Redbird A06 Sixkiller 1868 Washington, DC Redbird Sixkiller was born on July 1, 1807 in Cherokee Nation East, near Lookout Mountain, Georgia. As a youth he attended elementary and secondary school in that area, and later he received a scholarship from the Guess Family, a Quaker family, and attended school in New Ark, Delaware, where he studied law and phi- losophy. About 1836, just prior to the Cherokee Removal, Redbird married Pamelia Whaley. She was also born in the Cherokee Nation East. In 1837 Red- bird and Pamelia were informed that they would be forcibly removed from Georgia and would be relocated to Indian Territory, west of the Missis- sippi River. The Indian Removal has become known as The Trail of Tears. Redbird and Pamelia arrived in the Goingsnake District of Indian Territory in the Spring of 1838. They settled near the present day village of Westville, Oklahoma, where they raised a family of eight, five boys and three girls. In 1861 the Civil War started. One would think that an Indian who had been forcibly evicted from his home in Georgia and moved to Indian Territory would not have warm feelings about the United States. Redbird enlisted in the Union Army, and after training he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Union Artillery of the Second Brigade. Redbird’s son Samuel served as an enlisted man in the same unit. Redbird served in the Union Army from July 11,1862 until May 31,1865. He was mustered out at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. His unit was in the battle of Newtonia, Missouri during Sept. and Oct of 1862, the battle of Cain Hill in Nov 1862, and the battle of Prairie Grove in Jan 1863. While Redbird was away from home on military duty, bushwhackers came and attacked his family. During the night of July 30, 1863 Pamelia heard the clatter of hooves approaching their home. She grabbed a lantern and, holding her 19 month old baby in her arms, went out expecting the return of Redbird and Samuel. Instead, as she was peering into the darkness, a volley of shot hit her and her baby. At least six shots, penetrated their bodies. As Pamelia and William Green were dying, she asked her daughter Mary to care for the children. In May, 1865, Redbird and Samuel returned from the war and resumed their lives. In 1865 Redbird was elected Judge of Citizens Court and the Executive Council of the Goingsnake District. On October 5,1865 he was elected Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation, and again in 1872. Biographies of both Redbird and Samuel can be found in the publication “Indian Police and Judg- es”, by William P. Hagan, Yale University Press, 1966. Redbird died on October 25, 1898 Donated by: Tom Cates .