Jacksonland: A Great American Land Grab (43 page)

Men such as Boudinot admitted
: Ibid.
,
p. 143.

“donned feathered headdresses”
Woodward,
The Cherokees,
p. 173.

soon to be known as the Whigs
The Whig label emerged in the spring of 1834. Howe,
What Hath God Wrought,
p. 390.

Chapter Twenty-eight: We Are Yet Your Friends

“The undersigned Principal Chief”
Ross to Jackson, February 3, 1834,
Andrew Jackson Papers,
1775–1874,
reel 44.

Jackson would see them at noon on February 5
Endorsement on Ross letter requesting the appointment, February 3, 1834, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
p. 273.

about ten blocks up Pennsylvania Avenue
The Indian Queen was at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, ten blocks from the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania. Photograph Record, “Sketch of Indian Queen Hotel,” Washington Historical Society online archive.

“quite unwell, with pain in my left breast & shoulder”
Jackson to Andrew Jackson Jr., February 5, 1834, Andrew Jackson Papers
1775–1874,
reel 44.

“be of great use in accomplishing the objects of the government”
William Carroll to Cass, February 2, 1834, Cherokee Agency East Papers, National Archives, reel 74.

“Twenty years have now elapsed”
All text of this letter from Ross to Jackson, March 28, 1834, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1, p. 284.

a disapproving note came from an aide
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 55.

Chapter Twenty-nine: Should They Be Satisfied with the Character of That Country

A branch of the trail also led to Jacksonville
The trail is mapped in Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War
, pp. 390–91.

fighting the war against the Creeks in 1813–14
Ibid., p. 87.

cast his vote in favor of the Indian Removal Act
House Journal, 21st Cong., 1st Sess., May 26, 1830, from American State Papers, p. 723.

“deep regret” at the “sudden and unaccountable” resistance
Thompson to Cass, February 2, 1833, Senate Document 512, no. 247, p. 68.

$1,500 a year
Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
p. 87.

“should they be satisfied with the character of that country”
Kappler, “Treaty with the Seminole, May 9, 1832,”
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
, vol. 2, p. 344. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/sem0344.htm; also Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
p. 64.

Seminole leaders . . . apparently illiterate, began denying
The treaty text showed all fifteen men made X marks, not signatures, and even one of the interpreters signed with an X mark. Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
pp. 75–76.

descendants of generations of migrants, survivors, and refugees
The origins of the Seminoles are discussed in detail in ibid.
,
chap. 1, and Wright,
Creeks and Seminoles.

Thompson’s scalp was cut into pieces
Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
p. 104.

the Seminoles opened fire
The attack on Dade’s force is described in Roberts, “The Dade Massacre,” pp. 123–28.

The number of
U.S. military deaths
Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
p. 325. Based on the population of the day, 1,535 military deaths amounted to roughly 1 out of every 8,000 Americans; the Iraq War U.S. military death toll of about 4,400, out of a far larger population, amounted to roughly 1 out of every 70,000 Americans.

Part Nine: Tears, 1835–1838
Chapter Thirty: Five Millions of Dollars

he was by then
demanding $20 million
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 60.

they took up residence in a two-room cabin
Undated Payne letter copied in collection of Museum of the Cherokee Indian, part of the Hargrett Collection, p. 1.

the Georgia Guard reached New Echota first
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 65.

about fifteen hundred pieces of old metal type
This according to David Gomez, the site manager of the New Echota historic site, September 24, 2014.

“You are to consider yourself a prisoner”
John Howard Payne’s story from
Knoxville Register
, December 2, 1835, reprinted in Battey,
History of Rome and Floyd County
, pp. 55–74.

“Well, gentlemen, I shall not resist”
Ibid.

“A wild storm arose” . . . “Home, Sweet Home”
Ibid., p. 59.

“to raise an insurrection among the negroes, who are to join the Indians”
Ibid., p. 65.

“of middle size—rather under than over . . . represented to be”
Undated Payne letter copied in collection of Museum of the Cherokee Indian, part of the Hargrett Collection, pp. 1–2.

“mob extraordinary”
Niles’ Weekly Register
, January 2, 1836.

governor of Tennessee wrote his counterpart
Letter from Tennessee governor N. Cannon, reprinted in
Niles’ Weekly Register
, January 16, 1836.

“common street rumor”
Ibid.
,
January 2, 1836, p. 308.

Major Benjamin F.
Currey . . . more extreme measures
Valliere, “Benjamin Currey, Tennessean Among the Cherokees,” p. 252.

member
“of the whig party, and rumor makes him an abolitionist”
Currey letter to the
Federal Union
, reprinted in
Niles’ Weekly Register
, January 30, 1836.

“the native Indian has but little part”
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 47.

388 in favor . . . only one single Cherokee voting to pay
individuals
Ibid.
,
p. 59.

regarding Ross as the “devil”
Ibid.

Ross won,
2,225–114
Ibid.
,
p. 64.

“The strange results of this council”
Currey letter reprinted in
Niles’ Weekly Register,
December 1, 1835, vol. 49, p. 375.

the roof caught fire
Wilkins, Cherokee Tragedy, p. 276.

eighty-two men were counted
Moulton
, John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 74.

“The Georgians have shown a grasping spirit”
Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
p. 286.

“If one hundred persons are ignorant . . . moral degradation”
Boudinot quoted in Smith,
American Betrayal,
p. 143
.

“five millions of dollars”
Treaty of New Echota, Kappler,
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties,
p. 439.

compensation for houses and fences and other improvements on the land
Treaty of New Echota, article 15, includes a phrase saying that the $5 million would be paid only “after deducting the amount which shall be actually expended for the payment for improvements, ferries, claims, for spoliations, removal subsistence and debts and claims.” Ibid., p. 446.

Chapter Thirty-one: The War Department Does Not Understand These People

hair elaborately combed forward
A portrait of Wool is reprinted in Hauptman, “General John E. Wool in Cherokee Country,” p. 5.

In the early days
he met with Major Ridge
Ibid., p. 8.

arrested the principal chief
Ibid., p. 14.

“The War Department does not understand these people”
Wool to C. A. Harris, August 27, 1836, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, House of Representatives, 25th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 552.

“I advised [Ross], however, to be careful”
Ibid., p. 553.

“huts for the accommodation of strangers . . . huts, booths and stores”
Visitor to 1838 council meeting quoted in Butler, “Red Clay Council Ground,” p. 147.

“an unceasing current of . . . men, women, youths, and children”
Ibid.

People might linger for days . . . freshly killed beef
Ibid.

horns would echo through the woods
Snell, “Councils at Red Clay Council Ground,” p. 352.

the crowd already numbered
three thousand
Wool to Cass, September 18, 1836, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, House of Representatives, 25th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 557.

attendance grew to between four and five thousand
Butler, “Red Clay Council Ground,” p. 145.

“peaceful,” operating with “order and decorum”
Ibid.

“upwards of twenty-one hundred male adults”
According to Cherokee memorial to Wool, September 30, 1836, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, House of Representatives, 25th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 567.

Cherokee population of about 16,500
All figures from McLoughlin and Conser, “Cherokees in Transition,” pp. 678–703; Table 3, p. 682.

“streaked with gray . . . a dark, brown, brilliant eye”
Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
p. 199.

translated sentence by sentence into Cherokee
This was the practice at the 1837 Red Clay meeting described in Snell, “Councils at Red Clay Council Ground,” p. 351.

On the last day of the session
According to General Wool, quoted in ibid., p. 350.

“a fraud upon the government of the United States and an act of oppression”
Cherokee memorial to Wool, September 30, 1836, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, House of Representatives, 25th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 566.

Here were men who went by their English names
Ibid., p. 567.

“good faith” and “magnanimity” of “the President and the Congress”
John Ross et al. to Wool, ibid., p. 567.

“immediately return it . . . in regard to the treaty”
C. A. Harris to Wool, October 17, 1836, ibid., p. 564.

The president also criticized his general
Lewis Cass to Wool, October 12, 1836, ibid., p. 557.

“The people are opposed to the treaty”
Wool to Lewis Cass, September 12, 1836, ibid., p. 554.

“dragged like so many beasts to the emigration camp”
Wool to Cass, September 18, 1836, ibid., p. 557.

“If any officer of the army should countenance resistance
”
: Cass to Wool, October 12, 1836, ibid., pp. 556–57.

he thought Cherokees should move west for their own good
Wool’s view is clear from his letters, and is supported by Hauptman, “General John E. Wool in Cherokee Country,” pp. 1–26.

“the shedding of human blood”
Wool to Cass, September 18, 1836, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, House of Representatives, 25th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 564.

Alabamans were upset when he interfered
Hauptman, “General John E. Wool in Cherokee Country,” p. 21.

State authorities complained to Washington
Defense of Brigadier General Wool, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, pp. 567–71.

Supposedly he was recalled from command at his
“own request”
Wool to Joel R. Poinsett, August 11, 1837, ibid., p. 565.

Chapter Thirty-two: Perchance, You May Have Heard That the Cherokees Are in Trouble

He had staggered . . . “severe illness”
B. F. Butler to Wool, November 23, 1836, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, House of Representatives, 25th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 562.

“advanced age and a broken frame”
Jackson, farewell address, March 4, 1837, as reproduced in Woolley and Peters, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=67087.

Jackson declined
Long,
Duel of Eagles,
p. 329.

expressed regret . . . cried when a crowd greeted his carriage
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson,
vol. 3, p. 630.

explanations and excuses for the soaring expense
Joel R. Poinsett’s annual message to Congress, December 5, 1837, American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. 7, pp. 571–72.

if they could not recapture slaves, they would rather continue the war
Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
p. 201.

turned out hundreds of Seminoles being held in a detention camp
Ibid., p. 204.

250 soldiers surrounded him and took him prisoner
Ibid.
,
pp. 214–16.

fifty thousand tons of granite and cut stone
Ferguson, “An Overview of the Events at Fort Sumter, 1829–1991,” p. 6.

“twenty towns, three counties”
Mahon,
History of the Second Seminole War,
p. 218.

Would Ross be willing to appeal to the Seminoles
Moulton, “Cherokees and the Second Seminole War.”

stories of savages . . . contributed to prejudice
Fiorato, “Cherokee Mediation in Florida,” p. 115.

“I am of the aboriginal race”
John Ross to Seminoles, October 7, 1837, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1, pp. 523–24.