creek Council of 1845," Chronicles of Oklahoma. Vol. 39. 398-413.

“’"General Council of the Indian Territory," Chronicles of Oklahoma. Vol. HI. April, 1925, 33, 34.

32 Kiowa and Comanche. Even speakers such as Generals W. T. Sherman and Randolph

Marcy sought the opportunity to address the diverse gatherings."

The visitors to the councils were probably able to find out about schooling and agriculture, and see for themselves the lifestyle of Indian territory. However, perhaps the most important aspect of the council was as a school for diplomacy with the

United States. In the meetings, memorials and resolutions of protest and support were crafted "... in flawless English."" In 1873, for example, Santana, the great

Kiowa leader had been imprisoned after his capture after a Texas wagon train raid.

The 1873 council was devoted to a discussion of the Indian wars, and the attendees drafted a formal request to free him.

In 1874, the federal government sent a commission to the tiny settlement of

Muskogee, and made an earnest presentation to persuade the Five Civilized tribes to take steps toward becoming a U. S. territory. The presenting committee, which had been empowered to negotiate for the change of status of Indian Territory, was loaded with railroad men who would have gained millions of acres of Indian land were it to become a territory of the United States. The Indian Territory nations turned down the offer. The commission returned to Washington D. C. and reported that the Indian

Territory governments were failures. In the following congressional session, twelve bills to change the status of Indian Territory into a U. S. Territory were introduced."

"Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians (Norman; University of Oklahoma, 1941), 209.

"Ibid., 209.

"Ibid., 209.

33 Here council experience was put to work. Never had Congress experienced such an outburst of petitions and oratory from the Indian nations. The Cherokees presented a memorial of 4,000 signatures. Every Choctaw legislator signed their paper. Nearly three hundred Mvskoke signed their protest. The Osage included an addendum to their petition, calling the Biblical citation Matthew 4:7-11 as the first recorded reference to conditional land grants: "Again, the devil. . . sbeweth him all the kingdoms of the world, . . . and saith unto him. All these things will 1 give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."'* But the most succinct argument of all was the reciting of removal treaty guarantees that Indian Territory would never be

"included in another state or territory without their consent." ' Congress backed down.

Not surprisingly. Congress also ended its funding of the councils.In 1875, twenty-nine tribes came to the last Okmulgee council.'^ Yet, though the councils ended, tribes continued to come to Indian Territory. At times, they sought advice about governmental policy and trustworthy offrcials. At time, they came trading and doing commerce." But, for sure, in Indian Territory were tribes who had taken

'*43 Congress, 2nd Session., I (1630), no. 34, 66, 71, 72.

'^Kappler, Laws and Treaties II. 311, 442-442, 758.

'‘Ibid., 209.

'Tbid., 209.

"G. W. Grayson, A Creek Warrior for the Confederacy: The Autobiography of Chief G. W. Grayson, edited by W. David Baird (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 149-150.

34 these civilized aits for their use and common protection. They had learned civilization could be modified, and that the modifications could serve their purposes, the saving of their lands, and themselves. In short, the Five Civilized Tribes had learned some arts of their own about anglo civilization.

Schools in Indian Territory

By the 1870’s, all of the Indian Territory nations administered school systems.

They were well-aware that self-governance administered through a balance of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers required a healthy educational system.”

The 1877 Commissioner of Indian Adairs Report stated that the Cherokees "... have ample provisions for the education of all their children to a degree of advancement equal to that furnished by an ordinary college in the states." ™

In their council may be found men of learning and ability; and it is doubtful if their rapid progress from a state of wild barbarism to that of civilization and enlightenment has any parallel in the world. What required 500 years for the Briton to accomplish in this direction they have accomplished in 100 years."

While their schooling program was not as substantial as the Cherokees, the

Chickasaws had managed to send students to eastern colleges by the 1820s. In 1876, they numbered less than 6,000, smaller than the Creeks, at 14,000; the Choctaws at

16,000; and the Cherokees at more than 18,000.

"Foreman, Fiv«» riviliMd Tribes 58, 215, 278, 413-414.

"U . S. Department of Interior, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1877 (Washington, D. C.i U. S. Government Printing Office), 109.

"Ibid., 108-109.

35 By 1876, the Chickasaw had four boarding high schools and 9 day schools.

The Choctaw maintained two boarding high schools and fifty-four day schools, and maintained ten students studying in United States colleges.^ The Seminole were the smallest of the Five Civilized tribes, and did not receive any title to Indian Territory land until after the Civil War. By 1876, they had five day schools, with a boarding school under construction by 1876. The Muscogee Nation had two boarding schools and thirty-three day schools.

The Meaning of Indian Territory

Its Boundaries and Political Status

It was Indian Territory’s unique political status that required strategies other than combat and warfare to save itself. Decades of treaties and land exchanges surrounded this small piece of the original Louisiana Purchase that was home to the

Indian nations which had once lived east of the Mississippi. By 1861, Indian

Territory boundaries had been completely traced by the states and territories that emerged around it." Texas admitted to the Union in 1845 surrounded the western and southern Territory with its boundaries. To the east was Arkansas, admitted to the

Union in 1836; and Missouri, admitted in 1821, covered the northeastern comer.

Kansas was the northern border, admitted in 1861. The creations of New Mexico

” U. S. Department of Interior, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office), 63, 212, 213. Grant Foreman, The Five Civilized Tribes. 99.

"John W. Morris, Ed., Boundaries of Oklahnma (Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma Historical Society, 1980), 3.

36 Territory in 1850 and Colorado Territory in 1861 sealed the west and northwestern

Indian Territory boundaries.

Even the term, Indian Territory, needed some clarification. As land owned and administered solely by each Indian republic, it was not a United States territory.

In early treaties, ‘Indian Territory’ bad loosely meant the unorganized lands which suited the U. S. government for Indian occupation.^ Though this particular tract of land was not ofRcially called Indian Territory until 1890, the term had come to mean this specific area much earlier through informal local reference, and by the 1860s, in various Congressional bills.” As historian Jeffrey Burton noted, "Indian Territory was United States territory, but was never a Territory of the United States."”

The Indian Removal Act of 1830” permitted the President of the United

States, who was Andrew Jackson, to negotiate separate removal agreements with each tribe. According to the individual treaties of removal,” tribes were given in fee simple”title to their lands. Each tribal government owned and administered their own

“ Indian Country is the contemporary all encompassing legal designation for any federal Indian lands (18 U. S. Code, sec. 1151).

"Jeffi^ey Burton, Indian Territory and the United States. 1866-1906. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995), 4.

“Ibid.

”U. S. Statutes-at-Large. Sess. 1, Ch. 148, 411.

“Choctaws, 1831; Chickasaws, 1832; Cherokees, 1835; Creeks, 1836. Kappler, Itgafiss, 242-449. Having never signed a removal treaty, the Seminoles came piecemeal beginning in the 1830s, and established a government in Indian Territory by 1856.

“in fee simpIe=ahsolute legal possession vrithout limitation to any class of heirs or restrictions on transfer of ownership.

37 land, and there was no collective "Indian Territory." Treaties gave each Indian nation the right of self-government. They also promised United States protection for each tribe from "interruption or disturbance from any other tribe or nation of Indians, or from any other person or persons whatever (emphasis, mine).""

Its Physical Beauty

The country itself was one of wealth and diverse physical beauty. In 1819, the

English botanist Thomas Nuthall joined an army expedition through what would become Choctaw, Cherokee, and Mvskoke country. On May 17, 1819, traveling west and north of Ft. Smith, he wrote;

These vast plains, beautiful almost as the fancied Elysium were now enamelled with numerous flowers . . . Serene and charming as the blissful regions of fancy, nothing here appeared to exist but what contributes to barmony ."

Future botanists would declare that only California was richer in diversity of flora." Its grassy plains, abundant with wildlife, had ever been hunting grounds for

Plains tribes, but by the 1870s immense cattle herds grazed there. Later, its rich soil easily yielded orchards, gardens, and rich field crops.

Its hills and mountains were too rocky for real cultivation, but buried below were the desired minerals of the industrial age, oil, coal, zinc. "... the whole

"Kappler, 343.

"Thomas Nuthall, "Traveler into the Arkansas Territory during the Year 1819," Early Western Travels. 1748-1846. Vol. 13. Ruben Gold Thwaites, Ed. (Cleveland OH: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1905), 208.

"Conversation with Ronald Tyrl, Professor of Botany, Oklahoma State University, June, 1994.

38 nation is one bed of stone coal," wrote a U. S. Indian agent.” Above the rocky hill country in the northeastern region stood the thick oak-hickory forests of the Ozark

Plateau; and in its southeastern part rose the giant oak-pine forests of the Quachita

Mountain Range This land of compelling beauty would soon draw unwanted admirers.

The Political Challenges

The Railroads

In the time of the Removal negotiations with the Eastern Indian tribes, in the

1830s, Indian Territory was considered isolated land. Both the Quapaw and the Osage had ceded these lands by treaties prior to this time.” But by 1876, the land of the banished Indian people presented a strategic post-Civil War route for railroads into

Texas and the Southwest. Indeed, perhaps it was the railroad that awakened such broad interest as travelers began to see that this land, too, was desirable to possess.

An 1873 visitor wrote to Scribner’s magazine:

This superb country, unquestionably one of the most fertile on the globe, is a constant source of torment to the brave white men of the border in whom the spirit of speculation is very strong. He aches to be

”Commissioner of Indian Affairs Annual Reports 1866. 320.

”State of Oklahoma, A Game Type Map of Oklahoma. Division of Wildlife Conservation. Reprint of 1943 map, 1986.

”The Osage originally ceded their lands above the Canadian and Arkansas River in Indian Territory in 1825. In 1872, because of citizen pressure in the new state of Kansas, the Osage accepted land directly north of what is now Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Quapaws gave up Southern Oklahoma and Arkansas, and Northern Louisiana to the United States in 1818, settling in Louisiana. Their land became untillable and in 1833, they accepted a small portion of land in extreme northeastern Indian Taritory. Wright, Indian Tribes of Oklahoma. 192-193, 219-220.

39 admitted to the Territory with the privileges granted Indian citizens, viz, the right to occupy and posses all they may fence in.”

The railroad brought Indian Territory’s most urgent challenge, and a direct confrontation to the Mvskokees. By 1872, the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad

Company had completed its pass from the north through the Mvskokee Nation on its way to Denison, Texas. The railroad was not welcomed, and negotiation had been tenuous as the Creeks warily limited railroad land grants.

As soon as rail construction had began in 1870, fears were soon realized.

Government Indian agent Lyons reported that the white laborers laying the rails had

"agitated the [Muskogee] nation throughout the whole extent." A shanty town,

Gibson Station, had sprung up in one week as a lawless rail town where whiskey was peddled openly and illegally by Texans and Cherokees. Reported Lyons:

. . . these whites got foothold-eating houses, saloons, gambling tents, etc. Gibson Station has become notorious during its three weeks of existence. 20 or 30 drunks last week fires promiscuously over the town and 2 of them were shot.”

The railroad also flagrantly disregarded the Mvskoke government which required a permit and royalty payment for cutting their timber. Intruders were soon entering the nation, and harvesting the fine timber. In turn the railroad contractors by-passed Mvskoke law by purchasing the newly cut wood directly from the illegal sawyers.

"Edward Everett Dale and Jesse Lee Rader, ed. Readings in Oklahoma History (NY: Row and Company, 1930), 269-283.

”F. S. Lyons to U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 23 October 1871. L38S, Angie Debo Papers, Reel 75.

40 The Mvskokes refused to award land grants to the railroad. However they did permit four new communities to be established, Muskogee; Oktaha; Checotah; and

Eufaula. The communities were to provide services to the white railroad laborers.

Federal troops were engaged to prevent the "rip-roaring" conditions that had evolved at Gibson Station.

The railroad also brought new economic complexities. Cattle raising was still the major income business in the Mvscogee Nation, and cotton was becoming a staple crop. Requests for permission to open new businesses in Muskogee flooded the

Indian agent. These came from the neighboring Cherokees as well as white business men, the latter including a Kansas banker. Some permits were granted and by 1876, the new Creek newspaper. The Indian Journal, noted a variety of small businesses;

WILLIAM BROWN Has opened a barbershop and will shave shampoo or cut hair, each in his tum - "Next!"”

MITCHELL HOUSE All trains stop twenty minutes for meals. Platform full length of trains. Passengers on all trains stop at >THE MITCHELL HOUSE <»

"Indian Journal. 1 June 1876.

"Ibid. 41 Monopolies and Congress

When Ulysses Grant became president in March of 1869, rail capitalists were already engaged in a hefty and corrupt battle for power and monopoly/" President

Grant did not have the leadership to stem the out-of-control excesses and lawlessness that had earned his administration the name, "The Gilded Age"/' Monopolies and trusts of important commodities created entrepreneurs. "Captains of industry," their admirers called them. There were names like John D. Rockefeller in oil; Andrew

Carnegie, steel; and Philip Armour in meat packing. Such was their power that other companies faced growth or destruction solely on how the trusts chose to move. In

1868, when Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, Jr. wrestled Commodore Vanderbilt and Daniel

Drew for control of the Erie Railroad, it plunged the United States into a depression.

The market fell on September 24, 1869.

Still, such struggles had been confined to the East, and Indian Territory had been relatively ignored. New treaties, signed as an outcome of the American Civil war, had offered railroads permission to settle Indian Territory if it was opened to general settlement by the 1870s."^ Though the treaties went into effect in 1866,

Congress made no noticeable efforts to try to open the territory through the end of

1869.

""Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1%5), 726.

"'Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1972). A play whose title endured longer than the work.

”U.S. Statutes-at-Large. XIV, 236-239.

42 Then in March, 1870, Benjamin Rice, a Senator from Arkansas ignited the opening salvo of a thirty-seven year war to wrest the Indian Territory lands from their

Indian owners. He introduced the first bill to create the Territory of Oklahoma out of

Indian Territory.^ The name Oklahoma had first emerged in a Choctaw post-Civil

War treaty in which they referred to their lands as "Oklahoma", meaning "home of the red man."**

Within eight years, some fifty congressional bills to open the territory for white settlement had to be defeated."’ Using their weapons of the lobby, the oratory, and the signed petition, by 1876, the Cherokees repulsed fourteen such attempts on their land alone."* Corporate interests representing railroads and mineral pursuits, and politicians representing the land-hungry white man, continually demanded

Congress open the door to Indian Territory.

Outside-Apprehension of an Indian-Settled Territory

In the Fall of 1876, only a few months after Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn, a delegation of Brule Sioux Indians had arrived in Indian Territory. Led by their famous leader. Spotted Tail, the Sioux had come ostensively to examine Indian

"’Congressional Globe. 41st Congress, 2nd Session, SS 2014, S 679.

""Kappler, li£atifiS> 922.

"* Enumerated by Roy Gittinger, The Formation of the State of OHahnma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1939), 267-268.

"*H. Craig Miner, The Oirpnrarinn and the Indian Trihal Sovereignty and Industrial civilization in Indian Tenitory. 1865-1907 (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1989), 90.

43 Territory life. Albeit, one writer noted, had the great chief not become involved in the trip, the government might have forced a weaker delegation to give up Sioux lands.*^

Nevertheless, though Spotted Tail was on his guard during the stay, apparently he enjoyed his visit:

He was very much interested to see the Southern lands and to find there the famous tribes of old — the Delaware, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, Chickasaws and Seminoles. But he was very careful to say nothing that might be represented as approval of taking his tribe to the Territory to live. . . .**

Territory newspapers reflected the sizable anticipation of the visit which was to coincide with the October 1876 Indian Fair in Muskogee, Muscogee Nation. The

Principal Chief of the Muscogee Nation, Luchar Haijo (Crazy Turtle), would host the encampment. The new Creek paper. The Indian Journal, noted that some sixty representatives from various Southern Plains tribes also would be in attendance at the fair.*’

The eventual arrival of the Sioux turned to disappointment. Missing the Fair by six weeks, they arrived in the Muscogee Nation as an entourage of nearly one hundred people in twenty wagons in late November. Their stay was short, and they left after a few days by train for their homelands. Manifesting great disappointment.

’’George E. Hyde, Spotted Tail's Folk: A History of the Brule Sioux. 2nd Edition (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974), 259.

*%id.

Indian Jnnmal 21 September 1876.

44 the Indian Journal lamented that their return route would miss civilization’s progress found in the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Seminoles nations.

As Indian Territory newspapers captured the anticipation of the Sioux visit, editorials from bordering states revealed a collective apprehension which the impending visit had served to agitate. A Kansas newspaper was quoted:

If instead of trifling with these red rascals as fast as they come in from the war path, bringing Custer’s clothing on their back and his carbines in their hands, they should be sent to some distant military post and there be tried by competent authority and bung."

A Sioux City paper later reported that the Kansas governor had written an open protest to President Grant "against the Republican policy of transferring the savage

Sioux to the Indian Territory on the border of Kansas, thereby subjecting the people of Kansas to the depredations of the most savage Indians on the continent."^'

The Creek newspaper. The Indian Journal, countered, "There can be no doubt of the right of the government to locate friendly Indians in certain portions of it

[Indian Territory|. . . and we have not met an Indian who objects to it being done."”

With the news of another Sioux Chief signing a treaty with the U. S. the Journal noted, "Red Cloud evidently frvors a removal of the Ogalallas to the Indian Territory.

Sensible man."”

"Lawrence (Kansas) Home Journal newspaper editorial quoted in Indian Journal. 21 September 1876.

" Sioux City Journal. "The Sioux Commission," 2 October 1876.

"Indian Jnnmal 5 October 1876.

”lndian Journal 21 September 1876.

45 The Fort Smith New Era claimed, "What we dread is the fact that the removal of these Sioux to the Indian Territory does prevent Oklahoma from becoming a U. S.

Territory and State in the Union at an early day."^

The Indian Journal retorted; "Exactly. Covetousness of Naboth’s Vineyard, manfully avowed."”

Summary

Afrer their removal to Indian Territory which had begun in President Andrew

Jackson’s administration in the 1830s, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Mvskoke, and Seminole Indian nations underwent some large internal cultural and political transformations. At first their accommodation of republican governments, schools, and newspapers may have seemed accepting of assimilation into white ways. But in truth, these transfbrmations-fbr which the federal government labelled them the Five

Civilized Tribes-more reflected an internal hope. It was the hope that by demonstrating an appropriations of Western civilization, the Indian Territory nations would save themselves, by appearance and practice, from U. S. encroachment on their lands and sovereignty.

At the rise of anglo influence on tribal cultures, plains Indian tribes often came to Indian Territory, and especially the Mvskoke, for counsel. A series of councils and forums had evolved from the relationship between the "Civilized" nations and the plains Indian nations. These began in the late 1830s, and continued into the 1870s.

^Weekly New Era. Ft. Smith, Arkansas, 27 September 1876.

“ Indian Journal. 5 October 1876.

46 In the councils, the nations exercised their abilities in petition and memorial writing.

The U. S. financed many of these councils in the hopes that they could change Indian

Territory into a U. S. Territory. When, in 1874, Indian Territory declined to become a U. S. Territory, a U. S. commission recommended to congress that the status of

Indian Territory be terminated. This created a flood of petitions and outcries from

Indian Territory. Their well-crafted arguments caused Congress to back away from taking over the territory.

Indian Territory recognized the importance of schooling in the maintenance of their governmental structures. By the 1870s, the Cherokees with the most schooling experience, also had the most advanced schooling structures, some recognized at the collegiate level. The Chickasaw and Choctaw followed closely after the Cherokee, with the Chickasaw sending students to eastern colleges as early as the 1820s. All of the Indian Territory nations maintained neighborhood day schools and boarding schools.

The challenges facing Indian Territory in the 1870s were the same as all of the

Indian nations in North America. For the plains Indians, warfare was strategies of horse, bow, and arrow. For Indian Territory it was treaty interpretation, argumentation, and oratory. Their 1830 Removal treaties had awarded the Indian

Territory nations their land in fee simple, or absolute ownership of their lands. This legal status may have been the single most important reason that attack on Indian

Territory would have to come front Congress and not the military.

47 Another kind of outside encroachment was the railroad which began construction through the Muscogee Nation, reaching Denison, Texas in 1873. By

1876, the Indian Territory was a strategic rail route to Texas and the Southwest.

Railroad maintenance had increased the number of non-Indians in the Territory. As trains passed through, outsiders began to be aware of the richness of the land and looked increasingly for a foothold in the beautiful land. In addition, corporate, and industrial complexes realized its natural wealth.

When Brule chief. Spotted Tail visited the Muscogee Nation, states bordering

Indian Territory were vocal in their opposition to increased efforts at Indian settlement. Their news papers added to the pressure to end Indian governance and make Indian Territory a U. S. territory.

48 CHAPTER 2

THE EMERGENCE OF SCHOOLING AS A NECESSITY IN THE MUSCOGEE NATION

that they may stand between us and trouble. -attributed to traditional Creek leader, Opothleyoholo.

Introduction

With some sporadic exceptions, the Mvskoke confederacy had been largely uninterested in anglo schooling and the so-called skills of "civilization" until after their removal to Indian Territory. In the 1840s, the moment of change occurred when they took over the administration of their schools by controlling the admittance of teachers into their nation.

Divided over issues of anglo-cultural assimilation since the Red Stick War of

1813, this fracture had carried them headlong into the War-Between-the-States.

However, the end of the devastating war had launched reunions through out the nation. Stirring restorations, beginning with lost families found, re-invigorated tribal communities.' This emotional response carried over into long and intense meetings among the Mvskoke leadership. The topic was unity, and from these councils the

' Angie Debo, Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians (Norman: University of Oklahoma, sixth printing, 1989), 169-170.

49 Mvskokes emerged with a constitutional government that was a radical departure from

the political dynamics of the ancient confederacy.

The new governance was hardly in place, when the industrial revolution made

its entry. The railroad, began its patterns of transformations already familiar to many

parts of the United States. Almost overnight, the meaning of commerce in the

Muscogee Nation changed. New arrivals of outsiders began to challenge the census

ratio of Mvskoke Indian to white intruder.

The new constitution reflected an awareness of the importance of these

challenges by including a definition of the presence and levels of schooling in the

nation. Such a code reflected some of the large transformations in the Mvskoke in just a little over twenty years. In 1876, Luchar Haijo, the Mvskoke principal chief,

signed a bill authorizing a new program called Youth-in-the-States to send Mvskoke

youth to colleges in the United States.

This chapter examines the governmental and commercial challenges within

post-Civil war Muscogee Nation. It then discusses the role of schooling within its

new political and business order. Mvskokes Agree.to First Sclwpling Attempt

Early Attitudes

Entering the early nineteenth century, no native people had interacted longer

with Europeans and still held a complete indisposition to "civilize," than the Mvskokes

confederacy. Situated directly in the way of the first European arrivals, the Mvskoke

experienced a parade of Jesuits, Franciscans, Anglicans, and Moravians, each maridng

50 a time-line of European attempts to take the Southeast. All made attempts to school the Indians, but their only reward was nearly two hundred years of Indian resistance.

The new American government had also tried to draw the Mvskokes into a schooling agreement. During the negotiation of the Treaty of Colerain in 1796, the

Mvskokes expressed such disgust at the American offer, the treaty commission dropped the topic immediately. Cusseta Micco had called such English educated

Indians, ". . . worthless characters, who involved the two races [Indian and Whitel in difriculties."^

Schools Open Among the Mvskoke

The Mvskokes were still recovering from their civil war, the Red Stick War,

when, on March 3, 1819, Congress approved its first effort at Indian Education, passing the 1819 Civilization Act.^ The act financed the first schools among the

Mvskokes which went up among the traditional Upper Mvskoke. In 1822, the speaker

of the conservative Mvskokes, Tustanagee Thlocco (Big Warrior) of the

Tuckabutchees, permitted the Baptists to build a school,* Withington, which opened in

1823.' At approximately the same time, the Methodists secured permission to open

Asbury Manual Labor School on the Chattahooche River near Fort Mitchell,

'Debo, The Road to Disappearance. 65. Also, Walter Lowrie, and Clarke, Matthew St. Clair, "Indian Affairs," Documents: Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Vol. VI. (Washington, D. C. : Gales and Seaton, 1832), 602.

'3rd U. S. Statutes-at-Large. 516.

*Debo, Disappearance. 85.

'Ibid., 85. Also, Niles Weekly Register #5, Vol., H. (Bound volume XXVI) 4 March 1824, 93.

51 Alabama/ It seemed to the Mvskokes that hardly one permission for school was given, and another request would appear. One could sense Tustanugee Thlocco’s exasperation when he commented, The Missionarys is Coming here like Bees to the hive-for as fast as one flyes out an other flys in.’^

Schooling did not enjoy even modest success, but the conservative Upper

Mvskoke leadership had a careful look at its meaning to their survival as a people.

Their National Council consisted of leaders from both traditional and progressive communities, and represented the Mvskoke united front to the United States.

Cherokees John Ridge and Daniel Vann were welcomed in the National Council meetings to take notes and write documents.' Products of the Cherokee national effort to learn the white arts as a means of survival, the two young men seemed to take the role of scribes within Mvskoke efforts. They drafted a paper that appeared in the Niles Registry in 1824' that was a Mvskoke reaction to threats for their removal to the western United States territories. It was signed by eighteen leaders of the conservative Mvskokes.

It was significant that Mvskoke traditional leader, Opothle Yahola, was a particular admirer of Ridge and Vann. Yahola would become one of the most

‘Debo, Disappearance. 85.

Ibid., 64.

'Michael Green, Politics of Indian Removal: Creek Government and Society in Crisis (Lincoln: The University of Nebraska Press, 1982), 119-121, 129-30, 135-139.

'Niles Weekly Register Vol. HI. #1 (Bound Volume XXVII) 4 December 1824,222- 224.

52 significant traditional Mvskoke leaders in the important years of transition in Indian

Territory. After the negotiation of the Washington treaty of 1826, the Mvskoke idulwa mekkos (town kings) set aside $24,000 to send students to the Choctaw Indian

Academy in Kentucl^. The son of Opothle Yahola was among the first chosen to attend and his father accompanied him on his journey to school. While at the

Academy the boy was either given, or took the name of the director of the academy,

Richard N. Johnson.

Removal to Indian Territory

The McIntosh Expulsion to Indian Territory

John Ridge and Daniel Vann were also involved in the design of the 1826

Treaty of Washington. " This treaty had replaced the 1825 Treaty of Indian

Springs," the only treaty with American Indians that the United States ever nullified.

In the 1825 treaty. Lower Mvskoke leader, William McIntosh had fiaudulently ceded all of the lands of the Mvskoke confederacy to the United States. It was a strange move on McIntosh’s part since the National Council had agreed-on penalty of death- that no individual could ever enter into agreement to give up any Mvskoke land.

McIntosh, himself, was known to have publicly affirmed this law as late as 1824."

McIntosh’s involvement in the 1825 treaty was a move to bend the Mvskoke council

"Charles J. Kappler, Indian Laws and Treaties. Vol II (Washington D. C. Government Printing Office, 1904), 341-343.

" Ibid., 197-198.

"Green, Politics of Removal. 74-76.

53 to his progressive wiU-to cede to the states of Alabama and Georgia, and remove beyond the Mississippi.

The National Council pronounced sentence on McIntosh and his co­ conspirators, and the Mvskoke police force carried out the mandate. " At the same time, the Mvskokes appealed to the United States about the irregularities surrounding the treaty, and the United State agreed to renegotiate. As part of the new treaty of

1826, for their own safety, the McIntosh family and sympathizers were sent to the

Indian lands McIntosh had attempted to push on to his people.

The Removal of the Mvskoke Traditional People

The Arrival of Opothle Yahola

In 1836, six years after Congress passed the Removal Act," Indian Territory missionaries and 2,000 Mvskokes arrived to tell the U. S. Indian agents that they were the vanguard of 16,000 Mvskoke traditionals which were about to arrive from

Alabama to the Indian territory. Only eight years had passed since the arrival of the

Mclntoshes, fleeing with government help for protection from the very segment soon to arrive. Led by Opothle Yahola, this was the population sympathetic to the assassination of William McIntosh. Recognizing a genuine possibility of conflict, the

U. S. Army commander of the territory post at Ft. Gibson sent for 10 companies of volunteers from the state of Arkansas."

"Ibid., 96.

"U. S. Statutes-at-Large. Sess. I, Ch. 148, 411.

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1836. S.

54 The journey to Indian Territory had been a physically and emotionally punishing one for Mvskoke traditionals. After the removal of the McIntosh factions from the Southeast, the Mvskoke remaining behind had been harassed and exploited hy the citizens of Georgia and Alabama. The Mclntoshes were still on the trail to

Indian Territory, when a new president, Andrew Jackson stepped before the United

States Congress and said:

1 informed the Indians inhabiting parts of Georgia and Alabama that their attempt to establish an independent government would not be countenanced by the Executive of the United States, and advised them to emigrate beyond the Mississippi or submit to the laws of those States.'^

A new treaty was signed on March 24, 1832" and it encouraged removal and promised the Mvskoke help for their journey. Still it was not a mandatory action, and hoping to remain in their ancient lands, the Mvskoke stayed. They agreed to treaty terms to end their government and take lands by allotment. Most important was the promise to expel intruders." Their agreement only angered the whites and harassment began in earnest against the Indians:

They bring white officers among us, and take our property from us for debts that were never contracted . . . we are made subject to laws we

"Andrew Jackson, First Annual Message to Congress, 8 December 1829, from Frances Prucha, Documents of United States Indian Policy (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1975), 47, 48.

"Kappler, Treaties. 341-343.

"Debo, Road to Disappearance. 98; Niles Weekly Register, XXXVI-XXXVUl (1829-1830).

55 have no means of comprehending; we never know when we are doing right.'®

Killings between white and Indian eventually erupted into a war in 1836.

Federal troops were sent in and forced roundups began the last chapter in the

Mvskoke removal to Indian Territory. In 1836, in the dead of Winter, more than

16,000 Mvskoke were forced on their painful journey:

With nothing more than a cotton garment thrown over them, their feet bare, they were compelled to encounter cold, sleeting storms, and to travel over hard frozen ground . .

They were of all ages, sexes, and sizes, and all the varieties of human inteUect and condition, from the civilized and tenderly nourished matron and misses to the wild savage and poorest of the poor. .

Their travel westward was filled with unspeakable tragedy and one only had to scan the skies for the soaring vulture to find their trail:

. . . their relations and friends could do nothing for them then fold them in their blankets and cover them with boughs and bushes to keep off the vultures which followed their route by the thousands, and soared over their heads; for their drivers would not give them time to dig a grave and bury their dead.”

'’Grant Foreman, Indian Removal (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932), 107.

"Foreman, Indian Removal. 173.

"Ibid., 177.

“Ibid., 178.

56 Expulsion of Mission Teachers from the Mvskokees

Upon arrival to their new western lands, the tortured and exhausted Mvskokes quickly agreed to unite under the laws already established by the McIntosh faction.”

There was also an immediate accord that all missionaries be expelled from among the

Mvskokes. Such a decree was not surprising from the traditional Mvskokes, who saw the Christian message in opposition to their beliefs. But the Macintosh faction, as slave holders, also wanted the missionaries out because too many had been spreading abolitionist sentiments.

After the arrival of the McIntosh party" to Indian Territory in 1829, several mission societies had arrived and had made attempts to set up schools. The Union mission building-constructed as a Protestant outreach to the Osage tribe”~had became an all-purpose building, used by the Presbyterians in their first school work, and by the Baptists for services. Other small schooling efforts were also underway.

Methodist Conference records noted teachers being appointed at least by 1832."

The expulsion of the missionaries ended these cursory attempts at schooling among Mvskokes. In December, 1836, the OfRce of Indian Affairs reported:

23 Commissioner, of Indian Affairs 1836. S.

" The McIntosh party would be joined by other Lower Creeks, displaced from Georgia by the 1826 treaty, and a party of conservative Creeks who were Christian.

"The Osage were removed to Kansas from Indian Territory to make room for the tribes arriving from the Southeastern United States.

"Sidney Henry Babcock and John Bryce, History of Methodism: Story of the Indian Mission Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. (Sidney Henry Babcock, 1937), 26.

57 The Western Creeks have recently manifested a disinclination to the residence of missionaries among them; and the Acting Superintendent having confirmed the facts alleged, as the cause of the feeling, they have been desired to leave the nation.”

In spite of their quick agreements, however, the Mvskokes remained in estrangement with each other. The new arrivals chose to expand along the North

Canadian River away from the settlements of the already established Mclntoshes who had settled along the Arkansas River. Each faction maintained their own spokesmen.

Roly McIntosh for the progressive Mclntoshes and Opothle Yahola for the conservative communities. While the town, or idubua, continued as a principal political and social reference point for the conservatives, the progressives functioned around their farms.

A Careful Resumption of Schooling

Missionaries as bad examples

By 1839, sporadic schooling had returned, but the nation was more cautious in the selection of teachers. By now, they had sorted through a variety of schooling experiences. Some teachers with abolitionist sentiments had attempted to foster political unrest. One teacher was plucked from the classroom to serve time for counterfeiting.” Still another had to leave the nation for alleged immorality. The latter, apparently relieved of his position, though acquitted, was reassigned to West

”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1837. 24.

"Robert M. Loughridge to Walter Lowrie, 3 December 1844, Presbyterian Mission Records, Indian Missions, Box 9 #434.

58 Virginia by the Methodist Conference. Sidney Babcock and John Bryce, Methodist historians, concluded:

. . . his usefulness among the Indians was destroyed. Even the most savage Indians had a keen moral sense, according to their light. Any deviation from moral rectitude was not countenanced among them. They would not hear a preacher about whom reports of immorality were current.””

The U. S. agent to the Mvskokes sent a strongly worded report to the U. S.

Conunissioner of Indian Affairs^’:

The time has passed when men can be picked up in New England without talent, industry, energy, or the proper spirit, and sent among these tribes to be usefùl. Such men not only render no service, but, by their dronish habits set such examples as wUte men should not set before Indians, render themselves unpopular, and injure the cause which they were sent out to promote. Men of this description not only ought not to be sent out, but should be prohibited from coming among the Indians.”

The report concluded in no uncertain terms that, at least from the perspective of the U. S. Indian Commissioner, the Indian rejection of missionaries was the mission societies own fault:

The Indians are becoming too intelligent and well-informed to bear with such men. A majority of the missionaries in the country are the above mentioned kind, and to these facts may be imputed the great unpopularity of missionaries in Indian country (emphasis, mine).”

”Babcock and Bryce, History of Methodism. 31.

"Apparently, such a hint did not deter the West Virginia congregations, for the minister apparently went on to have a successful career in that place.

"Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1837. 43.

“Ibid., 44.

“ Ibid.

59 Missionaries return under Mvskoke scrutiny

When the Mvskokes returned to admitting teachers, they were acknowledging that the only dependable pool of teachers would have to come from missionary societies. In 1841, Robert N. Loughridge secured agreement from Roly McIntosh, chief of the Lower Mvskokes, to allow the Presbyterians to establish a school. The wary Mvskokes, after establishing careful criteria, agreed to admit four men and their wives. They stipulated, however, that while more could come, the Mvskoke would have to give their permission for their entry into the nation. But as Loughridge commented, in spite of strong prejudices against missionaries and teachers "they are willing trial should be nude."" With financial support from the Lower Mvskokes,

Loughridge opened the Koweta day school in 1843. The agent remarked that "it appeared to be in quite a prosperous condition."”

A Variety of Teaching Experiences

Through the 1850s, the number of schools reporting to the Indian commissioner steadily increased, and revealed a diversity of classroom situations.

New students began their primary studies together, regardless of their age, creating

challenging disparities in cognitive style:

Many of our scholars are almost men and women grown. Now, I have found that it gives great energy to such in their studies, to see from time to time, experimental illustrations of what they are learning.

”Idem, Loughridge to Lawrie, #20.

“Annual Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1842. 504.

60 It would be a great favor to me if you will send me some works on Education. Mr. Wines has published a work called "How shall 1 govern my school?" and another one, the name of which 1 have forgotten. Another is highly spoken of called "The Teacher Taught.

In the best situations, instructors faced students who could speak both English and Mvskoke. Or, the instructor was a Mvskoke leading Upper Mvskoke students into the English language, as in the case of Daniel Asbury, teaching far into the interior;

My object in keeping them in it [Kay’s School Reader Number I] is to get them, thoroughly to understand the first principles of the English language before they advance farther. 1 used them to read in sentences, and then explain in the Creek tongue. They thus learn English as they progress.”

In bizarre situations, students speaking only Mvskoke faced instructors able only to speak in rudimentary Mvskoke. In one case, an anglo man took over a school that had been taught by a Swiss man who did not fully understand English:

. . . unhappily [he| taught the children an erroneous pronunciation, more difficult to correct, than to take them from the alphabet at first. 1 found it necessary for the most forward of them to commence at words of three letters, in order to correct their erroneous pronunciation, and the remainder commenced at the alphabet, and their progress was rapid.”

Reconciliation and compromise were teaching arts because most Mvskoke did not approve of corporal punishment. Parents often withheld students from school if such was meted:

"John Simber to Walter Lawrie, 28 March 1845, Presbyterian Mission Records, Indian Missions. #32.

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1851. 135.

“Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1845. 598.

61 If they are punished they will not come back to school; and their parents consent with an ill grace if at all, to punishment; so that everything at the outset is to be done by conciliation and policy, through the agency of the chiefs of the town operating on the parents.”

But there were positive reports, too:

The parents frequently visit the school, making inquiry as to the progress of their children. In several ways the parents are greatly encouraging their children in their studies, and 1 have found a readiness on the part of the children to advance in their studies. The school advanced and closed in the most agreeable manner.^

Girls in Mvskoke.Schools

At what point girls were admitted to study is uncertain. Traditional Mvskoke conununities had always required a rigorous instruction program for induction of both males and females into the Mvskoke ways. However, American schooling of the

1830s tended toward preparation of the males, and the U. S. Indian Commissioner called the subject into question. "One great mistake has, 1 think, been made. In every instance this is now recollected, more boys are educated than girls. . . . All experience and observation throughout the world argue against it." He went on to express that "without this ever-busy and ever affectionate auxiliary there can be no radical success."*' As the instructors among the Mvskoke filed periodic reports beginning in the 1840s, demographics indicated girls were very much in attendance in the Mvskoke day schools, and the new boarding schools.

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1842. 345.

*”Comnussioner of Indian Affairs 1851. 133.

*'Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1839. 344.

62 Manual Labor Boarding Schools Open

The Mvskoke were strongly desirous to bring the students in the Choctaw

Academy in Kentucky, back home. In 1845 they proposed to increase their educational annuities and establish two manual labor boarding schools in their nation.

In 1847, the Methodist conference authorized the establishment of a manual labor boarding school for 100 pupils to be called Asbury." By 1850, the Loughridge log house was replaced by a commodious brick building, and the TuUahassee Manual

Labor School quickly increased to eighty pupils including both day students and boarders.

Though both Asbury and TuUahassee were ample brick and stone buildings, boarding students in wilderness schools presented a great challenge. Not only had lessons to be prepared and taught, but food had to be grown, prepared and served to eighty to one hundred students, and the families that cared for them:

During the fall and winter the boys help to gather in the crop, chop fences, cleaning up the grounds for cultivation, and do the most of the hoeing in the fields and garden. Besides this, they grind nearly all the meal we use on steel mills; for this we pay them, as an inducement, ten cents per bushel."

The girls tended their rooms, washing and ironing, and worked in the dining room. Boys and girls were in classes from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM, with time off for lunch and recreation. Two to three hours of work in the shop, or the field; or for the girls, time sewing, knitting, or cooking was built around classroom recitation.

"Babcock and Bryce, Methodism. 90. " Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1858 148.

63 Success at these schools at times hung in a precarious balance between disease and weather. Severe illnesses rampaged the close living quarters of school compounds:

We have had an unusual amount of sickness during the year. During the last winter about forty of the children had the whooping cough at one tim e.^

. . .But during the present winter, the measles made their appearance . . . we had seventy-five cases of it."

Droughts could effect the amount of food needed to feed the school family:

The great drouth this summer which spread over most of South & Southwest, is severely felt in this country. The crop on the mission farm was not more t ^ a third as much as in former years. Further West great numbers of the people have made nothing, & 1 fear many of them will suffer for bread."

The boarding school made it possible for the students to stay within their

nation. Within two years, second and third year classes had evolved out of the beginning classes. Parents arrived at the end of the term to claim their children, so the schools began adding public examinations as a traditional school closure. The exercises were simple at first, but grew in complexity as the children grew in their

capacity to display their knowledge:

Owing to the important fact that most of the pupils of the previous year returned and took their plac^ in school, a much larger proportion of the scholars were engaged in the higher branches of study than in any former year. . . . At the close of the session, the school was publicly examined before a large audience, in which there were many who were

"R. L. Loughridge to J. Leighton Wilson, 25 Jan. 1861.

"Ibid.

"Ibid.

64 capable of judging as to the progress of the pupils. The reading of original compositions by the girls, and declamation by the boys, formed a part of the public exercises. Three of the Creek boys delivered original speeches, in which they gained for themselves much applause.*^

In Mvskoke agent W. H. Garrett’s report to the Superintendent of Indian

Affairs in 1855, he noted that the two manual labor schools, Asbury and TuUahassee, each had eighty students. The chiefs had located twelve neighborhood day schools in the populated areas. These day schools generaUy served the various tribal towns in among both Upper and Lower Mvskokes. New school buildings were being constructed, and others were being renovated. Nearly five hundred students were making ‘rapid progress’ in schools in the Muscogee Nation.**

The CiYiLWar opens Qld..WQunds

When the American Civil War engaged their country, the Mvskokes divided over beliefs and old agitations arose. For many Mvskoke what was particularly hurtful about the war, besides the dreadful physical damage inflicted over the entire

Indian Territory, was that it easily played into their own long-standing intra-tribal breach. The War entered Indian Territory in 1861, when Texas appointed a commissioner to gain Indian Territory for the Confederate cause. Within days after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, a Confederate Bureau of Indian Affairs was established. Simultaneously, when Lincoln withdrew federal troops from garrisons in

^Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1858 150.

**Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1855. 138.

65 western Indian Territory, the federal presence in Indian Territory was placed in jeopardy. Within days after their abandonment. Forts Cobb, Washita, and Arbuckle were occupied by Texas Confederates. Even U. S. Indian agents fell in with the

South:

Efforts by the Federal Government to counteract the propaganda of the southern states among Indian Nations proved futile. In fact, after the withdrawal of the Federal Troops in 1861, communication between the Indian Territory and the North "almost entirely ceased". Indian agents newly appointed from the Northern states were unable to reach their posts: diose appointed from the southern states soon went over to the Confederacy."

The Indians sympathetic to the Confederate cause organized the United States of the Indian Territory. Its legislative body was "The Grand Council." The

Mvskokes were the first to treat with the Confederacy, signing on July 10, 1861. By

October, 1861, the Confederates held complete control of Indian Territory and Indian regiments began to appear.

However, it became apparent that the great leader, Opothle Yahola, would not affiliate with the Southern effort. This raised the possibility that there may have been a civil war more personal than a War-Between-the-States. Yahola was a slaveholder, and from that standpoint, it may have seemed surprising that he resisted the Southern effort. Civil War scholar Dean Trickett has pointed out that Yahola may not have been a unionists as much as he did not want to serve with the McIntosh party.”

"Dean Trickett, "The Civil War in the Indian Territory," Chronicles of Oklahoma. Vol. 17. December 1939, 401.

“Ibid. 66 Daniel McIntosh, youngest son of the assassinated William McIntosh was the commander of the Mvskoke regiment, and William McIntosh’s oldest son, Chillicothe

McIntosh led a battalion. Furthermore, at least TuUahassee Superintendent William

Robertson placed blame for the entire entry of the Mvskokes into the war on the

Christian leadership in the Mvskoke nation, most of whom were Southern sympathizers. Yahola’s abhorrence of Christianity was weU-known.

Toward the end of the war, Robertson had reported his appraisal of events to his Presbyterian headquarters. He clearly felt that Christian work among the traditional Mvskoke had been severely damaged:

It is not our duty now to shew them [Mvskoke refugees! that Christian men of the North are their fnends, and sympathize with them in their wrongs, sorrows. The men who have driven them from their homes, destroyed their property and killed their fnends in battle, and murdered their women, and chilth^n are the Christian part of the nation. Their leaders were all most of them ministers. John McIntosh, a son of old Roley McIntosh . . . told me the evening before 1 left that "The Christians all seemed to join the companies to want to fight.... The ministers had done this.""

Yahola, himself, had held that the Mvskoke pact with the Southern forces had not been negotiated through the National Council and was not valid. Knowing attempts would be made to force him into compromise, in 1861, Yahola, by now an old man, defying the agreement, began leading his followers-some 3,000 men, women, children, and aged-out of Indian Territory toward federal protection in

"W. S. Robertson to Walter Lowrie, 14 June 1864, Presbyterian Mission Records, Indian Missions, Box 6, 105.

67 Kansas.” The first battle of the Civil War in Indian Territory was fought between

Yahola and the pursuing Indian Regiments. After two more battles, Yahola’s band was able to escape into Kansas shortly after Christmas 1861, but in a severe state of destitution after the bitter winter flight. Yahola, himself, died in the refiigee camps.”

The Home Guard Wins

The indigent Yahola band regained their physical strength, however, and became the core of the Indian Home Guard. The Guard eventually returned to Indian

Territory where they swelled into three regiments. Led by federal officers, and fighting "guerilla" style, the Home Guard eventually sent the Southern Indian forces into retreat at the Battle of Honey Springs, July 17, 1863.” It was the turning point of the war in Indian Territory, and Indian Confederate families fled for the refuge of the Red River, into the southern Choctaw Nation and to north Texas. The next few months of the war in Indian Territory were controlled by the North.

On September 8, 1864 a general council of tribal leadership and the U. S. government was held in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Because the Confederate Mvskoke had not been able to arrive in time for the beginning of the council, only the Northern, also called Loyal Mvskoke, were in the early sessions. Thus, the very people who had suffered great loss of life, as well as goods, on behalf of the North, heard the new

”Annie Heloise Abel, The American Indian as Slaveholder and Sect Omitted Chapter in the Diplomatic History of the Southern Confederacy (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1915, reprint, Johnson Reprints, 1970), 254, 260.

”Ibid., 254, 260.

”Ibid.

6 8 Bureau of Indian Affairs Conunissioner, D. N. Cooley, naively chastise them for their errant ways in the war. The loyalists listened with astonishment while the commissioner claimed the Indians "had ’rightfully forfeited’ all their monies and lands."” The government had come to make another treaty, this time to take more

Indian lands supposedly for the recriminations of Confederate participation.

The new treaty for the Mvskoke was announced on August II, 1866.”

Former slaves were permitted to remain among the Mvskoke. They were granted suffrage and they would eventually prove to strengthen the traditional Mvskoke role in future political affairs. In addition, while the Mvskoke were disposed of one-half of their estimated 3,250,560 acres at 30 cents an acre, the treaty agreed to hold the forfeited land for the settlement of other Indian tribes and fieedmen.

The treaty also made provision for the negotiation of one east-west and one north-south railroad. Within days of the ratification of the treaty. Congress extended

Indian Territory tianchises to two railroads, the Union Pacific, and the Missouri,

Kansas, and Texas.

The Old Order Changeth

In truth, the Mvskoke had not liked the hrutal exchange with each other. Even in the first battles, the fleeing Yahola Loyalists had picked up recruits from the

Southern army simply because Mvskoke soldiers had refused to fight against their

” Debo, Road to Disappearance 168.

"Kappler, Ic a tia , 931-937.

69 neighbors.” The Loyalists forces had grown to three regiments after entering Indian

Territory, because of defections from the Southern regiments. Even, the arrival at Ft.

Smith for the 1864 council meeting with the United States was filled with anticipation

for the hope of seeing each other in peace at last.

After the Ft. Smith Council ended, the entire Mvskoke leadership-progressive

and conservative; Northern and Southern-entered in "one continuous council."”

Samuel Checote wrote that the purposes of the earnest conclaves were to:

. . . unite and live as one Nation and those who were North during the late war, were not to be called Northern people and those who were South, were not to be Southern people; in short there was to be no North and no South among the Muscogee people but peace and friendship.”

In 1867, an accord between the Mvskoke traditional and progressive leadership

was reached, and a centralized, constitutional government was designed. Based on

republican principles, there was a balance of powers, with executive, legislative, and judicial branches. There would be one single nation, the Muscogee Nation"; and one

single chief. The Principal Chief, the Mek-ko Thlucco. Other decisions of unity

included a more centrally located meeting site to be called Okmulgee, where the

Mvskokes resolved to build a central legislative building.

"Able, Indian as Slaveholder. 254, 260.

”lbid., 179.

”Debo, Road to Disappearance. 179.

" Note that with the institution of the government, the Creeks retook their ancient designation, M uscngee in the popular spelling of the day. However, ‘Creek,’ continued in popular usage among both Indian and non-Indian.

70 Changes to an Ancient Ciovernance

The new constitution codified modifications that had begun to evolve as the

Mvskokes adjusted to federal relations before their removal from the Southeastern

United States. Other changes, such as a single principal chief, represented a major philosophical and administrative shift in their system of government. The direction of these changes reflected the emerging influence of the anglo-educated Mvskoke leadership in tribal matters, and directly challenged the conservative, traditional governmental structures.

The National Council

Since before the coming of the Europeans, the council of idulwa leadership had met periodically in council to discuss problems. The body, however, did not make binding law. The Mekkos carried recommendations home and determined the outcomes in their own meetings. In the new constitutions there was no longer a conference of mekkos. but a bi-cameral law-making body, the National Council.

There was an upper body, The House of Kings, and a lower body. The House of

Warriors. The smaller House of Kings consisted of the principal leaders, the idulwa mek kos. or most respected elder leaders of each town.

The House of Warriors consisted of the community positions that had originally performed the law-keeping function, the tustanuggee. or the warrior. The

House of Warriors recognized and admitted the four classes of tustanuggee drawn from each idulwa and Arming community. In traditional communities, the tustanuggee’s day-to-day roles was essentially administrative, according to the needs

71 of the leadership, and the citizens. Now, they would represent the community in making national law and policy. JudiciaLSystem

The decision of the National Council to finalize judicial districts overturned another role of the idulwa. It had always meted justice for its community and determined its own membership, but now the National Council chose the district judges and determined its citizenship. The Council also created a Supreme Court of five justices to try civil cases where the amount at issue was more than one hundred dollars." The judicial branch which had been in the process of evolution soon after settlement in Indian territory was administered through six districts of the Muscogee

Nation. The national police force, the Lighthorsemen, enforced the law throughout the nation. The voters of each of the six judicial district could elect a captain and four ofRcers to the Lighthorse.

The Principal Chief

The modifications in the Mvskoke judicial and legislative system represented very radical changes in its structure, but none were as radical in departure as the creation of an executive position, the Principal Chief. The Mvskoke as a confederacy had not needed a single chief. The principal chief, Meklcn Thlnccn would head the

Muscogee Nation and be chosen by popular election. No longer were the idulwa mek kos the fînal community executive, as it had been for generations. Instead, the

"Angie Debo, Road to Disapnearance. 281.

72 Principal Chief approved or disapproved legislation, made policy, and was the principal figurehead for the entire nation.

Conservatives Challenge the New Order

Altering age-old forms, the changes essentially nationalized the role of

Mvskoke governance. For the traditional Mvskoke, the changes must have carried a large emotional impact, and indeed, the shape of the new national government was not lost on the traditional leadership. Oktaharsar Sands, head of the conservative political party fielding a candidate in the first election for the Principal Chief, commented, "I wanted to make a law and told them to fix the old Indian law, but they made another, and when we found it out, it was the same as the white man’s law.”^

The new government nearly collapsed in its initial election for its first Principal

Chief. The elections would remind the Mvskokes that old divisions were still in their midst. Disagreeing with the secret ballot, the Conservadves-or traditional Mvskokes-

-held their public election‘s, took over the new Council house, and began organizing their government. The progressives arrived in three military units and ordered the conservatives out. Both sides retired to camps, with arms. By negotiation, conciliation, and much patience, a violent confrontation was avoided, and both sides were persuaded to use the secret ballot. Samuel Checote won the election, and Sands urged his party to unite under the new chief.

“Ibid., 182.

“In the past tradition, voters lined up in the street behind the candidate of their choice. Counters moved through the street in sight of everyone.

73 The Entry of the Outside World

By 1876, issues of progressivism and conservatism again brought intra-tribal conflict. Samuel Checote, the first elected Principal Chief, was re-elected to a second term. However, in the third political campaign, Luchar Haijo became the first

Mvskoke conservative elected as Principal Chief. Still, by 1878, progressives gathered enough momentum to fuel an impeachment of Haijo.

The rising complexities which would eventually challenge the Indian Territory right to self-governance soon required all of the tribal political force it could possibly

muster. After 1883, factionalism was left aside, as the Muscogee Nation joined to resist the first real threat to what both progressive and traditional considered essential to their existence, their sovereignty and their land. That the Mvskokes did not elect another conservative chief for fifteen years perhaps indicated their feeling that these outside challenges would require a new strategy of resistance.

Early Commerce

The arrival of the first Mvskokes to the Indian Territory in the late 1820s,

signaled the beginning of commercial change. The earliest arrivals, the McIntosh

faction, had been plantation owners. Within a very short time after their arrival, they

were selling their surplus cultivated com to the federal military detachment at Fort

Gibson just a few miles away .^* The Three Forks river landing close to Fort Gibson

made trade access easy. The Verdigris and Grand Rivers joined into the Arkansas

River within a mile of each other. The Arkansas River joined the Mississippi River

^Debo, Disappearance. 112.

74 down stream, creating an ideal river route between Three Forks and New Orleans on the Gulf. Steam boats unloaded immigrant Indian communities and brought in supplies for Ft. Gibson.*”

The Texas Road entered Indian Territory from the Northeast and passed through Mvskoke territory west of Three Forks. As more and more people were interested in Texas, traffic began to increase. Often, Mexican travelers came to Three

Forks to sell merchandise, and take home Mvskoke products. By the 1850s, the

Texas Road became one of the major stagecoach routes between Texas and the Mid- west.'* Few travelers, however, took interest in the wildernesses of Indian Territory.

The Coming of the Railroad

It was the advent of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad crossing through the Muskokee Nation in 1871 that changed the meaning of business and economics in the Nation. No longer did cattle have to be driven to Missouri for transport North.

When the little railroad town of Muskogee became a cattle center for rail shipment, commerce quickly shifted from Three Forks to Muskogee.

As tracks were laid for the entrance into Muskogee, tents for businesses and homes were also going up. The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad solicited

Indian Territory passengers to join them in Hannibal, Missouri if they were traveling east. Local ads touted livery stables, a gunsmith, a flour mill and cotton gin.

*”Odie B. Faulk, Muskogee. City and County (Muskogee, OK: Five Civilized Tribes Museum, 1982), 23.

"John W. Morris, and McReynolds, Edwin C., Historical Atlas of nklalmma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976), 21.

75 saddleries, dry goods and implement stores, and at least six attorneys and a physician." Most of these merchants and professional people were white men, some licensed by the Muscogee Nation to trade, but many were not." The influx of white businesses into Indian Territory railroad towns coincided with the heightened outside interest in opening Indian Territory to white settlement. This deepened the complexities of the Mvskoke affairs of state and increased their need to have direct communication with the United States Congress.

In the past, the Mvskokes patiently waited for U. S. Indian agents to communicate with Washington for them. At times the agent did not have the interest of the Muskokees in mind. The Mvskokes created their own lobbying forces and through out the rest of the century, a steady stream of Mvskoke legislative specialists were chosen to represent the nation’s interests in Washington, D. C. Direct participation in political affairs affecting their future was one of the new strategies of resistance.

Schools in a ChMpag Climate

Increasing Need of Bilingualism

The new Mvskoke governmental structure, the changing economic climate, and the challenges emanating from Congress required new approaches. The Mvskoke s

"Indian Journal. 1 June, 1876.

"Odie Faulk, Muskngee. 48.

76 creation of their own lobby in Washington was an example of how they hoped to meet congressional challenges. But there were other needs and challenges as well.

The Mvskoke s new constitution defined the responsibilities of its officials.

There were the newly created positions of National Treasurer and National Auditor.

The National Treasurer administered national accounts on the direction of the National

Council.*” The National Auditor not only supervised the books of the national treasury, but was responsible for accounts with the U. S. government. These two positions indicated government was growing more complex and implied the need for more kinds of technical expertise. Accounting, bookkeeping, and record keeping procedures, for example, were necessary for these positions to function.

The influence of mission schools, as well as the English experience of progressive Mvskokes prior to Removal from Georgia and Alabanu, had increased the fluency of English among the Mvskokes. But it was obvious that many legislators, especially from traditional communities, arrived at Council meetings without such benefit. This most obvious need was satisfied by a designated National Interpreter paid from the National Treasury, and elected by the National Council.”

Aside from a designated National Interpreter, other acknowledgement of official languages were implied. The U. S. government detailed requirements for reporting procedures." That most of the Muscogee legislative records were in

^^Constitution and Laws of the Muscogee Nation (St. Louis; Levison and Blythe Stationary Co., and Printers, 1880).

™Ibid.

"If S Statiites-at-Large. Section 2103.

77 English was surely the Mvskokes’s choice that clerks keep proceedings in English.

Within the Mvskoke delegations to Washington, there were bi lingual delegates to serve as interpreters.

In less than ten years, by 1876, the need for English communication had grown from administrative to political liability. While relations with the United States had became more sensitive over issues of governmental sovereignty, yet the 1874 petitions had repudiated the United States efforts to terminate the political status of

Indian Territory. However, internally, the Mvskokes were still relying on non-Indians for translation and interpretation of crucial documents. This had placed non-Indians in positions of influence deep within the administrative functions of their government.

The Mvskokes were beginning to recognize their growing vulnerability in such situations. No better example could be found than the embattled Principal Chief,

Luchar Haijo, who had signed the appropriation bill for Youth in the States.

Haijo was a fluent Mvskoke speaker, but had to rely on others for English translations. Often, J. G. B. Dixon, an Englishman and Haijo’s confidant, was permitted to usurp the delegated authority of appointed Muscogee officials, creating critical political havoc with local and national policy. Soon after signing the Youth in the State bill into law, Luchar Haijo was impeached over the mistrust created by

Dixon.”

The few Mvskokes who had a balance of administrative, political, and bi­ lingual skills had aptly demonstrated their worth. There was G. W. Grayson, the

”Angie Debo, Disappearance. 191, 200, 217, 221.

78 National Treasurer, who had attended Arkansas College before the Civil War. The

Mvskokes also looked to Pleasant Porter, and J. M. Perryman as both educators and legislators. By 1876, David Hodge was becoming an accomplished orator pleading

Mvskokes cases before Congress. Prior to the Civil War, Porter, Perryman, and

Hodge had been distinguished students in the Mvskoke boarding school system.

The importance of an emerging civil service class requiring bilingual abilities bad to imply that schooling took on a new meaning in the Muscogee Nation. Indeed, their new constitutional laws explicitly defined the administration of its schools. The new constitution described a national common school system, called the Neighborhood

Schools, and defined the mission school presence in the Muscogee Nation. It named the text books to be used, and mandated teacher examinations and institutes. The final article in the Education code authorized the National Treasurer to have control of a program called "Youth in the States," a program to send students to higher education institutions in the United States.”

When Need Causes Change

The program to send students to the United States for advanced study spoke of an emerging consistency in the Mvskoke school systems. The two boarding schools which were first opened in 1850 and closed during the Civil War had more than twenty years of service in the Muscogee Nation. Year after year of continuity in administration had contributed to consistent attendance. It also permitted instruction

^Constitution and Laws of the Muscogee Nation. 40-52.

79 to add new, more advanced layers of instruction such as algebra, geometry, Latin, declamation, and natural philosophy /*

With the inclusion of a school code in its constitution, it may have been the first national characterization of such schooling as a way to create future leadership within the Mvskoke s national government. But most of all, this acquiescence to school reflected a major transformation in the Mvskoke society. In a little more than fifty years, the Mvskoke went from strong resistance to European schooling attempts to the creation of a higher education support program.

The First Students leave for U. S. Colleges

In November, 1876, in the same month that Oglala chief Spotted Tail visited the Muscogee Nation in Indian Territory, eighteen Mvskoke Indian students prepared to journey to higher education institutions in the United States." The National

Council financed the new higher education program-called Youth in the States"~by closing five elementary schools in their national school system, and appropriating

"Alice Robertson Papers, University of Tulsa, and Bass, Althea, The Story of luilabassfifi (Oklahoma City; Semco Color Press, 1960), S6-S9,62-63. Constitution and Laws of the Muscogee Nation. 41.

"An additional seven, including S girls, had their own funding, making a total of twenty-five students who left the Creek Nation to attend colleges in the United States. Some of these included missionary children who were considered legal residents of the Creek Nation.

"Muscogee Constitutions and Laws. 52.

80 additional funds.” The eighteen male students were selected from the six judicial districts of their nation:

North Fork 4 Muscogee 3

Deep Fork 3 Coweta 3

Wewoka 3 Arkansas 2

They were sent away almost immediately after the enactment of the funding bill, November 17, 1876. Some arrived at their schools by December, before the beginning of the second semester. Institutions receiving students included Wooster

University and Central College in Ohio; and Jackson College in Tennessee.

A variety of hopes apparently rode on the young students’ shoulders. The

Wooster (Ohio) University president wrote to Territory school master, A. E. W.

Robertson of a student, "I think there is no doubt he will study for the ministry."”

S.W. Marston, U. S. Indian agent to Indian Territory recommended to the U. S.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs:

. . . that provision be made to give a higher education, in some of our normal schools in the East, to Indian youths sufficiently advanced to enable them to enter such schools, in order that the bureau [of Indian afhtirs] may be supplied with educated interpreters . ...”

Testifying before a visiting Senate Committee in 1879, George W. Grayson,

Muscogee Nation treasurer, and administrator of the Youth in the States program said.

” "Journal of the Joint Committee on Education, " Muskokee Nation, 17 November 1876, 16-17. Indian Journal. 23 March 1877.

”A. A. E. Taylor to A. E. W. Robertson, 26 November 1878, American Indian Correspondence. Box E, 1, 97.

"Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1877. 1.

81 "It is not the intention to fit them for professions. The idea is to give them a good education, so as to fit them for business."" John Haynes, chairman of the Mvskoke

Education Committee, in summarizing expenditures for Youth in the States noted it was for greater advantage of "acquiring a knowledge of the English language.

Historically, the Mvskoke had always cared about speaking ability. In the idulwas. the best in elegance and skill were chosen to rehearse laws and recount history before all of the people during the annual busketa observance, the equivalent of the Mvskoke new year. In addition, the ability to argue in the affirmative and the negative was considered such a critical skill, and required such honing, that its mastery was considered one of the qualities of Mvskoke wisdom." It was not the goal to have college graduates, nor to create a world of professionals, it was to add not just a command of the English language, to their speaking and debating skills, but an erudite mastery of English rhetoric. Their contemporary political situation, a new constitution, and an increasing anglo influence in Indian Territory created a need for this kind of preparedness. The Mvskokes had chosen the college setting to acquire these kinds of skills.

Regardless of the reasons the students were sent East, the Muscogee Nation newspaper indicated there was more than general interest in the students. A student letter arrived at the Muscogee Nation newspaper. The Indian Journal. The writer said

"Senate Report 744. 45th Congress, 3rd Session.

"Creek National Record 38456, Committee on Education 24 October 1877.

"J. N. B. Hewitt and John Swanton, Notes on the Creek Indians. Bulletin 123 (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1939), 135, 151.

82 that he was going through a trial, a week of examinations. The newspaper published the letter and editorialized, "Send the account of the examination .... The whole

Muscogee Nation is interested."”

Summary

The Red Stick War of 1813-1814 had exposed a smoldering Mvskoke division over issues of assimilation and acculturation. The war had also given the U.S. an excuse to invade the Indian confederacy, and when the seven month war ended, the

Mvskoke confederacy was economically devastated, with fifteen percent of the population erased. The 1819 Civilization Act attempted to provide English schooling for Indian tribes, focusing on those nations involved in wars with the United States.

The funds were administered by mission societies. The Baptist and the Methodist denominations opened schools in the Mvskoke confederacy, but the schools were not well received and success was sporadic.

The first real acceptance of schooling came after the Mvskoke removed to

Indian Territory. In the beginning, both the acculturated and traditional factions of

Mvskoke were in agreement to stop the schooling in the new Mvskoke land. All missionaries were sent away. Within about two years, the Mvskoke recognizing that mission societies were their sole source for teachers, received the missionaries back.

However, they placed the missionaries under strict regulation. The Mvskokes entered jointly with the missionaries to build two Manual Labor schools.

"Indian Journal, S April 1877.

83 Though the conflict of assimilation verses traditional Mvskoke values was an ever-present dissonance in the nation, by the 1850’s, schools were no longer a part of the dialogue. Traditional Mvskokes may have looked upon school positively because of the influence of their great elder, Opothle Yahola. Yahola was among those who apparently appreciated the value of schooling as preparation for the new challenges the

Mvskoke would face. By the 1850s, the Mvskoke had a small but flourishing day school system, and fully enrolled boarding schools. The boarding schools required the strength of the instructional staff and the student body to run itself. More important was that very year that the schools were open, each class continued to advance.

Public examinations were held in front of parents and officials. In the 1850s, the dialogue about education began to turn to higher education possibilities.

The Mvskoke involvement in the American Civil War seemed to be fanned in part by the old divisions. The McIntosh families and the Mvskoke of Christian persuasion seemed to favor the uniting of the Mvskokes to the Southern cause. When the Texas confederates appealed to Indian Territory to unite with the Confederacy, the

Mvskokes were the first to sign an agreement. Opothle Yahola led a small renmant of

Loyalists into Kansas. Though Yahola died as refugee, his band became the core of

the Indian Home Guards that eventually returned to Indian Territory, and eventually

won Indian Territory for the North.

Once the American Civil War ended, the Mvskoke people faced an era of great

change. New treaties negotiated as the result of the war turned half of the Mvskoke

land back to the United States. This land was held, however, for other Indian tribes

84 and freedmen to settle. The war completely destroyed the economic, and agricultural foundation of Indian Territory. But overall, the main concern was finding oneness among themselves. Trying to find unity, they made radical changes in their government. They created a constitution that changed the structure of their governance. New positions in the Muscogee government such as National Treasurer and National Auditor required some technical knowledge such as accounting and bookkeeping principles. The role of National Interpreter indicated the importance of bi lingualism in the Muscogee governmental process. There were some Mvskokes who had these abilities. Some had college educations, and others had attended the boarding schools in the nation. The inability of Indian leadership not to be able to speak English became a political liability. In the end, the new governmental structure only fueled the long-standing cultural breech between the traditional and the more assimilated Mvskokes.

Other new challenges came with the entry of the railroad into the Muscogee

Nation in 1871. Indian Territory commerce was immediately transformed. White business men began arriving at the new railroad towns. Outside interests became aware of the substance of Indian Territory, and placed the issue of opening Indian

Territory for white settlement before congress. Washington D. C. became so important to the Mvskokes that they no longer waited for the Indian agent to give them the latest dispatch from the capital. They began by-passing their agent and sending their own delegations to Washington.

85 The role of schooling in the Muscogee Nation after the Civil war seemed to take on even more interest. While the new Mvskoke government struggled over its reorganization, it’s first bi-partisan decision was to open the schools that had been closed because of the war. The schools reopened with boarding school graduates teaching and administering the neighborhood day schools for the first time. School was of sufficient importance that the new Mvskoke government codified its school system in its 1867 constitution. In 1876, it added its higher education program called

"Youth in the States." The program sent eighteen students to schools in the United

States in is first semester, January, 1877.

86 CHAPTER 3 OHIO PRESBYTERIAN VISION FOR THE FUTURE: WOOSTER UNIVERSITY

"What we desire is to make Wooster the great educational center of Ohio as Oxford and Cambridge are in England and the Universities are in Germany and France." - Wooster Trustees in Wooster of the Middle West. Vol I (Kent OH: Kent State University Press, 1971), 24.

Introduction

In 1876, the Muscogee Nation selected eighteen male students for a program to deepen educational opportunities for its young people. Having completed schooling in the Muscogee Nation schools, they enrolled in Tennessee, Alabama, and Ohio institutions. The students from the six judicial districts of the Muscogee Nation were probably chosen by district judges on recommendation by their past instructors.'

By the Spring of 1877, the Mvskokee national newspaper, the Indian Journal, reported thirty Mvskokee students were studying in the United States. In addition to the Mvskokee-sponsored eighteen, twelve students were able to secure their own sponsorship, and of these twelve, five were girls. The five girls were reported as studying in Ft. Smith, Arkansas; Fulton, Missouri; and in Alabama. In the group of

'Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 6th printing, 1989), 250.

87 twelve some were non-Indians, children of white teachers legally admitted to work in the Muscogee Nation and who were considered of the Muscogee Nation/

Thus it was that in 1877, the University of Wooster (Ohio) student annual. The

Index, stated, "For the first time, the University has this year, received representatives of the Indian nations. They are civil, polite, and well-meaning young men, and good students."^ In fact, six students had journeyed to Ohio, representing three Muscogee

Nation judicial districts. Benjamin Porter and John Yargee were from Wealaka;

Thomas Holder was from Okmulgee; and Albert McKellop, William Apueka, and

Taylor Chissoe were from the Coweta district.'* Chissoe and Apueka attended Central

College at Westerville; Porter, Yargee, Holder, and McKellop matriculated at

Wooster.'

One of the emerging young leaders of the Muscogee Nation, Pleasant Porter, had accompanied the Ohio-destined students to their new schools.* It was probably a satisfying assignment for Porter-as both educator, and rising politician-to observe, in person, the first experiences of his generation’s efforts to create a college-educated leadership. Porter, himself educated in the Muscogee Nation schools, was of the vanguard of yoimg Civil War veterans rising into prominent Muskokee national

^ Indian Journal. Muscogee Nation, IS March 1877.

'The Index (Wooster, Ohio: Fraternities of the University of Wooster, 1877), 4.

^Indian Journal. 21 December 1876.

' Ibid., 21 December 1876.

*Ibid.

8 8 leadership. After the war, the Mvskokee’s appointed him as the first-ever

Superintendent of their national school system . The St. Louis Globe had called him an educator with "few equals."' After leaving his young charges in Ohio, he continued his journey to Washington D. C. as an appointed delegate for Mvskokee congressional lobbying efforts.’

The arrival of the four students seemed quiet. The Wayne County Democrat noted in its December 27, 1876 issue that four Indians of the Creek tribe had enrolled at the University of Wooster. The announcement noted, "They are said to be very intelligent young gentlemen.""

By coincidence the same issue of The Democrat ran an ad announcing the

Wooster community’s forthcoming commemoration of Andrew Jackson’s victory at

New Orleans, celebrating Jackson’s "grand administration."" The community little realized that these four newly-arrived Indians students were the offspring of

Jacksonian devastating Indian policies. The "grand administration" had cleared the

Southeastern United States of Indian tribes, sending them to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi in the 1830s with much loss of life. This policy had included the

^Debo, Road to Disappearance. 186.

'St. Louis Globe Newspaper of May 20, 1873, quoted in "Creek Delegates - 1873' , Chronicles of Oklahoma. M # 1, 16.

Indian Journal. 21 December 1876.

‘°Wayne County Democrat. Wooster, Ohio, 27 December 1877.

"Ibid. 27 December 1877.

89 Mvskokee, and the four boys entering the university represented the first and second generations to be bom in the new land.

In fact, Ohio had also been swept clean of its Indian people by the same

Jacksonian policy of Removal. The Shawnee, the Delaware, the Seneca, the Cayuga, the Ottawa, the Pottawottamie, and the Wyandotte had all dwelled in this land. The last tribe to leave Ohio, the Miami, bad left only thirty-years before in 1847.

Wooster was situated in a valley that derived its name from the river that passed through the community, Killbuck. Killbuck was the name of a great Amily of

Delaware Indian leaders, leaders interested in seeing their young receive some anglo schooling. One hundred years before, in 1773, Thomas and John Killbuck were found to be enrolled in a Princeton, New Jersey school and cared for by George

Morgan."

Not only did the University of Wooster receive the Indian students in the decade of the 1870s, but in fact, it was the university’s first decade of existence. This chapter examines the collegiate setting the Mvskoke students were entering. The discussion centers on the hopes of the university, as well as the reality of its challenges.

"Letters Aom George Morgan to E. Boudinot. June 26, and July 1, 1783. American Indian Collection. M 247, R 6 0 ,146, p. 63, 71.

90 A Short History of the University of Wooster

"The Bitters Bottle"

It was a cold December day in 1876 when a small Mvskoke entourage stepped down from the train onto a rail station platform in small, prosperous, Wooster, Ohio.

A mercantile center, in the heart of the northeastern quadrant of Ohio, Wooster served a large farming region.

As a town of 6,000 and the county seat of Wayne County, Wooster boasted a downtown intersection lined with three-storied brick buildings. There were banks, a post office, several hotels, photography studios, several clothing stores, as well as hardware, lumber, and general merchandise stores. Small industries included a brush works, a brick factory, a paper mill, and a small soda water factory. An opera house was under construction. ' A visitor writing about Wooster just a month after the students arrived, wrote of the new sophisticated water system recently completed at a cost of $80,000. This same writer boasted of the quality of hotels in the little town."

North of downtown Wooster, a large wooded hillside sloped steeply upward.

The new arrivals had to be struck by an unusually tall building that crowned the hill.

It was the University of Wooster’s lone, but impressive brick building. Old Main.

Massive in architecture-especially for the little town-it had five stories that anchored

"Notestein, Lucty Lillian, Wooster of the Middle West (Kent OH; Kent State University Press, 1971), 11-12

"Wayne County Democrat. 24 January 1877, 3.

91 a tower that rose even higher. The building’s construction had provoked some comment as it went up, as observed in a poem that appeared in one of the newspapers:

The building now looks uncommonly tall.

But when it is finished, a year from next fall.

We shall find that by adding both of the wings

The Magnificent whole into symmetry brings.

And makes it a model of architect great

An honor to both our city and State . . . . "

Inspite of its somewhat controversial look, the building, surrounded by a 20 acre campus, seemed fit as a place of learning. Inside its four 80 foot by 100 foot floors'* were nine recitation halls, a chapel, rooms for a library, literary societies, a museum, a laboratory, cloak rooms, and offices. Still, the architecture was bound to draw attention to itself. Lucy Notestein, daughter of one of the Wooster faculty, would write, "It was kind of a giant up there on the hilltop towering over the trees and all the surrounding landscape."'^ The students had immediately named it "The

Bitters Bottle."

'^Notestein, Wooster. 284.

'^The fifth floor was never used.

"Notestein, Wooster. 29.

92 The University Mission and Philosophy

The Value of Intellect

The university had received its first students in the fall of 1870, only six years before, so the Mvskoke students were entering a relatively new college. Ohio

Presbyterians had chartered it in 1866 after a search for a site which had begun essentially in 1844. The Wooster community had won the site over impressive competition by raising $100,000 in subscriptions. Wooster banker, Ephriam Quinby,

Jr., donated the twenty acre site with the spectacular view of Killbuck Valley." The trustee membership of the university-to-be was composed of appointed Presbyterian leaders, but also included civic leadership in Wooster, and surrounding Wayne

County.

The trustees’ ideal was an institution to prepare an educated Christian leadership for all walks of life. Toward this end, the Presbyterians greatly valued intellect. Without it, interpretation of the Word of God and a flourishing Christian life was inaccessible. The trustees looked to Princeton-still called the College of

New Jersey at that time-as the Presbyterian college to emulate. Its president, James

McCosh had once argued that "Catholics gave precedence to faith, protestants to knowledge," and quoted Puritan divine Stephen Chamock: "Knowledge is an antecedent to faith in the order of nature."" Thus, raising a religious higher

" Ibid., 6-7, 21, 22.

"J. David Hoevelar,Jr., James McCosh and the Scottish Intellectual Tradition: from Glasgow to Princeton (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 149.

93 education institution to develop intellect was entirely in keeping with Presbyterian concepts. The University of Wooster was intended to promote "... sound learning and education under religious influences While the university was a denominational school, it was never envisioned as a seminary.

That intellectual development should occur under pious influences was not unique in post-Civil War colleges. Piety in university presidents and Acuity had been a strong assumption-even in state institutions-prior to the Civil War. Presidencies were clerical positions, and college faculties were expected to be clerics, or at the very least, devout church members.^' Within the state universities of Michigan,

Indiana, and Wisconsin were still found policies that mandated chapel attendance, protected the sabbath; and offered courses such as Evidences of Christianity, and moral philosophy.^ When the University of Illinois opened in 1868, daily chapel attendance was a requirement.

"University." and the ScpttishJdeal

The name "university" entered Wooster into a challenge for identity that overtook many institutions in this period. Especially in the 1870s, to become a university held several implications. In this period, American admiration for the

Germanic methods of knowledge acquisition had a profound influence on many higher

“Notestein, Wooster. 303, 304. "Incorporation of the University of Wooster."

"Frederick Rudolph, The American College and University: A History (Vintage Books: 1965), 83-85.

“ George M. Marsden and Bradley J. Longfield, editors. The Seculariyjirinn nf the Academy (NY: Oxford University Press, 1992), 46-73.

94 education institutions. While the bachelors degree certified that a student had completed studies in an already formed body of knowledge, the Germanic influence transformed ’university’ to denote the existence of an environment that searched for new knowledge.” The graduate work that a student engaged in beyond the bachelor’s degree was considered to be this kind of effort. So new was the beginning of this influence, that the first Ph. D. had only been bestowed nine years before from

Yale University in 1861.“

Wooster, however, was founded in a Presbyterian intellectual tradition, and that, rooted in Scotland, was a legacy that initially bypassed the Germanic influence.

Five great universities thrived in Scotland, the Catholic schools of St. Andrews

(1413), Glasgow (1451), Aberdeen, and the Post-Reformation schools of Edinburgh

(1582), and New Aberdeen (1593). In the United States, both the College of New

Jersey (Princeton); and the College of Philadelphia flourished in the educational and religious ideals of Scottish moral philosophy. James McCosh, who took the

Princeton presidency in 1868, and whose voice in higher education was indefatigable, had been influenced by Scottish educator George Jardine (1742-1827) who had resisted the English tendency for classics in the liberal arts, but advocated English literature and composition.

"Kohlbrenner, Bernard J., "Religion and Higher Education: An Historical Perspective," History of Education Quarterly. Vol I, #2, June, 1961, 52.

“Uurence R. Veysey, The Emergence of the American University (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), 127.

95 The English thought the Scottish curriculum was shallow. But, the Scots, concerned with democracy in education, gave precedence to pragmatic ways to raise a knowledgeable, Christian citizenry. In this tradition, science was an early curriculum consideration, while the English classical took precedence over Greek and Latin

studies;

The Scots . . . believe it to be ‘of greater’ consequent to the student to receive instruction in the elements of science both physical and mental, than to acquire the most accurate knowledge of the ancient tongues.”

By calling their school a "university," the Wooster trustees indicated their

intention to enjoin broader study than the liberal course expected of denominational colleges. They expected to award the Ph. D. It also meant that they envisioned

professional schools, such as law and medicine.

Measures of Greatness

The Ohio synods looked to Princeton as the desired Presbyterian model for

intellectual study, but they were also attracted to the University of Michigan as a

professional and graduate school model. By May of 1870-even before the opening of

undergraduate classes-the Charity Hospital Medical College of Cleveland became the

medical department of the University of Wooster.” By 1881, a graduate school was

added, with a two-year course for a Masters, and a three-year course for a Ph. D.

For greatness, however, the trustees sought Oxford and Cambridge to measure

their hope for the new university. It should become no less than a great educational

”Hoevelar, Jr., James McCosh. 41.

"Notestein, Wooster. 37.

96 center. In earnest pleading for endowments, they swore not to have an institution of ‘a feeble and ineffective existence,’ but to have sufficient endowment as to release faculty from ‘embarrassing cares and vexations of economizing for a living.’” The idea was that a focused faculty would:

. . . give full play to their enthusiasm in the cultivation of literature and science, and thus inspire in their pupils a generous ambition not merely to prepare themselves for a passable performance of duties but to take a foremost part among men of scholarship and investigation."

It would all cost money, but the Ohio Presbyterian synods" signalled their agreement. They approved the university endowment goals and chartered the school in 1866.

The Reality

Administration

As it had been in Scotland, co-ed education was considered an essential part of the Wooster’s plan. Entrance examinations were the only basis of admission and females who passed examination were admitted to Wooster on an equal basis with men. However, with the exception of the Mvskoke students, there was no other mention of other ethnic backgrounds in the student body.

While Wooster’s contemporaries argued about the meaning of electives, and its philosophical and physical effect on both institution and student, its students did not

"Ibid., 32.

“Ibid., 32.

“The Sanduslty, the Cincinnati, and the Ohio Synods.

97 have their choice of classes. When it opened, Wooster offered one course of study, the Classical,” embracing the orthodoxy of discipline of the mind.'' In spite of the

Scottish philosophical stand about the study of languages, the classical studies at

Wooster carried the same meaning as it did in any other American school of the time—

immersion in Greek and Latin. Doubtless, this was because the preparation of

leadership was still couched in terms which had required the ancient languages to read the ancient works of civilization.

By the arrival of the Indian students, however, the Scottish influence was beginning to be felt. While the momentum was slow, students could at least choose a curriculum associated with one of three bachelors studies, the philosophical; the classical; and the scientific.

Enrollment

High enthusiasm had reigned on the university’s opening day, September 7,

1870. From miles around the people had come to the top of hill where the new

president. Dr. Willis Lord, culminated the opening ceremonies with a visionary

speech. The crowd had then moved to the administration building to watch the enrollment proceeding. But, at the end of the day, at what must have been stunning

disappointment, only 34 students appeared. By the beginning of the following

semester, the enrollment edged up to 61.”

"Notestein, Wooster. 49.

"Veysey, American University. 36-40.

"Notestein, Wooster. 47, 287.

98 The enroUment patterns that were playing themselves out at Wooster, while an embarrassment to its constituency-or at least to the writer of the University of

Wooster history-when compared to available higher education statistics of the time, was probably typical. Throughout the United States, college attendance was on the decline, or was never that large to begin with. There was concern throughout

American college administrations about this. For example, a year later, in 1871, the

University of Vermont in noting its the thirtieth year of declining enrollment, blamed the spirit of mercantilism-business-of attracting potential students away from the campus.”

Noting that the College of New Jersey had an enrollment of 300, and

Michigan, 480—the schools Wooster hoped to emulate-one should consider that the

College of New Jersey had some 125 years to build its enrollment, and Michigan, had nearly 60 years. The schools with the longest existence seemed to have the largest enrollment, for example Harvard (1636) had 658 students. Still, in the same period when Wooster opened, the University of Pennsylvania (1740) enrolled 88; William and Mary (1693) reported 66, and Columbia (1754), 124.” Wooster’s increase of 34 students to seventy-seven in three years seemed small by today’s standards, but in comparison to the institutions of the day, its numbers seemed typical.

”Veysey, AmmcM Uoiveraty. s.

”Eldon L. Johnson, "Misconceptions About the Early Land-Grant Colleges" Journal of Higher Education 524 (July/August 1981) from History of Higher Education (NY: Ginn & Co., 1989), 215.

99 There had been high interest in the Wooster community that a university would open in their midst. Certainly, no interest was higher than the financial renumeration the town expected to gain fiom the influx of students. Looking back, perhaps no letter stirred as much local enthusiasm as the one from a Wayne County student studying law at the University of Michigan:

He wrote that thirty years before, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County had no preeminence nor any natural advantage over Wayne County, Ohio; that the University of Michigan had been founded there in 1837 and had grown in twenty-nine years to 1, 205 students; that these students spend in the town not less than $200,000 a year, to diffuse into every business of the town and country . . .”

Canvassers for donations to the school, were soon talking about a university with 1,200 student’ coming to Wooster." Streets were extended northward up the hill toward the college-considered a wilderness until that time. In anticipation of new boarders in the community, several families built houses close to campus in hopes of attracting the students as an income source. A physician from Mansfield, Ohio, twenty miles away, built a large dormer to accommodate 60 students as a manner of investment. Wooster merchants reportedly stocked up on merchandise in anticipation of the fall influx of students. It was reported that more that 2000 subscriptions for endowment donations came within Wayne County alone.

When, in the Spring of 1870, the new Acuity began to arrive, a local newspaper, the Wooster Republican, fairly swooned, "We are certainly a city now."”

"Notestein, Wooster. 19.

“Ibid.

^Ibid., Wooster. 43.

100 It is probable, then, that at the end of the opening exercises, some disappointment prevailed through out both the Wooster citizenry because the twelve hundred students turned out, instead, to be 34 enroUees.

Financial Exigencies

One did not have to venture far into the state of higher education in the early

1870s, to realize that the University of Wooster was Mrly typical of the institutions of its day. It suffered from low enrollment, as did most institutions; and it was on shaky financial ground, as were many institutions. When the Indian students arrived on campus, the University of Wooster had already experienced a change of presidencies.

McCormick seminarian Willis Lord, the first president, had resigned in 1873, leaving the college in grave financial condition, and undernourished in enrollment. While,

Dr. Lord had demonstrated acumen in the selection of faculty, and certainly had the vision and the hope necessary for a Christian college, the tenuous challenge of staying in financial bounds of a stagnating endowment had sapped his health. He was the first president to leave, but not the first to be claimed by the financial exigencies of the university. Before its opening, the university had passed through numerous endowment managers-then called financial secretaries-each resigning in turn, beset by exhaustion and frustration in their fund raising efforts.”

In Ohio, no less than five secretarian schools-but all non-Presbyterian-and two state schools depended upon strong enrollment and financial backing from

Presbyterian constituencies. In addition, Pennsylvania and the College of New Jersey

”lbid., Wooster. 30-31.

101 enjoyed Ohio backing as well. Such diversity diluted support for a truly Ohio

Presbyterian college.” In spite of an excruciatingly slow interest in starting an Ohio

Presbyterian institution-the idea was first presented to the Ohio synod in 1844—by opening day, it could be said that a momentum had developed. Four years after receiving its charter, its $230,000 endowment had been oversubscribed by $30,000; faculty bad been retained; a principal building constructed; and eminent educator,

Willis Lord, prominent faculty member of the Northwest Seminary^ took the presidency.

The young Muskokees had arrived in the third year of the presidency of

Archibald Alexander Edward Taylor. Taylor-who came from a Presbyterian pastorate in Cincinnati-sized up the school’s problems and had taken a number of corrective steps. First, he had placed the endowment trust out of bounds of operating expenses. He then began working on the real problems of enrollment and financial deficit. Both, he knew, were tied to one tiling, institutional competition for Ohio

Presbyterian loyalty.

A. A. E. Taylor went on the road as booster and fund raiser, wrote articles, and placed ads in church newspapers. In one year, the enrollment doubled from 77 to

”Ibid., 21.

Northwest Seminary would become McCormick Seminary.

102 174/' But after two years, the endowment still lacked some $40,000 to return to its original vigor/" Philpsophical Safety-Net

As a new institution, Wooster University did not have to confront some of the philosophical and curricular changes facing many higher education institutions of the day. G. S. Hall had called the 1870’s the "Anno Domini of educational history."

When Noah Porter took the presidency of Yale in 1871 he remarked that college and university education were not ". . . merely agitated by reforms; they are rather convulsed by a revolution." Perhaps the key word was Laurence Veysey’s qualifier,

"To the men who experience it. . . The institutions being challenged were the old schools. Harvard, Yale, even the College of New Jersey. The challenges were coming in two ways, the technical and scientific adjustments occurring in the

American society as a whole; and by the new institutions opening up to meet the new demands of the technical society.

In the same year, the Mvskokes sent their students to the United States, 1876,

Daniel Coit Gilman became President of Johns Hopkins University, a new institution dedicated to scientific inquiry. In justifying the investigations of pure mathematics at his school, he argued that without applied mathematics, steam locomotion; telegraphy;

""The Student Reporter," Wayne County Democrat. 21 June 1882.

"Notestein, Wooster. 34, 79.

"Veysey, AmeriCM UoiYgaty. 1-

103 electricity; and the telephone would not have been possible. By 1885, he had declared, "These wonderful inventions are the direct fruit of university studies."^

In 1871, Cornell University’s third freshman class became the largest reported

Freshman class in the history of American higher education, ever. Some two hundred fifty students appeared on a campus that avowed a free election of courses, less classics, and a shift to 'fr-ee and universal’ inquiry to ‘serve scholarship. ’^

It is not that Wooster and its trustees did not argue these issues, the record does not seem to indicate. But in James McCosh, they had a role model in how a

Presbyterian university would approach such problems. Certainly in the democratic

Scottish tradition, science and mathematics were early an important part of higher education curriculum. McCosh, himself, had a great interest in morphology, the study of biological structures and forms of organisms. However, the role of science was fixed in Presbyterian theology much the way Edinburgh University’s Chair of

Divinity, Thomas Chalmers stated when he said that the scientific structure of the universe "illuminated divine design and presence."^

The new observatory helping the University of Wooster to a "higher standard than before,"'” did not seem to represent the large philosophical changes occurring in higher education institutions in the 1870’s. Protestant Christianity had long enjoyed

^Rudolph, College and University. 273.

''Ibid., 268.

'‘Hoeveler, Jr., James McCosh. 53.

'lodfis, 4.

104 science, ably finding biblical meaning in the results of scientific investigation. In fact many clergymen were also scientists, but their study was predicated upon God as the

Creator. All living things existed in the same form as firom the beginning of the world. Writers such as William Paley and Samuel Harris tightened the relationship of science and the protestant religions and justified scientific investigation of theological terms. "... order, structure, and fimction of natural phenomena," wrote Paley,

"could be reasonably explained only if they were seen as the work of a benevolent supernatural Designer."^ Said Harris, "... the calme investigation of science, stamped with the seal of Christian charity is found to be the best of all swords and all shields."*

Charles Darwin’s simple, but succinctly argued Origin of the Species, had thrown many orthodox church denominations into turmoil. While this work was published in 1859, its notoriety gained a foothold through the work of English reductionist, Herbert Spencer. It was Spencer’s phraseology that caught the attention of the American man-on-the street. He was apt with coining a phrase and stirring up emotion. The phrase, ‘the survival of the fittest’ often linked to Darwin, was actually

*WiUiam Paley, "Natural Theology" quoted by Jon H. Roberts in Darwinism and the Divine in America: Protestant InteMectualism and Organic Revolution. 1859-1900 (Madison, Wl; University of Wisconsin Press, 1988), 8.

*Samuel Harris in "The Harmony of Natural Science and Theology" in the New Englander 10 (1852), quoted by Jon Roberts, Darwinism and the Divine. 9.

105 Spencer’s. Between 1860 and 1900, Spencer sold nearly 400,000 volumes of his work in the United States.”

As the works of Spencer and Darwin begin to take hold on the public mind, theologians and educators began a debate. Clergy such as Henry Ward Beecher,

James Freeman Clarke, and Phillip Brooks would eventually declare that the book of

Genesis could not be interpreted literally .'' Asa Gray the great Botanist of Harvard reportedly begged Darwin ‘to postulate some Grand Design, some Beneficent Deity in all this.’” McCosh, himself, was said to have had no trouble assimilating the thought into his own religious beliefs. However, Princeton Seminary theologian

Charles Hodges charged Darwin with atheism.”

The presidency of A. A. E. Taylor marked the true induction of Wooster into

Scottish Presbyterian pragmatism. By the end of his presidency in 1882, in addition to the classics, students could chose to study from liberal studies, philosophy, or science. Juniors and seniors were permitted electives. In addition to Greek and

Latin, languages could be studied in Hebrew, French, German, and anglo-saxon.

Departments of music and art were added. A summer normal school was begun for educators. In 1881, the graduate school opened, drawing the express admiration from

"Sidney Fine, Laissez Faire and the General-Welfare State: A Study of Conflict in American Thought. 1865-1902(Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press, 1956), 4.

"Samuel Morison, The Oxford History of the American People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), 774.

“ Ibid., 774.

"Roberts, ParwiDlsm. 17.

106 the College of New Jersey.^ The student newspaper, however, seem startled when it reported that there had been 28 applicants to enroll for the doctorate. With some puzzlement, the student writer commented, "... evidently the degree is worth something."”

The Wooster University student newspaper. University Review, tersely noted in its 1876 edition, the dedication of Johns Hopkins University. "William Huxley was present, no religious exercise was held."” The comment was followed by an article in January, 1877, regarding the "Infidelity of Cornell." Calling Cornell, the State

School of Voltaire, the writer claimed to have interviewed several students who said of the influence of the teaching of Spencer and Huxley;

. . . however much their judgement and their better nature struggled against its influence, the deadly air would have its effect. The loss of Christian vigor would follow, and doubt and disbelief, and finally rank infidelity succeed.”

The writer went on to say, "It was time the teachings of Cornell University were known. . . . Compel the college to hoist its black flag."” While no additional editorial comment was given that year, clearly Wooster viewed both Cornell and Johns

Hopkins as anomalies in the course of American higher education.

”Notestein, Wooster. 87-90.

”The Wooster Colleyian Vol. H 23 September, 1882, 8.

96 ItExchanges," University Review. November 1876, 4.

97 It Infidelity of Cornell," University Review. January 1877, 4.

“ Ibid., 4.

107 Here, then, on a frigid December day, the young Indian men of the Muscogee

Nation ascended the high hill to the ’Bitters Bottle’ and were soon engaged in their placement examinations. All were welcomed into the Wooster University Preparatory

Department where they would be equipped to join the Class of 1882. Young Dr.

Jonas Notestein, Director of the Preparatory Department and instructor of Latin,

became their mentor and friend. Through President Taylor’s efforts, Wooster’s

enrollment grew steadily and in 1876, and the new students joined the one hundred

and one enrolled in the preparatory department, and the 277 enrolled in the collegiate

department.

Summary

The University of Wooster was a small Ohio Presbyterian school that opened

in the farming region of Northeastern Ohio in 1870. By calling itself a university, the

school had great plans for itself. It hoped to emulate the College of New Jersey as a

Presbyterian higher education institution. Graduate and professional schools, such as

were found at the University Michigan, were in the planning. As ibr its model of

greamess, it could be no less than Cambridge and Oxford as its ideal. The school had

a disappointing and difficult beginning, first from enrollment that tailed to meet

community expectations, and then from bad financial administration that nearly

abolished its initial endowment.

Wooster justified itself as a university by projecting the addition of medical,

and law professional schools, and hoped to emulate the University of Michigan which

had such schools. It assumed the ownership of the Cleveland, Ohio Medical School in

108 1870. It also met another definition of university when it opened its graduate school in 1882, offering masters and Ph. D. programs.

As other higher education institutions struggled with the philosophical challenges of Darwin and Spencer, Wooster seemed content in its approach to science.

As described by Thomas Chalmers’s, the scientific structure of the universe

"illuminated divine design and presence.”

The school was six years old, when the first group of Mvskoke students

arrived. Under the direction of President A. A. E. Taylor, Wooster’s lost endowment

was rebounding and the school was expanding. The enrollment increased, and the

curriculum became more flexible, with degree options and electives.

109 CHAPTER 4 THE MVSKOKE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIGHER EDUCATION BEFORE 1907

"The term ‘Higher Education’ is relative . . . The meaning of the term on the streets of Muskogee would be delightfully indefînite. It might mean that a student was in attendance at a school having a large building, or one with a high sounding name, or that he was attending school at some distance from home. The meaning of the term . . . may be defined as follows: .... English, Mathematics, Latin, Greek, History, Physical Science, Logic, Rhetoric, French, German, Political Economy, Ethics, and Psychology. These studies embrace the work usually pursued in acquiring the degree of A.B." -- J. H. Scott, President of Indian University, The Baconian Vol. I. #2,1898, 1.

Introduction

The role of higher education was part of the evolving process of schooling among the Mvskoke in the mid-nineteenth century. While the Mvskoke’s first anglo schooling experiences may have been uninvited, college, in its time, was sought as something useful. Further more, the very nature of the American college required students to have previous scholarly experience. That there were students ready to enter college in 1876-even if through the requisite preparatory school—seemed to mean that schools in the Muscogee Nation had developed not only consistency, but a certain aspect of depth.

On the other hand, in the 1870s, life in Indian Territory was still much more basic when compared to Eastern commercial centers. Ranching and huming were the primary occupations, though by the mid-1870s, the railroad was making business an

no important facet in Indian Territory. Still, these occupations in themselves may not have been sufficient to call for the collegiate education of Indian young people. In fact, in the East, low collegiate enrollments were blamed on the distraction of business and "mercantilism." Because, promising young people were being lured by the quicker financial security of business, the college degree was fast losing its relevancy.'

It might be considered, then, that in the 1870s, higher education for the

Mvskoke Nation was not a call for "mental discipline and piety," nor even to liberal culture. Instead, it was a call for utility. To be sure, George W. Grayson said such schooling was to equip the students for "business," and even William Schenk

Robertson hoped that college would produce some young ministers. But in the end, the succinct notation in the Youth-in-the-State receipts simply said, "to learn English."

Even the Indian agent had called for student to be sent to the United States for advanced study to improve the available pool of competent interpreters.'

When Indian University, Henry Kendall, and other colleges were established at

Muskogee, their success may have been measured by the comfort level established between the institution and its Indian constituency. Of the various colleges, Indian may have been the most successful and that perhaps because, while English was the acknowledged academic language, the culture of Indian Territory and the Mvskogee

'Laurence R. Veysey, The Emergence of the American University (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1965), 5.

'Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1877. 1.

I l l Nation did not seem to have to be sacrificed for erudition. All languages were accepted on an informal basis. Such was the acceptance of Indian University that many tribes worked to prepare their students for entry at the school.

Kendall College attracted strong enrollment and probably graduated more students than Indian. Yet, the overall enrollment at Indian often stood three times as much as that of Kendall by 1890-more than seven hundred students to a little more than two hundred students for the struggling Kendall. Kendall struggled all of its existence for enrollment and funds, never having the tinancial resources that Almon

Bacone had been able to tap for his school.

However, the relationship of the Mvskoke did not begin with its Indian

Territory colleges, nor even with Youth-in-the-States. The relationship of the

Mvskoke with American higher education probably began with a single, but exceptional experience. David Moniac was admitted to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1817. Moniac was the nephew of Lumhi Chati (Red Eagle), also called William Weatherford, who fought with the Upper Creeks in the Red Stick War.

Moniac happened to enter at the same time that Sylvanus Thayer became West Point’s fifth superintendent. Thayer’s reorganization of the fifteen year-old institutions would earn him the title of "The Father of the Military Academy.” When Moniac graduated in 1821, he was a member of Thayer’s first "New Era" class.

The next ctmtact with higher education came atier the Mvskoke arrived in

Indian Territory. By the 1850s, the Mvskoke schools were sufficiently advanced enough that there was a small interest to support some students in higher education

112 institutions. The Mvskokes financed these first students at a small denominational college in Arkansas. In 1858, George Washington Grayson was one of the matriculating Mvskokes at Arkansas College. A prolific note taker, he penned a valuable and poignant description his struggle to adjust to life at an ante-bellum college. These early initiatives were cut short by the American Civil War.

After the Civil War the Tullahasse boarding school re-opened and it is possible that by this time some of its instruction may have advanced to the collegiate level.

The three daughters of TuUahassee boarding school superintendent, William S.

Robertson, had attended TuUahassee with the Mvskoke students. Writing from their coUeges, the first daughter and then the second, advised which studies were better taken at TuUahassee.

In 1876, the Mvskokes began their second sponsored higher education scholarship program. Youth in the States. It enabled advanced students to attend higher education institutions in the United States. By 1878, the opportunity was available for girls as weU as the black fieedmen of the Muscogee Nation. For twenty years, Mvskoke youth were sent to the United States through this program.

FinaUy, in the last quarter of the century, higher education institutions in

Indian Territory enabled the Mvskoke and other Indian Territoiy students the opportunity to attend coUege without the encumbrance of long journeys to the United

States. By the mid 1890s, the raUroad village of Muskogee touted itself the "Athens" of Indian Territory because it had become the home to no less than five coUeges.

113 This chapter discusses the evolving relationship of the Muscogee Nation with higher education. First, it traces the individual experience of David Moniac and

George Washington Grayson. Second, it gives an overview of the Youth-in-the-States programs, established after the Civil War; and then it examines higher education settings in Muskogee, Mvscogee Nation.

Two Early Mvskoke Experiences

Cadet or Curiosity: David Moniac^

There was indication that the Indian cadet at the U. S. Military Academy at

West Point, New York, was such a curiosity that his presence was known in the surrounding New England area. After Sylvanus Thayer’s arrival, the West Point

Corps often entertained surrounding communities in the summer with colorful performances. Music, dashing uniforms, and precision drills were good publicity, and the cadets performed as far away as Boston and Philadelphia. One day, an entourage of special visitors toured the campus. The party was that of former President of the

United States, John Adams, and they were apparently being taken to meet the Indian cadet, for one of the military administrator-guides gushed, "I have myself been taken for the Indian all along the road. People would point to me and say, ’Look there!

There’s the Indian!’"

'As a last name. Moniac was often interchanged with Macnack. or Manak in some official papers.

114 However, when the official urged the cadet to meet the ex-president, Moniac— whose eventual highest merit would be in good conduct*~stubbomly refused. "He is too bashful," said the officer, finally giving up.^ Since one of Moniac’s disciplinary offenses often included visiting instead of studying, bashfulness seemed not part of his character. His refusal of such notable guests, and in particular to a ranking administrator-a major, no less-prompts the question, why? If one reads a sense of annoyance with the major, it is possible to suggest that Moniac was tired of being pestered because he was an Indian, and as it were, an institutional curiosity.

Moniac family history claims that the position at West Point was a promise

George Washington made in the Creek treaty of 1890.* No such mention is made in the text of the treaty, and notes made during the negotiations are not available. Still,

Moniac’s father was seated as interpreter with Alexander McGillivary and the Creek delegation at Washington’s 1790 treaty table. So it is at least possible that

Washington made such a promise during the treaty negotiations, though David Moniac had not yet even been bom.

According to family history, the boy entered West Point at age sixteen.

Official documents show that General Gilbert Russell of Georgia had solicited the

Secretary of the Treasury, W. H. Crawford, on behalf of Moniac. Crawford had

*15th out o f 47 overall.

^Benjamin Griffith, "Lt. David Moniac, Creek Indian: First Minority Graduate of West Point," Alabama Historical Quarterly. Summer, 1981, 103-104.

'Lynn Hastie Thompson, William Weatherford: His Country and His People (Bay Minette, Alabama: Lavender Publishing Co., 1991), 923.

115 been Secretary of War when he apparently engaged in a conversation with Russell and had promised to see to the appointment of the boy to West Point/

As far as Moniac’s preparation for entry, records only remarked that he schooled with a John McLoed in Washington, D. C., prior to taking his entrance exams.' The new West Point Superintendent, Sylvanus Thayer, had instituted a more rigorous exam to cull out incapable students, and young Moniac’s entering class was the first to submit to entrance exams. While not as firm as modem entrance exams,

Thayer’s managed to eliminate some 30 to 60 % of cadet appointees.’

Lt. Moniac seemed to be an anomaly to writers, one of whom called him ‘the unlikeliest cadet ever to enter the United States Military Academy . . Perhaps in a chronological sense, he did seem out of time. After all, he entered West Point before any schools had opened in his nation; academic pipelines’ to higher education were virtually non-existent for the Mvskoke.

In fact, some might even argue that categorizing an 1816 United States

Military Academy as a higher education institution was a distortion as well. But this same Sylvanus Thayer became known as the "Father of the Military Academy" because he returned a failing school with changes; some that have endured to the

’Roll #6, M688, David Manack, Ga 1817/78, West Point References. National Archives, Washington, DC.

Ib id .

'Stephen E. Ambrose. Duty. Honor. Country: A History of West Point (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1966) 70, and GtifRth’s "David Moniac”, 101.

"Griffith, "David Moniac", 99.

116 present, such as entrance examinations, the merit system, and an engineering

curriculum based on scientific mathematics." Immediately after his appointment to

the superintendency, Thayer had visited France’s scientific military school, the Ecole

Polytecnique, returned with French technical books, and made the reading of French a requirement." By 1823, one year after Moniac bad graduated, mathematician

Charles Davies finished his texts which systematically carried students from primary arithmetic to calculus. Davies’s work turned West Point into the most influential mathematics school in the United States."

Cadet Moniac graduated in 1822, the first American Indian-and minority-to graduate from West Point."" Moniac’s was the rirst West Point class to experience admission standards, the merit system, and comprehensive mathematics and engineering studies. In the broad context of the role of higher education among the

Creeks, Mooiac’s experience was more a sign post than an anomaly. Thirty years later, several young Creeks slipped into Arkansas Territory to attend the new Arkansas

"Ambrose, Duty. Honor. Country. 87.

"Ambrose, Duty. Honor. Country. 68.

"Ibid., 92.

"George W. CuUum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academv at West Point. New York: From its establishment in 1802 to 1890. 3rd. Ed. Vol I, Nos 1 to 1000 (Boston: Houghttm, Mifflin, & Co., Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1891), IfhlA.

"David Moniac is listed chronologically as number 324 in West Point Registries, and most point out that he "was a Creek Indian."

117 College in Fayetteville, in part, because schooling in the Creek Nation had changed from non-existence to reality.

G. W. Grayson: "The Wild Man of Borneo"

While on a trip to Washington, D. C a 1853 Mvskoke delegation prevailed upon W. H. Garrett, a U. S. Indian agent, to apply for funds to send four boys to college. The Mvskokes were awarded sixteen hundred dollars a year tor that purpose:

The youths were selected by the council; one, at the desire of his parents was sent to Centre College, at Danville, Kentucky, and the remainder were sent to Arkansas College, at Fayetteville, Arkansas. “

Fayetteville, in northwestern Arkansas, was a prosperous community, and proud of being known as an educational center. It was acknowledged that

Fayetteville's growth and prosperity proceeded directly from Arkansas College:

. . . We do now affirm our belief that without the Arkansas College, Fayetteville would have remained in nearly the same condition it was six years ago. The great increase in the price of property, the extension of our town limits and increased number of inhabitant,s the almost unparalleled expansion of all kinds of business, our new court house, stores, churches. .

The college was chartered on December 14, 1852. Robert Graham," the president, was able to incorporate his small school as Arkansas first degree-granting higher education institution. The charter gave power:

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1855. 138.

"From "Early Colleges and Academies of Washington County, Arkansas", excerpt from The True Democrat. Little Rock, Arkansas, 14 February 14, 1855, Washington County Historical Society, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1954.

"Arkansas Historical Society From Fort Smith Southwest American. 1928, 61.

118 . . .to establish departments for the study of any or all of the learned and liberal professions, and to institute and grant diplomas in the same, to some institute and confer the degrees of doctor in the learned arts and sciences, and "belles lettres", and to confer such other academical degrees as are usually conferred by the most learned institutions.'’

Apparently, Graham, from Liverpool, England, was also a riveting lecturer.

Often students arrived for lectures only to find their seats taken by towns people.

"The Ancient Empires of the East-Their History, Topography, Chronology,

Character, Manners and Customs." was a lecture meant for students, but, "... the ball could not seat nearly all the persons that thronged in the building to hear him.""

In the Spring of 1854, four young Creeks arrived on the campus of Arkansas

College, Richard Carr, Eli Danley, Lyman Moore, and David Yargee. However, the boys were not ready to attempt studies of a classical education and were placed in the college preparatory department. A report from the President of the college to agent

Garrett indicated that the boys only performed at the basic operations of Arithmetic, and needed further foundation in English^':

Finding that before they could proceed with profit to the acquisition of a classical education they should be well instructed in the elements of our vernacular, and those elements too often neglect in our schools and colleges, we devoted very special attention to these preparatory studies."

”A Digest of An Act To Incorporate Arkansas College. 14 December 1852, from Early Colleges and Academies of Washington County . Arkansas Bulletin #6 (Fayetteville AR: Washington County Historical Society, 1954), 29.

"Ibid., 62.

"CommiKiooer o f Indian Affairs1 8 5 5 , 140.

“ Ibid.

119 The Mvskoke decision to send boys to Arkansas met with disapproval by W.

S. Robertson, principal of the TuUehassee school. One of the students had written him a note, and Robertson forwarded it to the Head of the Presbyterian missionary society with this comment, "They [the students at TuUehasseel write more correctly than those who have attended school in the states.

The idea appealed to President Graham, however, as he concluded his report to the Creek Nation:

I would respectfully suggest that the sum of sixteen hundred dollars, appropriated tor the education of these boys, is more than enough. For this sum we can maintain six or seven youth here, say six, and then have means to spare for any unforeseen emergency, such as sickness, etc."

On a late summer evening in 1858, two teenagers and an older man rode into the village of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Their appearance, particularly the turban on the older man, identified them as arrivals from Indian Territory. They rode slowly down the street reading sign boards and peering at the houses.

1 only recollect that one evening we filed into that town riding slowly along and looking at the houses and sign boards, appearing very much as if we were looking for something we had lost and which we had expected to find in some of the up-stair windows along the side of the streets. Father always wore a turban fashioned out of a shawl and this unique headgear served to attract attention to us, as well as to emphasize our uncouth appearance."

"W. S. Robertson to J. L. Wilson, 4 March 1858.

"CQinmisaoncr of Indian Affairs 1855, 140.

"Grayson, G. W., A Creek Warrior for the Confederacy. Autobiography of George Washington Grayson. W. David Baird, ed. (Norman; University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 50.

120 As the best student at Asbury Manual Labor School, George Washington

Grayson was chosen to be supported at Arkansas College. He had expressed a strong desire to go and the two riders that accompanied him to Fayetteville, were his cousin

Valentine McNally, and his father. Finally, after they made inquiry, the riders turned their horses onto the grounds of Arkansas College:

Inquiring the way to the college we soon reached it and met President Graham with whom after having considerable talk he referred us to a home near by as a place where we may lodge over night.^

The travelers lodged at the home of William McGarrah, one of Fayetteville’s wealthiest citizens, and donor of the ten acres that was the Arkansas College campus.

As they settled for the evening, Grayson, may have lain awake thinking about what he had seen. Four days of travel by horse back-one night staying with family relatives, and one night staying in the most beautiful home he had ever seen, the home of

Cherokee chief, John Ross:

Entering the house we were ushered through corridors into rooms covered with brussels and plush carpets and rugs of such richness and beauty as quite bewildered me, while the upholstery of the lounges chairs and other furniture 1 knew no name for, was exquisitely enchanting, and not calculated to make me feel much at home.”

Another night, with a missionary, and another night. . . at the time of writing his memoirs, he couldn’t recall. . .

However, the sixteen year old youth’s most memorable experience had yet to occur. From G. W.’s perspective, his father was the epitome of sternness and

“Ibid., 50.

”Ibid., 49.

121 severity, and doubtless the boy’s respect for his father was couched in a certain element of fear. Yet, the next morning when his father turned him over to the care of the college president, young G. W. was startled to see that his father was fighting tears.

As Father did this and started to leave, I distinctly recall that his countenance changed and he came near yielding to his emotions— breaking down as we sometimes say-but controlled himself and left.“

Instantly, the young man’s fears that his father held no affection for him disappeared forever.

Father had been so stem, and at times severe toward me that I had come to thinking that perhaps he really did not have much or any parental affection for me, but this circumstance served to disabuse my mind of that conceit, and I was glad that I could now think otherwise.”

The young man was doubtless still astonished at the intimate discovery just made of the ariection his father held for him, when it was time for the riders to leave.

His cousin and best friend, Val, had made the trip to keep G. W.’s father company, and the boy watched the pair mount up, ride out of the campus entrance, and turn their horses toward Indian territory. He was now alone in a land whose strangeness would bring large emotional and cultural challenges.

A local boarding house where several Arkansas college boys lived received him, and he wrote;

"Grayson, Creek Warrior, 51.

"Ibid., 51.

122 1 was now a duly initiated pupil of Arkansas College, an hundred and more miles from home, where everything was entirely different, and in most respects superior to anything I had ever seen or was accustomed to in the simple life 1 had hitherto led at my humble cabin home in the forests of the Creek Nation, or the school at Asbury.”

Though he had calmly arranged for his room and board, his change of surroundings was a shock at the differences that he encountered:

I was completely struck with awe and wonderment at my new surroundings. Here was a school where the pupils spoke not a word of Indian; scarcely a boy to be seen with jet black eyes and hair as were my late school mates at Asbury; their sports were different, their apparel also different in material and make from ntine, and as I could clearly seen my uncouth appearance drew many eyes toward me to my sheer embarrassment."

He wrote that he and the "Wild man of Borneo" had one thing in common.

Both were curiosity objects, and such attention drew him into a deep loneliness:

It was clear, too, that 1 was being regarded very much as |are| . . . children at the sideshows of a circus, the ugly specimen of a humanity said by the obliging manager to be the only living Wild Man of Borneo."”

A feeling as if 1 was completely isolated from the companionship of any one whom I might appeal to for sympathy or comfort possessed me, and for a time overpowered me.”

So, in his first days at Arkansas, the young sixteen year old often repaired to the spot where he last saw his father and cousin, and gave way to tears. In his solitude, however, he contemplated that it had been his own desire to be at the

“Ibid., 51-52.

"Ibid., 51.

'*lbid., 52.

”lbid., 52.

123 coUege. After some thought, he decided to make the best of his bleak situation and he made a plan. He decided to keep to himself, but at the same time become an observer and a student of everything going on around him. He determined not to participate in any activity until he felt he would be able to conduct himself without any hint of propriety or ignorance.^

He probably seemed withdrawn from the general campus population, but he stuck to his plan, not allowing himself to be drawn or tricked into participation. So strong was his determination to stay with his plan, that he had diHiculty socializing with the Mvskoke students who were also on campus. Even when he did begin to participate, he decided to proceed "... slowly and cautiously until in time 1 came to be identified with and active in most of the enterprises that engaged the attention of my associates."”

After two months, perhaps now feeling more comfortable, he went shopping for clothes:

1 went to the general merchandise establishment of Messrs. Stirman and Dixon where I laid in for myself a suit of ready made clothing which I selected as I now recall with reference entirely to its adaptability to resistance of wear and tear, rather than its appeal to the requirements of the esthetic.”

”Ibid., 52.

"Ibid., 52, 53.

“Ibid., 52, 56.

124 In retrospect, Grayson felt he had a good start both in his studies, as well as other aspects of living the coUege life. However it is hard to ignore that he seemed to measure his success in terms of his social adjustment:

Time passed on however, and I became more civilized and more careful of my apparel and personal appearance, and thereafter had my clothing cut and sewed by the city tailer, and in the prevailing style.”

His parents were so pleased at his appearance and studies that there was no question on their part that George Washington Grayson could return for another year of schooling. He returned for more schooling and discovered a flair for languages, particularly Latin. His experiences were cut short by his father’s illness and the Civil

War. Arkansas College closed and never re-opened.

Youth in the States

War disrupts the schooling systems of any culture because a family’s sheer need to survive supplants any obligations of learning. This was what happened wh«i the American Civil War finally spread into the Mvskoke Nation in the closing winter months of 1861. Schools closed and buildings were turned over to the quartering of soldiers. The people fled into Texas and Kansas, as the War ravaged Indian

Territory. There was no place, no family untouched.

Having to lay aside scholars’s books and pens to fight, the Mvskoke youth returned from Civil War battles as seasoned veterans, the next generation wise beyond their years. The war had devastated all of Indian Territory. Families returned home

”lbid., 53.

125 to property burned; and livestock killed, or stolen. It would be a season before there could even be a harvest. Boarding school walls were bumed-out shells, and teachers bad also fled before the danger.

Determined to rebuild their lives and nation through a new unity, the young war veterans began their governance with a significant and non-partisan gesture, reopening their schools.” They would be the first Mvskoke generation to have schooling as an administered policy in their constitution. TuUahassee Manual Labor

School graduate Pleasant Porter would become the first Superintendent, and his school mates constituted a ready supply of teachers.” It was this same generation that had decided that coUege was the preparation necessary for the coming era.

Tullahasse Boarding School

By the close of the 1860’s, the schools were regaining their stability and consistency. The war had interrupted a fruitful decade of peace among the Mvskokes in which the TuUahassee and the Asbury boarding schools had each supported full enroUments of eighty students. When the schools reopened, enroUments quickly returned to that of the pre-civU war era.^ In less than ten years, a smaU pool of students were ready to pursue higher studies.

"Angie Debo, Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1^1), 180.

"Ibid.

"Ibid., 204.

126 The Muscogee Nation’s "Youth in the States" program, begun in 1876, may

have been the first national characterization of such schooling to create future

leadership within its national government. Thus, at least five years before Captain

Richard Pratt would open the Carlisle Indian school in Pennsylvania in 1879, and

. . convince the public that the Indian was educable",^' the Mvskokes as a nation were preparing their first class to enter higher education-the first that is sin c e before the Civil War.

The first indication of the quality of Tullahasse mission instruction may have come from within its superintendent’s family. William and Ann Eliza Robertson had two daughters that had taken their schooling along with the Mvskoke students. In

1866, the first daughter, Ann Augusta enrolled in Cooper Seminary. She would write

home, "For my part, 1 don’t see but what 1 could have got as good an education if 1

had stayed at home and had the advantages which 1 had before. She continued;

I am so anxious that Mary Alice [often called Alice Mary) shall study at home. She could finish aU but the last year or two at home just as well as can be if she has time and ambition enough. When she has been away at school two years studying, as 1 have, things which she might have done at home nearly as well, she will know why I am so anxious to have her do all she can before she leaves home . .

^'Margaret O’Connell Szasz, Education and the American Indian: The Road to Self- Determination Since 1928 (Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 1974, 1977)9, 10.

^Althea Bass, The Story of Tullahasse (Oklahoma City: Semco Color Press, 1960), 206.

"Ibid., 207.

127 Five years later, in 1871, Augusta’s sister, Alice Mary, enrolled at Elmira

College in New York. She would also admonish her family that another younger sister. Gracie, stay home;

You know I am wild to have her here with me, but she might just as well go on with Latin and Mathematics at home as to come here for them. Botany, Physiology, Political Economy and Christian Evidences she could learn perfectly well at home if she would. It would be better for her to take History and the Physical Science here.**

Alice attended college on a mission scholarship. The advancing Indian students in Tullahasse and Asbury had no such resource. But in October of 1876, the

Education Committee of the Muscogee Nation forwarded a petition to the National

Council that financial provision be made to send eighteen young men for higher schooling in the United States.

Youth-in-the-States

"Youth in the States" was a convenient reference for fiscal payment to participating schools. Records indicate it supplied students in schools in Ohio,

Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas. Over a period of some twenty years, it could be estimated that between two hundred and four hundred students received financial support.

In the beginning, the opportunity for support was given to male students. In

1878, girls and fieedmen were given the advantage of attending as well. Girls enjoyed equal access to the boarding schools, and the Mvskokes also supported a girls

‘Ibid., 207.

128 school as well.^ They also attended women’s colleges and seminaries, and co­ educational higher education institutions. Schools as far away as Northfield,

Massachusetts received the Mvskoke young women.^

When the Mvskoke came to Indian Territory, many had been slave holders.

After the Civil War, their freedmen were permitted to remain in the Muscogee Nation and take an equal role in the National government. They received Muscogee funds to establish their schools, and in 1878 they also received funding to advance their students to schools in the United States.

Though various denominational schools received students, a letter appeared in the Indian Journal from the Methodist Indian Mission Conference asking, "How is it then, that even the children of our members have in their way, been sent to other schools."'*^ Apparently, Methodist students were being sent to non-Methodist schools. Undoubtably the second section of Article V of the Mvskoke constitution intended to correct the situation:

Six of the youths at school in the States shall be placed in schools under the patronage of the Methodist denomination.^

^Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1876. 62.

^Indian Journal. Muscogee Nation, 16 September 1880.

^Indian Journal. 7 November 1878.

"""Youth in the States," Constitution and Laws of the Muskogee Nation. Article V (St. Louis: Levison and Blythe Stationary Co., Printers, 1880), section 2.

129 The administration of the higher education programs was given to the

Muscogee National treasurer, George Washington Grayson/’ Early schools receiving payment included Drury and Centralia College in Missouri; Arkansas Industrial

University, Fayetteville; Jackson College, Jackson, Tennessee; Centerville CoUege, and Wooster University in Ohio.”

Record does not indicate there were Mvskoke male graduates of the schools and it is likely that most did not. Not because of incapability, but because the

Muscogee National Council set the cut-off age for support at twenty-one. Many students were older when they began primary studies, and may have been already in their late teens-early twenties when they were selected to go to the states. Thus without additional financial support, they were not able to continue their studies.

Lila Denton, a former TuUahassee student, may have been the first Mvskoke to received a degree, a Mistress of Arts degree from HiUsboro-Highland CoUege in Ohio in 1883. Her graduation, indeed, would not have been possible, however, with out extra financial support. EUza J. Baldwin, a teacher at one point at TuUahassee, eventuaUy took a position at Hillsboro. Baldwin provided the necessary means for

LUa to remain in coUege through graduation."

’Creek Nation Records, #38467, October 30, 1878.

"Creek Nation Records, 4G8473.

"Mrs. J. O. Misch, "LUah D. Lindsey,” Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 35. #2,193- 194.

130 The "Athens" of Indian Territory

When the railroad passed through Indian Territory in the early 1870s, it intersected with the main stage coach road between the Cherokee national capital,

Tahlequah, and the Mvskoke capital at Okmulgee. As previously mentioned, such an intersection made a tiny village such a prime commercial location that outside businessmen and professional people immediately became interested in it. Called

Muskogee, it was located in eastern Muscogee Nation, roughly ten miles from the western boundaries of the Cherokee Nation.

The TuUahassee Mission had burned in 1879, and Mvskokes, to the chagrin of the Robertson family, built its replacement further to the west and north of

Tullahasee. The Mvskoke determined that their population had shifted from the areas of Ft. Gibson, and Three Rivers, and were best served at a new school to be called

Wealaka. The freedmen were given the opportunity to use the TuUahassee school site for their own school. They accepted and built a school.

Thus while the Muscogee Nation withdrew its school locations to take care of their populations, other educators were beginning to see the possibilities of locating coUeges in the Muskogee village area. As a town growing in commerce and a place where travelers from the four points of the compass seemed to converge, the establishment of a coUege seemed fmanciaUy appealing.

By the decade of the 1880s, Indian Territory students traveUed as far away as

New England, and many territory leaders felt the need for local access to higher education. In the Muscogee Nation, it was no different. Students went into Missouri

131 to attend school; others to Arkansas; and others attended the Cherokee Seminary in nearby Cherokee Nation. As late as the mid-I890s, the Mvskokes were supporting fifty students at schools outside their nation.”

In 1881, the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church requested permission of the Muscogee Nation to open a college.” In 1881, the National Council granted them the first charter to operate a higher education institution in the Muscogee

Nation.” Dr. Theo H. Brewers, former Superintendent of the Asbury School, established the school. Named for John Harrell, an early day missionary to Indian

Territory, the school had twenty students in the collegiate department, 85 in the academic department, and 30 in the music department. In 1899, Harrell burned, but by 1902, it was restored and re-named Spaulding Institute after a major donor of land.

After the turn of the century, the school closed and became Spaulding Hospital, the precursor to the current Muskogee (Oklahoma) Regional Hospital.

By the mid-1890s, Muskogee began to refer to itself as "The Athens" of Indian

Territory.” It was home to no less than five higher education institutions, Indian

University, Henry Kendall College, Harrell Institute, Nazareth Institute, and Edwards

”"Historical Sketch of Col. Sam Checote once Chief of the Creek Nation,” Chronicles of Oklahnma Vol. 14 #3, 275.

”C. W. West, Muskogee. I. T.: Queen City of the Southwest (Muskogee, OK; Muskogee Publishing Company, 1972), 24.

"Ibid., 24.

132 University for freedmen. The Muscogee Nation chartered an additional institution,

Sango CoUege for black students, but it is possible that it did not open.

Every institution had denominational sponsorship. Indian University was

Baptist; Henry KendaU CoUege, Presbyterian; HarreU was a Methodist school; and

Nazareth Institute was opened by the smaU CathoUc community. Edwards University was operated by a black Baptist denomination. AU of the schools were opened to

Indian Territory students, both Indian and non-Indian. The Indian nations usually supported the students attending the school, and the non-Indian students attended on a day school basis and paid tuition. WhUe Nazareth, and Edwards were short-Uved institutions, two of the schools were not, Indian University and Henry KendaU

CoUege. Both institutions stUl exist in some form today, Indian University is now

Bacone CoUege; and Henry KendaU CoUege is the University of Tulsa. In their time, both schools had an important impact on the Indian nations that they served.

Indian University

Almon C.Bacopc

Almon C.Bacone, graduate of Rochester University, New York accepted a teaching position at the Cherokee Male Seminary, Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation in

1878. He was forty-eight years old and had held several teaching positions through out the mid-west. After his first teaching experiences at the Cherokee Seminary, he and others wanted to start a Christian normal school that included theological study for

Indian ministers. Bacone secured funding for his idea from the Baptist Home Mission

133 Board and opened his school with three students. By the conclusion of the first term, the enrollment had jumped to S8 students."

Encouraged, Bacone decided to try to move his school to Muskogee. He hoped the rising potential for conunerce in Muskogee would mean a larger student body. Muskogee held the Union Agency where all area Indian Nations and tribes conducted federal business. One railroad passing through Muskogee was recently completed, and another was in negotiation. For travelers coming from the Midwest,

Muskogee was on the main route into Texas.

Though the Baptist home mission board approved funding for a college for

American Indian students, it was the Muscogee Nation that would be the final authority on the existence of the institution. Bacone had to solicit land for his school from the Muscogee National Council. At first, the Council was resistant to Bacone’s proposal, and tabled the request.” But Samuel Checote, the principal chief, lobbied to have the school in the Muscogee Nation. The bill passed with a stipulation that the school be for students of all Indian nations. By awarding 160 acres to Indian

University, the Mvscogee Nation became the first Indian nation to charter a land-grant institution.

The site chosen for the new campus was one of the higher points in the eastern

Muscogee Nation, less than two miles south of Three Rivers landing, and afforded a

"John Williams and Meredith, Howard L., Bacone Indian University: A History (Oklahoma City, OK: Western Heritage Books for the Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1980), 10-11.

”Creek National Records, #360083 and #360084. 134 glorious view of the surrounding area. To the east, a forest swept to the banks of the

Arkansas River, about two miles away; and that river’s eastern bank was the western

boundary for the Cherokee Nation and the first ridges of the Boston Mountain range.

To the West was a view of the beautiful wooded vales and hills that stretched across

the Muscogee Nation.

Approximately two miles to the southwest-and perhaps sufficiently far away,

not to mar the view from Indian University~was the rising commercial center of

Indian Territory, the village of Muskogee, trying to come to grips with its new

identity-Angie Debo had called it, " . . . a squalid little town of tents and sheds."”

Rail commerce had brought some permanent structures that housed mercantile

businesses, and warehouses. But it still contended with tents and shacks, and when it

rained, the scrappy, but crude, little town still had to cope with mud holes for streets,

more suitable for sleeping hogs, than passing traffic.”

Bacone went to the U. S. and conducted a round of successful financial

appeals. In his early days of teaching in the Mid-west, he had once taught with one

Laura Spelman. Miss Spelman had become Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, and

subsequently Rockefeller became a significant contributor to the school." The first

major building on campus was named Rockefeller Hall. It was a multi-purpose brick

building of classrooms, administration offices, and living areas.

”Debo, Road to Disappearance. 198.

"Grant Foreman, Muskogee, a Biography of an Oklahoma Town (St. Louis: Blackwell Wielandy Co., private edition for Grant Foreman, undated), 113.

"Williamson and Meredith, Bacgag, 13-14.

135 Indian University moves to Muskogee

In 1885, Indian University celebrated its move to Muskogee with a third graduating class/' George W. Hicks, Nathaniel Potts, both Cherokees, and Nonnie

M. Wilson, Ottawa, were honored as the class of 1885.® On a set day in June,

1885, everyone simply left Tahlequah in a stream of buggies and loaded wagons, and completed the thirty-mile move in one day. As part of the dedication ceremonies, students planted trees in the form of a heart on the campus.®

At the time of its dedication on June 3, 1885, "The Rock," as students were want to call Rockefeller Hall, was easily the most pretentious building in the entire area. Reminiscent of the utility of the University of Wooster’s "Bitters Bottle," the new brick building served as dormitory, administration and classroom building, library, with kitchen and dining facilities. It would stand as a single building until

1902, when a brick-making program, established in 1899 to provide student employment, resulted in a faculty residence and a women’s dormitory.®

"The first graduates are noted in the Baconian alumni news section in the university magazine, as being the first Class of 1883, Robert Thompson, and Lydia Sixkiller. This disputes Guy Logsdon’s assertion that Kendall College’s Senior Class of 1898 was the first collegiate graduating class in Oklahoma (Guy Logsdon, University of Tulsa (Norman; University of Oklahoma Press for Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1977), 53.

” Thirteenth Annual Catalog 1892-1893. (Muskogee, I. T: Indian University, 1903), 22 and cited in Maurice Wright’s Blood. Sweat. Prayers. Tears: A History of Bacone CoUsgS, unpublished monograph in the Bacone College Special Collection.

"Williams and Meredith, flaome. 17.

"Ibid., 33.

136 After its move to Muskogee, the school swelled from one hundred five students to 703 students by the 1890s. Part of the reason may have been that the cultural climate in the college seemed to provide a comfort zone between Indian nations and schooling. Though English was understood as the language of the classroom, Indian

Territory languages were all heard, informally, in the halls. In fact, bilingualism among the Acuity was considered quite normal." Though, faculty were recruited from the mid-West, several Indian University graduates were also engaged to teach."

So it may not have been surprising when several tribes moved to support preparatory schools specifically to prepare students to enter the new university. The Cherokees,

Choctaws, Seminoles, Wichita, and Kiowa entered agreement with several mission societies for preparatory instruction suitable to gain entrance to Bacone.”

As Indian University settled in its new site, it began to broaden its academic offerings. The curriculum at Indian was based on classical studies. Greek and Latin anchored studies that also included studies in botany, astronomy, English literature, history and nuthematics, including algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. By the

1890’s the school included primary, and preparatory instruction. The collegiate studies expanded into four year classical and scientific degrees. Students worked by

“Ibid., 22, 28.

“Ibid., 15, 18, 31, 33.

“Ibid., 17.

137 the light of kerosene lamp. At "lamps out," they retired behind closet doors to continue working. Electricity came in 1902."

Sports and social activities brought football and Indian Territory’s first Greek letter society. Stickball and intramural baseball were major sport activities and in

1895, a football team was organized. Bacone played its first game with cross-town rival, Henry Kendall College. A girls basketball team played their first game on their new outdoor court in 1901." The first Greek society emerged from Indian

University. Psi Delta functioned as a literary society as well as a popular social society for the college level students. Its first public mention may have been when

The Cherokee Advocate, the Cherokee Nation newspaper, armounced that Psi Delta would hold a declamation contest on June 1, 1884. The articles announced six boys and six girls would compete for first and second prizes of five and three dollars.”

The first graduating class in 1883, had produced an attorney, Robert J.

Thompson; and an Indian University preparatory instructor, Lydia Sixkiller. From classes averaging two to three graduates a year through 1902, Indian University gave at least one teacher each year, and from time to time, an attorney. There were several ministers, and it was noted that Joseph Dawes, class of ’96, was serving as a

“Ibid., 18, 33.

“Ibid., 17.

”Cherokee Advocate. Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, March 14, 1884.

138 missionary in Chi Kiang, China. John M. Riley apparently made a smooth transition to do post-graduate work at Yale."

Though Indian was sponsored by the Baptist denomination, such a designation did not seem to hinder one self-styled "Aee thinker," a student destined to be called one of the finest scholars in the Muscogee nation. For Alexander Posey, a freshman in 1891, Indian University was:

. . . one of the best institutions of this Country; tho’ controlled by a religious denomination, to which I pay but little attention. A freethinker can enjoy the freedom of thought anywhere ..."

Posey, whose writing and speeches had begun drawing immediate attention as early as his freshman year, honed his literary skills writing for the Bacone Instructor, the Psi Delta Oracle, and eventually the Mvskoke newspaper, the Indian Journal. He developed a deep interest in English and American literature as a preparatory student at Indian. Even in that early period, young Posey’s book shelf of standard works impressed a knowledgeable visitor to the Posey household. By the end of Posey’s freshman year, his personal library had grown to more than seventy volumes."

Another early graduate would have international impact, Patrick J. Hurley.

Hurley was not a member of any tribe, but his family had come to Indian Territory for work, and he had been raised among the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. Hurley would serve as Secretary of War under President Herbert Hoover, and serve in the

"The Baconian. 1902. 64-65. The Baconian. I90I. 82.

"Littlefield, Daniel, Alexander Posey: __ Creek Poet. Journalist, and Humorist (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992), SO.

"Ibid., 41, 49.

139 State Department under President Franklin Roosevelt/* As a student, he had served on the staff of the annual. The Baconian, and would later declare that . . until 1 got married, the happiest years of my life were those spent in my school years in what is now Bacone Indian College."^’

Indian University and the Dawes Commission

As the effects of the Dawes Commission and its administration of the allotment of Indian lands began to influence the Muscogee Nation, Indian University would not escape its effects. As a land grant school of the Muscogee Nation, the school was soon embroiled in a battle to hold its campus together. The federal government reduced the school’s 160 acre holding to ten acres in 1897, and then to five acres in

1898. This was amended in 1901 when the federal government forced the school to buy back forty acres. When the rest of the land was turned over to a white farmer, the Baptist Home Mission Board sued for the return of all of the land. The suit remain in litigation for more than ten years, but eventually all 160 acres were returned to the school by 1914.™

In anticipation of making Indian Territory ready for statehood. Congress passed the 1898 Curtis act, which intended to deliberately destroy Indian Territory governments.” Among several areas, the act had taken the administration of

^Williams and Meredith, Bacone. 34-35. Charles Evans, "Two Oklahomans honored," Chronicles of Oklahoma. Vol. 31. Spring 1951, 19.

™Evans, "Two Oklahomans," 19.

™Ibid., 38.

”Act of July 1, 1898, c. 545, 20 Stat. 571.

140 treasuries away from the tribes. Without out fiscal control, the choice of sending students to higher education colleges was no longer in Indian nation hands. By 1904-

OS, the effects of possible statehood were felt as Indian University dropped to a total of 158 students, ten of whom were at the collegiate level. Another consideration facing college administrators was should Indian Territory become a state, public school systems would draw enrollment away from preparatory programs.

President J. H. Scott expressed his frustration in an article in the student annual. The Baconian. He cited the lack of parental commitment in money and time to send their children to higher education institutions; the arrival of the non-Indian populations, largely illiterate and easily satisfied with less than the best; and the political instability of Indian Territory as the reasons for a weakened Indian Territory higher education system.

He felt, however, that higher educational institutions should teach at the collegiate level. He longed for a strong public school system to relieve the burden of primary and preparatory school woric:

The institutions of Indian Territory today that are equipped and prepared to do work of higher education are obliged to receive pupils of poor preparation or almost none at all. With an efficient public school system with graded school in all of our towns and villages, the process of sorting pupils would be done, and only the best, and these with considerable culture would present themselves for higher education.”

By 1910, in a period of five years, Indian University experienced five changes of presidency. The proud school whose students could transfer to Ivy League schools

”J. H. Scott, "Higher Education in Indian Territory,” Bacmnan Vol 1, No. 2, Nov., 1898, 1-2. 141 with no remediation in the process, dropped all of its collegiate courses in 1910, becoming a high school. Re-named Bacone College in 19II, the school worked to provide scholarship assistance for its high school graduates to attend schools in Iowa,

Ohio, and Kansas.

As Indian students began attending Oklahoma public schools for the first time, many students encountered hostile attitudes against them. Some Indian leaders began to recognize the need of a school-refuge for Indian students. Many hoped it would be

Bacone, and tribes outside of the old Indian Territory began to seek Bacone. By the

1920s, the enrollment began to climb because of the support of the Cheyenne-

Arapaho, the Kiowa, and the Comanche.” In 1927, collegiate courses were reinstated, and a teacher education program received accreditation from the State of

Oklahoma. The school is still located in Muskogee, Oklahoma at its same site. Made a four-year college beginning in January 2000, it is affiliated with the American

Baptist Church, and is still called Bacone College.

Henry Kendall College

The Presbyterians in the Muskogee village opened a denominational school in

1876, and from the beginning the school wavered with instability. Neither fund drives, nor petitions to the Presbyterian Home Mission Board drew any response. For nearly ten years, the school depended on the tuition paid by its day students."

^Williams and Meredith, fiaCQDCi 54.

«C. W. West, Queen City. 10.

142 Yet, in spite of shakey finances, in 1885, when Alice Robertson took charge of the school, stability appeared as if by magic. Robertson, the daughter of the superintendent of the old TuUahassee Mission school, had returned to the Muscogee

Nation after graduation from Elmira CoUege, New York. The Muscogee Nation which had already been supporting their citizens at the school soon increased their financial support." By the faU of 1885, its student body was solely Indian girls and in 1887, a new buUding was constructed. CaUed Minerva Home, it was named for the benefactor of the building."

Groundwork for a new College.

After Robert King was appointed the Indian Territory Presbyterian synodical missionary, he soon noted that the Baptist and the Methodist denominations maintained coUeges in the Territory, but that the Presbyterians were still sending their students to the United States. King traveUed to New York City to make a personal presentation to the mission society that there should be a Presbyterian higher education institution in Indian Territory. He later reported that he had a good reception, especially after the committee learned the name of the new institution:

To my delight the Board took Btvorable action. The request was granted and 1 was requested to suggest a name for the new coUege. When I responded promptly, Henry KendaU CoUege, there was an outburst of applause and the child was named in honor of the great Secretary of tte Home Board whose work had just come to a close."

"Guy Logsdon, The University of Tulsa (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press for the Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1977) 23-24.

"Ibid. 23-24.

"William King to J. M. HaU

143 The trip was taken on King’s own cognizance after his idea of a higher synodical coUege was turned down by the Indian Territory synod. In his presentation, he outlined a plan to finance the school. This included the closing of two

Presbyterian Indian Territory schools, Spencer Academy in the Choctaw Nation and the Mekasuky Girls School in Wewoka, Seminole Nation. FinaUy, he wished to take over the small developing Minerva school as the campus for the new school.**

King did not inform any one of his going and it would have seemed that there should have been some kind of shock from the closing of the schools. Yet, when

King returned from New York and began to organize the college, there seemed no particular reaction on the surface-not even from Alice Robertson. Perhaps some of the blow was softened when students and instructors at the closing schools were offered places in the new institution.

Charged with fixing the curriculum and hiring a president. King sought out

William CaldweU, Superintendent of the Spencer Choctaw Academy. President

Caldwell arrived with several Choctaw students. One of the Choctaw Nation youths,

Benjamin McCurtain, joined the first freshman class of two. From the Seminole’s

Mekasuky school, teacher Iday Lyon also came. Alice Robertson stayed, and her mother Mrs. A. E. W. Robertson became the Mvskoke language instructor. The school provided liberal studies, a music program, and a preparatory school."

**Logsdon, University o f Tulsa. 31-34.

"Ibid., 35-37.

144 In 1890, Congress created Oklahoma Territory from lands that the Seminole and Mvskoke sold back to the United States in 1899. While Kendall College was open to all residents of both Indian and the new Oklahoma Territory, those

Presbyterians who settled Oklahoma Territory in the land runs of 1889-1893 were not

interested in Kendall, even though it was their synodical school. In fact they resented that their synodical leader was over both Oklahoma and Indian Territory congregations.

In reality, the schools of choice for the new Presbyterian settlers were the recently opened Oklahoma territory public colleges, the University of Oklahoma in

Norman, and Oklahoma A & M College in Stillwater. In Oklahoma Territory synodical meetings of the early 1890s, resolutions from synod and ministerial conferences continually supported the University of Oklahoma, ignoring their own denominational school completely ." Though a Morrill Act land-grant college, A &

M hoped to become "The Princeton of the Plains." It even retained Princeton’s colors of orange and black, and early athletic teams called themselves the Tigers."

In September 1895, Henry Kendall College had 264 students. The collegiate department had six students. The students had a choice of classical, or scientific

study. But it was the day school and the music department that brought in the most dependable income. Socially, the school had two literary societies, Clionean for the

"Ibid., 39-40.

"Rulon, Philip Reed, Oklahoma State University Since 1890 (Stillwater OK; Oklahoma State University Press, 1975), 108, 112.

145 women, and Calliopean for the men. Students were to participate in one or the other, and make one presentation to the faculty. Students not joining the literary club had to make presentations to the faculty every month. In 1895, Henry Kendall College played its first football game with Indian University."

In 1896, eleven freshmen enrolled at Kendall. The general minutes noted there were discipline problems, and tobacco usage seemed to be the most serious of the offenses. In 1897 the collegiate department numbered twenty-eight: Three seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores, and thirteen freshmen. In 1898 the first collegiate graduates from Henry Kendall college were Lucille Walrond, Benjamin McCurtin, and

Joseph Leard. One of the most popular students, Milo Hendrix, died in the charge up

San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American war."

In 1899, A. Grant Evans became the third president of Henry Kendall College.

In that year, the Dawes allotment process began in earnest, and four Kendall students were the first to receive their assigned lands: Susan Barnett; and Belle, Thomas, and

Sarah Meagher. Muskogee opened a public school system, and Kendall’s enrollment dropped from the previous year’s enrollment of 269 to 181. Kendall played its only football game of the year with the University of Arkansas. A new degree was offered, a bachelor of literature degree."

"Logsdon, University of Tulsa. 44-49.

"Ibid., 56-57.

"Ibid., 58-60.

146 In 1899 Kendall’s senior class was the largest ever, seven. Collegiate enrollment usually fluctuated between ten and 17. A fourth degree appeared in 1899, the normal, or teaching degree. Still nothing but verbal support came from the synods. At last it was recognized that Oklahoma Territory Presbyterians resented that their college was open to Indian students. A Blackwell, Oklahoma Territory pastor, who was the chairman of the Presbyterian committee on Colleges and Academies, wrote;

H. K. College is not worthy to be ranked as a Presbyterian college. . . . One thing is sure the Presbyterians of Oklahoma will never to any extent send their children to Muskogee to college. One thing, the railroad connections are too poor and then the Indian element.”

.... It would be utterly impossible for me to get them to attend school at Muskogee owing to the la^e number that attend there that are not white ... One thing is sure that so long as so many Indians and mixed bloods attend H. K. College we never can get the young people in Oklahoma to attend there.”

In 1905, the combined fîve tribes of the Indian Territory held a constitutional

convention to create for themselves a new state to be called Sequoyah. President

Evans supported the creation of the new state, for he knew that if the nations could

hold on to their sovereignty, they would be financially able to support his college.

Eventually, he united with Indian entourages that went to Washington, D. C. to place

their case before congress. With the opening of public schools, and the Ailure to

"Ibid., 69.

”lbid., 69. 147 secure financial support fi'om the synods, enrollment and funding at Evans’s school were fidling.

In 1907, a Presbyterian synodical college committee accepted KendaU CoUege from the Presbyterian Home Mission Board. On April 30, 1907, the synod moved to take bids on Henry KendaU CoUege. Evans hoped that it would remain in Muskogee, but the coUege was awarded to Tulsa, through the efforts of the Tulsa Commercial

Club. So the school closed in the Spring of 1907. President Evans moved with the school to Tulsa to prepare it for it re-opening. The move disappointed the Muscogee

Nation, and while Muskogee, the town, seemed unwilling to support the school, many citizens were angered at what seemed a sudden change.

With the move to Tulsa, KendaU CoUege was no longer a school for Indian students. Instead it was modified to become more appealing as a Presbyterian synodical school. It kept its name Kendall CoUege untU it was rechartered in 1921 as

The University of Tulsa, and is stiU in existence. Evans would resign from KendaU

CoUege to take the presidency of the University of Oklahoma.” Summaiy

This chapter discussed three types of interaction that the Mvskoke had with

American higher education, individual student experience; a financial support program. Youth in the States; and the coUeges in the Muscogee Nation. The first example began in 1817 when David Moniac was admitted to the United States

”lbid., 139-140.

148 Military Academy at West Point. With Moniac’s class. Superintendent Sylvanus

Thayer began a rigorous and enduring academic transformation of West Point.

The next experience occurred in the 1850s, when, at Mvskoke urging, the U.S. government permitted a funding category for the first Mvskoke students to attend

Arkansas College preparatory school. In 1858, George W. Grayson received

Mvskoke support to attend Arkansas College, and left a collection of his experiences in a memoir. All schooling efforts in the Muscogee Nation ceased with the onset of the American Civil War.

After the Civil War, in 1876, the Muscogee Nation continued its higher education financial support. "Youth-in-the-States" provided student support to a number of schools in the United States. By 1878, girls and freedmen were included in the support.

Before the turn of the nineteen century, the little railroad village, Muskogee, would be the home of at least five higher education institutions and would call itself the "Athens of Indian Territory." Educators were interested in the village because of its location as a cross-roads in Indian Territory, and its rising influence in commerce.

In 1881, the Muscogee Nation issued a charter to the Methodist Episcopal church to open Harrell Institute in Muskogee, the first higher education institution in the

Muscogee Nation. In 1885, when the Muscogee Nation awarded Indian University a grant of land a short distance from Muskogee, it became the first Indian nation to award a land grant for the purposes of higher education. Indian University enjoyed support firom the Baptist mission board; but Kendall often struggled for funding.

149 Both Indian University and KendaU College accommodated the multi lingual

Indian Territory population. Classes were in English, but informal chatter fUled hallways with the languages of Indian Territory. Kendall CoUege retained a Creek

Unguist, and it was common for faculty of both schools to be conversant in at least one of the Indian languages.

The Presbyterians who settled Oklahoma Territory as part of the Boomer movement, did not support KendaU, though it was their synodical coUege. They threw their support behind the two territorial pubUc coUeges, the University of

Oklahoma, and Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical CoUege. An Oklahoma

Territory paster expressed the feeling that the white students would never attend at school where Indian students were enrolled.

When Indian Territory governments began a movement to turn Indian Territory into a state, the KendaU president supported the Sequoyah statehood movement. He felt that if Indian sovereignty stayed intact, the Indian nations would be able to support his school. Indian University had to struggle with the Dawes Commission through the early part of the twentieth century to regain the land that the Muscogee had originaUy awarded to them.

Other coUeges were Sango CoUege and Edwards University for freedmen, and a Catholic school, Nazareth Institute. They Uke HarreU Institute, no longer exist.

Indian University was renamed Bacone CoUege in 1911 and is stiU located on the outskirts of Muskogee, Oklahoma. Muskogee lost Henry KendaU CoUege to Tulsa in

1907, where it was renamed the University of Tulsa in 1921.

150 CHAPTERS WILLIAM SAPULPA OF CUSSITAH TOWN

"For the first time, the University has, this year, received representatives of the Indian nations .... We welcome them among us with joy. May they form strong links in the future chain which shall bind together the red man and the white.” Index 1877 (Wooster OH: Fraternities of the University of Wooster), 4.

Introduction

W. T. Harris noted the number of students enrolled in American higher education in 1872 was 590 students for every million inhabitants, approximately one college student for each American community of two thousand.' Four years later, the

Muscogee Nation compared favorably to these estimates. In 1876, thirty students left the Muscogee Nation to attend higher education institutions in the United States-18 sponsored by the Indian nation; and another twelve under other sponsorship.' That year, the Conunissioner of Indian Affairs reported the population of the Mvskokes at approximately 14,000.' This was an average of 4.29 students per two thousand

Mvskokes attending a higher education institution, or a little more than 3 students per- two-thousand more than the American population.

'W. T. Harris, "The Use of Higher Education,’ Educational Review. XVI. 1898, 147-148.

Indian JnumaL Muscogee Nation, IS March 1877.

'Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1876. 212-213.

ISI In truth the U. S. numbers were sparse when compared to later figures such as those of 1895 when enrollments had doubled*. In the early 1870s, America was not in a college-going mood, and many institutions struggled with flagging enrollments.

It was not beyond the realm of speculation that the resulting low enrollments created an above average institutional interest in enrolling Mvskoke-sponsored students. In its

December, 1876 issue, the Muscogee Nation newspaper. The Indian Journal, urged educational institutions to consider advertising in its pages^. By the next issue, Drury

College of Missouri extolled its classical and scientific curriculums, the first higher education institution to purchase advertising.*

Youth in the States

The first Youth-in-the-States students went to Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, and

Arkansas. In 1878, the Mvskokes began to support women and freedmen. At some juncture, the support was discontinued, possibly at the inception of the charter colleges in the Muscogee Nation in the late 1880s. Nevertheless, an 1891 Commissioner of

Indian Affairs report noted that the Mvskokes had returned to the practice of supporting students in the United States.^

*In 1895,1190 students per million United States inhabitants enrolled in colleges and universities — ^roxim ately double that of the 1872 census. W. T. Harris, "Use of Higher Education,” 148.

Tndian Journal. 14 December 1876.

'Indian Journal. December 21, 1876.

Tleport of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1891. 250.

152 To examine the experiences within the Youth-in-the-States program, this chapter will focus upon William Sapulpa, a young Mvskoke who was among the second group of students to enter Wooster University in January of 1880. After six years of study at TuUahassee Manual Labor Boarding school, Sapulpa was sent to the

University of Wooster. This chapter is divided into three areas, Sapulpa and his family; his preparatory and collegiate experiences at the University of Wooster; and a chapter summary.

William Allen Sapulpa

Family and Childhood

Willie Sapulpa was one of seven children bom to fnll-blood Mvskokes,

Sapulpa and his second wife, Cha-pok-sa. The Mvskoke were a nutriarchal society and Willie’s tribal town and clan were derived through his mother. His town was

Idulwa Cussitah and he was a member of the Fox clan. His father had three wives, the other’s were Na-Kitty and Tenafe. The latter was "sent back" because she had no children. Through Na-Kitty, William had four half-brothers and three half-sisters,' or thirteen siblings.

Though Willie’s Other’s name was Aha-lark Yahola, he was better known as

"Sapulpa." Sapulpa had belonged to the tribal town, Idulwa Qsochee in Alabama, and was a member of the Coon clan. As a youth, he led a colorful life roaming the old

Mvskoke confederatty from Florida to Mississippi. Angry at the removal of the

"William Sapulpa, "Sapulpa," Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 4. December 26,1927, 330.

153 Mvskokes to Indian Territory in the 1830s, he had refused to leave the Southeast.

Instead, he joined members of a Mvskoke anti-treaty party,’ raiding Southern farms and plantations to retake livestock, and to plunder. He was pursued regularly by local

militia. Sapulpa delighted in being called "a wild Indian" by his adversaries, and felt justified living up to the name as part of his personal payback to the American South because of their treatment to his people.”

In the 1840s, he eventually made his way to the Muscogee Nation in Indian

Territory. He farmed, had an unsuccessful try at running a store, and started his

family. After serving in the Civil War, Sapulpa—who spoke no English-opened a successful trading post on Cono Hutchee. ' some twenty miles southwest of what is now Tulsa, Oklahoma. Because of its distance from Muskogee and Okmulgee, the area of the Muscogee Nation where the elder Sapulpa had settled was considered isolated. It was actually near several important cattle and wagon trails, as well as the

Osage, Pawnee, and Sac and Fox nations, and he did a good business. However, it was difficult to haul enough merchandise from Kansas, and he eventually closed his store in the early 1870s to devote full-time to his farming and ranching activities.

In the Muscogee Nation there was no private ownership of land. Physical developments such as homes and outbuildings, however, were considered private

’Since Opothle Yahola was opposed to the removal treaties, Sapulpa may have been a part of this traditional faction. When they were forced to move to Indian Territory in 1836, this precipitated Sapulpa’s anger at the white immigrants.

Indian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society, #12993, 39.

'Cono=skunk; or pole cat. Hutchee=creek. Pole Cat creek.

154 property and could be sold to other Mvskoke. Development could also mean grain fields and working pastures, with extensive grazing areas only authorized by the nation. The elder Sapulpa was able to develop pastures that were said to surround his home for ten miles in any direction. He regularly shipped livestock to Saint Louis."

It was a lucrative business.

This was the area where the Yucchi-often spelled Euchee-tribal communities had settled. The Yucchi was one of the tribes which, as part of the old Mvskoke confederacy, had been removed from the Southeastern United States. Though long participants in the confederacy, their distinct language, and spiritual beliefs had protected their culture from Mvskoke influence over centuries." Both cultures were essentially in the same locale, but the Muscogee Nation recognized the distinct differences between the two, and each were permitted to send their own representative to the National Council. In 1868, the elder Sapulpa had been the fîrst Mvskoke representative from Cono Hutchee in the House of Kings.

Willie Sapulpa often claimed that his earliest childhood memory was clinging to his brother as they bounced along on the back of a horse. They seemed to be on a trip that lasted several days, and there were many other people traveling with them.

As he grew older he realized he had been part of a refugee party fleeing the Civil War

"William A. Sapulpa, "Sapulpa", 331.

"Wright, Muriel H., A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahonm (Norman OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986), 267.

155 in Indian Territory. He was bom in 1861, and couldn't have been more than three or four years old when his family made their flight from the Creek Nation.

1 thought it was fun. . . 1 did not know . . . that my father was one of those fellows, back there, who was called the wealthy kind and he was owner of many slaves, so naturally he had to fight for his property like the people of the South did.'*

It is speculated that there may have been some problems between the two wives, Na-Kitty and Cha-poksa during the war. While Cha-pok-sa took her family,

including Willie, south to escape the war, Na-Kitty gathered her children and joined

Opothle Yahola as refugees in Kansas. Whether or not there was a reconciliation is not known, but as grown ups, the children had friendly and close interaction with each other.'*

Willie’s young life was probably not too different from that of other young boys in the Muscogee Nation. Perhaps as a very young boy, he wore "sweeps" such as his Mvskoke contemporary, Alex Posey. Sweeps were long shirts that young

Mvskoke boys often wore, and Posey had said of them,

There was a vast fteedom in these gowns; freedom for the wind to play in, and they were easily thrown aside at the old swimmin’ hole.’ We looked forward with regret to the time when we would have to discard them for jeans coats and trousers and copper-toed boots. .

‘*lndian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society, Vol. 7 # 485.

"Jim Hubbard and Jack Foley. "Chief Sapulpa." Unpublished monograph. Sapulpa (Oklahoma) Historical Society. 1990.

"Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., Alex Posey: Creek Poet. Journalist, and Humorist (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1 ^ ) , 27.

156 His half-sister Sarah-about the same age as Willie-recalled that the Sapulpa compound was very near their father’s store. There were three log cabins, one for cooking and eating, and one for sleeping. Homes were made out of logs, and everyone made their own shingles. Floors were split logs.” The Sapulpa children learned to work cattle and help with the field crops." The cattle roamed freely in the open-range and were wild. The work of the children was to go out on the prairie and find cows that could be milked. By coercing the calves, they could bring the mothers closer to the compound. After several days, only the wildest animals would not settle into a milking routine."

There were major field staples to tend in the spring and summer. Of the nations arriving in Indian Territory in the 1830s, it was the Mvskoke who had quickly gained a reputation as the most prolific cultivators of com. Early Indian agent reports

marvelled at the production, year after year", so it was not surprising that the

Sapulpas always maintained an adequate stand of the Mvskoke staple, white flint com.

It supplied the beloved drink, sofkey which was made from com that had been cracked by the large oak pestle and mortar that was a familiar sight in all Mvskoke yards. After the com had been cracked and winnowed, it was rinsed, and put in a

” Interview with Sarah Sapulpa Fife, 9 April 1937, Indian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society, 472.

"Ibid., 472.

"Ibid., 472.

"For instance: Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affair. 1838,471; 1839, 511; and 1845, 514.

157 large iron caldron and boiled in water-with no other seasoning. As the com became soft, homemade lye, made from the ashes of the Black Jack oak tree, was put in the kettle. The cook had to be very careful in this step, for too much would make the drink too alkaline and unfit for consumption. Cooks usually added the lye conservatively and let it cook; then, retasted the kernels to see if more was needed.

Once the lye was added it was necessary to continue boiling the sofkey to impart the taste completely. It was a process that took many hours to complete." Flint com meal also made bread, hominy, and a cool summer drink called a-bus-kee. These basic com preparations were used for a great variety of dishes that could be embellished with wild game, or what ever food supplies might be available.

As improvement was nude on the Sapulpa farm, it would eventually have fifty-five acres. In addition to com, potatoes; beans; and peanuts were grown. There was also a planting of wheat, which meant that after a harvest, there was always a trip to Muskogee some fifty miles away, to have the wheat ground into flour." In wagons, a one-way trip could take a solid day.

Willie enjoyed hunting with the bow and arrow," and the muzzle-loader'^.

The Muscogee Nation’s abundance of game such as deer, quail, and wild turkey made for a sumptuous table. Young Sapulpa was no doubt proficient and a great help in the

"Sarah Fife, "Sofka," 3 March 1937. Indian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society, 473.

"Fife, "Interview," 472.

"Indian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society, #5570, 330.

"Indian-Pioneer Papers. #7389, 346.

158 provision of food for his family. His father often organized large hunting parties to go into what the Mvskokes called "Old Oklahoma.” This was the land that the U. S. took from the Mvskoke in the Civil War treaties of 1866. Old Oklahoma began about forty miles west of the Sapulpa compound, and was a rolling prairie of expansive tall grass which had abundant game including bison.

Although the children worked hard, there were opportunities for relaxation.

The family attended stick ball games at Locha Poka. a small Mvskoke community.

There were two types of ball games. One game, permitted the boys and the girls to play each other. Another game was men against men. Legus Perryman-who became chief in 1887-said about the men’s ball game as it was played in this period:

Boys were early instructed in bail play, as it was considered the best means of developing their muscles, since it was accompanied by running and wrekling. The old men said it was invented at a time when there was no war and therefore there were no enemies to fîght. They called it "Little War." The name of it was Po-ko-its it-ten, "Hitting at a ball," and sometimes Ah-(uts-kee-tah, "Amusement."”

Tallahassee Boarding School

At the age of twelve years, in 1873, Willie Sapulpa entered Tallahassee boarding school. He was unable to speak English, and yet by 1876 was listed as an honor student. That year, the honor list had noted those students who spoke English before entering school and Willie’s name was not so marked.” His father-and

“Related by L. Perryman, December 14, 1882, in Hewitt, J. N. B. and John Swanton, "Notes on the Creek Indians," Bulletin 123 (Washington D. C.: Smithsonian Institutions, 1939), 146.

“Indian Journal. 1876.

159 without a doubt, his mother-spoke only the Mvskoke language. Still, within three years, he had achieved honor status, along side of those who had arrived conversant in

English.

A contemporary of Willie’s at the Tullahassee school was Samuel Worcester

Robertson, son of the Superintendent of Tullahassee. The two were roughly the same

age. In a short autobiography, Robertson-himself, a fluent Mvskoke speaker in his youth-described the method his father employed to teach the new students English:

Father had an Indian primer in which were pictures of various animals and objects familiar to children, with the names in Creek and English below. Then short sentences in both languages, and thus the beginners had a chance to learn rather quickly.”

Monday was set aside as a catch-up day for the school community. Large

chores like washing clothes and felling trees were taken care of. Favorite chores of

the boys including chopping wood, and splitting rails to make Virginia fences. A

challenge in the fences was to make them tight enough to keep out hogs and pigs.

After the chores, the rest of the day was spent in playing. The boys hunted or fished,

or in season hunted for berries."

Girls had to stay in a group with an adult, but could pick wild flowers,

strawberries, and in season, wild onions." Wild onions were an especially great

delight. The girls cleaned the onions, especially tedious work since the long bulbs

"Samuel Worcester Robertson, "Autobiography," attached to Hope Holway’s "Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson as Linguist," Chronicles of Oklahoma. Vol. 37, No. 1, 52.

“Ibid., 52, 53.

“Ibid., 53.

160 and shafts were so slender. They diced them into small pieces, and sautéed them until tender. Beaten eggs were added, and the mixture cooked further until the eggs were set. Wild onions were usually the first greens to appear in a usually stiff winter diet and as such, among the first welcomed signs of Spring. The compliments the young cooks received were well worth the work.

Robertson, who was seventy when he wrote bis autobiography, recalled that he was included with the Mvskoke boys-which included Willie Sapulpa—on the afternoons of play. The Indian boys made a frank impression on him:

In their own lore, those Indians were far wiser than I, wiser beyond their years in many ways. Their stolid indifference to most kinds of fear and pain, their ability to take hard knocks with a grin, their willingness to share their good luck with others not so lucky has stayed with me all my life."

When the Muscogee Nation announced the second group of students who would be going to the United States to study, Willie Sapulpa was included. The

Indian Journal approved, "We know them all to have been most worthy pupils at home, and believe they will sustain such a reputation abroad.""

At the University of Wooster

Preparatory School

It was January 1880 when the second group of Mvskoke students arrived at the

University of Wooster. Along with Sapulpa were Richard Bruner and a young lady.

"Ibid., 54.

"Indian Journal. 1 January, 1880.

161 Tookah Butler, both from the Eufauia district; and E. E. Hardage, who was from the

Okmulgee district.” As with the first students, a Muscogee Nation official-again

Pleasant Porter-accompanied this second group of students. Porter left the students at

Wooster, and he, with other Mvskoke officials, continued on to Washington, D. C. on official business.”

Of the four students that had first arrived three years earlier, only one remained, A. P. McKellop. McKellop’s classmates Porter, Yargee, and Holder had just returned to the Muscogee Nation. Since the Mvskokes had the policy of supporting students until the age of 21, it is possible the students may have left because they were no longer able to have the financial backing because of their age.

McKellop was in the second semester of his freshman year in collegiate studies. It appears that he had been able to gamer extra support from the University of Wooster to stay because he was considered a particularly outstanding student.

Upon graduating from tlte Wooster University preparatory school the year before,

McKellop had taken the top prize in Latin.”

After arrival on campus, the new students took their entrance exams and were enrolled in their classes. They were all placed in the junior year of the preparatory school and were quickly emersed in their studies. At the time, a total of 154 students enrolled in the preparatory school and combined with the university enrollment totaled

"The Index 1880 (Wooster, Ohio: Fraternities of the University of Wooster).

“Indian Journal. 1 January 1880.

”A. A. E. Taylor to W. S. Robertson, 20 November 1878.

162 three hundred and fifty-five.” Their preparatory studies were to ready them to enter

Classical studies. In addition to English, mathematics, history, and drawing, they had introductory courses in Latin, Virgil, and Cicero.” The students studied each night beginning around 8 o’clock in the evening, and sometimes their work carried them past midnight.”

Another important focus of academic life was the university-sponsored literary societies. Held outside of class time, these organizations were formed to provide an opportunity to develop speaking skills and provide a forum for the mastery of debate.

One writer described them as the optimum training ground for preparation in public affairs.

[The literary societies] were virtually little republics with their own laws and a democratically elected student administration. . . . They furnished a climate of opinion and a forum for developing talents and personalities unequalled by any other facet of college life or instruction.”

The Alpha was a preparatory school society and all of the newer Mvskoke students were listed as members. Benjamin Porter, in the first group of Mvskokes studying at Wooster, had been made Corresponding Secretary of Alpha in his second

3) 1»The Student Reporter, The Wooster Democrat. 21 June 1882, 1.

"From the notebook of Jonas Notestein, 1879-1880. The papers of Jonas Notestein, College of Wooster Library. Wooster OH.

^%chard Bruner to W. S. Robertson, 14 June 1880, Alice Robertson Papers.

"Thomas Harding, College Literary Societies: __ Their CODtributiPil tP . Higher Education in the United States. 1815-1876 (New York: Pageant Press, 1971) 4.

163 year.” Wooster’s first debate contest was held in the Spring of 1880 which corresponded to Sapulpa s first semester at school. A quartette sang "The Indian

Maiden," and a student read a paper on "The Characteristics of the Negro." The debating topic was "Is a system of suffiage without educational qualifications more expedient than a system with such qualifications."^

There were no residence halls at Wooster, and students from Wooster town were expected to live with their own families. Outside male students could take furnished, or unfurnished rooms in private homes:

Furnished rooms for two persons usually cost one dollar a week for each. This included a double bed, a study table, a bookcase, four chairs, a stove, and the care of the room. Each boy provided his own coal or wood and light.^'

Many students took their meals at eating clubs. In addition to food, the clubs served as strong centers of discussion and recreation. There were several clubs that served the students, and each had a name, and a place in the school annual, Ih s

Index.

The first Mvskoke students had come under the guidance of young Professor

Jonas Notestein who carried the responsibility of teaching German and Latin in the

University of Wooster preparatory school. Jonas Notestein also taught Latin at the university level, and was the school registrar. The Indian men lived with the

"Index, 1877, 84.

^ o g ra m , "First Annual Contest," College of Wooster Archives, 19 June 1880.

*'Lucy Notestein, Wooster of the Middle West I (Kent OH: Kent State University, I97I), 59. 164 Notesteins. When the new students arrived, Eli Hardage and Albert McKellop became roommates; as did Bruner with Sapulpa."

In addition to his academic responsibilities, Notestein was also in charge of the

Apple Butter Club." The first Mvskoke students. Porter, McKellop, Yargee, and

Holder took their meals with other Wooster student members. By the time the second group of Mvskoke students had arrived, the Apple Butter Club had relocated, though

Notestein-called "Pap" at the club-continued as its manager. Its new name was the

East Bowman Street Club, and its motto was, "Stomachs as sharp as sharks ....""

The University of Wooster had always been co-ed, but most of the women who attended were from the town of Wooster. Tookah Butler, from far away Muscogee

Nation, Indian Territory, represented a rising local trend of women from outside of the town of Wooster enrolling in school. By the following year, a committee would form to consider a residential home for the women students." But for the time being, as customary with women students, Butler lived in the home of one of the families in the Wooster community." Upon arrival to Wooster, she was immediately taken into Kappa Alpha Theta," then called a women’s fraternity. Kappa Alpha

"Richard Bruner to W. S. Robertson, May 28, 1880.

"Notestein, Wooster. 60, 138.

"Notestein, Wooster. 60; Index, 1879, 61.

"Notestein, Wooster. Ibid., 82.

"Ibid, 82.

"Ibid., 293.

165 Thêta was the University of Wooster’s first hratemal organization for women, organized in 1875.

Over all, both groups of Indian students seemed to find their beginnings at school as positive experiences. Toward the end of his first semester, Bruner wrote,

"We like this place very well.”" There were challenges and doubtless homesickness was one. Here the Muscogee Nation’s newspaper, The Indian Journal may have helped. The first student letter ever published in the paper was from Benjamin Porter.

Porter who had written, "Please let all our friends know we are pleased with our school. . . The boys are well."" Porter had also sent for subscriptions to the

Journal, and since the date of the request was January 7, 1877", his petition had been made only a couple of weeks after he and his classmates had arrived at Wooster.

Three years later, Tookah Butler would write, "It is so nice to get a Journal every week-seems almost like a long letter."^'

Now in an institution of the dominant society, the students were clearly struck by the need for a better grasp of English. Tullahassee-as had most historic schools that enrolled Indian students-had a system of penalties, including corporal punishment, to coerce its students into speaking English. Still, students could speak

"Richard Bruner to W. S. Robertson. May 28, 1880.

"Ibid.

"Indian Journal. 7 January 1877.

"Indian Journal. 20 January 1881.

166 Mvskoke when they were alone with each other, and when they went home. The language of relaxation was Mvskoke.

Arrival to the Mid-west had given students a new perspective on the meaning of being able to speak English. At Wooster, the language for leisure was English, and language was Richard Bruner’s primary concern. He expressed his pleasure to

W. S. Robertson at receiving a well-written letter from an old classmate at

Tullahassee, and declared with new understanding, "we was [sic] very glad that you have no Creek language at that place [Tullahassee]."”

Though they arrived at the university with a command of English from their boarding school experience, they could see there were still challenges to overcome.

Bruner discussed the likelihood, that though they were getting along well at school, and with each other, a discussion had ensued about the hinderance of rooming together. The boys considered living apart from each other to see if it would help their English. He said, "... we can’t to [sic] that all a time about speaking English

[and] rooming together this way."”

Another consideration regarding the challenge of the English language, was their enrollment in a classical curriculum. The command of Latin was a must, and the way to Latin studies was through English. So the students, with Mvskoke as their first language, had to use their second language, English, to access the Latin, and at the same time return the Latin to English and then into Mvskoke. Still one of their

"Bruner to Robertson, May 28, 1880.

"Ibid.

167 own, Albert McKellop, had distinguished himself-and his people-by taking the highest preparatory award in Latin, the gold medal." Bruner was succinct when he simply said, "It is hard for us to give a correct translation [from] Latin into English.”

He added hopefully, "But we keep up with our class very well."”

At the end of 1880, the university president, A. A. E. Taylor commended the students. According to the Journal whose information was probably supplied by W.

S. Robertson, the Superintendent of Tullahassee:

They [the Mvskoke young people) are excellent in character and faithful in their studies. The growth in their English is very noticeable.Their companions are chosen from among the very best in school.”

Doubtless included in the very best of the Indian students’ companions were the sons of Jonas Notestein, Frank and Will. They were part of the Apple Butter

Club, and then the East Bowman street club. Bruner noted, "He [Jonas Notestein} loves the Indian boys as much as he loves the white boys, may be he loves us more."” In fact, the attention Notestein gave the men from Indian Territory was not lost on the student body, and it may be speculated that there was some jealousy among some university students in this regard.

"IhfiJndfix, 1880, 45.

”Bruner to W. S. Robertson, 14 June 1880.

"Indian Journal. January 20, 1881.

”Bniner to W. S. Robertson, May 28, 1880.

168 The Effect of the Indian Students on the School

When the first Indian students arrived at the University of Wooster, they had been singled out with praise, "For the first time, the University has, this year, received representatives of the Indian nations. They are civil, polite, and well- mannered young men and good students."” The Wayne County Democrat singled out Benjamin Porter as an "exceedingly bright and intelligent young man."” This praise continued through the coming of the second group of students:

The Indians in the University are well-behaved, modest people, who seem to take quite naturally to the system of College instruction. Mr. McKellop, the one who has been here longest, is an incoming Sophomore, and stands near the top of his class. Miss Tookah Butler, the young Indian lady, is quite fîne looking, of a stately, graceful, form and with regular intelligent features.”

The campus became aware of them, almost immediately, and this awareness converted into conscious knowledge. A semester earlier, few students would have even heard of the Creek Indians. Yet, four months after their arrival. The Review, the student newspaper, recognized an error made by another student paper and smugly commented: "The Berklayen says there are four Greek Indians at Wooster.

Then there was the Index, a student publication that served as the school annual. It listed the year’s student activities, fraternities, sororities, literary and

"Index, 1877, 4.

""Wooster: Its business," in the Wayne County Democrat. January 24, 1877.

“Wayne County Democrat. 23 June ’80, 4.

“Wooster Review. May, 1877, 6.

169 Christian clubs, and eating clubs. It tried to be a publication of bi-jinks and jest, and admonished up front:

Take no thought at what you find in the Index in reference to yourself. Whatever we have said is in no case intended to hurt anyone’s feelings, but is given in the spirit of College boys fun. Receive it in that spirit.®

Perhaps one reference toward the Indian students might have been construed as harmless fun. After all, other students had lines in the Review making fun of their foibles. After the names of the Apple Butter Club members came a descriptive phrase:

H. L. Irwin—"Your wit makes wise things foolish."

C. H. Kyle—"Nay, friar, I am a kind of burr, 1 shall stick.’

For the Indian students, however, the Index directly made fun of their race.

B. E. Porter-"Great medicine man."

A. P. Mckellop—"A mighty warrior."

Tom Holder—"Lessons heap damn hard."

J. Yargee—"A dusky mate. Many scalps adorn his lodge pole."®

As in the experiences of David Moniac and George Washington Grayson, the college population could not seem to get past the race of the Indian students. For

Moniac, it was his administration who constantly seemed to want him on display because of his Indianess. It finally provoked his flat refusal to an officer to let a

“Index, 1879, 81.

“Index, 1877,64.

170 former vice-president of the United States see him. For Grayson, the constant attention to his race had made him feel so isolated, that his first collegiate experiences were filled with tears and loneliness. While, such public remarks directed toward the

Mvskoke students may have been made in ignorance, nevertheless, they must have provoke uncomfortable feelings in the Mvskoke students. Yet, in the beginning, there seemed to be no noticeable reaction on the part of their part and perhaps being together to absorb the shock may have helped. In all likelihood, the Mvskokes may not have said anything, because the jibes did not go away.

In the 1879 lodfis, a one line filler of famous book characters named Thomas

Holder and A. P. McKellop as "The Last of the Mohicans." In another, a cartoon called "Preps at Play," was a cartoon montage of little people, playing leap-frog, rolling hoops, playing marbles, and bobbing for apples. On the upper left comer was an unmistakable student with a bow whose arrow had just hit its mark across the page, someone’s rear end.**

In the 1880 Index stronger prods were made. By this time the second group of

Mvskoke students had arrived. This time the barbs were directed at students known to associate with the Indian students. The format was entitled, "Answers to

Correspondents":

K. S. - No, Will Notestine don’t room at the college. He is only up there learning to ride an Indian pony.

H. L. - No, not now. Devon has been elected chief of the Creeks.

‘*lDdfiX, 1879, 80.

171 Finally there was the cartoon titled, Notestine’s Indian Club. Pictured were caricatures of exercise Indian clubs drawn with faces, arms and legs, and seated around a table. It was captioned:

Lo! Here is an ill-furnished table. Where guests are promiscuously set— Where all fare as well as they’re able. And scramble for what they can get.*'

The double entendre appeared to attempt a sizable jab at a perceived exclusiveness, "the club", of the Notestein-lndian student relationship; as well as at those who appeared to be "club participants." In size, the lampoon was prominently displayed in more than a half-page in the annual, frankly demanding the attention of the reader. Whether or not there was any reaction over the derision, the record does not show. However, in the following year, the 1881 Index-and subsequent issues— left off any jibes about the Indian students. Instead it simply noted that A. P.

McKellop was in his sophomore year, and Tookah Butler and Eli Hardage were members of the Oi Alloi literary society. The following year, Butler became the secretary of the Qrio society.

The New Freshmen

McKellop Leaves Wooster

As the issues of the Indian Journal for the early 1880s arrived at Wooster, one read that there was no small fear at home that the very sovereignty of the Indian

Territory nations was threatened. After the Civil War, many bills had been

"lod^, 1880, 84.

172 introduced in Congress to end the Indian governments and authorize Congress to take over Indian Territory. At first the battles seemed confined to Washington.

By the beginning of 1880, however, the battle arrived at the doorstep of the

Indian nations. David Payne had begun a movement to claim land in the Indian territory. It was the lands of the Cherokees and Mvskokes that the U. S. government had confiscated after the Civil War and had promised to use for the settlement of

Indian tribes and negro freedmen. Payne claimed the land was unassigned land and

U. S. citizens had the right to claim it. He set up encampments on the border of the land and invaded the land.

Doubtless letters from home also reached the college students about the Payne situation. Certainly the pages of the Indian Journal were filled with the details. In the December 23, 1880 issue, the Journal filled its front page with some eleven editorials from various United States news papers including those of New York, and

Chicago against the Payne movement and in support of the Indian nations."

It is safe to assume that at the UniversiQr of Wooster, the news probably concerned all of the Mvskoke students. But, it was especially disturbing to A. P.

McKellop. As a sophomore, he was not only his class’s top Latin scholar, but he was near the head of his class. He had felt that his college studies were leading him to return to the Muscogee Nation as a minister. But, clearly, the news from home severely tested this desire and McKellr^ changed his mind.

"Indian Journal. 23 December 1880.

173 He wrote to his fnend and teacher at Tullahassee, W. S. Robertson, who had inquired about McKellop’s anticipation of entering the ministry. The boy replied;

When 1 first came here to school my intention was to study for the ministry, but after a careful consideration of the real needs of our people, 1 have changed my mind. It seems plain to me that we must fint secure for our people a country where they can live in peace and comfort, before our efforts to christianize them can be of much avail. So long as our people are in a state of fear and uncertainty as to what their future condition will be, 1 can not see how they can be induced to contemplate any such thing as Christianity."

McKellop concluded with his decision, "I have decided to spend my life as a politician and statesman defending the sacred right of our people.”" It must have been a great blow to the elder teacher who had watched the academic rise of what he anticipated would be a splendid Presbyterian minister among the Mvskoke.

The dismayed Robertson wrote to persuade McKellop to change his mind, but he also knew it would be fruitless. He wrote to J. C. Lowrie, the field secretary of the Presbyterian church, ”... this constant triad of sectionalism, separation, and enforced [U. S.] citizenship seems a sad draw back on the [Mvskoke people.”" At the end of the 1881 Spring semester, Albert Pike McKellop, suffering an eye infection, returned to the Muscogee Nation.^

"W. S. Robertson to J. C. Lowrie, Indian Correspondence, Presbyterian Church, 23 October 1880.

"Ibid.

"Ibid.

C. Gideon, Indian Territory fjinded Rotates County Seate Frc Ftc (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1901), 345-346.

174 In the Fall of 1881, Sapulpa, Bruner, Hardage and Butler entered their

Freshman year of Collegiate studies at the University of Wooster. The university offered three bachelors degrees, one in classical studies, one in philosophy, and one in scientific studies. The young Mvskokes enrolled in the classical studies curriculum.

Classical studies required a solid foundation in Latin, plus Greek, and either modem

German or French as an elective. The course of study was described as "Classical as in best Eastern Colleges."^'

The second group of Mvskoke students were on their own. A. P.

McKellop, who surely must have served as elder brother and quasi-mentor as the students adjusted to their surrounding, was gone. Butler, Sapulpa, and Hardage continued their participation in literary clubs. The university had organized an athletic association” and Richard Bruner joined the football team as a half-back.” Even the

Index had ceased singling out the Indian students for jibes and jokes about their perceived Indianess.

Writing to W. S. Robertson in the Spring of 1882, Freshman Sapulpa expressed a great interest in becoming a minister once he returned to the Muscogee

Nation. He thanked Robertson for sending him a New Testament recently translated into the Mvskoke by Mrs. Robertson. ' Sapulpa participated in the new YMCA

"Wayne County Democrat. June, 1877.

"Notestein, Wooster. 124.

"lodfix, 1882.

"William Sapulpa to W. S. Robertson, April 25, 1882 and March 31, 1883. Robertson Pxqiers, University of Tulsa.

175 which had been established in the fall of 1879. The ’Y’ was originally called the

Brainard Society after the early day Moravian missionary to the Indians. The

Brainard Society been established at the university in 1876 as an outgrowth of student interest in the "problems of Christian living in the university." '

William enjoyed the university. At the end of 1882, he had been on campus for nearly two and-a-half years without going home. On vacations, he went home with Aiends-especially to nearby Mansfield, Ohio, where from his first trip, he reported T saw most all the big buildings in the city.’^‘

When McKellop went home, one could sense William’s concern that he might be called home by the Muscogee Nation:

1 want to stay here and do what 1 can do best. My father sent me a letter he said that 1 would stay longer, so I am willing to be here as long as 1 can.”

In the beginning of William Sapulpa s sophomore year he had an eye soreness that threw him behind in his studies. ' By the second semester he seemed to be still

making up lost time, but he seemed optimistic about his situation:

1 missed many lessons at the beginning of the last term, when 1 had sore eyes. 1 was trying to make it up so 1 would have easy examination. 1 got through all my examinations on Thursday of this

^Notestein, Wooster. 56, 120.

^ p u lp a to W. S. Robertson, 25 April 1882.

”W. A. Sapulpa to W. S. Robertson, 25 April 1882.

^ o t e that A. P. McKellop had suffered a similar affliction. Writer Angie Debo speculated that all of the Mvskoke were infected with trachoma. Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A History o f the Creelr fndians fNnnnanr University of Oklahoma Press, 1941), 301.

176 week. I think I did it alright in my judgement. I don’t know whether it was right or not.”

Among some of the changes happening at Wooster during Sapulpa s freshman year was the beginning of the construction of a gymnasium. The students had petitioned the administration for it and much of the money for its construction came from them. However, the building went up very slowly because of the difficulty of soliciting complementary funds from outside sources for it. In Sapulpa s last semester in 1883, it was completed.

Perhaps most impressive to him was the addition of a faculty member to teach music. Karl Mertz was well received as the new music professor." While Sapulpa doesn’t say whether he, himself, took music classes, nevertheless, he declares with admiration, "... [musicj is already being taught this year. Professor of Music is very good teacher. About 200 hundred students study music under one professor.""

William concluded his letter reassuring the Robertsons that he was willing "to do most anything for Christ." If it was to be a minister, it was fine with him. But, his hope was to "do something for my people," and he deemed that he would get a thorough education and fulfill his responsibilities in the fear of God." He received his wish to stay longer at Wooster.

7 »('Sapulpa to A. E. W. Robertson, 31 March, 1883.

"Notestein, Wooster . 110-112.

"Ibid.

“Ibid.

177 At the end of the Spring semester in 1883, Tookah Butler was called home on a family emergency, and at the end of the summer William Sapulpa, E. E. Hardage, and Richard Bruner went home to the Muscogee Nation for good. It was the end of what apparently was a satisfying experience for the students, but it was also the end of an era for the Universify of Wooster. The Spring semester of 1883 was also the last semester for President A. A. E. Taylor, who resigned.

Summary

This chapter is a short study of a higher education program in the Muscogee

Nation. Informally called " Youth-in-the-States, " it was created by the Muscogee

National Council in 1876. It was the second Mvskoke attempt at supporting higher education for its young people. A first attempt was short-lived, cut short by the

American Civil War.

From a group of Mvskoke students who attended the University of Wooster in

Ohio in the 1880s, the focus is on one particular Mvskoke student, William Sapulpa.

Willie Sapulpa was bom to in 1861 to Cha-pok-sa and Sapulpa in the Muscogee

Nation. He was one of eleven children bom to Sapulpa and his two wives. His father settled his families some twenty miles Southwest of what is now Tulsa,

Oklahoma. He set up a lucrative business as a store owner. He gave up the store in the 1870s to tend to farming.

Willie’s early life was simple but full of work. He and his brothers and sisters all had a responsibilities r^olving their father’s Arm. They worked with cattle, and they helped cultivate the crops. Willie was also fond of hunting was excellent with

178 the bow and arrow and the muzzle-loader gun. Through his mother he was a member of Cussitah tribal town.

In 1873, Willie Sapulpa was admitted to Tullahassee Manual Labor Boarding

School. He did not speak any English when he first enrolled, but within three years was on the Tullahassee honor roll. In 1879, he was chosen to be sent to the

University of Wooster in Ohio, where he entered with the second group of Mvskoke students. The other students were Richard Bruner, E. E. Hardage, and the first

Mvskoke woman, Tookah Butler. They were placed in the preparatory department.

Though the students enjoyed the university, student publications may have indicated some jealousy of the attention they received. While jesting was made toward student foibles, jabs were often nude at the Indianess of the Mvskoke students.

The annual also made fun of white students who associated with the Indian young people. In 1881, the written harassment stopped, and the Indian students were treated as any other student was treated in the college publications.

In 1881, A. P. McKellop, one of the Mvskoke who had been at Wooster since

1877, returned to the Muscogee Nation. He had distinguished himself as the top Latin scholar of his class. While he may have gone home because of sore eyes, on the other hand, he had held expectations of returning to the Muscogee Nation as a prepared Presbyterian minister. But, prior to his return, he renounced his calling to the ministry to be a politician to serve his people.

In the All of 1881, Butler, Sapulpa, Bruner and Hardage became freshman at

Wooster University. T h ^ pursued the classical degree and enjoying their studies.

179 They participated in literary and Christian organizations. Bruner joined the football team as a half-back. With encouragement from his father, Sapulpa hoped to stay at

Wooster as long as possible to get a thorough education to serve his people. Sapulpa also felt he had inclination to become a minister. By summer's end, in 1883, E. E.

Hardage, Richard Bruner, Tookah Butler, and William Sapulpa returned to the

Muscogee Nation for good.

180 CHAPTER 6 WHAT WILL THEY BECOME?

Many of the boys and girls are being sent to the States to be educated at the expense of the nation. The result is a surprise to the stranger who meets so many well-educated people among the nations. John Tufls, U. S. Indian Agent, Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1880. 95.

"... then examine what they actually became." James Axtell." "The Death of the Liberal Arts College," History of Education Quarterly. II, Winter 1971, 339- 352.

Introduction

The Dismal Side of Schooling

By the eighteenth century, though some Indian students and tribes had received sporadic usefulness from anglo schooling, the Mvskoke had seen a wholly dismal side.

One student after another returned with lost identities, useless to themselves and to their people. During a treaQr negotiation in 1796, the Mvskoke had objected to a

U.S. offer for schools by extolling so many cases of broken lives, that a scribe recording negotiations could only summarize:

[Cussetah Micco said] .... that the Indians, when educated, turned out very worthless; became mischievous and troublesome, and involve the red and white people in difficulties. That they had many melancholy examples of this sort, without an exception.'

Legislative and Executive Documents of the Congress of the United States. Vol IV. (Washington DC: Gales and Seaton, 1832), 602.

181 One story could have been Richard Bailey, the son of a prosperous Mvskoke family of Aut-to-se tribal town in Alabama. In the 1790s, he was sent to Philadelphia for schooling, but when he returned to the Tallapoosa, he had undergone a shocking change. Benjamin Hawkins, the U. S. Indian agent to the Mvskoke confederacy observed the transformation. Richard, the son of a deceased prosperous Mvskoke farmer, bad returned with a large identiQr crisis.

. . . he has brought with him into the nation so much contempt for the Indian mode of life, that he has got himself into discredit with them.^

It was expected that Richard would take over the management of his widowed mother’s farm. In 1801, however, agent Hawkins noted the degradation of the once prosperous farm and summarized, "The fifty bee hives are reduced to one, and his son

Richard is neither an Indian nor white man."^

As part of the abrogation of the 1826 Treaty of Indian Springs, arrangements had been made to send Mvskoke students to the new Choctaw Academy in Kentucky .'

Through the removal to Indian Territory, the Mvskokes continually supported their students. When the students returned home, however, the examples of detached identities, and dissipated lives continued with more returning students unequipped for a life among their people.

^ n jam in Hawkins, "A Sketch of the Creek Country," in Creek Indian History, compiled by W. B. Hodgson (Americus GA: Americus Book Co., 1933), 30-31.

% id., f.n., 32.

'Charles J. Kappler, Indian Laws and Treaties. H (Washington, D. C.; Government Printing Office, 1904), 284-286.

182 In 1842, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, sent to observe Indian Territory, penned the following to the Secretary of War:

1 heard this complaint especially among the Creeks and among the Choctaws. A Creek chief, from the conduct of a son educated in Kentucl^, had imbibed the deepest prejudice against all education as the source of every enormity under the sun.'

Returning students often found themselves in social isolation, miles apart from those who had shared a common intellectual foundation, and were often just as emotionally and culturally distanced from their families. Parents complained that besides bad habits, "... their children . . . came home with no knowledge that was of any use."®

The U. S. Indian agent to the Mvskoke noted that the returnees could "... apply his education to dq profitable or practical use . . . ."\

Hence it is as there is no employment found for body or mind, they gradually imbibe idle, dissolute habits, and too often become a nuisance and curse to the nation.'

One Mvskoke approached the National Council after his return from the

Choctaw Academy to offer his service. Upon his return home, he had apparendy

found his family in poor financial straits. He thought his newly acquired skills would

'Ethan Allen Hitchcock, A Traveler in Indian Territory, ed. by Grant Foreman (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1938), 260-261.

®lbid., 261.

lam es Logan, Creek Indian Agent in Commissioner of Indian Affairs Report. 1842. 503.

'Ibid., 503.

183 help him make a contribution to his family. To his dismay, he received a strong rebuke. He wrote to the U. S. agent to the Mvskoke:

I often fancied, while on my journey home, that upon arriving there I will seek employment in some public capacity, where I may have an opportunity of making known aill that 1 have learned, that will be of service to my people. 1 will use my acquirements in benefiting my country, and the arts I am acquainted with shall be practiced for the general utility and good. Upon my arrival, after seeing my relations, 1 visited the chiefs and made known to them my intentions.’

Judge my astonishment at their answer—You advise us? You are a white man! You cannot talk Indian. If you desire to be one, pull off your fine clothes; put on the hunting shin and leggins; go to the busk and drink the physic, and then talk like one, and we will listen to you"

He continued:

1 left them more in sorrow than in anger.’ My plans had failed; my means were failing; my relations were poor. I had not means of profitably employing my time. To disperse care and trouble, 1 turned to drinking whiskey . "

The agent reported that the boy died in a drinking escapade and blamed the lack of support from home:

The cause lies in their own country, and greatly with the authorities in it, who give the students not encouragement to practice the arts they have acquired, nor employment to make a living in the manner they are qualified for . . .*^

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1845. 520.

‘"Ibid., 520.

“Ibid., 520.

"Ibid., 520.

184 But an agent in the Choctaw Nation where there had been several suicides among returning students arrived at a different conclusion. The young men had left too young and stayed away too long. They returned home as strangers and had no concept of how their people lived their lives at home." His recommendation was to bring the children home to attend boarding school in their nation:

They will see their parents and relations frequently. . . That intimacy . . . will prevent that alienation of feeling which too frequently occurs by sending a boy away from his relations and nation for a series of successive years . . . will create in his bosom an attachment to his own country. . . the society of the vicious white men will be excluded from them in their own nation . .

Two Early Lives

Two early Mvskoke lives differed from the returnees from Choctaw Academy.

By virtue of attending higher education institutions, both were in their teens before they left the familiarity of home for their far away school. As it was, upon their return, both would be sought to lend their lives to their people, but with different ending consequences.

David Moniac

Seven months after graduating with the U. S. Military Academy class of 1822, brevet lieutenant David Moniac resigned his commission. A family biography speculates that an uncle, David Tate, had written that Moniac’s father’s goods were being squandered, and feared that all of the Moniac property could be lost. As Lower

"Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1843. SOI.

"Ibid., 502.

185 Mvskokes, Moniac lives revolved less around the tribal town fire, and more around the family properties. Moniac returned home. He married and settled in Baldwin county, near Little River northeast of Mobile, Alabama." His family was prominent

in Mvskoke and Georgia political affairs, and Moniac was noted as a ". . . high-toned chivalric gentleman and cordially esteemed by all who knew him. . . .""

Moniac lived a gentlemanly life until the second Seminole War. In the 1830s, the United States began to press the Seminole to remove to Indian Territory. The

Seminole strongly opposed a plan that would have them live among the Mvskoke in the new territory. They were especially bitter toward those Indians taking sides with the whites, usually Lower Mvskokes.

In 1835, the Seminole launched a powerful rebellion against removal led by

Osceola—who was actually the cousin of Moniac’s wife—and other leaders." The

United States mustered some 750 Mvskokes as volunteers for an Indian militia. In

August 17, 1836, David Moniac joined the Mvskoke regiment as a commissioned

captain. On November 21-a week after he was commissioned a major-he was killed

in an ambush, his body pierced by 67 shots. A writer speculated that the high number

of shots indicated the particular hostility the Seminoles held for him." That Moniac

"Thompson, Lynn Hastie, William Weatherford: His Country and His People (Bay Minette, AL: Lavender Publishing Co., 1991), 923.

"Benjamin Griffith, "Lt. David Moniac, Creek Indian: First Minority Graduate of West Point," Alabama Historical Ouarterly. Summer, 1981, 105.

"The United States was never able to apprehend the resistant Seminoles, and Osceola’s band still live in Florida.

"Griffith, Moniac. 106-109.

186 was not only Mvskoke, but held a high rank in the army volunteers may have been particularly galling to the Seminole. Thus ended the life of the first Mvskoke to attend and graduate in an American institute of higher education.

George Washington Grayson

In the summer of 1860, two things happened to George Washington Grayson.

The first, the serious illness of his father made it impractical Grayson to return to

Arkansas College. The second, his realization of changes in his tastes and perceptions had made staying home a lonely experience;

After living at home for a few days . . .my joy gave way to a very distressing loneliness and dissatisfaction with this sudden change from a life in a fairly good business town where many well dressed people were to be seen at all times intermingling with each other in trade or otherwise, to my humble cabin home . . . [which] was anything but agreeable to my now changed tastes and way of seeing things, and the thought of remaining permanently here in these quiet solitudes, was distressing indeed.”

He took a sales position at North Fork town, not far from home at fifteen dollars a month plus board. He then moved to a more "extensive and pretentious concern" in North Fork, the S. S. Sanger store.” Within the year the Civil War moved into Indian Territory, cutting short school experiences, and sending Indian

Territory youth returned home to take up arms. Young Grayson, not quite twenty, became an officer for the Confederate cause. He never returned to school.

”W. David Baird, Editor, A Creek Warrior for the Confederacy: The Autobiography of Chief G W. Grayson (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 55, 56.

"Ibid., 56.

187 The Civil War had also closed Grayson’s school, Arkansas College. The rear guard of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry, after being quartered in the college building, razed it upon leaving Fayetteville, in March, 1862—possibly to keep the building out of the hands of Northern troops. The college never reopened, but was considered the inspiration for opening the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1871.^'

After the war, the newly formed Mvskoke constitutional government claimed their right to Grayson’s services by virtue of their financial support for him to attend

Arkansas College.” His first position was as cleric to the National Council and to the chiefs. He would eventually serve the Muscogee Nation as a national interpreter as well as treasurer. In his role as treasurer of the Muscogee Nation, he became the first administrator of the Muscogee higher education program, Youth-in-the-States.” In

1917, at the age of seventy-four, he was appointed by the President of the United

States to became the second non-elected Principal Chief of the Creek Indians.

Moniac and Grayson were among the earliest known Mvskoke participants in higher education. Moniac was well-accepted upon his return home in the 1820s, but his family was part of the anglo-acculturated so-called Lower Creek society. His schooling eventually drew him into the heart of the inner conflict of the Mvskoke people, and his destiny ended in tragedy. G. W. Grayson gave life-long service to his

”W. J. Lenmke, Early Colleges and Academies of Washington County. Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas: Washington County Historical Society, 1954), 16, 73.

“Ibid., 126.

“Ward Coachman, Principal Chief of the Mvskoke Nation to G. W. Grayson, Treasurer of the Mvskoke Nation, 30 October 1878. Crgf% Records #38467.

188 Mvskoke government. His service began in a time when the recognition of the need for people of his bi lingual competencies was just beginning within the new constitutional government, the Muscogee Nation.

Youth-in-the-States

Records do not offer consistent information to study the lives of all the returning students participating in Youth-in-the States." Some became businessmen and entrepreneurs, and others ranchers and farmers. Many returnees appeared in legislative and judicial rosters. A. P. McKellop rose from clerkship to become the

Mvskoke s frrst attorney general. Many became active in the Muscogee Nation schools sometime during their professional careers. A few lives were hidden, not be heard from again, as far as public record.

Richard Bruner, noted in the previous chapter as a half-back for the Wooster

University football team, completed his sophomore year at Wooster. Bruner returned to the Muscogee Nation and entered the mercantile business. He also returned to

"The federal government permitted the deposit of the Muscogee Nation documents at the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) in 1934. They had been held in the Federal Building Muskogee, Oklahoma since the Dawes Commission solicited them as part of their process of taking over the Muscogee government during the 1898-1907 allotment process. According to the notes of the OHS, among volumes never turned over were the official Acts of the National Council and records of the Muscogee Supreme Court. These missing volumes created a large gap in being able to identify all of the members of the respective legislative and judiciary bodies at any particular time. Manuscripts of some acts and random legislative lists are found within the collection, however, and these were used to try piece together some of the careers of the students.

189 school, this time to a commercial college in Quincy, Illinois. He was appointed as superintendent of the Coweta Boarding School in 1900."

Tooka Butler married a mid-western merchant, C. W. Turner, who had opened a large mercantile business in Muskogee." She taught school for the Muscogee

Nation and became involved the civic responsibilities arising from transformation of a small village, Muskogee, into a prosperous municipality.

The superintendent of Tullahassee boarding school who described Eli Hardage as "studious," recommended he replace one of the Mvskoke students who was struggling with studies at Wooster." Hardage returned to the Muscogee Nation, and first appeared as clerk for his judicial district. In 1890, he completed an unfulfilled term for Cussetah Mekko in the House of Kings, becoming the youngest member to have served in that chamber. Completing that obligation, in the same year, he was elected to the House of Warriors from Cussetah Town." In 1896, he was appointed as the Superintendent of Wealaka boarding school."

The UniversiQr of Wooster was not the only institution where students enrolled.

La Grange, Drury, and William Jewel colleges of Missouri, and what is now the

"Gideon, D. C., Indian Territory. Landed Estates. County Seats, etc.. etc.fNew York: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1901), 504.

"Indian Journal. 13 September 1883.

"W. S. Robertson to J. C. Lowrie, Indian Correspondence, Presbyterian Church, 2 December 1878.

"D C. Gideon, Indian Territory. 219-221.

"Creek Nation Records, 23 October 1896, Document #37114.

190 University of Arkansas in Fayetteville also received students. There were also

theological seminaries, and smaller colleges throughout the South-many no longer in

existence-that invited Mvskoke students to their campuses.”

Several returnees garnered outstanding respect from their people. Lila Denton,

who received extended financial support from a college faculty member that had once taught at Tullahassee school, completed her course in 1884. She received a degree of

the Mistress of Arts from Highland College in Hillsboro, Ohio." Within ten years of

her return to the Muscogee Nation, she had become known as a builder of schools.

She assisted with the establishment of the Coweta Boarding School, and a day school

in the Mvskoke Council House at Okmulgee. Denton was called to Tulsa to establish a day school, and when Tulsa incorporated into a municipality, her school became the

beginning of the Tulsa public school system.”

Another important Mvskoke educator was Peter Ewing who became a noted educator in the Mvskoke school system in the 1880s and 1890s. He had been a

student in the national day system, and finished his studies at Asbury boarding school.

He left the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to attend William Jewel College in

Missouri. He returned to be an educator and a noted legislator.”

”A selective perusal of Creek National Records 38400-38600 names many institutions.

"Highland College Collection. Ohio Historical Society. Columbus, OH.

"Lila Denton Lindsay, "Memories of the hidian Territory Mission Field, " Chronicles of Oklahoma. XXXVI, ÏÏI (1958), 193-201.

"Gideon, Indian Territory 209-210.

191 Then, there was the brilliant Alexander Posey. Posey, who was among the first to stay home for college, completed his junior year at Indian University. While he chose not to return for his Senior year, as a student, he had developed a love of literature and oratory. Within a year of leaving college, his district sent him to the

House of Warriors. While he early established a distinguished political career, it would be his literary pursuits that would gain the interest of the outside world. His satirical essays based upon the politics of the impact between the Dawes Commission and Indian Territory were well-received. As a writer, Posey’s fame probably extended further than that of any other Mvskoke as his columns not only appeared in

Eastern newspapers, but were sought by European publications as well.^

In fact Posey may have represented a barely emergent literary trend among the

Mvskoke. S. Alice Callahan was a daughter in a Mvskoke family who had left

Alabama and had settled in Texas. Her father Sam had attended school through the collegiate level and was a newspaper editor. When the family Anally moved to the

Muscogee Nation he worked as a clerk and then as the private secretary to chiefs

Samuel Checote, Roly McIntosh, and Isparhecher. At one point he was also the superintendent of the Wealaka boarding school.”

Alice Callahan’s advanced schooling had come from a Staunton, Virginia women’s college. She had began her professional life as a teacher in the Muscogee

” Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., Alex Posey: ___ Creek Poet. Journalist, and HumoristfUncoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992) 1-350.

”A. La Yonne Brown Reoff "Introduction" to S. Alice Callahan, Wynema: A Child of the Forest (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991) xiii.

192 national school system in Okmulgee and then moved to the Harrell Methodist Institute in Muskogee. Always interested in writing, she became the first Indian woman to have a published novel, Wynema. A Child of the Forest. The small work was published by the H. J. Smith & Co. in 1891. Callahan was in the midst of plans to finish her studies in Virginia when she contracted pleurisy and died suddenly on

January 7, 1894 at the age of 26.“

Charles Gibson was nearly fi% years old and had only recently moved from clerk to store-owner, when his essays began to be published in 1896. His mother was the niece of Opothle Yahola, and he attended the Asbury boarding school. He had a long relationship with the Indian Journal writing a column called "Gibson’s Rifle

Shots." Eventually, as in the case of Alexander Posey, his articles were picked up and sent around the world. Gibson’s writing was known to impart "horse sense" and

"humor” on contemporary Indian Territory topics.”

In 1883, William Sapulpa returned to the Muscogee Nation after completing his sophomore year at the University of Wooster in Ohio. Even though William

Sapulpa rose to positions of leadership among his people, writers ignored him in the more brilliant light of a Posey, a Denton-Lindsay, or a Ewing. His was not a life that

“Carolyn Thomas Foreman, "S. Alice Callahan: Author of Wynema, A Child of the Forest," Chronicles of Oklahoma. Vol. 33 (1955) 306-315, 519.

^TJttlefield, Jr., Daniel and James W. Parins, Eds., Native American Writing in the Southeast: An Anthology. 1875-1935 (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1995), 111.

193 outside observers tbund relevant to their understanding of the Muscogee Nation. His first notoriety wasn’t even his own, but that of his father, whose single name,

Sapidpa, generated respect wherever he went. The younger Sapulpa was merely

"Willie," one of old Sapulpa’s collection of children from his wives at Cono Hutchee.

Within the Muscogee Nation, however, William Sapulpa’s life may have been more representative of the returning Mvskoke student. His adult work prior to

Oklahoma statehood was in Mvskoke politics, farming, and education. He was a contemporary of Lila Denton and a legislative colleague of Alexander Posey. His rise to leadership is even more notable because it occurred in one of the most difficult political eras of the Muscogee Nation. By the end of his career, Sapulpa had amassed an extensive resume of service to his people. Under the topic, "The Life and Times of William Sapulpa," this narrative is divided into three sections discussing his return to a nation in challenge; his entry into the legislature; other activities; and concludes with a summary.

The Life and Times of William A. Sapulpa

Return to a Nation in Challenge

After three years of study in Latin, Philosophy, English, Mathematics, and participation in preparatory and collegiate debating societies, William Sapulpa returned home. He arrived in Muskogee on the evening train in the late summer of 1883.”

He was twenty-two years old. It may have been his first trip home since enrolling at

"Indian Journal. 16 August 1883.

194 Wooster for the Spring 1880 term, for Jonas Notestein, Wooster Professor of Latin was known to arrange for the Mvskoke students to work at the nearby city of

Mansfield, Ohio in the summers.” If so, essentially, William had been away for three-and-a-half years, where, at the University of Wooster, he had learned to negotiate the broad mental leaps between his native Mvskoke language, near fluent

English, and the ancient Latin. He was at-ease in the college atmosphere. He understood debate, and the manners of a mid-western Presbyterian gentleman.

Now, back in the Muscogee Nation, he set out for the elder Sapulpa’s prosperous farm at Cono Hutchee. Pole Cat creek, where he had grown up.

There from youthful play, he had learned, intimately, the forests, hills and creeks around the Mvskoke and Yucchi settlements. It was where he bad developed a keen ability in shooting the bow and arrow, and learned the intricacies of playing stick ball.

We don’t know how he went home, once he had disembarked from the train that hot August evening. He may have rented a horse for the ride; or, more likely someone from Cono Hutchee had arrived with a wagon, or a buggy to carry him home. If he had traveling companions on the trip across the prairie, he doubtless heard the latest on the Green Peach War and other community gossip. Whether or not he traveled alone, he surely must have wondered about his desire to serve his people, and the kind of schooling that he had, and how it was to fit together.

”Richard Bruner to W. S. Robertson, 28 May 1880, Alice Robertson Collection, University of Tulsa.

195 Added to Sapulpa’s reflectioa was the sudden death of Wooster schoolmate,

Benjamin E. Porter, just two months earlier. Porter, Chief Samuel Checote’s private secretary, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 12, 1883. It was a murder that shocked the Nation, and greatly jarred the Porter hunily, one of the most prominent Mvskoke families. The assassin, of the same political persuasion as Porter, eventually turned himself in, but never explained his actions. Tooka Butler was the sister of Porter’s wife and had immediately left the University of Wooster to be at her sister’s side.'”

As the young Sapulpa started work, he did seem restless, unable to settle into a work deemed suitable for someone of his academic background. Reminiscent of G.

W. Grayson’s restlessness after returning from Arkansas College, Sapulpa took a position with a merchant in Okmulgee.'*' The stint at the Severs’s store was followed by an appointment as a U. S. Indian officer. In this period of time, he may have also been a Lighthorseman, and an appointed U. S. Marshal. He was also an elected tax collector for the Muscogee Nation, collecting taxes owed by non-citizens having

Muscogee pasture leases. But these were also short-lived experiences covering probably only the first two or three years after his return.*^

In fact, Sapulpa’s seeming restiveness may have reflected the uneasiness found through-out Indian Territory. The same news edition that announced Sapulpa’s return

Indian Journal. 14 June 1883.

" Indian-Pioneer Papers. Vol. 101, #12756, 46.

F. and E. S. O’Beime, Indian Territory: Its Chiefs. Legislators and tid in g Men (St. Louis MO: C. B. Woodward Co., 1892), 239.

196 from college, carried the text of the settlement of the latest Mvskoke internal conflict, the Green Peach W ar/' Instead of peace and stability, however, there was more troubling news, white invaders squatting within the borders of Indian Territory. Time was nearly at hand when it would take no prophet to recognize the dangers to Indian sovereignty being precisely defined from outside the Territory. Just as the U. S. populations had flooded the Republic of Texas and the Willamette Valley of Oregon in the 1840s, so the subtle move to introduce U. S. citizens into Indian Territory—a move John Calhoun was said to have called "silent immigration"-had begun.*^

Approaching the 1880s, organized invasions of white settlers into Indian

Territory were becoming frequent. By falsely claiming that President Rutherford

Hayes had made the western lands of Indian Territory, "Old Oklahoma," a public domain. David Payne had picked up many followers. President Hayes, himself, issued a declaration in 1880 that Payne’s claims were without foundation." The

1881 Commissioner of Indian Affairs report noted:

The greater part of the troubles that arise here are occasioned by white intruders— American citizens whom the U. S. by treaty are obligated to and should properly remove from the Territory."

"Indian Journal. 16 August 1883.

"Luther B. Hill, A History of the State of Oklahoma (New York: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1910), 150.

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1880. xx,

"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1881. xix.

197 Payne was brought to trial in the federal court at Ft. Smith. On release, defying the government and risking more time in jail, Payne returned so consistently that by 1884, his incursions were called his " . . . regular semi-annual settlement."*'

There were also increasing internal challenges. By the mid 1880s, the white population had increased to more than 37,000 in Indian Territory. This compared to a combined census of 65,000 citizens of the five nations. Besides the constant trespassing over Indian Territory borders, the railroad communities seemed to burgeon with more white workers than agreements had specified.

The influx of illegal aliens began to stretch the Mvskoke legal system.

Administration of timber and natural resources became difficult. The railroads cut, hauled, and sold timber without Mvskoke permission. To keep white invaders from stealing cattle, and grazing illegally, the Mvskokee strung extensive pastures as national boundaries, while maintaining interior grasslands for open-range grazing.

After his various assignments in the Muscogee Nation, the younger Sapulpa made a seemingly eccentric-fbr someone of his academic background-career leap.

His half-brother Jim was already settled with his father helping him with the responsibilities of the Sapulpa farm. Just a few miles West, in the Sac and Fox

Nation, was a large cattle operation, the Turkey Track Ranch. William signed on as a

^'Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1884. 98.

198 cowboy /" As it turned out, he was probably acknowledging what was already in his heart-the same love tor farming and ranching as his father had.

In 1886, the Atlantic and Pacific railroad crossed the Arkansas River and made its terminus near the Mvskokes and the Yucchis. The construction crew, many of whom had boarded at the Sapulpas, asked that the rail terminus be named Sapulpa

Station. The request was granted and the elder Sapulpa was invited to be the first person to ride the train into the station named for him. On the appointed day,

William Sapulpa took his aging father to Tulsey and old Sapulpa rode the first train into the newly designated Sapulpa Station. The railroad then presented him with two brass spittoons from the train as mementos."" The following March, 1887, old

Sapulpa died.

William and his father had apparently enjoyed a close relationship. The elder

Sapulpa had written William to encourage him to stay in college." It was William that took his father to ride the first train into Sapulpa, and it was William, who wrote

""Interview with William Sapulpa. Harriet Westbrook Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society. Also, interview with William Sapulpa, 3 September 1937, Indian-Pioneer Papscs, Vol. 43, #7389, Oklahoma Historical Society, 6.

""Sapulpa OK 74066. Vol. 1 (Sapulpa OK: Sapulpa Historical Society, Inc., 1979), 38.

"The Mvskoke s did have an alphabet and dictionary developed by Robert Loughridge, the first superintendent of Tullahassee. It enabled Mvskoke adults to read and write in Mvslmke and is still in use. While TuUahasse required English, the wife of the second Superintendent, Anna Eliza Worcester Robertson, also worked to enable adult readers in the Nation to be able read and write in the Mvskoke language.

199 a biography of his father for the Oklahoma State Historical Society in 1926/' Old

Sapulpa did not live to see his son win election to the Muscogee National Council’s

House of Warriors as a representative from the Cussitah tribal town—which was in the

Okmulgee judicial district. The younger Sapulpa’s selection to the House of Warriors, seemed to confirm that his interests were very similar to that of his father, fanning and tending to the political life of their people.

The younger Sapulpa’s first term in the House of Warriors began in October of

1887, seven months after his father died. The venerable Sapulpa, had represented his district in the House of Kings since the inception of the new governmental order in

1867. He may have never spoken English, but his long tenure in the House of Kings acknowledged the community respect for his leadership.

Sapulpa enters the Legislature

House of Warriors. 1887 - 1904

In October, 1887, William Sapulpa, now twenty-six years-old-made his way to Okmulgee, thirty miles south of Sapulpa Station. It had been the Mvskoke national capital since 1867, and the Council House-an impressive two story, native-stone building-had been completed in 1878. There, each October, the bi-cameral National

Council held its respective sessions. A. P. McKellop, Sapulpa’s old schoolmate from

Tullahassee and the University of Wooster, was the cleric of the House of Warriors.

The two, doubtless, exchanged cordial greetings. McKellop had scarcely arrived

"William Sapulpa, "Sapulpa," Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. A December 1926,329- 332.

200 home from the university in 1881 when the House of Warriors had called upon him to be their clerk.

Similar in responsibility to the U. S. House of Representatives, the membership of the Warriors was elected by the male citizens of their district. Each district could elect one tustanuggee. or warrior, from each tribal community, and one additional one for every two hundred citizens. The House of Warriors membership represented a broad spectrum of Mvskoke citizenship.” When the House of Warriors was called to order, William was among those seated as a member. As the new tustanugees in the old Mvskoke confederacy had once entered the councils to listen and learn the principles and politics of government, so did the new warrior, Sapulpa, listen to the business of the nation.

Young Sapulpa’s early legislative experience was gained in the tumultuous period between 1887 through 1894. The year he was seated, 1887, marked the beginning of a direct change in the relationship between the Mvskokes and the United

States government. In February, 1887, President Grover Cleveland signed the Dawes

Allotment Act which divided Indian reservations into allotments to be distributed to

Indian families, and left-over land sold to white settlers. By owning their land in fee simple. Indian Territory nations were not reservations, and thus not affected. The

Mvskoke government, nevertheless, joined the other Indian Territory nations to file a grievance against the Act. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs disliked Indian

”MurieI H. Wright, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951), 141.

201 Territory opposition. 'What business is it of yours?’ the Commissioner asked. "It may be fairly asked whether this is a matter which properly concerns the five civilized tribes."”

The Mvskokes observed the allotment process as it moved through Indian country. The tribes which had settled on "old Oklahoma" lands should have been immune to this land seizure, according to the Civil War treaties of 1866.” The land was to be held for the peaceful settlement of other Indian tribes and for black ffeedmen, for which the Mvskoke had received 30 cents an acre in the exchange.” A number of tribes had settled there, but with the passage of the Dawes Act, those tribes not only saw their lands being divided, but they were being surrounded by white people moving onto the so-called "surplus" lands. In January, 1889, the Muscogee

National Council met in special session over the broken 1866 agreement. Since the government had reneged on their agreement, the Mvskoke demanded full payment for their lands, a minimum of $1.25 an acre. The National Council sent an appointed delegation consisting of the traditional activist Isparhecher, along with progressives

David Hodge, and Pleasant Porter to Washington to confirm their decision.” By

March 1889, the Seminoles had followed suite for the same reason.

"Commissioner of Indian Affairs Report. 1887. x

"Kappler, Treaties n. 931-937.

"Ibid., 933.

"Creek Nation Records, Roll #10, Extra Session, #1, 29 January 1889.

202 The U. S. government paid nearly three million dollars to the Mvskoke, and in

April 1889, opened the first tract in "Old Oklahoma" to white settlement by staging the first of several land rushes. The Mvskoke took their money and apportioned it between schools and their administration expenses, and made a per capita payment to their citizens. It was in this time, apparently, that the Mvskoke returned to the practice of sending students to the United States for schooling.”

The two years must have been emotional and intense, for the House of

Warriors had to deal with topics that created great internal anger. However, the young legislator evidently performed to the satisfaction of his constituency, for in

1889, Sapulpa was returned to the House of Warriors by acclamation. As he completed his second term, a biographer described him as a ". . . good young man, energetic and ambitious. . . he is very popular among his people.

The second Term

In Sapulpa’s second term, the National Council had another threat to internal sovereignty, the establishment of a U. S. Court in Muskogee in 1889, without consent of the Muscogee Nation.” The Council was furious and drafted an angry memorial to Congress and the President of the United States. The strongly worded document denounced the establishment of federal courts within Indian Territory jurisdiction, ". .

. destroying our courts." They protested the federal attempt to unify Indian Territory

"Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians (Norman; University of Oklahoma, 6th Printing, 1989), 351-352.

"O’Beime, Indian Territory. 239.

”Statutes-at-Large. 25, 783-787.

203 and Oklahoma Territory to join "... our country to any state or territory." They asked the government to remove the 35,000 intruders that had illegally settled within the five nations."

The new court caused much confusion, interfering with the jurisdiction of

Indian Territory tribal courts. :

The structure of criminal and civil law which Congress bad bestowed upon Indian Territory was a babel of common law, U. S. Statute law, and Arkansas law. Its obscurities and contradictions led to many disputes among the three or four federal courts, and between them and the courts and the governments of the Five Tribes."

The outlaw element saw the advantage of the confusion and the 1890s signalled the beginning of the worst period of lawlessness in Indian Territory. The Buck gang, the Doolins, Cherokee Bill and others ravaged both Indian and Oklahoma Territory.

Because Sapulpa Station was far from the center of the Muscogee Nation, offering easy asylum to outlaws, it became a tough little frontier village. Gangs from "Old

Oklahoma" could plunder under relative obscurity, rest, pick up supplies, and return to their crimes. After delivering their cattle to the railroad, cowboys often "whooped- it-up" on its streets." Towns people closed their doors to the noise, while Indians were happy their rural locations mok them out of the fray.

Chief Legus Perryman asked for four "strong" speakers to go as a delegation to Washington. They were to carry the national concern that Congress would enact

"Creek Nation Records, Roll # 10, 25 October 1889.

"Burton, Jeffrey, Indian Territory and the United States. 1866-1906 (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1995), 153.

"Sapulpa. OK 74066. 38.

204 laws in violation of treaties, and subversion of rights to Indian nations self- governance. The four delegates were David Hodge, Roley McIntosh, Thomas Knight, and for the first time, A. P. McKellop.”

Euchec (Yucchi) School Opens

It was in the onset of this politically chaotic period, that on June 30, 1891, the

Muscogee Nation took exclusive control of all of its schools. With the exception of the relatively new Nuyaka school for which the Presbyterians had a lengthy contract with the Mvskoke, all boarding schools came under the direct supervision of the

Nation. This same act modified the national school code and clarified the duties of the educational board; school districts; levels of schooling; the form of annual reports; and sent the school term at ten months.”

In 1891, Yucchi Chief S. W. Brown approached Tustanugees William Sapulpa,

Henry Land, and Noah Gregory to ask for support for his long time dream, a boarding school for the Yucchi young people. This local committee immediately sought a site and looked to the Muscogee Nation to provide funding for buildings.

The legislators argued that the Yucchi had been neglected by the Muscogee Nation because of their cultural differences:

While they are now living in Creek country as citizens thereof, yet they are regarded in some respects as a different people, and have on that

“Ibid., 21 October 1890.

“Creek National Records, microfilm role #10, frame 051-055.

205 account been more or less exclusive in their manner of living, their measurements, and in their social relations.".

After two years of persistence, funding for the school was awarded in 1894, and the delighted Yucchi Chief called it a monument to his life’s work. William

Sapulpa signed as one of the school’s trustees."

Speaker of the House. 1895-1899

Sapulpa’s role in the Council had begun to increase just as the greatest outside pressures began to exert themselves upon the Muscogee Nation. In March, 1893,

Congress authorized Senator Henry Dawes to offer Indian Territory the opportunity to divide their lands as had been done on the reservations.” The Mvskoke had no interest in offering up their lands. Yet, the overture underlined a very real threat that the United States might break their treaty agreements and directly challenge Mvskoke sovereignty. Concern was very high.

In a separate internal issue, in December, 1893, the National Council had convened in special session to appoint delegates to a Mvskoke constitutional convention. It was hoped the new constitution would cut the number in the membership in the House of Warriors. It also sought to remove the authority of the principal chief to appoint judges, district attorneys, and lesser executive ofRcers.

Among new codes to be considered was a strong warning that ". .no law or laws

"Foreman, Carolyn Thomas, "The Yucchi: Children of the Sun," Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 38. 1959, 489, 490.

“Ibid.

"Sec. 16, 3 March 1893 (27 Stats., 645).

206 shall be enacted that would individualize the fee in the soil. . a frank reference to the anticipated influence of the new Dawes Commission."

It was decided that two representatives in each district would be delegates to the convention. William was one of two delegates from Cussitah town.^ The constitution was submitted to the citizens in June of 1894, but was defeated.

However, in examining the vote, the black fteedmen-able to participate in Mvskoke political affairs since the Civil War-voted in a block against it. They felt the reduction of representatives to the House of Warriors would have a direct, adverse affect on their influence in the Council. Had only the tribal vote been counted, it would have passed by a large margin."

So strong was the fear of the Dawes Commission that traditional leader

Isparhecher. who had provoked the Green Peach war fifteen years before, won a sound victory in the 1895 election for principal chief, beating the popular Pleasant

Porter:

When the canvas of the votes was concluded after the election held on September 3, 1895 it disclosed that... his name [Isparhecher) led all the rest. The Mvskoke were clearly against allotment of lands and extinguishment of their tribal government."

"Creek National Records, 32992 and 25465.

"Debo, Road to Disappearance. 353.

"Creek National Records, #28, 0101. "The National Council”, 15 December 1893, and #28, 0105.

"Debo, Road to Disappearance. 353.

"Merserve, John B., "Chief Isparhecher," Chronicles of Oklahoma. X, 73.

207 Sapulpa, and his half-brother, Jim, had been supporters of Porter and actively campaigned for his election/" When Sapulpa had been a youth. Porter had been

Superintendent of the Muscogee national schools. It was Porter, who had accompanied the young people, including Sapulpa, to enroll at the University of

Wooster while on his way to do business for the Muscogee Nation in Washington D.

C. Just prior to the election. Porter held a two-day barbecue just south of the new

Euchee boarding school to campaign for the principal position."

Inspite of his political affiliation with Porter, the victory of Isparhecher did not seem to dampen Sapulpa’s own growing influence in the House of Warriors. In the

1895 session, Sapulpa was elevated to the position of Speaker of the House of

Warriors. The National Council had convened a month after Isparhecher’s election and it was a difficult time. The people’s mandate opposed the Dawes Commission’s invitation to break-up and disperse their lands. Yet even as the Council sessions opened, the Congress of the United States was mandating a census survey of Indian

Territory. The process leading to the dread allotment of Indian Territory lands had begun.

A Delegate to Oppose the Dawes Commission

The Muscogee Nation felt they had but two choices. The first was to sit passively and have Congress dictate the terras of the allotment process; the second was to go to the table and negotiate for the good of the Muscogee Nation. In 1897, the

"Foreman, ”The Yucchi", 491.

"Ibid., 491.

208 Muscogee National Council chose seven men to go to Washington, D. C. and negotiate with Congress. They were Pleasant Porter, Joseph Mingo, David Hodge,

George A. Alexander, Roland Brown, Concharty Micco, and for the first time,

William Sapulpa. At age, thirty-tive, Sapulpa would later claim that he was the youngest person on the first Dawes negotiating team.”

The negotiations were of no avail. After five years of unsuccessful attempts to persuade the nations to take individual ownership of lands. Congress passed the Curtis

Act of 1898.” It was an act that undercut the authority of the Indian Nations and set the stage for the allotment process to begin in Indian Territory.

[The Curtis Act] provided for allotting tribal lands by force if necessary (emphasis added), dissolving tribal courts, putting tribal funds under the control of the Secretary of the Interior, and requiring presidential approval of all tribal laws.”

Since the Muscogee Nation funded its own school system, putting tribal funds into the hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs effectively relieved them of the administration of their schools. The United States appointed a general superintendent

Indian Territory schools, and each nation was assigned a supervisor of schools. The end of the Indian governments was to correspond with the termination of the census and the allotting of all Indian Territory lands. The end of the governments was set for

” "Second Interview with William Sapulpa," Indian-Pinneer Papers. Doc. # 12993. Oklahoma Historical Society, p. 6

”Act of July 1, 1898, c. 545, 30 Stat. 571.

”0 ’Brien, Sharon, American Indian Tribal Governments (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 129-130.

209 March 4, 1906, and the intention was to enjoin Indian Territory with Oklahoma

Territory to form one state, Oklahoma.

The New Century

New Challenges: School and Oil

The twentieth century dawned as a busy one for Sapulpa. His life took on new challenges that reflected the increasingly modem age in which he lived. He had served thirteen years in the House of Warriors, with the last five as Speaker of the

House. On a number of occasions, he had also been chosen as a delegate to represent the Mvskokes in Washington D. C.

The federal government had appointed Alice Robertson as Supervisor of the

Muscogee national school system. In 1900, two years after the Curtis Act, Robertson

asked Sapulpa to become the superintendent of the Euchee boarding school. He

accepted the position leaving the House of Warriors. This was the boarding school

that he had helped Euchee elder, Sam Brown, bring into existence. The school had

opened its doors in the fall 1894 and was intended for Yucchi children only. It had

an average enrollment of 55 students." By 1900, when Sapulpa took control of the

school, Mvskoke children were permitted to enroll and the school enrollment rose to

97."

"Creek Nation Rectwds, "Teachers Report, 1895-1896," Roll #44, 36234.

"Ibid., #36284, 6 February 1900.

210 It was in this time that the speculation of oil focused on Indian Territory.

Interest in oil in the Southwest had been particularly provoked by the 1901 Spindletop field in Texas. The science of geology in the search for oil was unknown, and petroleum finds relied upon the theories of the ’wildcatters,’ men who labored in the oil fields. Their daily experiences had given birth to "rules-of-thumb” searches for oil. One of the wildcatter rules had diverted attention to the Red Fork-Sapulpa area;

What geological knowledge that was applied was based on "creekology," a theory originally advocated by Mike Benedum, a famous pioneering wildcatter. . . . Basically creekology held that streams altered their courses to flow around an underground formation. With this in mind. Red Fork, which was centered in a huge bend in the Arkansas River, was an obvious choice."

The petroleum venturers found that, legally, there was no private ownership of land in the Mvskoke nation, so they could not get leases to drill. In 1899, one company tried to create a consortium of Mvskoke citizens in the Red Fork area who had developed property. One of the interested parties was William Sapulpa, who had signed to lease his holdings with the Wick Oil Company. Unable to legalize the signers’ right to enter into a contract, the agreement expired after six months."

By 1901, oil had been indeed found at Red Fork, and by 1906, the fiunous

Glenn Pool, the world’s richest field, was discovered, within ten miles southeast of

Sapulpa Station. Without a way to transport the oil to buyers, drilling was useless, and thus having a rail head at Sapulpa Station suddenly became very important. The

"Franks, Kenny A., The Rush Begins: A History of the Red Fork. Cleveland and Glenn Pool Oil Fields (Oklahoma City: Western Heritage Association, 1984), 9.

"Ibid. 211 town of Sapulpa grew as speculators, pipeliners, entrepreneurs, and the curious flooded into the area. By 1908, Sapulpa town had more than 8,000 inhabitants. The rise of the petroleum industry paralleled the time period of the Mvskoke s final struggle to resist Oklahoma statehood.

A Sequoyah Movement Delegate

"Old Oklahoma" was designated as a United States territory, Oklahoma

Territory, in May, 1890.*^ Its political forces were the boomers who had first arrived through the land rush period of 1889 through 1893. In July, 1905, a committee for

Oklahoma statehood met in Oklahoma City, and knowing they had a better chance to succeed if they were joined with Indian Territory, they petitioned Congress;

We urge upon the members of Congress to lay aside all personal difierences and to harmonize for the passage of a bill making one state of Oklahoma and Indian Territory. We believe that these two territories deserve to stand upon their merit with no other entangling alliances.”

The nations of Indian Territory, however, were not in accord with joint statehood. Provoked by the Oklahoma City meeting, Indian Territory held their own constitutional convention in Muskogee which began August 7, 1905. The call to the convention stated:

In view of the fact the Government will complete allotting the Indian Lands by the close of the fiscal year, the removal of restrictions and a settlement made with the five CiviliMd tribes by the Secretary of Interior, thus fully preparing said country for a form of self-government

°Statutes-at-Large 24. 388.

”C. M. Allen, The Sequoyah Movement (Oklahoma City: Hallow Publishing Co., 1925), 78. 212 at the said juncture; and the tribal relations cease by sanction of the several treaties on March 4th, 1906 . . . the Five Civilized Tribes unanimously favor and seek separate, prohibition and independent statehood . . .**

Thus began a movement to create an Indian state for admission to the United

States. It would be a unification of the nations of Indian Territory. Its citizens were not only the Indian people, but the blacks and the whites who legally resided within its boundaries. It would be called the state of Sequoyah. The leading men of the territory came to the constitutional convention at Muskogee which was called to order on August 7, 1905. Delegates were chosen by a nominating committee first assembled in July composed of some of the most leading men in Indian Territory.

One of the original six members of the nomination committee members was attorney

A. P. McKellop.

Pleasant Porter asked William Sapulpa to serve as a member-at-large delegate to serve on the Conunittee for the Constitution. There were four major committees, the Committee for the Constitution, the Committee for Resolutions, the Committee to invite speakers, and the Committee on Finances. The Constitution Committee was the largest and was divided into eleven sub-committees to undertake the work of creating some part of the constitution. Sapulpa joined the sub-committee on Miscellaneous

Provisions, including Constitutional Amendments and Prohibition.”

“Sequoyah Movement 72-73.

“Ibid., 79.

213 ChittQ Haoo. the Snake Rebellion

Among the Mvskoke, one more rdieUion occurred. Led by Chitto Haqo," it was the last real resistance to the federal break up of the Muscogee Nation. Seeing the National government was negotiating with the Dawes Commission, Haijo was the

leader in a move to nullify the constitutional government and return to the old

Mvskoke order. By the time federal troops had quelled the Snake uprising, Haqo's

cause had become a unifying symbol betw%n both progressive and traditional factions

of not just the Muscogee Nation, but the entire Indian Territory.

In dramatic fashion on November 23, 1906, he was brought before the

government commission formed to administer the allotment proceedings in Indian

Territory. Using David Hodge as his interpreter, Chitto Haijo delivered a riveting

oration that clearly penetrated the tough exterior of the commission. Caught off guard

by the clear arguments of such a simple man, the commission had to stop to regroup

before it could continue its business.''

Indian Territory mourns the new state

President Roosevelt shunned Indian Territory’s petition to be admitted as a

state, and on November 16, 1907, signed the proclamation admitting Oklahoma to the

union." Giant celebrations were held through out what had been Oklahoma

"Chit to = snake. Har-jo = Craj^. Crazy Snake

"Report of Select Committee to Investigate Matters connected, with Affairs in the Indian Territory. Vol I (Washington D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1907), 1245- 1246.

"U. S. Statutes-at-Large 35. Part 2, p. 2160-2161.

214 Territory. There was a mock wedding between a cowboy groom, Oklahoma; and his

Indian bride, Miss Indian Territory. Ribbons celebrating Oklahoma statehood proclaimed, "Hooray, hooray, Oklahoma U. S. A."

Indian Territory had a different reaction. It had its ribbon as well, the names of the Five Civilized tribes bordering the phrase, "WE were and ARE I. T."" In the

Cherokee Nation, an Indian woman still cried, thirty years later recalling that day.

Listening to her, Oklahoma white historian Edward Everette Dale seemed surprised as he heard her recount:

It broke my heart. I went to bed and cried all night long. It seemed more than I could bear that the Cherokee Nation, my country and my people’s country, was no more.”

To an Okmulgee newspaper, Mvskoke citizen Mary Herrod, nearly eighty years old, wrote a letter that the newspaper turned into a front page editorial. A teacher in the Muscogee national school system, Mary’s letters had become familiar pieces in Muscogee and Indian Territory newspapers.

The editor also seemed surprised that there were people who were not joyous of the impending Oklahoma statehood:

This old person bordering on four score, stands with the dignity of a true queen to remind us of the piety, the fortitude, the patriotism of her gentle epistle that the completion of our plan marks the final extinction of another. It makes the end of the national existence of another."

"Strickland, Rennard.The Indians in Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980), 86.

"Ibid., 54.

"Foreman, Carolyn Thomas, "Two Notable Women of the Creek Nation," Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 35.#3. 324.

215 In part, Mary wrote:

.... And we had a good government. Our chiefs governed well, I tell you. Our laws were enforced. We had order. We had none of this bootlegging until your people came among us. We had honesty in our little dealings. Our chiefs and our judges were good men, nearly all. 1 knew them all and 1 tell you they were good men.”

As she delivered her letter, Mary gave the editor a vow, "1 shall never write another letter. 1 cannot date my letter ‘Indian Territory’ and 1 shall not write."”

The Last Years of Sapulpa

An Interview

It was late in the afternoon of April 27, 1937, when Jefferson Berry hill arrived at Bald Hill, Oklahoma, northeast of Okmulgee. His last name, Berryhill, may have indicated that he was a Creek Indian. At any rate, the Oklahoma Historical Society had sent him to set up a future appointment with William Sapulpa, who by this time was 76 years old. Berryhill later lamented his tardy arrival, because Sapulpa’s conversation was very provoking. Watching the sun set, as he continued his earnest conversation with Sapulpa, Berryhill later wrote:

The sun was so low on the western horizon, it seemed as if it dangled on to an invisible rope that would not let it drop. As 1 thought of the sun, its duties performed all day and, seemingly, now retiring 1 could not help but feel that the rising of this venerable man was like the rising of the sun, that had taken place many moons ago. He had done his

“Ibid., 324.

” lbid.

216 duties on earth and it should not be quite long till he must go to his eternal rest.**

In keeping with the law of life, this man was stooped, his hair did not bear the same color that it once had in his day of prime. Though this sun may be on the verge of sinking, he is one of the brightest of suns that the Great Spirit has ever created, and to his last day he shall be a ray of sunshine to his fellowmen.”

Sapulpa had taken up farming his allotted land in 1903, and remained there until 1929, when he moved to the Bald Hill community, northeast of Okmulgee. Jim, his half-brother, continued to manage to property of their deceased father." The conversation eventually turned to the virulence and potentialities of bows and arrows.

Sapulpa, at that point, had picked up a bow and commented that it had been thirty years since he had used it, and at that, he never felt he was very good. Berryhill commented, "1 decided that he had been very modest as he sent a rubber ball flying into space unknown at about twenty paces."”

At one point during a conversation with his interviewer, Sapulpa volunteered his opinion on what he viewed as the loss of pride at being bi lingual among the 1930s

Mvskoke culture :

You know things aren’t like they used to be. Once if an Indian youth spoke the Indian language and the white tongue, he was considered a very good interpreter, for he was willing to try even though he may not

"Berryhill, Jefferson, "Many Moons Ago and Now: Interview with William Sapulpa," Oklahoma Indian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City OK. #5570, p. 330-331.

"Ibid.

"William Sapulpa, "Second Interview," Indian-Pioneer Papers. Vol. 101, 44.

” lbid.

217 be so very good. Now days every Indian speaks the English language fluently, but they do not speak the Indian language half as well.**

The examiner may have had little conception of the life time of experience that had provoked Sapulpa’s comment, for while he included it in his interview, he did not seem to pursue the topic any further. At the same time, the observation may have also revealed the inner satisfaction that William Sapulpa had knowing that he had had these skills and that they had played an important role in his life as a leader among his

Mvskoke people. His-death

On February 22, 1942, William A. Sapulpa died. He was eighty-one years old. The February 23, 1942 edition of the Sapulpa Herald printed the public announcement of his death.” The same issue described the challenges of the current generation. World War 11 was not quite three months old and headlines proclaimed,

"Japanese Invasion Fleet at Bali virtually Wiped Out by Allies; Enemy halted." Walt

Disney’s new movie. Dumbo, was playing at the Yale Theater. So that patrons coming to the movie would not miss President Roosevelt’s Fireside Speech, the Yale promised to carry the radio broadcast from its stage.™

There was also a small article about the Euchee school."" Its usefulness to the Bureau of Indian Affairs was unclear, and speculation was that it would be closed.

"Ibid., 332.

"Sapulpa Herald. Sapulpa, Oklahoma, 23 February 1942, I.

'"Ibid., 1.

""Ibid., I.

218 The school would survive the 1942 crisis. However, in 1947 it was sold to the

Sapulpa public schools, and was incorporated into the Sapulpa high school campus.'®

Summary

William Sapulpa returned home from the University of Wooster in 1883 at the end of his sophomore year in college. He was twenty-two years old, and his hope was that his schooling would enable him to serve his people. The first two years after his arrival saw him holding a number of jobs, including U. S. Marshall, tax collector, and store clerk. He eventually returned to his father’s home to help with the Sapulpa farming and ranching business.

In 1887, young Sapulpa won election to the House of Warriors, the Muscogee

Nation legislative body similar to the U. S. House of Representatives. There he would serve through 1899. His father, the elder Sapulpa, had also been a legislator, serving in the House of Kings, since its inception in 1867. The membership of the

House of Kings, similar to the U. S. Senate, was drawn from the most venerable of leaders throughout the Muscogee Nation. His father died seven months before

Sapulpa took office.

The period in which Sapulpa took office became the most important for the

Muscogee Nation. The House of Warriors had become an angry organization. In

1887, the Dawes Allotment Act removed the reservation status of Indian lands.

'""Euchee Indian Boarding School,” Sapulpa. OK 74066. Vol. I (Sapulpa OK: The Sapulpa Historical Society, Inc., 1979), 113.

219 forcing Indian people into individual ownership of specific amounts of acreage, usually 160 acres. Because Indian Territory held their land in fee-simple, the act did not effect them. That the United States had so easily dumped its own treaty agreements with the reservation tribes greatly concerned the them, however. The

Muscogee Nation Council filed a protest jointly with the other Indian Territory nations against the act. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in turn, protested Indian

Territory’s negative influence on Allotment.

By 1893, Congress had created a commission to go to Indian Territory and interest it in also taking allotment. Indian Territory was not interested, and in 1898,

Congress passed the Curtis Act which instituted a policy of forced allotment.

Memorials and commissions protesting the allotment process and the failure of

Congress to hold to their treaties with Indian Territory flowed to Washington D. C.

Increasingly, Sapulpa was called upon to serve his people in a variety of political venues in this period. He was a delegate to the Mvskoke constitutional conunittee in 1893. In 1895, for the first time since Locv Haijo in 1876, a traditional

Mvskoke won the election for Principal Chief. Isparhecher’s victory was a mandate from his people that the Dawes Commission had to be stopped. Though he supported the losing opponent of Isparhecher, Pleasant Prater, Sapulpa was chosen as Speaker of the House of Warriors, two months later.

In 1897, S^Milpa was chosen to be part of the Muscogee Nation delegation to negotiate with the Dawes Commission regarding the allotment process. He was sent on several delegations to Washington D. C. In 1905, Sapulpa was elected to the

220 constitutional conunittee of the Sequoyah convention. The Sequoyah convention forwarded a constitution for a state to be created out of Indian Territory to be admitted to the union as the state of Sequoyah.

Sapulpa was also interested in schooling for his people. In 1891, the Euchee leadership approached Sapulpa and other representatives to help them get a boarding school for their tribal community. In 1894, the National Council authorized the

Euchee boarding school located at Sapulpa Station. Sapulpa served as a trustee of the school. In 1900, Sapulpa became the third superintendent of the Euchee boarding school. Laying aside his legislative duties, he held that position for two years.

Before the turn of the century, oil spectators began taking an interest in exploring the area around Red Fork and the Sapulpa area. William Sapulpa was one of the Mvskokes who entered into an agreement to lease land. Leasing was turned down by the courts because there was no individual ownership of land. By 1908, oil had converted the remote rail bead of Sapulpa into a boisterous town of more than

8,000 citizens. A year earlier, in 1907, Congress and the President had ignored the petitions of the Sequoyah convention, and Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were admitted to the United States as one state, Oklahoma.

As an elderly man, Sapulpa was interviewed by the Oklahoma Historical

Society. During one of his interviews, he commented on the neglect of the Mvskoke language among the 1930s Mvskoke culture. He deplored what he felt was a loss that the pride in speaking two languages, English and Mvskoke, was becoming lost among his people. William Sapulpa died in 1942.

221 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION

"I simply write to let you know that we arrived safe, and are very well satisfied with the school." B. E. Porter to Editor, Indian Journal. 7 January 1877.

"We like this place very much." Richard Bruner in correspondence to W. S. Robertson, 28 May 1880.

Introduction

This was a historical examination of an American Indian nation’s experience with American higher education after the American Civil War. Beginning in January,

1877, the Muscogee Nation’s Youth-in-the-States program funded students for advanced study in United States higher education institutions. This investigation was especially compelling because, unlike many early Indian education experiences, the

Mvskokes self-determined to send and support their young at United States colleges.

The purpose of this study was not only to contribute to the little known educational history of a people in this period of time, but to explore their intentions with such a program.

The structure of our examination required both historical and ethnological material. This blending of historical record and ethnology is called ethnohistory. A simple paradigm offered by James Axtell enabled this inquiry to explore the complexities existing between a society and its educational processes: First, determine

222 what a society wanted of its young; then, examine what they became/ Accordingly, utilizing ethno-history. this study asked two principal questions;

1. What was the expectation of an Indian society that sent their

students to college?

2. Were these expectations realized as the students returned to the

Muscogee Nation to begin their adult lives?

The factors that led the Mvskoke to create their college support program,

Youth-in-the-States, included their contemporary political and economic state, and their changing attitude toward anglo-schooling. This study followed a particular student, William Sapulpa, and his contemporaries as they attended the University of

Wooster in Ohio. This caused a consideration of the setting at Wooster, its historical character, and student social and academic life. A description of the evolvement of higher education in Indian Territory is also included and serves to place Youth-in-the-

States within the Mvskoke higher education experience.

Finally, the study traced the returning students’ adult careers among the

Mvskoke people. As it was, the timing of their adulthood corresponded with one of the most crucial periods in Mvskoke history, the advent of the United States’ effort to discontinue its treaty agreements, and open Mvskoke lands for white settlement. This concluding chapter is given in three parts, a review of the study; the findings; and the discussion.

Axtell, James, "Death of the Liberal Arts College," The History of Higher Education (Needham MA: The Ginn Co., 1989), 114.

223 A Review of the Study

Beautiful and Resistant Indian Territory

By the last half of the nineteenth century, the nations of Indian Territory had

so many trappings of the white man’s "civilization" that the U. S. government referred to them as the "Five Civilized Tribes." Yet, inspite of large internal cultural and political changes, the Muscogee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee nations continued to face the possible loss of their lands and their political sovereignty. By the 1870s, the U. S. government’s intention to displace Indian tribes with white homesteaders was in full-swing. As federal troops forced the plains tribes from their lands, the "civilized" tribes fell under the same threat.

At first, the uniqueness of the agreements forged during the 1830s removal of the Indian nations from the southeastern United States had restrained the United States from outright usurpation of Indian Territory. In the Removal treaties of the 1830s, each of the removal nations' had been given fee-simple ownership of their land and

U.S. recognition of their continuing authority for self-governance. This meant that the only hope for the land exploiters and industrial-age entrepreneurs to abrogate these treaties was in Congress. The right for Indian Territory would not become an outdoor war, but one that required rhetoric, debate, and political savvy—in the halls of

Congress . . . in English.

'Not the Seminole. Those Seminoles who came to Indian Territory, came on their own and were not settled until they were given their own land in an 18% treaty (Charles J. Kappler, Laws and Treaties II (Washington D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1904), 344.

224 Constitutional Indian governments and the encroachment of outside commerce also brought new challenges to tribal administrations. The ability to be fluent in

English and in one’s native language became an all important tool in Indian Territory.

The importance of bi lingual expertise was apparent, whether to interpret documents and speeches, or to be sent to Washington D. C. on business. The Mvskokes, for example, had experience with non-citizen translators able to wedge their unwanted influence deep into governmental affairs.

Finally, the outside threats to Indian Territory led to a belief-particularly among the more anglo-acculturated-that acquiring the trappings of civilization could be a method of resistance. If the Indian nations could demonstrate their skills in self- governance, agriculture, and education, they could perhaps keep Indian Territory secure. College-going contributed to the image they hoped to cultivate.

Emergence of Schooling as a Necessity

For the Mvskoke, the period after the Civil War must have surely presented the kind of trials the great traditional leader Opothle Yahola had anticipated. He had called for schooling for Mvskoke youth so they would be able to mediate ". . . between us and trouble." He may have been one of the principal reasons that

Mvskoke traditional communities never seemed opposed to anglo schooling once it was controlled by the Mvskoke. Their major complaint was, instead, insufficient common and boarding schools in their immediate area. But, there had been a time when schooling received scant attention from the Mvskoke.

225 Through the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the United States and various mission societies had tried to impose schooling on the Mvskoke confederacy with poor results. Students often returned home in confusion about themselves as curriculums alienated young people from their culture and communities. They also returned to rejection because their hard-sought knowledge was perceived as "useless" by their communities. Embittered, dissipated lives and even suicides were not uncommon among the returnees.

The Mvskoke were not satisfied with schooling until they exercised control by establishing admission criteria for entering teachers in 1841. By the early 1850s, two boarding schools were permitted to be established, Asbury, a Methodist school; and,

TuUahasee, a Presbyterian school. Each school enrolled 80 students, including girls.

There were also neighborhood, or common schools. By 1855, the Commissioner of

Indian Affairs reported more than five hundred students enrolled in neighborhood and boarding schools.

A real example of the Mvskoke interest in schooling came when, in spite of serious divisions over anglo acculturation, both traditional and acculturated Mvskoke united that schools reopen as soon as possible after the American Civil War. The requirements of a new Mvskoke governmental structure, and the challenges from outside, seemed to indicate that schooling should have a stronger role in developing

Mvskoke leadership than ever before. In their new constitution of 1867, the Mvskoke codified their schooling processes.

226 Wooster University in an Era of Change

In 1876, the Muscogee National Council authorized financial support for

Mvskoke students to attend colleges in the United States. One of the institutions receiving students was the University of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio. In January,

1877, the students entered the small, beleaguered Presbyterian college that was on a rebound from its shaky inception brought on by low enrollment and fiscal mismanagement.

The Mvskoke students were present during fundamental changes occurring in the university during the 1870s and early 1880s. When, in 1873, Dr. A. A. E.

Taylor accepted the presidency of the University of Wooster, it was an institution whose sole curriculum was based upon Greek and Latin studies. In the ten years that

Taylor held the post of president, Wooster added three new degree programs, added modem languages of French and German, added a fine arts department, and instituted a graduate school. Electives were permitted in the junior and senior year.

Since the seventeenth century, American colleges had sought to inspire erudition and piety in its leaders through classical studies. In the 1870s, philosophical challenges to the old thought swirled about college administrations and regarded the new Germanic influence in American research methods; the purpose of graduate schools; and the entry of Darwinism in American intellectual and scientific thought.

Taylor's changes, however, were not a response to the contemporary challenges of the day. Instead, the Wooster president seemed to be steering the school toward the democratic structures associated with Scottish higher education. Those institutions

227 were co-educational and more directed toward the studies of the arts and sciences.

Like many small colleges of the day, the University of Wooster had lofty ambitions and goals. It had hoped to emulate the flagship of Presbyterian schools, the College of

New Jersey—later to be known as Princeton. Under the presidency of Scottish educator, James McCosh, New Jersey had achieved eminence among American higher education institutions. Taylor may have given Wooster its first real push toward its hopes.

The Muscogee Nation and Higher Education Moniac and Grayson

Youth-in-the-States was not the first Mvskoke experience with higher education, though its first brush was almost fleeting. Still, the barely noticed early nineteenth century encounters by Mvskoke students David Moniac and G. W.

Grayson—though separated by forty years-would resonate. As young Indian college students, they found their schools reflected a different societal culture than their own.

This institutional difference gave both students comparable encounters with social isolation.

Moniac’s West Point experience was encumbered with an administration whose curiosity over having an Indian enrolled in their school was often burdensome. Such administrative efforts surely isolated the student from his peers. George Washington

Grayson entered Arkansas College in 1858. His journal documented the loneliness of a first year Indian student left in the midst of a college culture so completely different than his own.

228 lullahassee School

While the Mvskoke higher education experience accelerated through the end of the nineteenth century, it may be that their first post-Civil War higher education experiences were already occurring within the confines of the TuUahassee boarding school. The daughters of TuUahassee Superintendent, W. S. Robertson, studied with the Indian students. In 1866, and in 1871, respectively, each daughter wrote that their first studies at college duplicated what they had already learned at TuUahassee.

Youth-in-the-States

The Youth-in-the-States program sent students to higher institutions in Ohio,

Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas. The first group of students to be sent were eighteen males in 1876. By 1878, the Mvskoke also supported women and freedmen in United States’ schools. Setting the cut-off for support at age 21 meant that most students, having already started studies at a late age, completed at the most a freshman or sophomore year in coUege. Lila Denton, a women, was the first

Mvskoke to receive a degree, a Mistress of Arts firom Hillsboro-Highland CoUege in

Ohio.

Colleges in Muskogee. Creek Nation

Sending students to the United States was admittedly expensive, and eventuaUy some educators felt the money would be better spent within the nation. That a single raUroad had turned the viUage of Muskogee into a growing commercial and transportation center was not lost on them. Students could be brought in by the railroad, as weU as from the growing local community and region. A coUege with

229 such a pool to draw on might have financial solvency—and receive the financial support being sent to the States.

The first to ask were the Methodists, who received a charter from the

Muscogee Nation to open Harrell Institute in 1881. In 1885, Almon C. Bacone approached the Muscogee Nation for a grant of land to bring his college from

Tahlequah. It was a controversial request and the Mvskoke were divided on awarding land to a Baptist-managed institution. But, stipulating that the school should be open to all Indian nations, the Muscogee Nation awarded the school 160 acres.

By 1890, while five institutions had opened in Muskogee, two institutions were particularly attractive to Indian students, Indian University and Kendall College.

Indian University was founded by Almon C. Bacone, and was supported by the

Baptist denomination. Kendall College was the Indian Territory Presbyterian synodical college, and opened in the buildings there were originally the Minerva school for Indian girls.

There did not appear to be any rules governing the use of languages at either school. Bi lingualism seemed to be an accepted normalcy. At Indian, it was understood that English was the language of the classroom, but stepping into the halls, one heard a variety of tribal languages. Most faculty were fluent in at least one

Indian Territory language, and Kendall College employed Anna Elizabeth W.

Robertson, widow of W. S. Robertson, as the Mvskoke language instructor.

The first graduating classes were from the Cherokee and Choctaw nations which had supported schools earlier than the Mvskoke. Still these classes were small.

230 perhaps no more than a half-a dozen each year, so that both Indian and Kendall depended heavily on preparatory enrollment for support. Within five years of opening, Indian University enrollment jumped to more than 700 students in the preparatory department.

Kendall College was intended as a Presbyterian college for both Indian and

Oklahoma Territories. Presbyterian settlers, not wanting to send their children to school with Indians, refused to support Kendall as their synodical school. They placed their support with the new Oklahoma Territory comprehensive school, the

University of Oklahoma; and the new land-grant college, Oklahoma Agricultural and

Mechanical College. Mvskokes lose control of their schools

The Curtis Act of 1898 began the United States’ forced process to terminate

Indian Territory sovereignty, and ready the people for Oklahoma statehood. One of its directives permitted the United States to take-over the treasuries of the Indian

Territory nations. For the Mvskoke, this effectively curtailed administration of their schools and stopped the financial flow for students attending colleges within and without the Territory. The government federalized Mvskoke schools, giving administrative control to its agents.

As a result of the federal take over, by 1904, school enrollment among the colleges in Muskogee fell dramatically, almost half from the decade before. Henry

Kendall College—having struggled financially in almost all of its existence-moved to

Tulsa in 1907, and restructured itself to become a synodical college more pleasing to

231 the midwestem Presbyterian constituency. Indian University nearly lost its land in the

Dawes allotment process, but was able to retrieve all of it through a law suit settled in

1914.

William Sapuipa of Cussitah Town

Within their first three months of residence at the University of Wooster, the

Mvskoke students declared that they liked their school. There certainly must have been homesickness-as noted in the welcome receipt of the Mvskoke newspaper, the

Indian Journal. Still, students expressed their enjoyment of their experiences, and strong expressions of homesickness are hardly to be found.

Their studies were not easy, even by today’s standards. Latin as a third language was a major challenge. Translations passed from Latin through the second language, English, to Mvskoke, and sense returned by the same route. They also studied Greek. Still, one of the students captured the Latin gold medal in his rinal preparatory school year.

The young Mvskokes worked hard at their studies and participated in the required literary societies. Through the eating clubs, mentor Jonas Notestein drew them into student life. The university president would report, "their companions are chosen from among the very best in school." Several students held offices in the literary societies. One student became a half-back on the university football team.

The students were pleased with their school, worked hard at their studies, enjoyed student life, and yet, if there was one word to sum up their academic experience at Wooster, it was focus. One sensed that the students perceived

232 themselves on a mission. Regardless of their adjustments, the difficulty of study, or good Mends, they demonstrated that all of it was preparation to return and serve in the Muscogee Nation. Their life goals might have changed during their time at

Wooster, but their life mission didn’t. A. P. McKellop first thought his place of service was as a minister. He changed his mind when he felt being a politician would serve his people better. William Sapuipa had also desired to serve his people and the longer he stayed at Wooster, the more useful Sapuipa felt he would be when he returned home.

The Return Home

The early experiences of returning Mvskoke students differed greatly from those of previous returnees from outside boarding school situations of the 1830s and

1840s. Instead of accusations of possessing "useless knowledge," the first Wooster students were immediately employed by the Nation as clerks and interpreters.

Benjamin Porter became Principal Chief Samuel Checote’s personal secretary. A. P.

McKellop became the clerk of one of the Mvskoke legislative bodies, the House of

Warriors.

Upon his return in 1883, William Sapuipa seemed to have difficulty fitting into the expectations of Youth-in-the States participants. He held several positions which would have drawn on his bi lingual expertise such as tax collections and law enforcement. Yet, after approximately two years, he withdrew from Mvskoke legal and business interests and signed on as a worker at a large ranch in the Sac and Fox

Indian nation.

233 His dream to serve his people, however, was served when he was elected to the Muscogee National Council in 1887. Records do not give specific interactions between Sapuipa and other legislators, though the year that he first took office marked the beginning of the toughest period in the Mvskoke government. The young legislator listened and learned as the House debated the action of the Dawes Allotment

Act of 1887. In 1889, he heard the final settlement of the sale of "Old Oklahoma"; and he experienced, first-hand, the legislative rage over the uninvited establishment of a U. S. Court in Muskogee.

That he grew in leadership was noted when, in 1895, he was elected as

Speaker of the House of Warriors. In 1897, he had his first experiences as part of a select delegation to Washington D. C. to argue against the forced allotment of

Mvskoke lands. In 1898, Congress passed the Curtis Act, in which the government finally forced land allotment on Indian Territory. Later, as the battles between the

Mvskoke and the United States neared impending Oklahoma statehood, Sapuipa was called upon to serve on the Indian Territory constitutional convention.

He also had an interest in education. He joined the Yucchi Indian representatives to the House of Warriors to legislate for a boarding school for the

Yucchis. The school was awarded in 1994, and Sapuipa served as a trustee. In 1900, he was asked to take the Superintendency of the school, a position be held through

1902.

When oil was discovered in the Red Fork/ Sapuipa Station region, he joined a group of Mvskoke trying to lease lands for drilling. The mineral rights belonged to

234 the Muscogee Nation, and so was not considered to be privately owned, and thus the leasing effort failed. Because of the Curtis Act, the Bureau of Land Management in the U. S. Department of Interior, claimed administrative rights. Sapuipa began earnest work on his allotment awarded in 1903, and remained a farmer to the end of his life. He died in February, 1942.

Eindiogs

There were two principal questions which framed this study:

1. What was the expectation of the American Indian society that

sent their students to college?

2. Were these expectations realized as the students returned to the

Muscogee Nation to begin their adult lives?

There were a variety of expectations for the Mvskoke students at Wooster

University. The administrator of the Youth in the States program, G. W. Grayson testified before a Senate Committee that college was intended to fit the students for business. Another expectation was expressed by the editor of the Muscogee newspaper, the Indian Journal, when he intimated that having college students would infer that the Mvskoke government could take care of itself. Christian school superintendents perhaps hoped for some trained ministers to return to Indian Territory.

It would be hard to imagine that the Mvskoke leadership could not see the population and business transformation brought by the railroad. They had also seen the helplessness that could occur when relying on non-citizens to interpret and translate.

235 They surely envisioned a need for future leadership to have a firm grasp of both

English and Mvskoke.

Perhaps John Haynes simply stated receipt annotation expressed it most succinctly. As the chairman of the Muscogee National Council Education Committee, he noted that college was for the student’s greater advantage in learning English.

Since the students sent to the United States already had basic English skills, going to college was not only about gaining a better grasp of English, it was to gain an soidiie, or more sophisticated command of the language. In short, the Muscogee Nation expected the Youth-in-the States program to create a business and civil-servant class to bridge the communication gap between the Mvskoke and the U. S. government and the steadily encroaching outside commercial world.

The second question, were these expectations realized as the students returned to the Muscogee Nation? In our focus on the students at the University of Wooster, their experiences indicate that the Youth-in-the-States program did provide the

Mvskoke with the kind of citizen personnel they hoped to have. From Wooster alone, students immediately filled bi lingual clerical, and secretarial positions. These not only provided such service at the national level, but in the local communities as well.

Other areas of service included tax assessment and education.

As the Wooster students returned, they began to blossom within the context of their nation. A. P. McKellop, a prize-winning Latin student who wanted to become a politician for his people, would become the first to codify their laws and become so familiar with the complexities of Indian law that he became his nation’s first attorney

236 general. After six years in the House of Warriors, another, William Sapuipa, became that house’s speaker. At age thirty-five, he guided the house through the fearful period of anticipated forced allotment, and the difficult period after Congress made

forced allotment a reality with the Curtis Act 1898.

Most of the Wooster names of this study appear either as legislators, or

educators. In cases such as Sapuipa and Hardage, they appear as both. Richard

Bruner served as a judge in his district as well as a boarding school superintendent.

Tooka Butler taught school, and at the creation of the Minerva school for girls, she and her husband supported the work of Alice Robertson. The Mvskoke s desire was

simply to have citizens prepared to help the nation. From that perspective, the

program was such a success, that by 1890, the nation began constructing rules of

limitations on just who should qualify as an interpreter for official business.'

Pl5CU55ion

The Role of Culture in the American Indian Student Experience

Cultural Conflict

In 1997, Andrew Garrod and Colleen Larimore compiled first-person

narratives describing American Indian student experiences at Dartmouth College in the

1970s and 1980s.* In these stories, many students related how their encounters at

college had propelled them, headlong, into identity confusion. In fact, it was not

'Indian Journal. Muscogee Nation, 11 October 1890.

*Andrew Garrod and Colleen Larimore, Eds.. First Person. First Peoples rtthaca NY: Cornell Univosity Press, 1997), 4.

237 until college that these very modem students discovered there was a difference between their upbringing and that of the American mainstream. As the Dartmouth students worked through their adjustment to college, their strongest lesson was to realize that by leaving their community, they had left behind "the fabric of [their| . . . identity."^

In approximately the same period that the Dartmouth students were making their self-discoveries, Wilbur Scott had published his study of American Indian students at the University of Oklahoma. Scott followed the entering freshman class of

1975, and traced their progress through what should have been their graduating year,

1979.* In 1979, only 5.7% of the 101 entering students received their bachelors degree within the traditional four years. This compared to a 16.7% graduation rate

for all University of Oklahoma freshmen entering in 1975.

Using "culture" as a principal variable, Scott wanted to know if there was any correlation between student success and "... attachment to Indian Culture."^ Indian

culture was identified as social events (pow-wows, etc.) and language usage. Other

identifiers included an engendering attitude of political protection for the Indian

population; preference for living in all-Indian communities, and marriage within the

tribal community.' Scott concluded that such attachment to Indian culture was a key

'Ibid., 4.

*Wilbur Scott, "Attachment to Indian Culture and the ‘Difficult Situation’: A Study of American Indian College Students,” Youth and Society. Vol. 17:4. June 1986, 392.

’Ibid., 384.

Ibid., 388.

238 predictor of academic failure,’ and cited instances of Indian students being counseled to become "less Indian" as a conscious strategy for doing better in school!'"

In 1992, William Tierney completed a critical analysis of the American Indian

collegiate experience. In his study, he related how one college administrator said that

experiencing the cultural gap between college and tribal cultures was one of the

principal conflicts of contemporary adjustment for American Indian college students:

The major problem is that they have a foot in each culture that draws them back to their roots. They are drawn back to their own culture and its a difficult transition to make. It’s a real problem not easy for us to solve."

The so-called "cultural" Indian student, essentially brought their community

with them, a community, as noted, that was the fiber of their identity. Such a value

system was bound to find challenge at college, one of the chief institutions of an

admittedly individualistic society. College existed only to train and socialize self for a

place somewhere in the nebulous realm of "go-out-in-society-and-get-a-good-job."

College was intended to offer "... individuals the ability to take control of their

lives." But, for Indian students that was not necessarily a positive thing:

The ethos of Indian communities is that one responds to the needs and demands of others rather than asserting one’s own control. In this sense, the meaning of control over one’s life that educational

"Ibid., 385.

‘Ibid., 393.

"William Tierney, Official Encouragement. Institutional Discouragement: Minorities in Apadgme-The Native American Experience (Norwood NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp., 1992), 18.

239 institutions seem to offer becomes a source of cultural conflict rather than opportunity for Indian students. "

Under such conditions, that terrific internal struggles often ensued should not be surprising. The "... clash of cultures, the confrontation of lifestyles ...."" was not on the campus but within the heart of the student. A struggle occurred when students attempted to reconcile the direct challenge to their strong emotional link to conununity. A Dartmouth student wrote:

We can not adopt academia in the way Euro-Americans can. Having no concept of links that cannot be broken, Euro-Americans can pull themselves up by the bootstraps and plant themselves firmly in the academic community. ..."

What, however, can an Indian do? What can Indians do when the glove is tailored to the white hand, and the white hand is already happily inside it?"

A Culture in Control

If culture was indeed at the heart of critical conflicts of collegiate adjustment, how, after just one semester, could Richard Bruner, in 1880, write home and declare,

"We like this place very much." The University of Wooster had no tribal studies,

American Indian faculty, nor even American Indian student organizations. In the

"Tierney, Institutional Discouragement. 80, also quoting Elgin Badwound, Leadership and American Indian Values: The tribal college dilemma. Doctoral Dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA.

"Bobby Wright and William Tierney, "American Indians in Higher Education: A History of Cultural Conflict," QuoSfi» March/April, 1991, 12.

"William Bray, "Refuse to Kneel," in Larimore and Garrod’s First Person: First People. 39.

“Ibid., 39.

240 current study, some nineteenth century American Indian students raised in a wholly intact and different culture, came into the cosmos of a small American denominational college campus, one thousand miles from home. Yet, apparently, there was no evidence of strong emotional upheaval, not even from homesickness, though there were challenges from adjustment and even cultural conflict.

To be sure, homesickness was still a nineteenth century Mvskoke student malady. In December of 1880, a year after the second group of students had entered

Wooster, the TuUahassee boarding school burned to the ground. In the interim of rebuilding, twenty-five of its older students were sent to the Carlisle Indian School in

Pennsylvania.“ Jay Gould offered the Atlantic and Pacific railroad as a means to transport them, and the Pullman Car Company supplied sleeper cars for the entire entourage. " A couple of weeks after one of the Wooster students had written that the Indian Journal was like a "letter from home," fourteen year-old Ben Marshall wrote that upon arrival to Carlisle, "Nearly all of us cried because we were homesick."'*

If the University of Wooster students did not seem to experience the heart­ rending disruptions that even contemporary Indian students continue to face, the question must be asked, why? Perhaps the ultimate answer may be found in the

“"Descriptive Statement of Pupils transferred to Indian Training School at Carlisle Barracks from TuUahassee Mission. " 19 January 1881. National Archives, Record group 75.

"Indian Journal. Vol. S, #20, 20 January 1881.

'Indian Journal. Vol. 5, 23, 10 February 1881. Within a year, the students were able tt) return to a new school, Weaiaica

241 remarks of former chief of the Western Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller. The very value that anglo colleges saw deflecting Indian students from academic success, was the very value that she saw as the starting point for rebuilding her nation’s success, the community:

There was a time when tribes had an awful lot of international integrity and controlled their own destiny. They did not have problems such as severe unemployment. We’ve got to figure out ways to rebuild ourselves as a group of people, and starting at the community level makes the most sense.'’

Whatever their ideas about Youth-in-the-States, the Mvskoke probably did not realize that a simple policy may have made a large difference to student adjustment.

In the case of the Mvskoke students, another society may have originated their college, but, importantly, they had not been abandoned to the system by their community.

A Passage into Society

William Tierney reminds us that, ”... the rite helps produce the culture in which it resides."” What the Mvskokes had done with Youth-in-the-States was in fact to install a new rite of passage for their young people. In the old Mvskoke confederacy, the elders took their young people, male and female, through many levels of instruction to prepare them to be adult citizens in their community and in the confederacy. Though the Wooster students were in a school outside of their society—

’"People expect me to be more warlike," U. S. News and World Report. 17 February, 1986, 64.

Tierney, Official Encouragement. S3.

242 and hundreds of miles from home—the imposition of Mvskoke goals into their college- going, may have delivered a traditional majority societal convention, knowledge, into

Indian student hands. For the first time, college became a rite of passage, not into the majority world, but into the new Mvskoke society. This in spite of the fact that;

Educational institutions in particular function to reproduce existing power relations by way of imposing definitions of knowledge that reaffirm the dominant."

It was never a goal to make college graduates of the students. A four year degree was never mentioned, though several completed such work. The Mvskoke simply needed a citizen civil-servant class to bridge the communication gap between the Mvskoke and the U. S. government. Even the National Council required fluent interpreters and record keepers in their conduct of business within the nation. The

Mvskoke idea was to enable students to gain considerable and educated facility of two languages, English and Mvskoke. The students completed the schooling their nation required and went home. Whether or not the UniversiQr of Wooster treated the students as drop outs’ is not known. But, judging from the reception the students received, as far as the Mvskoke were concerned, the returnees were welcome additions for service in their nation.

Ultimately, the power of the dominant institution did not have sway over the outcome of attending college, a degree. The Mvskoke supplied the objective, and the financial support for what the students were to accomplish. Even though they were at

Wooster their education still enabled them to:

"Tierney, Official Encouragement. 38.

243 . . . empower themselves with their own self-understandings of their place in the world, and positioning them so as to change those relationships that constrain and silence them.”

This feeling of empowerment may account for the fact that the Mvskoke students seemed very aware why they were at Wooster. Their letters gave the impression of people who were astute and focused. A. P. McKellop wrote of his desire to serve as a politician in the Muscogee Nation. William Sapuipa hoped to stay in school as long as possible to be better prepared to serve.

Richard Bruner’s letter may have seemed derogatory to the Mvskoke language, when he commended to Superintendent Robertson a well-written letter received from a

TuUahassee student, "We was very glad that you have no Creek language at that place." But Bruner’s comment only reflected his concern, also expressed in other letters, that learning and applying correct English was going to be a large challenge.”

If anything, Bruner’s comments resembled one of Wilbur Scott’s descriptive variables that he felt characterized traditional Indian values, "... an engendering attitude of political protection for the Indian population."” Bruner had such a deep concern that he succeed that he was willing to live apart from his Mvskoke peers to force him into

English-speaking situations if necessary.

”Tiemey, Official Encouragement. 40.

” Consider that TuUahassee could only teach what the Mvskoke approved, and their English language curriculum had that approval.

”Scott, Youth and Society. 388.

244 Meeting Academic Needs

The Role of Peer Groups in Academic Ac^iustment

Regardless of the support of home, Wooster students still had to function within a society that was not theirs. There were additional factors, when combined with community mandate and support, that may have contributed to student well­ being. For instance, the Mvskoke students had an academic foundation compatible with their college environment. Having attended Methodist or Presbyterian Indian boarding schools-whether or not they even embraced such theology-they understood the value system and expectations that fostered the environment at Wooster.

In contrast, as some of the Indian students began experiencing Dartmouth, many of them began to realize that though they were considered good students in high school, their academic preparation was in fact, weak. Davine Two Bears described herself as a high school student in a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school:

I was always a good student, and by junior high knew that 1 wanted to graduate in the top ten percent of my high school class. As a high school student, I purposely took the hardest courses offered, because I knew that it would be good for me in the long run.”

Yet, after a few weeks on campus, Davine realized: "Chemistry was a torture, and I could not keep up no matter how hard I tried. . . My notetaking skills were my down fall. They were poor at best.""

"Davina Ruth Begaye Two Bears, "I Walk in Beauty," from First Persons. First Efioplfis, 54.

“ Ibid., 55.

245 Lori Arviso Alvord had dreams of being a pharmacist, but encounters with science courses changed her mind and she graduated with a psychology degree. She was still attracted to pharmacy, however, and after gaining a position in a laboratory upon her return home to New Mexico, she gained confidence to retry the hard science courses. Eventually, she successfully completed a pre-medical course at the

University of New Mexico, and became a physician. As she looked back she would say, "It took me years to realize that my problems with science courses in college stemmed from my previous high school training. 1 was inadequately prepared to compete with the Ivy Leaguers."”

The Dartmouth students were not always drawn to American Indian student organizations for support until after their college adjustment.” This may be because such associations can be extremely diverse, culturally, which can actually present a threat for new students unaccustomed to any but their own community. In reflection, many Dartmouth students did feel, however, that their participation in their Indian student organization was one of the milestones in their positive adjustment to school.”

The Wooster students happened to arrive in peer groups of four and this may have contributed to their adjustment. They arrived sharing common backgrounds in culture, schooling, and purpose. Doubtless, they discussed news articles from home

”Lori Arviso Alvord, "Full Circle, First Persons. First Peoples. 217.

”Davine Ruth Begaye Two Bears, "I walk in Beauty," and Nicole Adams, "My Grandmother and the Snake," First Person: First Peoples. 58, 104-110.

”Ibid., 58, 59, 111.

246 together, and shared intimate details of experience and change at Wooster that only true peers could understand. The fact that they shared the common experience of adjusting to a different culture may have made them quite close to each other. JeAfey

Wollock proposed that such an esprit de corps’ emerged from the trauma and cultural loss felt at Carlisle Indian School, since, "... the students were, after all, entirely

Indian and some of the sta^ as well. . . "Indeed,” continued Wollock, "rather than stamping out Indian identity altogether, the federal schools unintentionally created an entirely new phenomenon, one that would have enormous consequences for the

20th century; pan-Indianism.""

A Chronicle of Higher Education article described a minority program in which students were academically prepared in teams called "posses." Staying in their teams, they were then sent to higher education institutions. Such a strategy sounded strikingly similar in format to that of the Mvskokes at Wooster.” It is not impossible that George Washington Grayson, the Youth-in-the-States administrator, may have attempted to assure that students were not by themselves. He was certainly someone that could understand the meaning of loneliness at college. Nothing in the records, however, indicates that he deliberately made such an effort.

" Jeffrey Wollock, "Protagonism Emergent: Indians and Higher Education" in Native Americas. V.XIV:N.4, 31 December 1997, p. 12.

”lbid., 12.

”John L. Pulley, "A Program That Believes in Going With the ‘Posse,’ The Chronicle of Higher Education. 28 April 2000, A 40-42.

247 Mentorship

A key component of the aforementioned Posse program to help students adjust to college, was mentorship. As far as institutional support for the Wooster students, there couldn’t have been anything more important than the mentoring that they received. Not just any mentor took them underwing. Jonas Notestein, though a young man, had already become an influential person in the Wooster community as well as the university. As university registrar and the superintendent of the preparatory school, he held considerable authority to intercede on the behalf of the students, when needed.

Notestein not only opened his home, but as manager of one of the eating clubs, provided a way for students to integrate into the general life of the university. He likely provided opportunities and counsel as they made their way through the intricacies of college life so far from home. Notestein may have been the consummate mentor in terms of the relationship and function he served. The students were very appreciative of Notestein, said one, "... he likes us more than the white boys." That was a striking statement, and it must be considered that Notestein had at the very least, demonstrated support for the reasons the students were at Wooster- even to the criticism of some of the student body.

When the students left the University of Wooster to begin their adult careers, it is easy to wonder what kind of remembrances they would have when they looked back at their collegiate experiences. The following incident may indicate that not only did they not forget Wooster, but that there must have been a certain amount of

248 appreciation for the experiences they had gained. On a bitterly cold December night

in 1901, that statuesque administration building, the "Bitters Bottle," burned to the

ground. A drive to fund a new building was begun, and a writer was surprised to

note that some Creek Indians "who had studied for awhile in Wooster in the far off

eighties" were among those sending money.”

The Return Home

When the students returned home in the early and mid 1880s, they were placed

into needed areas of administrative clerkships, finance, and secretarial positions. They did not, however, immediately function in leadership positions. To gain leadership

responsibility, the returnees still had to earn respect from their communities.

Nevertheless, when leadership merged with their bi lingual abilities, their performances were not only timely, but impressive. A. P. McKellop remained an

appointed clerk in the National Council for at least twenty years. His consistent presence earned him the confidence to be sent many times to Washington D. C. as a

delegate. He codified the Muscogee Nation constitution, and his interest and

participation in legal matters was such that in 1895, he was appointed as the Muscogee

Nation’s first Attorney General. His first elected position commanded the respect he

had earned, to the House of Kings, but not until 1905.

Sapuipa had to wait four years before he was elected to the House of Warriors,

but he was approximately thirty-four years old when he became Speaker of the House.

"Notestein, Lucy, Wooster of the Middlewest. Vol. I (Kent OH: Kent State University Press, 1971), 238.

249 When he was selected as chairman of the first Muscogee Nation commission to negotiate with the Dawes commission, Sapuipa noted that he was its youngest member. Eli Hardage, who began his career serving his judicial district, became the youngest member to serve in the prestigious House of Kings, an honor reserved for those who were the idulwa mekkos (town kings). Hardage’s community selected him to complete the term of their mekko who had died. After he fulAlled his term in the

House of Kings, he was elected to the House of Warriors.

Interestingly, many students were found somewhere in the developing educational programs of the Mvskokes. They were found as instructors, school trustees, and National Council educational committee members, and as school builders. Bruner, Hardage and Sapuipa at some point in their lives all superintended boarding schools. Tooka Butler taught school, and Taylor Chissoe who attended Ohio

Central, appeared in Mvskoke Nation records as judge and educator.

Although the students still had to earn respect to gain leadership positions, there was one difference in their returning experiences, in comparison those of the returnees of the 1830s and 1840s. No one accused them of possessing useless knowledge; there was plenty of important, legitimate things for them to do for their nation. It appeared that time had converged with place enabling the returnees to use their college schooling to address the needs of their community.

250 aoiriHCABOUNA N

ROUTE OF THE: Mvskolce Cherokee Choctaw ALABAMA ^ CBOBGIA Chickasaw------FLORIDA Seminole

Guy o f M exico Figure 1. The Five Tribes were removed from the Southeastern United States to what became known as Indian Territory. Most of their travel was accomplished within the decade after the May 28, 1830 Removal Act. The Mvskoke traveled through Choctaw country to the Mississippi River where they descended by river boat steamer to the mouth of the Arkansas River. After ascending on the Arkansas River, they disembarked at Three Rivers Landing. (Source: John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C. McReynolds, Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976, Map 13.' NO MAN'S LAND CHEROKEE OUTLET

SEMINOLE NA*nON

CREEK NA*nON

GREER ' LEASED DISTRICT COUNTY

CmCKASAWWATION g

Figure 2. The map of routes and trails through the Five Trihes also show their land base just prior to the American Civil War. Note that Fort Gibson, a U. S. military outpost, is located in the Cherokee Nation, and is east of the convergence of three rivers. The Verdigris and Grand Rivers join the Arkansas River within a mile of each other. Three Rivers Landing was an important Indian Territory shipping destination from Ft. Smith and New Orleans. Here, the Mvskoke disembarked to live in Indian Territory, (Source: John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C. McReynolds, Historical Atlas of Oklalioma. 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976, Map 22.) ;

g

Figure 3. Landforms of Oklahoma. East of the Three Rivers Landing into the Cherokee Nation, and also south through the Choctaw Nation are several mountain ranges, the Ozark Plateau, the Boston Mountains, the San Bois Mountains, Winding Stair Mountains and the Kiamichi Mountains. Timber was a desired commodity of the outside world. The minerals of the industrial ages, coal, lead, zinc, and oil lay in rich deposits in the mountains and to the lands just West (Source: John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, amd Edwin C. McReynolds, Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976, Map 3.) 2 4UAPAW 3 OTTAWA 4 WAWNn 5 MODOC 6 WTAMDOTIB 7 MOmCA

r

Figure 4. This is Indian Territory in 1889. A comparison of this map with that of Figure 2, shows how much land the Five Trib% relinquished to the United States because of the post-American Civil War treaties. The Ouapaw. Seneca, and a band of Shawnee removed to what became the extreme northeastern part of Indian Territory in the early 1830s. The Eeoda, ÛttaiKa. and Wyandotte removed Irom the Mid-west to Kansas, and, in 1867, to Indian Territory. The Modoc removed from northern California in 1873. (Source: John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C. McReynolds, Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklatoma Press, 1976, Map 48.)

254 Red Fork Broken Arrow

M D u l g i Wagoner

^"**ïoncherty Gifaeon Sta Choaka Creek Agency # Muakogee

fîÿ •!!!*] e ^Ornba^avlum Nujraka ^^okm ulgee • Oktaha Okfuakee Creek Council Ground# Nof ^A^wka •Greenleaf «Thlopthlocoo Forfc-^ of

North Fork Town Hlllabee

Figure 5. Important places in the Mvskoke Nation, 1894. Boarding schools are double-underlined. When TuUahassee boarding school burned in December, 1880, the Mvskoke built a new school at Wealaka and turned the burned site over to the Aeedmen citizens to build a school. (Source: John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C. McReynolds, Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976, Map 37.)

255 COWETA DISTRICT

OKMULGEE DISTRICT

#CairaUt Court Houm

n .....

OkmulfM Coui^louM

Don» Fork Co|rtHouM MUSKOGEE DISTRICT

DEEP FORK DISTRICT

r EUFAÜLA DISTRICT

Euikuia Court Houm

Wewoka Coui^buM \

WEWOKA DISTRICT

Î i V 'f V V

Figure 6. Judicial districts of the Mvskoke Nation, 1867. (Source: John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C McReynolds, Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976, Map 36.)

256 4»*

s

Figure 7. This 1860 map shows that Indian Territory was surrounded by the states of Texas; Missouri; and Ailcansas; and the territories of Kansas and New Mexico. "Oklahoma, as a geographical and political entity, is unique in that it is the only state ever admitted to the Union whose boundaries were predetermined by the formation of the states around it.... it was a matter of take it or leave it’ in regard to the shape of Oklahoma." (Source: Boundaries of Oklahoma- John W. Morris, Editor, CHclahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 1980,3; and Map Room of the Edmon Low Library, Oklahoma State University). BIBUOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

I. Manuscript Collections

American Indian Correspondence: The Presbyterian Historical Society Collection of Missionaries’ Letters, 1833-1890.

Alice Robertson Papers. University of Tulsa. Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Angie Debo Papers. Oklahoma State University Library. Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Bacone College Special Collections. Bacone College. Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Creek Nation. Tribal Records. Oklahoma Historical Society. Oklahoma City.

Creek Nation. Tribal Records. Creek Indian Memorial Association. Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

Grant Foreman Collection. Muskogee Regional Library. Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Highland College Collection. The Ohio Historical Society. Columbus, Ohio.

Indian-Pioneer Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Helen Westbrook Papers. Oklahoma Historical Society. Oklahoma City.

Jonas Notestein Papers. College of Wooster Library. Wooster, Ohio.

Phillips Western History Collection. University of Oklahoma. Norman, Oklahoma.

Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75). National Archives. Washington D. C.

R. S. Cate Collection. University of Oklahoma. Norman Oklahoma.

258 Sapulpa Collection. Sapulpa Historical Society. Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

West Point References (Roll 6, M688). National Archives. Washington D. C.

2. Government Documents

Congressional Globe. Forty-First Congress.

Journals of the Continental Congress Vol 4.

Legislative and Executive Documents of the Congress of the United States. Vol. IV. Washington DC: Gales and Seaton, 1832.

Muscogee National Council Ordinances. 1997.

Report of Select Committee to Investigate Matters connected with Affairs in the Indian Territory Vol 1. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1907.

U. S. Department of Interior. Report of the Comissioner of Indian Affairs. 1836 1837 1839 1842 1844 1845 1851 1855 1858 1866 1876 1877 1891 1899 1905 Washington D. C.: Government Printing Office.

Senate Reports. 45th Congress, 3rd Session, 744.

Statutes-at-Large of the United States of America. Sessions 1 IE XIV.

3. Newspapers

Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Weekly New Era. 1876.

Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Southwest American. 1928.

Muskogee, Muskokee Nation. Indian Journal. 1876 1877.

Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Sapulpa Herald. 1942.

Sioux City, Iowa. Sioux City Journal. 1876.

Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Advocate. 1884.

Wooster, Ohio. Wayne County Democrat. 1877 1882.

259 Wooster, Ohio. Wooster Collepan. Vol. n . 1882.

Wooster, Ohio. University Review. Vol. V. 1876.

4. Interviews

Chadhuri, Jean Hill. Mvskoke cultural specialist. October 1990.

Tyrl, Ron. Professor of Botany. Oklahoma State University. June 1994.

S. Compilations

Bacone College. Thirteenth Annual Catalogue 1892-1893. Muskogee, I. T.: Indian University. 1893.

______. The Baconian. Vol. I.

Messages and Papers of the Presidents 11. Washington D. C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art. 1910.

Cullum, George W. Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military AraHemy at West Point. New York: From its establishment in 1802 to 1890. 3rd. Edition. Vol. 1:1-1000. Boston; Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. Cambridge: The Riverside Press. 1891.

Cunningham, Robert E., Editor. Indian Territory: A Frontier Photographic Record by W. S. Prettyman Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.

Gideon, D. C. Indian Territory landed estates. County Seats. Etc.. Etc. New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. 1901.

Hewitt, J. N. B. and John Swanton. Bulletin 123: Notes on thft Greglc Indians Washington D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. 1939.

Hitchcock, Ethan Allen. A Traveler in Indian Territory. Grant Foreman, ed. Norman: University of Oklahoma. 1938.

Kappler, Charles J. Indian Laws and Treaties. Vol II Washington DC: Government Printing OfRce. 1904.

260 Littlefield, Jr., Daniel and James W. Parins, eds. Native American Writing in the Southeast: An Anthology. 1875-1935 Jackson: University of Mississippi Press. 1995.

Loughridge, R. M. and David Hodge. English and Muskokee Dictionary Indian Territory: Creek Mission, 1853. Reprinted by B. Frank Belvin, Okmulgee, OK, 1964.

Lowrie, Walter and Matthew Saint Clair Clarke. Documents: Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States I VI. "Indian Affairs." Washington D. C.: Gales and Seaton. 1832.

Moore, M. R. Moore's Directory of the City of Muskogee. Indian Territory. Muskogee, IT: M. R. Moore Publishers. 1903.

Morris, John W., Editor. Bnimdaries of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma Historical Society. 1980.

Morris, John W. and Edwin C. McReynolds. Historical Atlas of Oklahoma. Oklahoma Historical Society.

Muscogee Nation. Constitution and Laws of the Muscogee Nation. St. Louis: Levison and Blythe Stationary Co., and Printers. 1880.

Niles Weekly Register. Vol II IB.

O’Beime, H. P. and E. S. Indian Territory: Its Chiefs. Legislators, and Leading Men. St. Louis MO: C. B. Woodward Co. 1892.

Sapulpa (Oklahoma) Historical Society. Sapulpa OK 74066 Vol I. 1979.

State of Oklahoma. A Game Type Map of Oklahoma. Division of Wildlife Conservation. Reprint of 1943 Map. 1986.

William C. Sturtevant, Ed. A Creek Source Book. NY: Garland Publishers, Inc. 1987.

U. S. Executive Branch. Bureau of Education for March 1872. "An Inquiry Concerning the Vital Statistics of College Graduates" from Circular Informatiofl.

University of Wooster. The Index. Fraternities of the University of Wooster. 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883.

261 Wright, Muriel. A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1951.

Secondary Material

1. Articles

Ahem, Wilbert H. "An Experiment Aborted: Returned Indian Students in the Indian School Service 1881-1908." Ethnohistory 44:2. 1977.

Axtell, James. "Death of the Liberal Arts College." In ASHE Reader on The History of Higher Education. Lester Goodchild and Harold Wechsler Eds. Boston: Ginn & Co. 1989. 109-115.

Fauze, J. Frederick. "Anglo-Indian Relations in Colonial North America." Scholars and the Indian Experience. W. R. Swagerty, Ed. Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press. 1984.

Foreman, Carolyn Thomas. "S. Alice Callahan: Author of Wynema, A Child of the Forest." Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 33. 1965.

______. "Two Notable Women of the Creek Nation." Chronicles of Oklahoma 32H. 315-337.

"The Yucchi: Children of the Sun." Chronicles of Oklahoma 37:4. 480-496.

Garrett, Kathleen. "Dartmouth Alumni in the Indian Territory." The Chronicles of Oklahoma 32:2. 1954.

Griffith, Benjamin. "Lt. David Moniac, Creek Indian: First Minority Graduate of West Point," Alabama Historical Quarterly. Summer 1981.

Harris, Samuel. "The Harmony of Natural Science and Theology." The New Englander. 1852. In Darwinism and the Divine in America: Protestant lateilectuaiism and Organic Revolution. 1859-1900. Jon H. Roberts Ed. Madison WI: University of Wisconsin Press. 1988.

Harris, W. T. "The Uses of Education." Educational Review 16 1898. 147-161.

Hawkins, Benjamin. "A Sketch of the Creek Country." Creek Indian History. Compiled by W. B. Hodgson. Americus GA: Americus Book Co.

262 Holway, Hope. "Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson as Linguist.” Chronicles of 35-44.

Hubbard, Jim and Jack Foley. "Chief Sapulpa." Unpublished monograph. Sapulpa (Oklahoma) Historic^ Society. 1990.

"Indian Nation: Creek Delegates." Chronicles of Oklahoma 34:1. 14-16.

Johnson, Eldon L. "Misconceptions About the Early Land-Grant Colleges." Journal of Higher Education. 524. July/August 1981. In HistPiy pf Higher Education. Boston: Ginn & Company. 1989.

Johnson, W. A. "Brief History of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad Lines." Chronicles of Oklahoma 24:3. 340-358.

Kohlbrenner, Bernard J. "Religion and Higher Education: An Historical Perspective," History of Education Ouarterly 1:2. 1961. 45-56.

Lindsay, Lila Denton. "Memories of the Indian Territory Mission Field." Chronicles of Oklahoma 36:2. 1958.

Mankiller, Wilma. "People expect me to be more warlike." Ü. S. News and World I 17 February 1986. 64.

Merserve, John B. "Chief Isparhecher." Chronicles of Oklahoma 10:1. 52-76.

______. "Historical Sketch of Col. Sam Checote once Chief of the Creek Nation." Chronicles of Oklahoma 16:4. 401-409.

Misch, Mrs. J. O. "Lilah D. Lindsay." Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 35:2.

Morrison, W. B. "Father Murrow" in My Oklahoma. January 1928.

Mygott, Matt. "Indian College students look to bring knowledge, development back home." Associated Press Newswires. 5 February 2000.

Nuthall, Thomas. "Traveler into the Arkansas Territory during the year 1819." £ady Western Travels 1748-1846 Vol. 13. Ruben Gold Thwaites, Ed. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark C. 1905.

Perdue, Thelma. "Indians in Southern History." The Impact of Indian History on the TwiPhing nf u . S. History. Chicago: Newberry Library.

263 Pulley, John L. "A Program That Believes in Going With the ‘Posse.’ The Chronicle of Higher Education. 28 April 2000. A 40-42.

Reoff, A. La Vonne Brown. "Introduction." In S. Alice Callahan’s Wynema: A Child of the Forest. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1992.

Richardson, Leon B. "The Dartmouth Indians." Dartmouth Alumni Magazine 22. June. 1930.

Riney, Scott. "I like school so I want to come back." American Indian Cultural Journal 22:2. 171-192.

Sapulpa, William. "Sapulpa." Chronicles of Oklahoma 4:4. December 1927.

Scott, J. H. "Higher Education in Indian Territory." Baconian 8:2. November 1898.

Scott, Wilbur. "Attachment to the Indian Culture and the ‘Difficult Situation’: A Study of American Indian College Students." Youth and Society 17:4. 1986.

Shapiro, E. C. and F. Haseltine and M. Rowe. "Moving Up: Role Models, Mentors, and the Patron System." Sloan Management Review 1978-1979. 51- 58.

Tierney, William G. "Cultural Politics and the Curriculum and Postsecondary Education." Journal of Education 117:3. 3 November 1989. 72-88.

Trickett, Dean. "The Civil War in the Indian Territory." The Chronicles of Oklahoma 17:4. December 1939.

Walne, Peter. "The Collections for Henrico College, 1616-18," Virginia Magazine and Biography 80:3. 1972. 259-266.

Washington County (Arkansas) Historical Society. "Early Colleges and Academies of Washington County, Arkansas." Bulletin 6. The True Democrat. 14 February, 1855.

Windham, Thomas. "Mentoring: Contemporary Use of a Timeless Resource.” Winds of C11M89 14:1.

WoUock, Jeffrey. "Protagonism Emergent: Indians and Higher Education." Native Americas V. December 1997.

264 Wright, Bobby. "‘For the Children of the Infidels’?: American Indian Education in the Colonial Colleges." American Indian Culture and Research Journal 12:3. 1988.

Wright, Bobby and William Tierney. "American Indians in Higher Education: A History of Cultural Conflict." Change. March/April. 1991.

Young, Raymond J. "The Role of Historical Research in Higher Education." ASHE Annual Meeting, November, 1987. Eric Document ED 292 413

2. Books, Dissertations, and Monographs

Abel, Annie Heloise. The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist: An Omitted Chapter in the Diplomatic History of the Southern Confederacy. Cleveland: Arthur H. Claric Co. 1915. Johnson Reprints. 1970.

Allen, Clinton McClarty. The Sequoyah Movement. Oklahoma City: Hallow Printing Co. 1925.

Ambrose, Stephen. Duty. Honor. Country: A History of West Point. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. 1966.

Axtell, James. The European and the Indian. New York: Oxford Press. 1981.

Babcock, Sidney Henry and John Bryce. History of Methodism: Story of the Indian Mission Annual Conference of the Methodists Episcopal Church South. Sidney Henry Babcock. 1937.

Badwound, Elgin. Leadership and American Indian Values: The tribal college dilemma. DocttMal dissertation. Pennsylvania State University. University Park PA. 1990.

Baird, W. David, Ed. A Creek Warrior for the Confederacv: Autobiography of George Washington Grayson. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1988.

Bass, Althea. The Story of Tuilahassee. Oklahoma City: Semco Color Press. I960.

Benson, Snyder, r y Hidden Curriculum. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1971.

Berlin, James A. Writing Instruction in 19th Century American CoUeges. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. 1984.

2 6 5 Blackwood, James R. The House on Collepe Avenue: The Comptons at Wooster. 1891-1913. Cambridge: MIT Press. 1968.

Bledstein, Burton. The Culture of Professionalism. New York: W. W. Norton. 1976.

Burton, Jeffrey. Indian Territory and the United States. 1866-1906. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1995.

Caughey, John Walton. McGillivray of the Creeks. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1938.

Dale, Edward Everett and Jessee Lee Rader, editors. Readings in Oklahoma History. New York: Row and Company. 1930.

Debo, Angie. Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1941. Sixth Printing. 1989.

Deloria, Vine. The Indian Affair. New York: Friendship Prœs. 1974.

Dockstader, Frederick J. Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership. New York: Van Norstrand Reinhold Co. 1972.

Douglas, Sloan. The Scottish Enlightenment and the American College Ideal. New York: Teachers College Press of Columbia University. 1971.

Eastman, Charles. Qhiyesa: Charles Eastman. Santee Sioux. Urbana: University of Illinois. 1983.

Edmunds, R. David. American Indian f j»aA»rs: Studies in Diversity. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1980.

Faulk, Odie B. Muskogee. City and Countv. Muskogee, OK: Five Civilized Tribes Museum. 1982.

Fine, Sidney. Laissez Faire and the General-Welfare State: A Study of Conflict in American Thought. 1865-1902. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press. 1956.

Foreman, Grant. The Five Civilized Tribes. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1934.

266 Franklin, Benjamin. Two Tracts. Information to Those Who Would Remove to America and Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America. 3rd. Ed. London: John Stockdale. 1784.

Franks, Kenny A. The Rush Begins: A History of the Red Fork. Cleveland and Glenn Pool Oil Fields. Oklahoma City: Western Heritage Association. 1984.

Garrod, Andrew and Colleen Larimore, Eds. First Persons. First Peoples. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press. 1997.

Gittinger, Roy. The Formation of the State of Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1939.

Green, Michael. The Politics of Indian Removal: Creek Government and Society in Crisis. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1982.

Griffith, Benjamin W., Jr. McIntosh and Weatherford. Creek Indian I .eadars Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. 1988.

Harding, Thomas S. College Literary Societies: Their Contribution to Higher Education in the United States. 1815-1876. New York: Pageant Press. 1971.

Hayword, F. H. The Educational Ideas of Pestalozzi and Frobel. First published London: Ralph, Holland, and Co. 1904. Reprinted Westport CT: Greenwood Press. 1979.

Hill, Luther B. A History of the State of Oklahoma. New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. 1910.

Hoeveler, J. David, Jr. James McCosh and the Scottish Intellectual tradition: From Glasgow to Princeton. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Hyde, George E. Spotted Tail's Folk: A History of the Brule Sioux. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1974.

Levinson, Daniel J. The Seasons of a Man’s Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1978.

Littlefield, Jr., Daniel. Alex Posey: rrwelr Pnet Journalist, and Humorist. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1992.

Logsdon, Guy. The University of Tulsa. Norman, OK: University o f Oklahoma Preæ for the Oklahoma Heritage Association. 1977.

267 Marsden, George M. and Bradley Longfield. The Secularization of the Academy New York: Oxford University Press. 1992.

Maxwell, Amos. The Sequoyah Consdtudooal Convention. Boston: Meador Publishing Company. 1953.

Miller, Howard. The Revolutionary College. New York: New York University Press. 1976.

Miner, H. Craig. The Corporation and the Indian: Tribal Sovereignty and Industrial Civilization in Indian Territory. 1865-1907. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1989.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Oxford History of the American People. New York: Oxford University Press. 1965.

. Harvard College in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. 1936.

Notestein, Lucy L. Wooster of the Middle West 1866-1910 Vol. 1. Kent OH: The Kent State University Press. 1971.

O'Brien, Sharon. American Indian Tribal Governments. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1989.

Paley, William. Natural Theology. New York: American Tract Society. No date.

Rudolph, Frederick. The American College and University: A History. New York: Vintage Books. 1965.

. Curriculum; A History of the Amcacap Undergraduate Course of Study Since 1636. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1977.

Rulon, Philip Reed, nklahnma State University Since 1890. Stillwater OK: Oklahoma State University Press. 1975.

Schaaf, Gregory. Wampum Belts and Peace Trees;. fiuMgc Morgan. Native Americans, and Revolutionary Democracy. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing Co. 1990.

Sherrill, Lewis Joseph. Presbyterian Pamchial Schools: 1840 - 1870. New York: Amo Press. 1987.

268 Smallwood, Mary Lovett. An Historical Study of Examinations and Grading Systems in Early American Universities: A Critical Study of the Original Records nf Harvard. William and Mary. Yale. Mount Holyoke, and Michigan from their Founding to 1900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1935.

Strickland, Rennard. The Indians of Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1980.

Szasz, Margaret O’Connell. Education and the American Indian: The Road to Self- Determination Since 1928. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1974.

Thompson, Lynn Hastie. William Weatherford: His Country and His People. Bay Minette AL: Lavender Publishing Co. 1991.

Tierney, William. Official Encouragement. Institutional Discouragement: Minorities in Academe-The Native American Experience. Norwood NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. 1992.

Twain, Mark and Charles Dudley Warner. The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. 1972.

Veysey, Laurance R. The Emergence of the University. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1970.

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Tn f i»ad and to Serve: American Indian Education at Hamoton Institute 1878-1923. Hampton: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. 1989.

Wardell, Morris L. Political History of the Cherokee Nation. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1938.

West, C. W. Muskogee. IT: Queen City of the Southwest. Muskogee OK: Muskogee Publishing Company. 1972.

Williams, John and Howard L. Meredith. Racnne fndian University: A History Oklahoma City: Western Heritage Books for the Oklahoma Heritage Association. 1980.

Woodward, Grace Steele. The Cherokees. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1972.

Wright, J. Leitch, Jr. Creeks and Seminoles: The Destruction and Regeneration of the Muscogulgee People. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1990.

269 Wright, Maurice. Wnnd Sweat. Pravers. Tears: A Historv of Baconc C o i t e - Unpublished monograph. Bacone collection.

270