Jacksonland: A Great American Land Grab (35 page)

Prologue: The Indian Map and the White Man’s Map

a wooden flatboat
Ross to Return J. Meigs, December 15, 1812, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1, p. 15.

calico, gingham, buttons, beaver traps, and shotguns
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 9.

He grew so frustrated
 . . . trading for a keelboat
Ross to Meigs, December 15, 1812, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1, p. 16.

black-haired, brown-eyed, slight but handsome
Other sources have said he had blue eyes, but John H. Underwood, who knew him, said otherwise, according to Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy
, p. 199. A full-color lithograph of his portrait also shows brown eyes, and is reproduced in McKenney and Hall,
Indian Tribes of North America.

a Cherokee interpreter, an older Cherokee man named Kalsatee
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 9.

Kooweskoowe
There are various spellings; this is the one Ross used in letters, such as his letter to the Seminoles, October 18, 1837, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1, p. 526.

“we was haled by a party of white men”
Ross to Meigs, Dec. 31, 1812,
ibid.
,
pp. 16–17.

“I told them we had no news . . . mounted their horses & galloped off”
Ibid.

“we concluded it was good policy to let Kalsatee out of the boat”
Ibid.

“a disagreeable walk of about thirty miles”
Ibid.

“convinced . . . being an Indian boat”
Ibid.

twenty-five hundred white frontiersmen
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1
,
p. 365.

burned by Potawatomi warriors
The garrison, told to evacuate due to trouble providing supplies, was attacked and forced to surrender in the summer of 1812, after which the fort was torched. Quaife, “Fort Dearborn Massacre,”
pp. 561–73. Also Quaife and Forsyth, “Story of James Corbin, A Soldier of Fort Dearborn,”
pp. 219–28.

in 1816 temporarily blocked one of Jackson’s great land acquisitions
As will be discussed in chap. 8.

“shall forever hereafter remain unalterably the same”
Cherokee constitution, reprinted in
Cherokee Phoenix
, February 21, 1828, p. 1.

“We consider ourselves as a part of the great family . . . in its cause”
Ross to George Graham, March 4, 1816, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
pp. 24–25.

“The object of the Govt . . . into markett this land & have it populated”
Jackson to Coffee, February 13, 1816, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 4,
p. 12.

forty-five thousand acres sold in the Tennessee River valley
According to federal land records referenced in chap. 8.

Part One: Horseshoe, 1814
Chapter One: Every Thing Is to Be Feared

an open-sided tent, or marquee
Jackson is described during the campaign as using a “markee” in Crockett,
Narrative,
p. 90.

“Respectfully your Most Obedient Servant”
For example, his angry letters to military contractors on March 22 and 23, 1814, Andrew Jackson Papers,
1775–1874,
reel 9.

“Sir,” and signed his first and last name
For example, Jackson to John Coffee, February 17, 1814, and Jackson to Rachel, April 1, 1814, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson,
vol. 3, pp. 32, 54.

nor even check the spelling of his name
Librarians at the University of Tennessee, a prime repository of Jackson papers, have been unable to establish with certainty which spelling was correct. Jackson’s spelling does not match that of the surviving court record.

“John Woods . . .  . . . ”
All text of the March 14, 1814, letter as recorded in his letter book, kept by an aide, Andrew Jackson Papers,
1775–1874,
reel 9.

the narrow target inside Jackson’s bulky overcoat
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 300.

The lead ball was still in his body
Ibid.,
pp. 394–95.

“lived on any thing we could get . . . dry cowhide”
Transcript of the autobiography of Ebenezer Hearn, Alabama Department of Archives and History. Hearn, born in 1794, wrote a summary of his life that was discovered in 1906, after his death, and transcribed.

draping his body over a sapling
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 548.

Some of its borders had not even been surveyed
Not until after the war, for example, did Jackson’s friend John Coffee survey the Georgia–Alabama line.

until recently had been away on business in the Cherokee Nation
As evidenced by Ross to Return J. Meigs, March 2, 1814, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
pp. 19–20.

a warrior could refuse to go to war if he did not want to
King,
Memoirs of Lt. Henry Timberlake,
p. 36.

“dark blue or brown . . . at the election of the wearer”
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 367.

“a tall delicately framed youth . . . these formed his equipment”
Ellen Call Long to her son Richard Call Long, August 16, 1853. The writer describes her memories of Richard Keith Call, “your grandfather.” Call and Brevard Family Papers, box 5, folder 19, item 1. Digitally posted by Florida Library and Information Services: http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/180858?id=1.

Jackson had prevented a mass of troops from marching away
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 471.

Later he wrote the Tennesseans a letter
Ibid.
,
pp. 473–74.

“very clamorous and I fear will not do much good”
John Coffee to his wife, Mary, January 8, 1814, reproduced in Sioussat, ed., “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife,” p. 280.

“it was not to be expected . . . so unhappily prevailed”
Eaton and Reid,
Life of Andrew Jackson
,
p. 151.

Wood ignored an officer’s order to pick up some bones
Account of his fellow soldiers, Robert Ferguson, February 14, 1828, printed in Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor, April 1828, p. 123.

“a fit occasion . . . mutinous spirit”
Ibid.

The execution was scheduled for noon
George A. Brock, eyewitness account printed in
Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor
, April 1828, p. 125.

appointing an assistant topographical engineer
His aide-de-camp John Reid signed the note “by order of the commanding general,” March 14, 1814, Andrew Jackson Papers,
1775–1874
, reel 9.

bury the man “with the honors of war”
Jackson aide-de-camp Robert Scarey, March 14, 1814, ibid.

A copy of the letter soon made it to Nashville
Appearing in the
Nashville Clarion
, April 5, 1814, and
Nashville Whig
, April 6, 1814. Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson,
vol. 3, p. 49n.

“sacrifice, essential . . . the happiest effects”
Eaton and Reid,
Life of Andrew Jackson,
p. 152.

“Shoot the damned rascal!”
Creek War veteran Thomas Couch, in
Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor
, April 1828,
reports that Jackson said this “several times,” pp. 122–23. In the same publication, George A. Brock repeats the same allegation, p. 124, while another witness approximates the same quote.

“by the Eternal God”
As quoted in
ibid.,
p. 123.

There had been an earlier altercation
The earlier altercation unfolded in December or early January, according to Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 505, but Wood did not join the unit until afterward, according to his friend and comrade George A. Brock, writing in
Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor
, April 1828, p. 125.

“make it easy . . . shoot him if he does not”
Surviving fragment of court-martial record, March 11, 1814, Andrew Jackson Papers, Chicago History Museum.

“He could have the opportunity of enlisting . . . opposed it violently”
Wood’s comrade was George A. Brock, who said he spoke with both Wood and Jackson in an effort to save his friend. He told his story years later to an anti-Jackson publication, but his story rings true because it seems to explain Jackson’s acts more than it damns them.
Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor
,
April 1828, p. 124.

Jackson’s staff ordered a court-martial for another soldier
His adjutant general ordered the man confined to camp until trial. Statement by aide-de-camp Robert Scarey, March 14, 1814, Andrew Jackson Papers,
1775–1874
, reel 9.

Eight days later he ordered yet another court-martial
Order by the adjutant general to court-martial several men, recorded by Jackson aide Robert Scarey, March 22 and 23, 1814, ibid.

sixty-two of a hundred men from a single company
The names of men who deserted from this company and others are in the report of the Committee on Military Affairs, February 11, 1823,
Proceedings of a Court Martial Ordered for the Trial of Certain Tennessee Militiamen,
pp. 132–34.

“I have no doubts but you hear a great deal of stuff about Tyranny”
John Coffee to his wife, Mary, January 3, 1814, transcribed in Sioussat, “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife,” p. 279.

“The snarling
curs
may grin”
Jackson to Coffee, February 17, 1814, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
pp. 32–33.

“on an elevated piece of ground” . . . “the performance of divine service” . . . one step forward
Letter “From Our Correspondent,”
Nashville Whig,
April 6, 1814.

They shot Private Wood on schedule
Ibid.

Wood’s farewell was composed in rhyme
Statement of George A. Brock, in
Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor
, April 1828, p. 126.

Chapter Two: Urge On All Those Cherokees

the courier found . . . John Ross
Ross to Return J. Meigs, March 2, 1814, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1,
pp. 19–20.

Second Lieutenant John Ross, an adjutant, or assistant to a senior officer
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 11.

“I have this moment received by Express”
All text of this letter from Ross to Meigs, March 2, 1814, Moulton, Papers of Chief John Ross, vol. 1, pp. 19–20.

his trading firm had signed a contract to supply the Cherokee Regiment
The firm was called Meigs and Ross, and consisted of Ross and the son of the federal Indian agent. Moulton,
John Ross: Cherokee Chief,
p. 8.

Colonel Gideon Morgan
Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
p. 67.

Jackson had promised that the Cherokees would receive the same pay and benefits
Jackson recalled this promise in a letter to George Graham on July 9, 1817, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 4,
pp. 125–26.

George Guess . . . . . Old Brains, Whiteman Killer
Names from transcript of Cherokee Muster Roll, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park.

Tahseekeyarkey
Shoe Boots’s Cherokee name as spelled in Anderson et al.,
Payne-Butrick Papers
, vol. 2,
p. 106.

after the high European-style boats
Ibid.

“chicken heart”
As quoted in
ibid.,
p. 107.

Tobacco Juice . . . a unit of “spies,” or scouts . . . General Jackson’s bodyguard
According to transcript of Cherokee Muster Roll, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park.

hint of a brogue
Parton, Life of Jackson, vol. 1, p. 4

buckskin hunting jacket
Duncan,
Cherokee Clothing in the 1700’s,
chap. 12. Also Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy
, p. 60.

John Ross . . . spied wearing a Middle Eastern–style turban
Woodward,
The Cherokees,
p. 157.

Cherokee women . . . commonly wore modest full-length dresses
Duncan,
Cherokee Clothing in the 1700’s,
chap. 12.

“honorable to the national character . . . sound policy”
Washington, Third Annual Message, October 25, 1791, Prucha,
Documents of United States Indian Policy,
p. 16.

Ridge . . . promoted the idea that Cherokees should raise a force
Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
p. 60.

white men would categorize all Indians as either with them or against them
Ibid.,
p. 63.

“They are real horsemen”
Ibid, p. 60.