FEDERAL REFUGEES FROM INDIAN TERRITORY, 1861-1867 By JERRY LEON GILL /( Bachelor of Arts Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1967 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements fo~ the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS May, 1973 :;-1' ., '' J~~ /'77~' G415 f. •. &if'• .~:,; . ;.. , : - i \ . ..J ') .: • .·•.,. -~ 1•, j ( . i • • I OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OCT 8 1973 FEDERAL REFUGEES FROM IND IAN TERRITORY, 1861-1867 Thesis Approvedr cPean "of the Graduate College ii PREFACE This study is concerned with the influence of the Civil War on the Indian tribes residing in Indian Territory who chose to remain loyal to the United States government during the conflict. Emphasis is placed on the Cherokee, Cree~, Chickasaw, and Seminole Indians, but all tribes and portions of Indian Territory tribes loyal to the United States during the Civil War are included in the study. Confederate military control of Indian Territory early in the Civil War forced the Indians loyal to the United States to flee north from Indian Territory. Before the war had ended,·approximately 10,500 Feder­ al refugee Indians had scattered across Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and :Mexico. The reasons why these Indians remained loyal to the United States, their exodus from Indian Territory, their exile, and their return to Indian Territory are documented and evaluated in this study. The suffering and death expe:i;ienced by these refugees are unique in Civil War history, and far surpassed the de.privation and sacrifices made by other civilian populations. Hundreds of non-combatants,. including women and children, died through hostile enemy action, starvation, or disease during the exodus and exile. Several people helped make p~ssible the research and writing of this study. Invaluable research assistance was provided by the staff of the Kansas State Histori~al Society, Topeka, Kansas, and especially Forrest Blackburn. Dr. Muriel H. Wrigh1: and Mrs. Rella Looney were iii unusually helpful in providing archival material at the Oklahoma His­ torical Society, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Jack Haley, Assistant Curator of the Western History Collections at The University of Oklahoma, Nor­ man, Oklahoma, also gave freely of his time and knowledge in,providing archival materials • . I am especially indebted to the staff of the Oklahoma State Uni­ versity Library for their patience and generous assistance: Mrs. Heather McAlpine Lloyd, Reference Librarian, spent hours ordering and returning National Archives microfilm and obtaining other researchma­ terial through· interlibrary loan; the late Mrs. Marguerite Howland, Documents Librarian, helped locate obscure and little used information; and Mrs. Betty Jo Jobes, Head Librarian on the Fifth,Floor, rendered invaluable assistance. A debt of gratitude·that can never be repaid is owed Dr. LeRoy H. Fischer, who shared his academic talents and professional research and writing skills freely. His guidance and criticism are indelibly printed on every page of this study, which probably would never have been com­ pleted without his encouragement, personal concern, and at times, prod­ ding. Appreciation is also extended to Dr. Norbert R. Mahnken and Dr. Odie B. Faulk for critically evaluating this study. My apologies and appreciation go to my wife,.Susan, and our chil­ dren, Derek, Lance, and Andrea, who at times found themselves for end­ less h0urs without a husband and father because of this stud\y. Heart­ felt thanks also go to my mother, who opened to me at an early age a world of b0oks, people, and places. i.v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. FEDERAL REFUGEE ORIGINS ••••• 1 EXODUS OF OPOTHLEYAHOLA REFUGEES. 34 III. OPOTHLEYAHOLA REF1TGEES IN KANSAS. • 68 IV. CHEROKEE REFUGEES FROM INDIAN TERRITORY. 100 V0 FEDERAL REFUGEES IN EXILE • 142 VI. RETURN OF CHEROKEE REFUGEES • 166 VII., RETURN OF OTHER FEDERAL REFUGEES. I. 198 VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS • «> • e • «> • 236 BIBLIOGRAPHY ••• C> .. • • • • • • 247 v CHAPTER I FEDERAL REFUGEE ORIGINS In the winter of 1861-1862, Opothleyahola must have suffered from bitter frustration and tragic disillusionment as he· reflected upon the pathetic condition of his Federal refugee band which had been driven from Indian Territory by Confederate forces in December of 1861. His moroseness was well~founded, for these 7,600 refugee Indians were scattered ove.r an area 200 miles in e.xtent on the bleak plains of south- west Kansas betwe.en the Verd;i.gris and Fall rivers, Walnut Creek, and the Arkansas River. The winter was the most severe that had occurred in that part of the country for many years. 1 These Federal refugees were obliged to feed upon their ponies and dogs, while their scanty clothing was reduced to threads, and in some cases to absolute nakedne.ss. Women and children suffered severely from frozen limbs, as did also the men, and this caused nearly 100 amputa- tions during the winter of 1861-1862. Women gave birth to their off- spring upon the snow, without shelter or coveringj and newborn infants died for want of clothing. The most common diseases, brought on by ex- posure, were pneumonia. and ot h er respira. t ory in· f ections.· 2 1coffin to Dole, October 15, 1862, Department of the Interior, An= nual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1862 (Washington: Government Printing Office~ 1863)., p. 136. 2 Collamore to Dole 3 April 21, 1862, ibid., pp. 155-158; Collamore to Dole~ April 21, 1862, United States Department of War, War of~ 1 2 The great majority of the refugees in these wretche.d camps were former members of the powerful and wealtti,y nations of the Five Civilized Tribe.s--the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Chickasaws, and the. Choctaws-- of Indian Territory. In their abject poverty and intense suffering these refugees must have often reflected on their .former prosperity and advanced culture glowingly a:ffirmed by a Te.xas delegation that had visited Indian Territory only a few months earlier. These Texans felt that the Five Civilized Tribes were ••• in a rapid state of improvement..... They are pursuing with good success agriculture and stock raising. Their home.s are well built and comfortable, some of them costly •••• They are·well supplied with schools of learning, extensively patronized. They have many churches and a large membership •••• They have written constitutions, laws, etc., modeled after those of the Southern States. Commissioner of Indian Affairs: Daniel N. Cooley viewed the Five Civili- zed Tribes similarly: ''They were rich in real and personal property, living in the enjoyment of everything needed for their comfort; and considerable weal th had accumulated in the hands of some of them ... so that they lived in a style of luxury."3 In the brief time. span of the Civil War the semi-independent, in- dustrious, powerful, wealthy, and proud Five Civilized Tribes were re- duced to wards of the Federal government for all of their support. The Civil War forced these Indians for political and military re.asons to align themselves with either th~ United States or the Confederate States, destroyed the tribal unity of the Cherokees, Creeks, and Rebellion: !:, Compilation of the Official Records of .the Union and Confederate Armies (four series, 128 books, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Ser •. ii, Vol. IV, pp. 11-13. 3Harrison, Bourland, and Hamilten to Clark,.April 23, 1861, ibid., Ser. iv, Vol. I, pp. 322-325. 3 Seminoles, and blighted the bright future prophesied for the Indian nations. The adverse effects of the Civil War on the Five Civilized Tribes were most pronounced and best illustrated in the inhuman hardships suffered by the members of the tribes who remained loyal to the Federal government. Being a minority, most were forced to flee into pro-Union southeast Kansas and tRe others into southwest Missouri in 1861 and 1862; there they resided until some were able to return to Indian Ter- ritory near the end of the war. Even then their exile was not concluded because. most were forced to live in refugee camps surrounding Fort Gib- son and Fort Smith, where military protection from Confederate raiders was provided. Most of the remaining refugees returned to Indian Terri- tory at the close of the war. The. sectional loyalties which disastrously split the Cherokees, Cre.eks, and Seminoles on the eve of the Civil War and sent Opothleya= bola's band into Kansas and Chief John Ross' Cherokees into Missouri upon its outbreak, had their origins in the removal controversy. The ·removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from their homes in the south= eastern United States to Indian Territory from 1820 through 1859 was a tragic event in the history of the Five Civilized Tribes.4 The horrors of the "Trail of Tears," as their westward journeys were called, were. 4The area west of the Mississippi Rive.r reserved in 1830 for the resettlement of Indian tribes was officially designated "Indian Terri­ tory" in 1834 and included most of present Oklahoma, Kansas, and Ne­ braska. The Kansas~Nebraska Act excluded those two states from Indian Territory in 1854. In this study Indian Territory will refer to its Civil War geographic dimensions, which included present Oklahoma, ex­ cept the panhandle. Joseph B. Thoburn and Muriel H. Wright, Oklahoma: f!!:. History of the State and Its People (4 vols., New York: Lewis Histori­ cal Publishing Co., Inc., 1929), Vol. I, p. 126, explains the inception and metamorphosis of Indian Territory. 4 ·i! twofold. Nearly one-fourth of the Creek and Cherokee Indians died en- route to Indian Territory or shortly after arrival. Subjugation, loss of property, and, in some instances, death were the immediate effects of removal. But the more far-reaching consequence was the division of the·full bloods and mixed bleods of the Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles into two antagonistic factions.