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"Walkingstick - Native American Ancestry"

Remember this section of the research is not complete at this time.

Please send any information you may have on your branch of the American Indian ancestry, including documents and photographs. Thanks!


General Information

Walkingstick - From the web pages of Michael Walkingstick Gregory:

The Walkingstick family ancestry is traced to the Eastern and Western Cherokee Nations. The earliest records originating during the destruction of Keowe, including other South Carolina Cherokee settlements in the late 1700's.

Udalvnusti "U-Da-Lv-Nu-Sti" or Walkingstick was born circa 1755 in the old Cherokee Nation of the Eastern United States. 

Walkingstick was still a boy when he came to the south side waters of Hightower in northeast Georgia. He was raised on Crawfish Creek about 15 miles from old Hightower Town in northeast Georgia.

Etowah - A widely used name throughout the territory formerly inhabited by the Cherokee. It is the name of a river, which originates in Lumpkin County and flows southwest to Rome, Georgia where it joins the Oostanaula River to form the Coosa River. It's not believed to be a Cherokee word, but used to designate a Cherokee settlement on the river in Forsyth County, Georgia. White settlers corrupted the name to "Hightower". The early plat maps of Lumpkin County show the river's name as "Hightower".

Walkingstick was a contemporary of the noted Cherokee leader White Path, and the two lived very near each other and engaged in similar campaigns for the Cherokee people.

When General John Sevier marched an Army into the Cherokee Nation in 1792, Walkingstick was one of a party of about 100 Cherokees who embodied to meet General Sevier and engage him in battle to save the Keowe villages in South Carolina, but they arrived too late. General Sevier and 700 militiamen from Tennessee destroyed the villages along the Etowah river, and won a battle against the Cherokees there. Many of the women and children were killed, as most of the warriors were away engaging other white encroachments on Cherokee land.

The Cherokees and Creeks had long been bitter enemies. When the Creeks sided with the French in the War of 1812, the Cherokees services were sought by the United States to aid in defeating the French and their allies. The Cherokees were only too willing to go against the Creeks and gain favor with the U.S. Government for their help in the war. Walkingstick was one of the Cherokees that fought at the battle of Horseshoe Bend in aiding Andrew Jackson quell the Creek uprising. There was another Walkingstick presumably his son, who died at this battle.

At the end of the Creek War, Walkingstick increased his land holdings and became proficient in the ways of agriculture and business under the ever increasing white population.

Note: In 1819, an unknown Walkingstick signed up for removal to the Western Cherokee Nation in Eastern Arkansas and Missouri. He later recanted his decision and remained in the Eastern Cherokee Nation.

In the year 1821, Walkingstick settled on Sweetwater Creek about 10 miles from Buzzards Roost.

In 1822, Walkingstick is a listed member and official for the Cherokee Republican Government representing the village of Hickory Log under Chief Path Killer.

Elitsayi "E-li-tsa-yi" or Elijay was a larger traditional trading settlement in the old Cherokee Nation in what is now north Georgia. Walkingstick held an  immense prestige in the area of Elitsayi, and he ranked high in the councils of his people as a diplomat between the Cherokee and the white man's government. By the time of the removal to Oklahoma Territory in 1838, Walkingstick was the headman of the village of Elitsayi.

Walkingstick's grandson, James Walkingstick was also active in the affairs of the Cherokee Government. In 1834, James was removed to the Western Cherokee Nation in what became the Goingsnake District in Oklahoma. He remained active in Cherokee affairs of the remaining Eastern Cherokees. As of 1835, James signed the Red Clay Proclamation Denouncing the Treaty of New Echota. In February of 1836, he accompanied Chief John Ross to Washington to petition President Andrew Jackson to abrogate the treaty. He returned to the Cherokee Nation in March, and then went back to his home in the West.

Note: The period following the relocation of the Cherokees out of South Carolina into Georgia was a tumultuous one. However, the Cherokees never again could mount a significant military resistance against the colonial armies. There followed an uneasy period of gradual culturalization of the Cherokees. They began to adopt the ways of the whites more and more, and with the Cherokee leadership adopting a policy of treaties with the United States for established territorial boundaries.

 



THE BATTLE OF HORSESHOE BEND:

During the protracted War of 1812, the Muskogee nation or Creek tribe mounted an offensive guerilla war against the United States.

The great Shawnee warrior and leader, Tecumseh (Tecumtha) had come among the Creeks and Cherokees in 1811 advocating his hope of a united front against aggression and further land settlement by the whites.

The Cherokees declined. The Creeks, however, were more than willing to join in part with Tecumseh.

Thus began the Red Stick War. Andrew Jackson led the U.S. forces into battle against the Creeks. The climatic battle occurred at the horseshoe bend of the Tallapoosa river in present day Alabama.

In March of 1814, the Creeks held out against overwhelming forces at the Horseshoe Bend. Despite constant bombardment and fire their defenses could not be breached. Suddenly, a turkey gobble, the Cherokee war cry filled the air, the Cherokees had managed to swim the river and outflank the Creeks. The battle raged for hours as the Cherokee had turned the tide against the Creeks. The proud Creeks would give no quarter and asked for none in return. They were killed to the last man.

THE AFTERMATH
557 Creek warriors lay dead in the ruins of the war. The Americans lost 32 with 99 wounded.
The Cherokee loss was substantial. Of the Cherokee, 18 were dead and 36 wounded.
One of the dead was the son of Walkingstick. Walkingstick himself participated in the battle.

This great victory propelled Jackson into the national spotlight and furthered his political career to the highest office in the land.
Little were the Cherokee to know then the scheming treachery Jackson was capable of in his tenure as president, for Jackson turned a deaf ear to the Cherokees petitions to stay in their native lands. One of the Cherokee leaders said of him, "If I had known then (what treachery he was capable of) I would have killed him myself that day at the Horseshoe.


THE LONG WALK HOME
After the conclusion of the victory at the battle, the Cherokee were discharged from the service of the U.S. armed forces.

When the Cherokee warriors returned home they found their country ravaged, pilfered and destroyed by the returning militia they had so willingly fought alongside.

The Cherokees found that their homes and families had suffered much more from the hands of their white allies than from their enemies the Creeks.

Imagine the returning warrior WalkingStick bringing his dead son home to his mother only to find that those he had so willingly fought alongside had plundered his people in return for so great a sacrifice......

The records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee Enumerations for the family of Walkingstick has him listed as a boy killed at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. 

RECORDS OF THE CHEROKEE AGENCY IN TENNESSEE ENUMERATIONS FOR THE FAMILY OF WALKINGSTICK WHO WAS KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF HORSESHOE BEND 1814:

Ka-Tee, mother of the children

Geor-gie boy

Oo-sti-na-koo boy

Chos-ta-chie boy

Oo-taw-loo-kee boy

Saw-lee girl

Coo-taw-yeh girl

Cha-we-yau-caugh girl

the family was listed as living in Coo Clo Hee town
at this time.



IN THE WINTER OF 1838, ANDREW JACKSON SENT GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT TO GEORGIA TO BEGIN THE ROUNDING UP OF ALL REMAINING CHEROKEES AND PLACING THEM IN THE MANY HOLDING FORTS IN THE CHEROKEE NATION FOR THE UPCOMING REMOVAL TO THE WESTERN CHEROKEE NATION.
THERE WERE TWO RECORDED WALKINGSTICK FAMILIES DID WALK THE TRAIL OF TEARS AND SETTLE IN THE SKIN BAYOU DISTRICT OF THE WESTERN CHEROKEE NATION. THIS WAS LATER RENAMED THE SEQUOYAH DISTRICT IN HONOR OF THE LEGENDARY CHEROKEE CADMUS.
HOWEVER, U DA LV NU STI (WALKINGSTICK) AND HIS FAMILY ALONG WITH SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS ESCAPED INTO TENNESEE AND WERE LATER AMONG THOSE WHO MADE UP THE EASTERN CHEROKEE NATION IN PRESENT DAY NORTH CAROLINA.
U DA LV NUSTI LIVED TO A VERY OLD AGE. HE WAS LISTED ON THE CHAPMAN ROLL OF 1851 AS 95 YEARS OLD AND LIVING IN THE BIRD TOWN COMMUNITY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA.

THE WALKINGSTICKS AND THE TRAIL OF TEARS
FORT HETZEL WAS LIKELY THE LOCATION THAT OOYOSKUH UDALVNUSTI AND HIS KINSMAN JOHN WALKINGSTICK WERE HELD AWAITING REMOVAL.
THERE WERE THIRTEEN DETACHMENTS OF CHEROKEES SENT WEST BEGINNING IN THE FALL OF 1838.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ON SEPTEMBER 14, 1838, OOYOSKUH UDALVNUSTI AND HIS FAMILY LEFT THE OLD CHEROKEE NATION IN THE EIGHTH DETACHMENT TO LEAVE FOR THE WESTERN CHEROKEE NATION. THIS GROUP WAS LED BY J.D.WOFFORD AND CHUWALOOKEE.
THERE WERE 2 MALES OVER 10 YEARS OLD,
3 FEMALES OVER 10 YEARS OLD, 2 MALES UNDER 10 YEARS OF AGE, AND 1 FEMALE UNDER THE AGE OF 10 IN THIS FAMILY OF EIGHT. THEIR SOLE POSSESSION WAS ONE HORSE FOR THE TRIP.
CHUWALOOKEE HAD DEPARTED WITH 1,150 SOULS AND ARRIVED IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY ON MARCH 1, 1839 WITH 970 SURVIVORS OF THE TRAIL WHERE THEY CRIED.

ON OCTOBER 23, 1838, THE TWELTH DETACHMENT OF REMOVED CHEROKEES LEFT THEIR HOMES FOR THE NEW TERRITORY CREATED FOR THEM IN THE WEST.
THERE WERE 1,766 CHEROKEES WHO DEPARTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PETER HILDEBRAND. THEY ARRIVED MARCH 24, 1839. OF THE 1,766 WHO LEFT, ONLY 1,311 SURVIVED THE TRIP. ONE OF THESE WAS JOHN WALKINGSTICK (YOUNG PIG).

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


THESE LATTER EMIGRATING GROUPS SUFFERED IMMENSLY FROM THE HARSH WINTER OF 1838-39. THE GROUPS WHO HAD GONE BEFORE THEM HAD USED UP MOST OF THE GAME USED TO PROVIDE SUBSISTENCE FOR THE PEOPLE. THE PROVISIONS OF MEAT PROVIDED BY THE ARMY PROVED TO BE RANCID AND THUS WAS SHUNNED BY THOSE IT WAS PROVIDED FOR.
ENTREPENEURS LINED THE RIVERS AT THE FORDS CHARGING EXHORBITANT PRICES TO FERRY THE PEOPLE ACROSS.
WHISKEY PEDDLERS AND SWINDLERS WERE ALWAYS AT THE CAMPS.
THEY WERE LED PAST THE SITE OF THE HERMITAGE, THE HOME OF ANDREW JACKSON. THEN, THEY WERE SKIRTED AROUND NASHVILLE SO AS NOT TO DISTURB THE SETTLEMENT THERE. THEY WERE LED PAST THE GRAVES OF WHITE PATH, THE OLD LEADER OF WHITE PATH'S REBELLION EARLIER IN THE CENTURY AGAINST THE ADOPTION OF THE "WHITE MAN'S RELIGION" AND WAYS. ALSO BURIED HERE WAS FLY SMITH. THEIIR GRAVES MARKED BY RIBBONS FLYING FROM POLES SET THERE BY THOSE WHO BURIED THEM TO MARK THEIR GRAVES.
THEN, THEY WOULD HAVE ARRIVED AT THE FROZEN MISSISSIPPI AND REUNITED WITH SOME OF THE GROUPS WHO HAD LEFT BEFORE THEM ONLY TO HAVE TO STOP AND WAIT TO CROSS THE DANGEROUSLY ICED
RIVER.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THEY WOULD FINALLY ARRIVE IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY AND AWAIT THE REMAINING GROUPS TO ARRIVE. OVER 4,000 CHEROKEES WOULD DIE IN THIS EXODUS.
AMONG THESE WERE TWO OF THE MEMBERS OF OOYOSKUH'S FAMILY.

ONE OF THE CONDUCTORS OF THE EMIGRATING GROUPS WAS THE REVEREND JESSE BUSHYHEAD, A CHEROKEE BAPTIST MINISTER.
AMONG HIS GROUP WERE MEMBERS OF THE AMOHEE BAPTIST CHURCH. THIS CONGREGATION SETTLED IN THE GOINGSNAKE DISTRICT AND ESTABLISHED A CHURCH AT THE PEAVINE CREEK.
THIS WAS CALLED THE FLINT CHURCH AND CAME TO BE KNOWN AFFECTIONATELY AS
"THE BIG SHED".
THIS WAS NEAR THE OLD SETTLER JAMES WALKINGSTICK'S HOME AND MANY OF HIS CHILDREN AND DESCENDANTS ATTENDED THIS VERY CHURCH FOR YEARS TO COME.

JESSE BUSHYHEAD ESTABLISHED HIS CHURCH AT THE TERMINAL POINT OF THE TRAIL OF TEARS. THE BAPTIST CHURCH THERE TODAY STANDS ON THE VERY SPOT WHERE HIS FOLLOWERS HAD BROUGHT THEIR OWN CHURCH, BOARD BY BOARD, NAIL BY NAIL OVER THE TRAIL OF TEARS TO THEIR NEW HOME.




CHILDREN OF JAMES WALKINGSTICK OLD SETTLER WESTERN CHEROKEE NATION 

EZEKIAL WALKINGSTICK

WILSON WALKINGSTICK

SAMUEL WALKINGSTICK

BEN WALKINGSTICK

NED WALKINGSTICK

JOHN WALKINGSTICK

JENNIE WALKER



james walkingstick was a member of the wolf clan, the ani=waya.
there were seven matrilineal clans of the cherokee people.
ani-gatagewi wild potato people
ani-kawi deer people
ani-wodi paint people
ani-gilohi long hair people
also called twisters
ani-tsisqua bird people
ani-sakonige blue people
ani-waya wolf people

the cherokee's own name for themselves was the ani-yunwi-ya or the real people.
they also referred to themselves as the kituwah, an ancient name for the real people.





THERE ARE MANY HUNDREDS OF DESCENDANTS OF U DA LV NU STI IN BOTH THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHEROKEE NATIONS TODAY.
WE ARE PROUD TO CARRY THE NAME OF WALKINGSTICK AND EVEN PROUDER OF OUR CHEROKEE HERITAGE.
IF YOU ARE A DESCENDANT OF WALKINGSTICK (U DA LV NU STI) OR ARE INTERESTED IN CHEROKEE CULTURE, THEN PLEASE VISIT OFTEN AS THIS IS A NEW WEB-PAGE AND WILL BE UPDATED AS RESEARCH CONTINUES TO BRING IN NEW ITEMS TO OUR FAMILY HISTORY

DO NA DA GO HV I

From Leona Garcia's site:

There were some who said that James WALKINGSTICK and John TIDWELL were half brothers.This reference should help us immensely as there are
some of our people listed here I think.


According to a bible, Grace Arminda TIDWELL was born 22 Jan 1849 and died 17 Sep 1906.She married Samuel L. Hughes b October 2, 1848 son of Jasper Hughes and Mahala Unknown.On the 1900 census Grace stated that she had 11 children born and 9 were still living.


Grace Arminda was Cherokee John TIDWELLs daughter with his second wife, Lucretia THOMPSON. Grace "Aminda" TIDWELL was the grandchild of Young Deer and Winnie.

OLD SETTLERS ROLL - 1851 List: Ezekiel Walkingstick, Benjamin Walkingstick, James Walkingstick, John Walkingstick, Susy Walkingstick, Wilson Walkingstick.
DAWES/GUION MILLER ROLL - 1898 - 1914 List: Ada J, Ada S., Alice, Benn, Ben,Benjamin T., Betsey, Betsy, Bettie C., Bruce, Callie L., Calvin, Cecil, Celeter, Charlotte, Charles, Christina, Daniel, Dora C., Edward, Edward, Ethel, Ezekiel, Frances, George, Henry, Huey M., Irene, Isaac, James M. James W., Jane, Jennie, Jennie, Jesse, John C., John R.,, Leona, Lewis D. Lydia, Lydia Ann, Mack, Maggie, Mary J. , Mary T., Mattie E., May, Nancy C., Nina M., Peggy, Rosa A., Rosey, Sallie, Sallie, Simon, Simon R., Steven, Susa, Susie E., Thomas L., and Wilson. Does this help? Email me if you want their roll numbers. Families are in family group numbers. and the Dawes Roll numbers are consecutive for family members. You are welcome.

The foregoing were removed in wagons and steam boats by Lt. J W Harris to

>the New Country on May 16, 1834

>

>The following Emmigration Roll of persons who left Cherokee Nation East

>after receiving their commutation allowance. Number of them joined the

>Harris company and all were making the journey at the same time.

>REMOVED BY COMMUTATION AND CAME BY THEMSELVES

>(Arr. means date of arrival)

>Barnes, John: (7) Arr. Aug. 30, 1834

>Bean, Elizabeth & Caleb: (2) Arr. May 8, 1834

>Bean, John: (18) Arr. May 16, 1834--One birth, 15 May1834

>Bean, Margaret: (1) Arr. May 8, 1834--One increase on arrival

>Bibles, Adam & Elinor: (3) Arr. Nov. 10, 1834

>Blalock, Washington: (5) Arr. June 5, 1834--2 died 1st Sept.

>Buffington, Elias & Lydia: (13) Arr. Nov. 10, 1834

>Buffington, Ezekiel: (2) Arr. Nov. 10, 1834

>Buffington, Jas.: (4) Arr. Nov. 10, 1834

>Burgess, Richard: (1) Arr. Feb. 25, 1834

>Bushyhead, George: (1) Arr. May 12, 1834

>Bushyhead,Isaac: (5) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Campbell, Eliza: (8) Arr. May 26, 1834--1 dead

>Campbell, William R.: (8) Arr. May 26, 1834--1 dead

>Candy, John: (3) Arr. May 12, 1834

>Carroll, Stephen: (10) Arr. May 4, 1834

>Carter, David: (7) Arr. May 4, 1834

>Carter, Wilson: (1) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Casey, Rachel: (2) Arr. May 6, 1834--1 died 6 June 1834

>Chote, Silas: (9) Arr. May 1, 1835--One died on the way

>Coody, Joseph: (16) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Coody, W.S.: (4) Arr. May 16, 1834

>David, James: (1) Arr. May 12, 1834

>Dougherty, James: (1) Arr. May 17, 1834

>Dougherty, Robert: (7) Arr. May 17, 1834

>Dougherty, William & Mary: (11) Arr. 27 July & 2 died 11 Aug--1 birth 12

>Aug.

>Drum: (8) Arr. May 10, 1834--only 4 lived to receive rations

>Duncan, John: (12) Arr. May 14, 1834

>Freeman, George: (2) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Goddard, Sally: (1) Arr. May 8, 1834--J Crittenden enrolled with her but

>returned east, incl. in Hiram's

>Gordon, Thos. & Eliza: (2) Arr. April 1, 1834

>Gowan, Jacob P.: (1) Arr. May 12, 1834--Emigrated before in 1818 or 1819

>Griffin, Daniel: (4) Arr. May 6, 1834--Griffin died 18 July 1834

>Griffin, J.W.: (12) Arr. May 12, 1834--4 dead

>Griffin, William C.: (1) Arr. May 5, 1834

>Halfacre, Elizabeth: (3) Arr. June 16, 1834--1 died 5th June, 1 died 28

>July, 1 returned

>Harlan, George: (4) Arr. April 1, 1834

>Hicks, William, Jr.: (1) Arr. May 8, 1834

>Hill, Thomsa: (1) Arr. June 6, 1834

>Holt, Wm. S.: (7) Arr. May 16, 1834--one birth on arrival

>Horn, Jeremiah: (11) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Horse Fly: (4) Arr. May 17, 1834--2 lived to receive rations, 1 died since

>Hoyt, Milo: (10) Arr. May 16, 1834--Gone to Ohio

>Hyatt, N.B.:(2) Arr. May 6, 1834--Griffin died 18 July 1834

>Lacy, Wm. Eisley: (1) Arr. Aug. 20, 1834

>Lattimore, Samuel: (7) Arr. May 16, 1834--5 died

>Lemons, Samuel: (3) Arr. May 16, 1834--2 died 14 November

>Maw, Fielding: (1) Arr. May 13, 1834--1 died Sept. 1834

>Maw, Lucy : (6) Arr. May 6, 1834--2 died

>Melton, Daniel P.: (4) Arr. May 24, 1834--2 dead

>Miller, James: (1) Arr. May 6, 1834

>Moore, Elija: (1) Arr. May 10, 1834

>McDaniel, James: (16) Arr. May 16, 1834

>McDaniel, John: (1) Arr. May 16, 1834--Dead

>McDaniel, Samuel: (3) Arr. Oct. 14, 1834--One died on the way

>McIntosh, John, Jr.: (1) Arr.Apr. 27, 1834

>McIntosh, John, Sr.: (14) Arr. May 6, 1834--1 died, 1 May 1834

>McIntosh, Samuel: (4) Arr. May 10, 1834

>McIntosh, William: (1) Arr. May 1, 1834

>Nave, John: (1) Arr. May 5, 1834--Dead

>Nave, William M.: (10) Arr. May 16, 1834--One died 2ed July

>Paden, Benjamin: (4) Arr. Apr. 15, 1834--1 birth 15 Apr. 1834--returned

east

>ofthe Mississippi.

>Perdue, Daniel A.: (7) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Perdue, Joseph: (1) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Pinder, John: (5) Arr. May 16, 1834--Pinder, white, separated from family,

>deserted

>Quinton, Samuel: (7) Arr. May 4, 1834

>Ratliff, William: (4) Arr. May 30, 1834

>Richmond, George: (4) Arr. May 4, 1834--Richmond & Wife dead 1 Nov. 1835

>Roach, Joshua: (3) Arr. April 1, 1835

>Riley, Felix W.: (3) Arr. March 11, 1835

>Ross, Templin & Eliza: (13) Arr. May 18, 1834--5 died or did not arrive

>Scales, Mary: (7) Arr. May 16, 1834--Mary Scales died on the way

>Shook, Alexander: (5) Arr. May 12, 1834--1 dead and Shook gone back

>Sidna, John: (1) Arr. Oct. 4, 1834--Dead

>Sidna, Nelly: (5) Arr. Oct. 14, 1834

>Spears, John: (1) Arr. May 6, 1834

>Starr, Ezekial: (20) Arr. May 16, 1834--slave died 10 May 1834

>Stuart, Sally: (7) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Thomas, Wilson: (2) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Thompson, David: (15) Arr. June 1, 1834--3 died 15th Aug., 1 the 10th Sept

&

>1 the 25 Sept 1834

>Thompson, Sinyard: (4) Arr. May 30, 1834--One died before arrival, three

>returned east

>Thornton, Amos: (5) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Thornton, Riley: (1) Arr. May 14, 1834

>Tooker: (1) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Van, Robert V.: (1) Arr. May 14, 1834

>Ursery, Phillip: (6) Arr. June 30, 1834

>Walkingstick, James: (1) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Ward, John & Eliz.: (6) Arr. May 14, 1834--Returned east of the Mississippi

>Ward, Martin: (1) Arr. May 9, 1834

>Waters, Michael: (1) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Waters, Robert: (2) Arr. May 10, 1834

>Wheeler, John F.: (4) Arr. May 6, 1834

>Whirlwind, Martin: (3) Arr. May 6, 1834

>Whitney, Betsy: (3) Arr. May 16, 1834--2 died on the way, 1 birth 9th June

>Whitney, Isaac S.: (1) Arr. June 10, 1834--Dead

>Wilson, Alex, Wm., Archibald: (3) Arr. May 8, 1834

>Wilson, George: (8) Arr. May 8, 1834

>Wilson, John: (1) Arr. May 5, 1834

>Wolf, Jack: (1) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Wolf, Thomas & Alexander: (2) Arr. May 16, 1834--Alexander died

>Wolf, Tom: (4) Arr. May 16, 1834--1 dead 16 May & 1 13 Nov.

>Wolf, Young: (7) Arr. May 16, 1834

>Woodard, Jack: (1) dead

>Names mentioned in the body of the journal printed in "The River Trail"

>compiled and edited by Jane B. Noble.

>Notes with names supplied by Cherokee genealogist John Strange, 3208 South

>101st East Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74146. Some work has been done on the

>entire muster roll and this material can be obtained from Mr. Strange for

>those people interested in their Cherokee genealogy.

>

>******The above appears in the book. I do not know what year this book was

>published nor if Mr. Strange is still with us or at that address. Also do

>not know if there is a charge for material from him. I just typed it as it

>was published--now on to the list:

>

>Templin W. Ross, (William Templin according to Starr.) (white) Married

Eliza

>Sevier.

>Miller, John Miller

>Woodward Family, William Woodward, a white trader, married a full-blood

>woman named Lydia. The family lived at Oolteewah Creek, Tennessee.

>Hiram Bright, (white) married Lethe Downing, a Cherokee woman.

>Daniel Reynolds, Daniel Runnels (white). Three Runnells brothers married

>Cherokee women.

>Oasconish

>Stephen Spaniard, one half Cherokee and one half Spanish.

>Daniel McDonald, there is much confusion between the McDonald and McDaniel

>names on the rolls. This was probably a McDaniel.

>Bear Paw

>Henson (Jas.) James B. Henson (white) married to a Cherokee woman, possibly

>Rebecca McDaniel.

>Will Bolin, Half Cherokee, son of Archibald Bolin and a Cherokee woman.

>Thigh Hare (not on rolls).

>Mr. Toss (not on rolls).

>Nellums, Samuel, one-half Cherokee, son of Archibald Nellums (an Irishman)

>and Susan Whale, a full blooded Cherokee.

>Marshall.

>Townsend, Jesse Townsend (white), married Ailsey Cloud.

>Dan'l and Alen McDonald.

>Jackson Smith, (white) married a Cherokee woman.

>Black Fox.

>Charley McDaniels, half Cherokee, first married to Diannah Otterlifter,

>second marriage to a Cherokee woman named Sallie.

>Robin Shelton (Robert), born 1807 Bin, North Carolina, married Rebecca

>Young, a Cherokee woman.

>Spencer Shelton, (white) first marriage, Lydia, a full-blood Cherokee

woman,

>second wife Susanna Christie.

>Alice.

>D. Ross (David Ross), (white) from North Carolina.

>Bolinger, Henry Bolinger (white) married Owistee, a full-blood woman.

>Richardson (Amos Richardson), (white) married Jennie Crittenden.

>T. Wilson (Thomas Wilson) one quarter Cherokee.

>Wm. England, (white) born 1790 in North Carolina. Married Susan Ward, a

>quarter-blood Cherokee.

>Brewer (William Brewer), married Lydia Shelton, daughter of Robert Shelton.

>Both were one-half Cherokee.

>Wm. Vann, born 1795 in Georgia, a cousin of Rich Joe Vann, married Annie

>Sanders.

>Wm. Wilson, married Rachel McDaniel, a Cherokee woman.

>Mrs. Cheek (Caterine Elliott) one-half Cherokee, married Richard Cheek

>(white).

>Sarah.

>Bird.

>Peckerwood.

>Joseph Dobson (white).

>Morgan (Hosea Morgan, Sr.) Probably white and Catawba, married a Cherokee

>woman.

>S. Halloway.

>John Woodward, son of William Woodward.

>Nancy Holcom.

>Thos. McDaniel, one-half Cherokee, married a full-blood woman named Ollie.

>Mrs. England, (Susan Ward) wife of William England.

>Sanders, Jacob Sanders and his wife,Ailsey.

>Chess, possibly Guess.

>Polly Spaniard, (Polly Woodward) one-half Cherokee, probably wife of John

>Spaniard.

>Jim Cross.

>Gore, Bledsoe Gore (white) married Betsy Nellums, one-half Cherokee.

>McGray (Alexander McGray).

>Mariah Spaniard (Mariah Woodward) one-half Cherokee.

>Tiek Butler or Longjohn, three-quarters Cherokee.

>Robert Fields, born 1810, married Sallie Murphy. He was the son of George

>Fields and Nannie Brown.

>Bateman.

>C. Ward (Charles Ward) son of John Ward (white) and Catherine McDaniel, a

>Cherokee woman.

>Brown.

>Mayes.

>Ruby Tucker (Ruby Halloway (white), wife of John Tucker, a half-blood

>Cherokee.

>Alen McGrey, son of Alexander McGray, a Scot, his mother was probably

>Rebecca McDonald.

>Williamson.

>Will Tucker. one-half Cherokee. Born 1807. he was the son of Isaac Tucker

>(white) and a Cherokee woman named Susan.

>Mrs. Johnson.

>Briant White.

>Briant Woods, probably Briant Ward, son of John Ward (white) and Catherine

>McDaniel, a Cherokee woman.

>James McDaniels, born 1794 in North Carolina. A quarter-blood Cherokee, he

>married Rachel Shelton, a Cherokee woman.


FOOTSTEPS-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
 HISTORY OF THE KEETOOWAH CHEROKEES
 
by   David   A.  Cornsilk
Managing Editor in 1997

 

 For many years a battle has been brewing in the Cherokee Nation.  This battle isn't one you will see on television or watch outside the local bar.  This battle isn't between two diverse groups of people who don't like each other for ridiculous reasons, such as skin color, religion, creed or national origin.  No, this battle is between members of the same household, the Cherokees.

 The Cherokees, from the beginning of our recorded history in the 1700's, have been a divided people.  Natural lines or fractures exist in our society which with external pressure, open into wide fissures. These fissures create what appear to be irreparable wounds which prevent unity and sap the strength of our Nation.

 The old adage, "Those who forget the past  are doomed to repeat it", is appropriate for a Nation so rich in history and lessons from the past as the Cherokees.

 Described by outsiders as a single Nation under the title of Cherokees, we called ourselves the Principal People (A-ni-yuh-wee-yuh) and  KEETOOWAH people (A-ni-kee-too-wah-gee).  The former was used in conversations with or about other Nations of Indians to show the Cherokee superiority.  The term in now commonly used to refer to all  Indians.  The latter term was more spiritual in nature and was used among Cherokee speakers to refer to themselves.

 Kituhwa was the mother town or original settlement of the Cherokees.  The town served as a spiritual center and capitol for the Cherokee people  until the development of a new capitol at Chota.  The town of Kituhwa has long since faded into the annals of Cherokee history and even its true location is a mystery.  Some scholars believe the town is located in western North Carolina near the present reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

 The Cherokee Nation, from the earliest records, was divided into several bands separate from each other by geographic features and language dialects.  Each band functioned politically separate from all others and within each band, the towns functioned as separate political entities.  In times of  warfare, each band and town made a choice to join together for defense, remain neutral or even fight against each other.  The situation was much like the city-state politics of early Greece and medieval Italy.  The Cherokees did not unify under a single government until the English, weary from dealing with so many "heads of state", withheld vital trade goods until the Cherokees selected an "Emperor", through whom the British could deal.

 Clearly, the novel concept of a single, all-powerful monarch was foreign to the democratic Cherokees and sub chiefs continued to play a vital role in the development of the tribe and its foreign policy.

 Warfare broke out frequently in the Cherokee country during the 1700's, mainly due to the machinations of the agents of France, Spain, or England. Most of the Cherokee towns were strongly in favor of British trade.  This was not true of the five Chickamauga towns under the leadership of Dragging Canoe and later, The Bench, ancestor of the Benge family.  Runningwater, Nickajack, Chickamauga, Tinsawatie, and Elijay were closely aligned with the Spanish in Florida and their English spy,  John McDonald, who ran a trading post at Pensacola and was the grandfather of  Chief John Ross.  The Chickamauga Cherokees fought against the settlement of lands ceded by the pro-English Cherokee government to the British colonies.  Dragging Canoe stated, "The settlement of this land shall be dark and bloody", and he made it so.  The names of Dragging Canoe,  The Bench and the Chickamauga Cherokees became the most feared in the territory.  The fighting couldn't go on forever and upon the assassination of the Bench, the Chickamauga laid down their arms, and the Cherokees would wage no further wars with the European and American powers.

 1790 saw great changes taking place in the Cherokee Nation and in its relationship to  the new nation, the United States. Prideful from their victory over Britain and hungry for land, the Americans were eager to punish the Cherokees for siding with the British during the Revolutionary War.  Land  cessions became the order of the day. With a single head of state, the only formality in obtaining  more was  the correct amount of  rum  and  trinkets.

 Many sub chiefs, dissatisfied with the  Nation's politics and their own diminishing power, chose to separate from the Cherokee Nation and become a separate political entity.  This was accomplished by leaving the eastern homeland and finding suitable territory west of the Mississippi.

 A small group of Cherokees settled in the Arkansas territory, established their own government and requested recognition from the United States.  In the treaties of 1817, 1819, 1828 and 1833, the Western Cherokees were recognized as a separate  Nation.  Once again we can see that outside pressures of white emigration, cultural genocide and political change drove the Cherokees to fracture into two separate Nation's.

 At the same time, the Eastern Cherokees were struggling to hold on to their  ancestral  homeland which had been reduced to about one-fifth (1/5) its original size.  Pressure was being placed on the Cherokees to emigrate west and join the Western Cherokees in Arkansas Territory, and after 1828, in Indian Territory.

 The Spanish and the French continued to put pressure on the Southern Cherokees and the now sovereign states of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina were harassing the Cherokee Nation.  All of these pressures combined to create an explosive atmosphere for the Cherokee people to begin drawing lines and creating fissures.

 The Western Cherokees, prospering in their new homes, sent letters and messages to the Eastern Cherokees of a land of milk and honey. They talked of the abundance of nature, the fruit of one's labor and the absence of the ruinous influence of the white man. In a letter to the Eastern Cherokees, Chief George Lowrey begged his eastern brethren to join him in his happiness in the west.  He signed his letter in the Cherokee Syllabary developed by his cousin Sequoyah, and followed his name with the heading   Kituhwa-gi. The A-ni-ki-tu-wa-gi had established themselves as a separate government in the west.

 During the period of turmoil in the east, factions developed and merged and redeveloped  almost on a daily basis.  The Cherokees living in North Carolina long the Occonuluftee River, under the leadership of their chief Junaluska (Drowning Bear), severed their ties with the Cherokee Nation East, relinquished their Cherokee citizenship and became citizens of the state of North Carolina.  During the Cherokee Removal of  1838-39, Junaluska's band of Cherokees were not required to leave and remained unmolested as their brethren were driven west over the Trail Where They Cried, Junaluska's band became the nucleus of what is known today as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, a separate political entity.

 The Cherokees who lost their homes in the east came west in two very distinct factions. Between 1835 and 1837, members of the Treaty Party included signers of the now infamous Treaty of New Echota and other supporters of removal who voluntarily relinquished their homes and lands in the east.

 The years of 1838-39  saw the forced mass migration of the Cherokees opposed to removal and the treaty which had caused it. Bitter hatred seethed in the hearts of  families who had lost everything, including family members to the removal.  Of  course the U. S. Government  was the true culprit, but convenience laid the blame on the Treaty Party and the Western Cherokees, now known as Old Settlers. Murder in the Cherokee Nation was an everyday occurrence and revenge killings were rampant.

  The Treaty Party, its members fearful of being murdered, sided with the Old Settlers for protection or fled to Texas where many of their descendants continue to reside today.  The emigrant or Ross faction of the Cherokee Nation, with  members to their advantage, decided to overpower the Western Cherokee's government and install their Chief, John Ross, as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

 Even the title "Principal Chief", speaks to the factionalism common to our Nation.  Many sub chiefs continued to wield great power in the Nation. Principal Chief was used to distinguish   Ross from the   numerous sub chiefs.

 In June 1839, an Act of Union was written by William Shorey Coody, an Old Settler, uniting the warring factions of the Cherokee tribes into one Nation under the control of the Principal Chief, John Ross. The Act of Union brought together, by mutual agreement, the Ross Party, the Treaty Party, and the Old Settlers.  The Act, however, was just a piece of  paper and only as good as Ross' leadership.  Fighting and bloodshed continued among the Cherokees for seven years.  It was not until 1846 that John Ross successfully negotiated a new treaty and was able to soothe the torn and weary Cherokee  people.  The wounds were deep and merely awaited new pressures to split open anew.

 Mixed-bloods such as the Ross, Adair, Vann, McNair, Bushyhead, Sanders and Downing families dominated the Cherokee Nation political scene. A new fissure was developing which, although near the surface, had not been seen before.  The full-bloods were becoming outnumbered by their mixed-blood brethren.  The full-bloods, dominated by thinkers from the A-ni-ki-tu-wa-gi, were losing power in the Cherokee Nation.

 Pig Smith, Creek Sam, and other traditionalists joined forces with Evan and John Jones, white baptist Missionaries, to create a political and spiritual body to empower the full-bloods in Cherokee politics. In 1859, this faction of Cherokees lead by Old Settlers, incorporated as the Keetoowah Society.  Favoring traditional Cherokee ways, values and religion, this group was opposed to mixed-blood domination of Cherokee affairs, land cessions, and slavery.  The winter of 1859-60 saw the issue of slavery take on the national attention of both full-blood and mixed-bloods alike. .....Fueled by the Baptist Jones' opposition to slavery and ignited by the full-blown disfranchisement, the Keetoowah Society became Northern sympathizers and abolitionist among the slave-owning mixed-bloods.

 Principal Chief John Ross, ever aware of his full blood power base, resolved to remain neutral in the American Civil War, then looming on the horizon.  Through the pressures of  Stand Watie, a Cherokee Confederate General and Treaty party leader, and the almost total abandonment of the Cherokee Nation by Federal troops, Ross signed a treaty with the Confederacy and joined the war.  Almost immediately after signing the Confederate treaty, Ross denounced it as a fraud.

 With such great pressures from the outside, the Cherokee Nation fractured along many lines.  The old hatreds from the removal broke to the surface with a fury.  Many murders were committed in the name of warfare that were really nothing more than revenge killings. Stand Watie and his troops rampaged through the Cherokee country killing and pillaging his OWN people and burning the homes of those he blamed for the deaths of his relatives, Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot, all  signers of the removal treaty.

 Full bloods fled north into Kansas, while mixed-bloods, with their slaves, fled south into Texas, leaving the Cherokee Nation ripe for the picking.  The Cherokees returned home after the war to a scene of total devastation. The Cherokee Nation  was now totally divided along blood lines and political sympathies.  Full bloods controlled the government under acting Principal Chief, Watt Pegg.  The mixed-bloods demanded consideration and recognition of their chief, Stand Watie. The full bloods wanted the National government turned back over to John Ross and abhorred the thought of Stand Watie as chief.

 To keep what they had gained the full bloods used the Keetoowah Society as a vehicle for political power.  The spiritualist of the Society did not want to be involved in tribal politics and the Society spilt into two distinct branches, the Keetoowah Society and the National Party.

 The National Party, dominated by full bloods, elected the Principal Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation until the election of Joel Mayes.  The era of domination of the Cherokee Nation by mixed-bloods began again.

 The Keetoowah Society became a secret society before the opening of the Civil War and due to pressures from missionaries and mixed-bloods, settled back to gain the strength that would be necessary to fight the Dawes Commission and the mixed-bloods over the allotment of tribal lands.

 Under the remarkable leadership of the great Keetoowah Chief, Redbird Smith, son of Pig Smith, the Society gained the following of nearly every full-blood Cherokee in the Nation.  Known as Nighthawks because of their nighttime ceremonies and secretive habits,  the Keetoowahs embraced Cherokee culture and prevented its spiraling decline.  The Keetoowahs even became involved in the manhunts staged by the U.S. Marshals in the 1890's for the so-called outlaws,  Ned Christie and the Wickliffe boys.

 Fierce nationalist, the Keetoowahs were opposed to any incursion of Cherokee sovereignty by the U S. or the states.  Land cessions were unthinkable among them.  Treaties were sacred vows made in the sight of God, to be honored to the letter by the United States and the Cherokees.  When the  threat of land allotment came, the Keetoowahs and Chief Redbird Smith rallied every ounce of strength to fight for Cherokee rights.

 The Dawes Commission responded to the Keetoowah tactics to avoid enrollment by hiring Cherokee spies, usually mixed-bloods, to sniff out the full bloods and testify on their behalf and enroll them against their will.  The tactic was so successful that not more than a handful of Cherokee citizens escaped enrollment.

 Redbird Smith himself was imprisoned and forced to enroll.  Upon his release he issued an order to his Nighthawk followers to stop resistance and, if required, to be passive about enrollment.  He did, however, manage to slow down the actual division of land by having his followers refuse to choose allotments or refuse allotment certificates if land had been chosen for them.

 In 1905 the remnant of the National Party and the Keetoowah Society incorporated under federal law and began what was to prove to be a 46 year struggle to regain the separate government they had before the Act of Union in June of 1839.

 Convinced of the abrogation of the Act of Union,  Redbird Smith set out to gain separate tribal status for the full bloods through the Keetoowah Society.  By incorporating, the Society would be an organized political entity, even though they continued to function under the original Keetoowah Constitution of 1859.

 Redbird Smith accepted his allotment, as well as that of his wife and children around 1914.  During the time between 1906 and 1914, many Keetoowah leaders began to suspect Redbird Smith of selling out. He had accepted his allotment and had even sold some acreage of one minor son to finance home improvements!  Keetoowah leaders, such as Ned Blackfox,  James Hilderbrand and Eli Pumpkin broke away from the Keetoowah Society and organized their own societies.  Names such as the "The Eastern and Western Cherokee Keetoowah", began to appear.  These organizations operated independently of each other in their attempts to continue avoiding allotment, restoration of the old order and enforce the treaties or gain some measure of protection for the full bloods who had accepted their allotments.

 A branch of the Keetoowah Society sprang up in nearly every full-blood community as Redbird Smith's influence among them began to fail. After Redbird's death in 1919, there were 22 separate Keetoowah organizations functioning independently in the Cherokee Nation.  Each organization carried out its own political agenda and continued to practice the old ceremonies.

 Bitter rivalries began to develop between the older sons of Redbird following his death, with each attempting to take charge of the Keetoowah Society and accusing the others of different wrongs.  The youngest son of Redbird, Stoke Smith, grasped the helm and took charge of the Keetoowah Society, the mother society of all other branches.

 Disturbed by the lack of unity of the twenty-one other ceremonial grounds and by the desecration of the original ground on Blackgum, Stoke Smith moved the ceremonial grounds to its present location a few miles west of Blackgum.  To consolidate his authority over the diverging Keetoowah branches,  Stoke visited each ground and ceremonially killed their fires and brought them home to the new mother ground at Buffalo town near his home.  The last  to go home were at Sugar Mountain and Chewey.

 The leaders of the Keetoowah organizations were not to be thwarted so easily.  Although many Keetoowahs followed the fires to the new mother ground, many continued to follow the old dethroned ground chiefs.  These chiefs led their people for several years, acting as nearly as possible as despot mayors of the several communities.

 Under the leadership of James Hilderbrand, Dick Pickup and Ned Blackfox, a new organization was begun.  It functioned under the title of Keetoowah Society and relied heavily upon the 1905 charter of incorporation, even though the Keetoowah Society proper continued to function as a non-political, spiritual society in Sequoyah County with Stoke Smith as chief.

 After the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934 and subsequently, the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act in 1936, Dick Pickup brought together the leaders of the numerous Keetoowah branches at Tahlequah. After lengthy discussion, a vote was taken to unite the fractured society under one chief and officially petition Congress for Tribal recognition under the laws.  Only one chief refused to participate.  Stoke Smith, leader of the Keetoowah Society proper, refused  because the new organization had politics as its main concern.  Stoke Smith did not, however prevent members of his society from joining the new organization.

 Duly organized and ready to ask for federal recognition, a debate ensued over what to call the organization.  All present were Keetoowah and wanted the name to reflect that.  It was decided that because the group had been brought together and in effect united, the name United Keetoowah Society was selected.  The Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C. had some problem with extending federal recognition to a "society" and proposed  the present name of United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.  The name was accepted and application was made for formal recognition of the UKB.

 Recognition of the UKB did not come easily.  There was some difficulty with the re-establishing a government for the Cherokees because of residual recognition of the old Cherokee Nation government through the appointment of the Principal Chiefs by the President of the United States. Congress, however, was able to overcome any reservations it had and extended federal recognition to the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma in 1949.

The rest is history. 


General John Sevier
a Brief Biography
From the Biographical Directory of the American Congress

        "JOHN SEVIER, a Representative from North Carolina and from Tennessee;  born near Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia, September 23, 1745;  attended the common schools and the academy at Fredericksburg, Virginia;  moved with his brothers in 1773 and settled on the Holston River, North Carolina (now Tennessee);  captain of Colonial Militia under Washington in Governor Dunmore's war against the Indians in 1773 and 1774;  county clerk and district judge 1777-1789;  received the thanks fo the North Carolina Legislature for meritorious services at the Battle of King's Mountain October 7, 1780;  elected Governor of "the proclaimed" State of Franklin in March 1785 and served for three years;  elected as a Democrat from North Carolina to the First Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791);  appointed in 1791 as brigadier general of militia for the Washington District of the Territory South of the Ohio;  upon the admission of Tennessee as a State into the Union was chosen Governor and served from 1796 to 1801;  and again from 1803 to 1809;  appointed in 1798 as brigadier general of the Provisional Army;  elected from Tennessee to the Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1811, until his death;  appointed in 1815 asw one of the commissioners to determine the boundary between Georgia and the Creek territory in Alabama and served until his death, near Fort Decatur, Alabama, September 24, 1815;  interment at Fort Decatur, Alabama;   reinterment in 1889 in the courtyard at Knoxville, Tennessee, beneath a monument erected in his honor."

General John Sevier
Born, September 23, 1745
Died September 24, 1815

 

 


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