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American Native Press Archives and Sequoyah Research Center |
Selected Works of Mabel Washbourne Anderson [a machine-readable transcription] |
Mabel Washbourne Anderson descended from two well-known families in Cherokee history. Her paternal grandfather was founder of Dwight Mission to the Cherokees, and her maternal grandfather was John Ridge, the well-known leader of the Treaty Party of Cherokees. Anderson attended Cherokee public schools, graduation from the Cherokee Female Seminary in 1883. Upon graduation, she became a teacher at Vinita, where in 1891 she married John C. Anderson. The family moved to Pryor Creek in 1904, living there until 1930 when they moved to Tulsa. Anderson taught in the public schools throughout this period. In the early 1890s she also began to write for local newspapers and to make presentations before local literary societies. Some of her works were picked up by out-of-territory publications. In the early years of this century, Anderson contributed to Indian Territory and Oklahoma magazines and newspapers and in 1915 published a biography of her grandfather's cousin, the well-known Cherokee general, Stand Watie. The biography, like much of her writing, including the biographical article on Watie reprinted here, reflects the tendency among Cherokee writers of her generation to romanticize Cherokee national heroes. That romanticism may also be discerned in her poetry and fiction.
Chronicles of Oklahoma, December, 1932
America has done scant justice on the pages of history to the first citizens of this country, the North American Indian. It is a matter of regret and a loss to posterity that we possess comparatively so little written matter of the life and traditions of the Five Civilized Tribes, whose achievements made possible the earliest history of Oklahoma. Research students know that the history of the country, embraced within the boundaries of this state, began with its Indian civilization long before the run of 1889, or the later advent of statehood, relating in fact, to the old tribal nations in the different states from which they came to re-establish their governments in the now Indian Territory. From the background and fertile soil of this civilization, blossomed in all its magic growth and progress, the young star, Oklahoma.
General Stand Watie was one of the most influential characters in the early history of Oklahoma. Some of the salient points in his eventful career will, no doubt, be of interest to readers of the Chronicles. He was a North American Indian, one of the noblest sons of the Five Civilized Tribes. His courage and military prowess were known far beyond the limits of his activities, and his loyal service and constructive influence were a potent force in the history of his people.
He was born at the Watie home on the Coo-see-wa-tee stream in the old Cherokee Nation in Georgia, near the present site of the city of Rome, December 12, 1806. His kinsmen were among the prominent leaders of his people, his father David Oowatie, being the younger brother of Major Ridge, a well-known chief and orator of the Cherokees. His mother, Susannah, a descendant of Charles Reese of North Carolina, was one-half Cherokee and like her husband spoke the Indian language altogether. She was a member of the Moravian Church, the first to establish missions among the Cherokees. His father, a quiet, retiring man took no active part in National affairs, either in the old or new country. General Stand Watie was one of eight children, three daughters and five sons, two of who rose to places of eminence in their tribe.
In those days a Cherokee child was usually given an Indian name with some special meaning and sometimes an English name as well. Often these personal names, or their English interpretation, were taken as surnames which accounts for the difference in the family names of own brothers, as in the case of Watie, Ridge, and Boudinot, though this last was an adopted name as is explained later in this sketch. The given name of General Watie is especially significant. At his birth he was called "Takertawker" meaning "To stand firm; immovable." Surely an appropriate name for one so steadfast in character and so ready to support his convictions of right at any cost.
Watie spoke only his native tongue until twelve years of age, when his parents sent him to the little Moravian school at Spring Place where he simplified the spelling of Oowatie, dropping the "Oo"; and though his mother had named him "Isaac" also, he retained the English meaning of his Cherokee name, "Stand," and ever afterward wrote his name simply "Stand Watie." The family name from that date was always spelled "Watie," often mis-spelled "Waite."
His brother Elias, and his cousin John Ridge, were sent East to school, but Watie's education was limited to the meager advantages of his own nation. This is proof of the fiber of his intellect and ability, for he attained a distinguished place as soldier, statesman, and leader despite this educational handicap. He was never an orator, even in his native tongue, but wrote with ease, as is characteristic of the Indian.
General Watie was a man of action and few words. No one ever rose to a place of such importance who had less to say. He was not a handsome man as was his brother, Elias, but his features gave evidence of the strength of his character and courage. His friendships were slowly made but loyally retained. His sympathies were easily touched. Little children loved him and the needy were glad to call him friend.
To better understand this remarkable man who was so intimately associated with the Cherokees during the most turbulent period of their history, both in the old nation and the new, it is necessary to touch briefly upon some of the contemporary events which so profoundly affected his life.
At the time of Watie's early manhood, the Cherokees, due to certain factors, had reached a high state of culture and civilization among the North American Indians. Missions were more common among them; many of their young men had been sent away to school, often to Eastern colleges and returned to lend more progressive ideas. Sequoyah had invented the Cherokee alphabet. At New Echota, Georgia, their national capital, the first newspaper ever printed in both English and an Indian language had been established, with Elias Boudinot, Stand Watie's elder brother, as first editor. This brother earlier known as "Buck Watie," a name originating from his Cherokee name which meant "Male Deer," had been educated by a well known philanthropist, Dr. Elias Boudinot, [1] of Princeton, New Jersey, with the request the boy should take his name. This Buck Watie did and when his education was completed he returned to his own country, where he was destined to play so influential and tragic a part. His descendants, some of whom still reside in Oklahoma, retained the mane of Boudinot.
Watie was thirty-one years old when he emigrated with family and kindred to the new Territory, now Oklahoma. Though he was clerk of the Cherokee National Supreme Court in 1829, he had taken little part in politics. The more active and eventful years of his life followed the emigration.
The story of the exodus of the Cherokee and other Southern Indians is a subject in itself, and too involved to include in any detail here. Two factions or parties arose among the Cherokees over the question of removal, one headed by Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot known as the Ridge or Treaty party. This party advocated a treaty of removal with the United States Government, not from choice but as an acceptance of the inevitable, the oppression of their people having become unbearable. The other faction known as the Anti-Treaty party, headed by John Ross, then principal chief of the Cherokees, opposed a treaty of removal. This difference and division led to bitterness and tragedy, as is ever the case when feuds arise within a nation.
The final result, emigration, was inevitable from the first, and history has proved the wisdom and foresight of those who advocated removal at the price of their personal safety. Unfortunately, the enmity and lust for power occasioned by the controversy, was carried from the old nation into the new by the Ross party, and this finally culminated in the tragic assassination in one night of Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot, three of the most powerful men in the nation. Stand Watie was slated to die the same night, but was away from home and so escaped.
Responsibilities seem to gravitate to the shoulders that will carry them. Although burdened and saddened by the fearful murder of his uncle, cousin, and beloved brother, Stand Watie now became the acknowledged leader of the Ridge or Treaty party.
This tragic event proved a turning point in the career of Watie, one that thrust him from the home life he loved into a position of activity and prominence in the political affairs of his people. Unshaken by feuds and factions, which constantly threatened his life, from that time on his power, purpose, and courage proved of lasting influence.
The internal difficulties of the Cherokees were finally settled by the Treaty of 1846, and Watie as a leader of his party played a prominent part in bringing about this treaty, which ushered in a brief era of peace and prosperity for the Cherokees. He was speaker of the Council from 1857 to 1859, and a member of the Council from 1846 to 1861.
Stand Watie was married in the new Nation, September 18, 1842 to Sarah Bell. The two families were friends of long standing, and his wife's brothers, Colonel Jim Bell and Jack Bell, were schoolmates of Watie. Of this union there were three sons, Saladin, Solon, and Cumiska, and two daughters, Minnee and Jacqueline. His home life was congenial and very happy, darkened only by the unfortunate political conditions of his time, and the separations and suffering occasioned later by the War of 1861.
In the years that intervened, from the Treaty of 1846 until the outbreak of the war, Watie had some time to devote to his personal interests and fortune. He accumulated some valuable properties, and built a number of substantial homes. During this interval he lived quietly, enjoying the love and esteem of his neighbors and friends.
This era of peace, all too brief, was broken by the shadow of suffering and division into which the war plunged the entire nation. In the conflict that followed Stand Watie naturally assumed the place of leadership, for which he was so well qualified. A Southerner by birth and breeding, he unhesitatingly cast his lot with the Confederacy.
The military career of General Watie comprises the whole of the Confederate History of the Indian Territory. Many people have believed, erroneously, that little war activity took place in the Indian Territory, and that that little was in the nature of guerilla warfare. Nothing could be further from the truth. Long before the Treaty of 1861, made with General Pike as Indian Commissioner of the Confederacy, large numbers of the Cherokees and whites had offered their lives to the cause of the Confederacy, and pledged to follow where Watie led.
So at the very outbreak of the war, Stand Watie had organized, and been made Captain of a troop of Cherokees and whites, for the purpose of protecting the Indian Territory, especially the Cherokee Border, from the Federal forces stationed at Humbolt, Kansas. Between this point and the Cherokee Nation were the Osage Indians, who were nearly all Unionists, and ancient enemies of the Cherokees. There is no doubt that the wisdom and timely action of Watie and his men saved his people during these early days from even greater hardships than those they later experienced.
In May, 1861, Watie offered his services to General McCulloch of Texas, who had been given the command over the military district of the Indian Territory. His offer was gladly accepted. He was given a Colonel's commission and authorized to raise an Indian regiment, which was known as "The Cherokee Mounted Rifles." Watie received high commendation from General McCulloch, and was ever in harmony with his superior officers, and acting under regular army orders.
At the beginning of the war, John Ross, as principal chief, had signed the Treaty of Alliance with the Confederacy, but afterwards renewed his policy of friendship with the Federal government, and went to Washington, where he remained until the close of the conflict, the Cherokee nation being left at this crucial period without an official head.
In 1862 a National Convention of the Cherokees was held, at which time John Ross was deposed from office of principal chief, and Stand Watie elected to succeed him. Federal members of the Council, said to have constituted a quorum, refused to recognize the election; but from that time on the Cherokees had two tribal governments, and all official business of the United States Government with the Southern Cherokees at the close of the war, was conducted through Stand Watie as their head.
Space does not permit details of any of the battles fought on Indian Territory soil---some eighteen or twenty in number, in which Stand Watie and his command did such heroic service. Some of these engagements were in important battles that took place on the borders of Arkansas and Missouri, but the larger number occurred in such familiar localities in Oklahoma as Fort Gibson, Webbers Falls, Bird Creek north of Tulsa, Muskogee and nearby points. His men declared that General Waite and his Indian Brigade marched over as many miles, had as many independent conflicts and skirmishes, captured as many trains of wagons, horses and mules as any one brigade west of the Mississippi.
Stand Watie showed such efficiency as a leader and commander, that on May 10, 1864, he received from President Davis the appointment of Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, and later was brevetted. Except for Alexander McGillivray, who was commissioned as General in the United States Army in 1790, Stand Watie is said to be the only North American who ever attained this rank. He was the only Indian to receive this distinction in either the Union or Confederate Army.
After this promotion, the Indian Territory troops were re-organized with General Watie as Commander-in-Chief, being known as General Watie's Indian Brigade, and included all Confederate Cherokees, as well as Creek and Seminole Troops, the Choctaws and Chickasaws being largely under the command of General Douglass Cooper, though they too were later attached to Watie's command. As many know, General Watie had the honor of making the last surrender of the war, which occurred at Doaksville, in the Choctaw Nation, June 23, 1865, nearly three months after the surrender of General Lee.
When the dark shadow of Reconstruction days enveloped the South, no section was found to have suffered greater devastation than the Cherokee Nation, for that region, though small and remote, had been occupied by both armies. What had been a scene of prosperity and rapid progress in 1861 was now almost a destitute wilderness. The losses of the Union Indians were provided for by the United States Government, but the Southern Cherokees had not only the loss of property, but also of citizenship to reclaim. It was during these days that General Watie proved a savior as well as a leader of his people. Throughout the war he had taken upon himself the task of rescue and relief for helpless Confederate families, and now he took upon himself the gigantic burden of alleviating the distress of reconstruction, extending his personal help and financial aid to all he could.
Internal discord, as well as the hardships resulting from the war again beset the Cherokees. The Northern branch confiscated the property of the Southern Cherokees, and denied them the right of suffrage. General Watie with many other prominent Cherokees was untiring in his efforts to bring about harmony and the restoration of the rights of the Southern branch. The controversy was finally settled by the Treaty of 1866 which procured re-instatement of the Southern Cherokees, but at a costly price to them. Many phases of this treaty were objectionable, but the most unjust clause was that which demanded of the Southern Cherokees an equal division of his lands and inheritances with his former slaves and their posterity, which was not required from any other Southern state.
The war ended, his people reinstated as citizens, General Watie retired from the public life which Fate had thrust upon his home-loving nature. Impaired in health, and broken in fortune, he engaged for a time in the mercantile business in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, later moving to his farm near Bernice, where he spent his remaining years.
Sadness and suffering did not end with the close of the war for General Watie. His youngest son had died while a refugee in Texas, and in 1868, Saladin, his eldest son, was taken after a brief illness. Solon died just one year later. The loss of these sons, so full of promise, forms the saddest page in the life of this great man. His magnificent constitution had been weakened by the hardships of war, and these sorrows which followed so rapidly seemed to hasten the end which came to his own courageous spirit September 9, 1871, while on a visit to his old home on Honey Creek. He was buried with Masonic honors not far from this home, in the old Ridge cemetery, Delaware County, Oklahoma. His daughters did not long survive him. His wife, who had been such a faithful companion to him, died in 1883.
It has been the privilege and pleasure of the Southern women of Oklahoma, through their Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to pay a long neglected tribute to the memory of Stand Watie by erecting a simple, yet dignified, monument at his grave, and a large and beautiful memorial on the Cherokee Capitol grounds at Tahlequah, where once his power and influence were so potently felt.
A careful search of the official war records reveals nothing but praise and commendation for Watie. Some of the finest tributes paid him as a man and an officer came from the North, as well as from the men who served under him. In return for the justice and consideration he accorded his soldiers, they gave him a devotion that was touching in its loyalty, from the highest in rank down to Dutch Billy, the bugler and John, the Swedish cook.
In this connection I am reminded of the many stories told me by "his boys" as they called themselves, and indeed, most of them were mere boys when they enlisted. Of how after long and wearisome marches, food being scarce, he would refuse some specially prepared dish, because his men could not share it. How often they had awakened at night to find him sitting by the fire, his blanket covering some soldier who needed it.
He never ordered a charge that he did not lead; yet he never received a wound in battle. The full bloods believed that he possessed a charmed life and no bullet was ever molded that could kill him. His personal acts of courage furnished full foundation for this belief and his name stands for the very definition of bravery among his people today.
To students of the subject perhaps no Indian character appeals with such great force as that of Stand Watie. He was indeed a man of powerful personality and magnetism, with a courage and integrity as stalwart and changeless as the granite rocks of his native hills. He was ready as his life shows to make any sacrifice, compatible with honor for the good of his people. He did not thirst for pomp or glory but gave his great heart to duty as he saw it. Simplicity, sincerity and service symbolize his greatness.
Sturm's Oklahoma Magazine, July of 1906
About the year 1820 the American Board, of Boston, decided to educate a number of Cherokee boys at Cornwall, Connecticut. Among this limited number were John Ridge and Buck Watie, who were first cousins, or half brothers, as they were called in the old days when first cousins belonged to the same Indian clan.
Their ancestors were distinguished for their valor in war and their eloquence and sagacity in the councils of their tribe. The Indian name for Watie was Kille-ka-wah, afterwards translated into Wati-Whitch, which means the buck or male deer. Buck Watie was afterward called Elias Boudinot, after a distinguished missionary of that name, who in a manner adopted and educated him. A name which he retained until his death, and which has been perpetuated by his posterity. Hence the origin of the Cherokee family name of Boudinot, which in reality is Watie.
Buck Watie and John Ridge were full-blood Cherokees, and both married eastern girls, the former a Miss Gould and the latter Miss Sarah Northrop.
Elias Boudinot (Buck Watie), proved himself to be an able writer, and was the first editor of the Phoenix, published in the old nation in Georgia, the first issue of which was printed in February, 1828. This paper was afterward called the "Cherokee[Phoenix and Indians'] Advocate," and was the first and only newspaper ever printed one-half in English and one-half in Cherokee. This paper, established so many years ago, was published in this form and under this name until very recently, at the tribal capital, Tahlequah.
Elias Cornelius Boudinot was the son of Buck Watie and Harriet Gold, and was born in the old nation in Georgia not far from the present city of Rome, in 1835. He was educated in the east and began the practice of law in early manhood. Shortly afterwards he assumed the editorship of Arkansas [2] , published at Fayetteville, Ark. Leaving this city he went to The True Democrat [3]. The editorials of both these newspapers marked him as a man of more than ordinary ability.
In 1861 he was secretary of the convention which linked the fate of Arkansas with the southern confederacy. At the close of the convention he went to the Cherokee nation and organized a regiment of Cherokees for the Confederate army. He was elected major of the regiment; afterwards lieutenant colonel, his uncle, Stand Watie, being brigadier general by appointment from Jefferson Davis.
Col. Boudinot represented the Cherokees at Richmond, Va., as a delegate to the congress of the Confederate States. He served in the congress until the end of the war. In the cities of Virginia, as elsewhere, he made himself a welcome guest by his accomplished and charming manner, his musical talent, and his ever-interesting conversation.
After the close of the war he took an active part in the treaty of 1866 between the Cherokees and the United States government concerning the restoration of the tribal rights of the Cherokees, who were threatened with forfeiture because of their participation in the war. He represented the Cherokees in Washington after the treaty was made, and was the first to advise, since the death of his kinsman, John Ridge, the allotment of lands in severalty among his people. For these and other advanced ideas he was exiled from the Cherokee nation for many years, during which he made the city of Washington his home, for life in the national capital was attractive to a man of his intelligence and social qualifications. Here he was married in 1885 to Miss Clara Minear, who still survives him, residing upon their plantation on the southern borders of the Cherokee nation near Fort Smith, Ark.
Those of the Cherokees who would have persecuted Boudinot for his political views look upon him now, in the chaotic condition of their government, as the wisest leader of his day. Not as a lawyer, a statesman, or a man of advanced ideas has the name of Col. Boudinot endeared itself to his people, but he possessed to a marked degree the rare and admirable quality of loving his fellow men, and was by them beloved. He was a fascinating exponent of interesting conversation, sentiment, and song. The beauty and poetry of his nature found its happiest expression in his songs.
He was gifted to an unusual degree in the recitation of dramatic and poetic selections, but his songs were his best beloved friends, and those who have been enraptured by them were among the most honored of our land--Gen. Sherman, Gen. Albert Pike, Senator Voorhees, and others of equal note. Gen. Pike and Senator Voorhees were among his warmest and closest friends.
Among his personal effects he left many interesting mementos of his friendships in the way of photographs, etc. His manuscripts, or "letter scrap book," now in the possession of his widow, contain letters from many people of note.
The celebrated sculptress, Vinnie Ream Hoxie, was his early love, and this friendship continued to the day of his death. Vinita, one of the promising cities of the Cherokee nation, had its name changed at the instigation of Col. Boudinot, and christened for this famous woman, the former name for the town being Downingville, after the Cherokee chief of that name.
Few indeed, of his race, have ever stood so high socially as the gifted Boudinot, nor received so profusely the attentions usually bestowed upon genius. He died, after a brief illness, at Fort Smith, Arkansas, September 25, 1890, and was buried with Masonic honors.
Who among us that have ever heard him sing, " Have you seen the Red Rose on its Bonnie Green Stem," or "I Love Thee," or heard him read Gen. Pike's "Every Year," can ever forget it? Better than all the dull cold monuments of marble or stone he lives in the hearts of those who loved him.
Scott's "Coronach," which he so often sang, forms a fitting close to this brief sketch:
| "He is gone from the mountain, |
| He is lost to the forest; |
| Like a summer dried fountain, |
| When our need was the sorest. |
| The fount reappearing |
| From the raindrops shall borrow; |
| But to us comes no cheering, |
| To Duncan no morrow. |
| Like the dew on the mountain, |
| Like the foam on the river, |
| Like the bubble on the fountain, |
| Thou art gone, and forever!" |
Sturm's Oklahoma Magazine, June-July, 1907.
One of the most familiar pictures of the South is that of "The Arkansas Traveler," while the musical air of that name is almost as widely known and recognized as "Dixie," the beloved ode of the Southland. Though this picture is so commonly seen in the homes of the South and West, yet there are few paintings--with which the public is familiar--concerning whose origin so little is known.
Edward Pason Washbourne, the painter of the original picture, was Arkansas' earliest artist of ability, and the picture depicts a perfect type of the cabin of a squatter in the wilderness of Arkansas, more than eighty years ago. Many a local colloquialism has found its origin in the supposed conversation that took place between the "Squatter" and the "Traveler."
This humorous dialogue was printed in sheet music form and appeared shortly after the completion of the painting and was usually sold in connection with the lithographs.
The lost and bewildered "Arkansas Traveler" who approached the cabin and found the proprietor seated on an old whiskey barrel playing the fiddle, as shown in the picture, was Col. S. C. Faulkner, author of the story and the musical air, "The Arkansas Traveler," a man well known in that section of Arkansas at that time.
The stranger and the hoosier engaged in conversation and quite a lengthy dialogue takes place between them, a portion of which is as follows:
(Stranger): As I am not likely to reach another house tonight, can you let me stop with you?
(Squatter): My house leaks, there's only one dry spot in it, and Sal and me sleep on that.
(Stranger): Well, why don't you finish covering your house and stop the leaks?
(Squatter): It's been raining all day.
(Stranger): Well, why don't you do it in dry weather?
(Squatter): It don't leak then.
This pertinent reply has created an adage familiar in almost every section of the country.
Opie Reed, the novelist, called the newspaper which he founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, after this picture, a paper still published under the title "The Arkansas Traveler."
Thus the picture and its title have been kept before the public for almost half a century.
Quite an amusing incident, in connection with this famous picture occurred in one of the large towns of the Indian Territory recently, and shows the ignorance among the masses concerning the picture and its origin.
The wife of a well-to-do cattle man had moved into town from the ranch and previous to her coming had directed the husband to make some purchases in the way of furniture and parlor ornaments. Among other things a handsome copy of "The Arkansas Traveler" had been selected and paid for, but the good wife denounced the painting in emphatic terms, declaring that no picture with "whiskey" marked upon it should grace her walls. It was vain for the clerk to expostulate and endeavor to explain what the picture was and the period it represented. She was obdurate and he was told to keep the picture and to sell it for whatever he chose.
In consequence a certain young lady possessed herself of the same for a mere song. As a fitting climax to the ludicrous incident the old lady gave the proceeds to the cause of Foreign Missions.
Rev. Cephas Washbourne, father of the artist, was associated with Dr. Kingsbury, Dr. Worcester and others of missionary fame among the Indians. Dr. Washbourne was long and extensively known as the superintendent of Dwight Mission among the Cherokees of Arkansas. He gave the name of "Dwight" to this mission in honor of Dr. Dwight, a distinguished divine and friend of missions.
In 1818 Tol-on-tus-ky, the principal chief of the Arkansas Cherokees, requested Jeremiah Evans, treasurer of the American Board of Missions, to found a mission among his people, and in the autumn of that year Mr. Washbourne was sent by that board as agent to the old nation in Georgia in which capacity he labored for one year. In the fall of 1819 he was instructed to commence his journey to Arkansas and found a mission among the Cherokees. In November, 1819, in company with his associate missionaries, Mr. Washbourne began his journey to the wilds of Arkansas, for at that time Arkansas was a perfect "terra incognita" and the way to get there was unknown. After fourteen days' travel they reached the Mississippi at a point called Walnut Hills, where Vicksburg now stands. On this journey to his missionary field, Mr. Washbourne stopped at the post of Arkansas, which was then the seat of the government of the Territory of Arkansas. From thence he came to Little Rock on the first steamboat that ever ascended the Arkansas river above the post of Arkansas, and as a matter equally worthy of note he preached the first sermon ever delivered in Little Rock, which consisted then of a little frame shanty with a scanty supply of drugs and medicines and a little cabin made of logs with the bark on, where the sermon was delivered to an audience of fourteen men and women. These two cabins mentioned were the only buildings at that time on the site of the present city of Little Rock which gave no promise then of a splendid future, of the beautiful capital of a sovereign state.
Rev. Mr. Washbourne remained at Dwight until 1828 when he and his faithful missionary friends followed the Cherokees further west and established another missionary station near the stream called Sallisaw, to which he gave the name of New Dwight. Here at this new missionary home, Edward Pason Washbourne, the artist of "The Arkansas Traveler" fame, was born on the 17th day of November, 1831. In 1850 his father moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and became pastor of the Presbyterian church at that place. Here in 1851 Edward, the artist, opened a studio and began to paint. He had evinced a talent at an early age and without instruction, and guided by his genius alone he began life as a self-taught artist.
The portraits and landscapes painted by him in his boyhood are worthy the brush of many an older and carefully trained artist. Many of these early paintings are yet to be seen in the old Washbourne home in Russellville, Arkansas. These pictures evince, in a very flattering and remarkable degree, artistic talent, and were painted long before he ever conceived the idea of "The Arkansas Traveler."
From Fort Smith the artist went to New York and studied under Elliott, the great American painter. His work, during his brief stay there, was approved by eminent judges. Edward Washbourne, like his father, was a fine student with a remarkably retentive memory. He loved the classics and could repeat page after page of Virgil or a whole oration from Cicero. In the fall of 1858 while he and his brother were on their way to try their skill as fishermen, in the Illinois bayou, Edward remarked that he believed he would paint a picture and call it "The Arkansas Traveler." A few days afterwards he canvassed a frame and began to paint some characters of the picture. One day he and his brother visited their father's old home at Dwight to look at the memorable spring that once slaked the thirst of that noble little missionary band and in passing one of the old mission houses they saw a young girl holding a looking glass in one hand, while with the other she combed and brushed a lovely suit of hair. They both laughed at this, but the incident made such an impression upon Edward's mind that immediately upon reaching home he sketched the character of the girl holding the glass and combing her hair, together with the traveler, who was Col. Faulkner, as previously mentioned. These characters are still retained in the lithographs. There at Norristown, Pope county, in 1858 must be given as the place and time at which the first conception entered the mind of the artist, Edward Washbourne, to make and execute the remarkable and famous picture, "The Arkansas Traveler."
Mr. Washbourne painted three different views before he became satisfied with his task; the third and final one was given to the public and is now a familiar sight in almost every southern home. The first two scenes, so different from the third, are still in the possession of the Washbourne family and stand unframed just as they came from the hand of the painter.
This brilliant young artist died in Little Rock in the twenty-eighth year of his age. Thus terminated in the morning of life Arkansas' first and most gifted artist. Had he lived to attain the allotted age of man, with his high ambition, his rapid improvement and devotion to his profession, he would no doubt have been classed and recognized among the first artists of his day.
Sturm's Oklahoma Magazine, March, 1908
The Cherokee poet, John Rollin Ridge [4], was the son of John Ridge, a full blood Cherokee, who was at one time chief of his tribe, and the son of the warrior and statesman distinguished in Cherokee battles and councils. He was known to the whites as "Major" Ridge and to the Indians as "Kanuntaclage." "Major" Ridge led the Cherokees at Horse Shoe Bend under General Jackson in the war against the Creeks.
John Rollin Ridge's father was educated at the Indian Mission at Cornwall, Connecticut. He is said to have been the acknowledged orator of his tribe and one of the most polished public men of his day. He married a Miss Northrop, a daughter of one of the best families of Connecticut.
The consummation of this romance between a full blood Cherokee and a daughter of New England caused at that time quite a sensation in the local press and in social circles. John Rollin Ridge, the son of this union, was born in the Cherokee Nation, east of the Mississippi river, in what is now Georgia, March, 19, 1827, and was called by his people "Chees-quat-a-law-ny," which means "yellow-bird."
When the poet was but ten years old he moved with his parents to the present Cherokee Nation. The assassination of his father two years later by the opposing political party of the Cherokees, darkened his life with an eternal sorrow. Soon afterwards his mother, together with her family, left the Cherokee Nation and made her home in Fayetteville, Arkansas. John Rollin was sent to New England to be educated. He early manifested a literary tendency.
A great many poems of merit were written by him before the age of twenty. Some of these have been collected by his widow and published in book form by a San Francisco publishing house. Many of these earlier poems have elicited high praise from both the Atlantic and Pacific press.
In the excitement of political life Mr. Ridge lost much of his youthful ambition for literary fame, and many poems of his later years were lost.
He moved to California in 1849, and never returned to his native land. He died in that state in the prime of manhood, and today his wife and only daughter are residents of Berkley, California.
Some of his poems that have never been printed, are treasured manuscripts in the hands of his surviving relatives, who are today residents of Oklahoma. One of these, "Mount Shasta," follows:
| Behold the dread Mt. Shasta, where it stands |
| Imperial midst the lesser heights, and, like |
| Some mighty unimpassioned mind, companionless |
| And cold. The storms of Heaven may beat in wrath |
| Grandeur still; and from the rolling mists upheaves |
| Its tower of pride e'en purer than before. |
| The wintry showers and white-winged tempests leave |
| Their frozen tributes on its brow, and it |
| Doth make of them an everlasting crown. |
| Thus doth it, day by day and age by age, |
| Defy each stroke of time; still rising highest |
| Into Heaven |
| Aspiring to the eagle's cloudless height, |
| No human foot has stained its snowy side; |
| No human breath has dimmed the icy mirror which |
| It holds unto the moon and stars and sov'reign sun. |
| We may not grow familiar with the secrets |
| Of its hoary top, whereon the Genius |
| Of that mountain builds his glorious throne! |
| Far lifted in the boundless blue, he doth |
| Encircle, with his gaze supreme, the broad |
| Dominions of the West, which lie beneath |
| His feet, in pictures of sublime repose |
| No artist ever drew. He sees the tall |
| Gigantic hills arise in silentness |
| And peace, and in the long review of distance |
| Range themselves in order grand. He sees the sunlight |
| Play upon the golden streams which through the valleys |
| Glide. He hears the music of the great and solemn sea, |
| And overlooks the huge old western wall |
| To view the birth-place of undying Melody! |
| Itself all light, save when some loftiest cloud |
| Doth for a while embrace its cold forbidding |
| Form, that monarch mountain casts its mighty |
| Shadow down upon the crownless peaks below, |
| That, like inferior minds to some great |
| Spirit, stand in strong contrasted littleness! |
| All through the long and Summery mouths of our |
| Most tranquil year, it points its icy shaft |
| On high, to catch the dazzling beams that fall |
| In showers of splendor round that crystal cone, |
| And roll in floods of far magnificence |
| Away from that lone, vast Reflector in |
| The dome of Heaven. |
| Still watchful of the fertile |
| Vale and undulating plains below, the grass |
| Grows greener in its shade, and sweeter bloom |
| The flowers. Strong purifier! From its snowy |
| Side the breezes cool are wafted to the "peaceful |
| Homes of men," who shelter at its feet, and love |
| To gaze upon its honored form, aye standing |
| There the guarantee of health and happiness. |
| Well might it win communities so blest |
| To loftier feelings and to nobler thoughts--- |
| The great material symbol of eternal |
| Things! And well I ween, in after years, how |
| In the middle of his furrowed track the plowman |
| In some sultry hour will pause, and wiping |
| From his brow the dusty sweat, with reference |
| Gaze upon that hoary peak. The herdsman |
| Oft will rein his charger in the plain, and drink |
| Into his inmost soul the calm sublimity; |
| And little children, playing on the green, shall |
| Cease their sport, and turning to that mountain |
| Old, shall of their mother ask; "Who made it?" |
| And she shall answer---"God"! |
| And well this Golden State shall thrive, if like |
| Its own Mt. Shasta, Sovereign Law shall lift |
| Itself in purer atmosphere---so high |
| That human feeling, human passion at its base |
| Shall lie subdued; e'en pity's tears shall on |
| Its summit freeze; to warm it e'en the sunlight |
| Of deep sympathy shall fail; |
| Its pure administration shall be like |
| The snow immaculate upon that mountain's brow! |
Chronicles of Oklahoma in December, 1932
Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee nation, is one of the most historic spots in Indian Territory, as well as one of the most romantic and picturesque. It is situated in Illinois District, on the banks of the Grand, and near the mouth of the Verdigris river. Looking from the ancient fort across the river to the wooded hills and cliffs on the other side, one is impressed with the fact that he is not only standing upon historic ground but in the presence of a beautiful panorama of nature as well.
This post was the headquarters for the United States army in Indian Territory for over sixty years. While the government was looking forward to the removal of the Cherokees from their former homes in Georgia and Tennessee to the country west of the Mississippi to be known as "Indian Territory" it was thought expedient to establish a military post as a precaution against any uprising that might take place among the Cherokees on account of their compulsory removal from their hoes and haunts east of the Mississippi.
This great immigration did not take place, however, till 1838, but many of the Cherokees had voluntarily immigrated to the upper waters of the Arkansas years before, for we find them making treaties with the Osages as early as 1818.
These western Cherokees, or Cherokees of the Arkansas, as they were called, were removed further west to Indian Territory about 1839. In the meantime, United States troops under command of Col. Matthew Arbuckle, were ordered to abandon Fort Smith, Arkansas, which was established in 1817, and was then the most western military post of this country, and come up the Arkansas and build an army post within the confines of what was afterwards known as Indian Territory. Thus, Fort Gibson was founded April 24, 1824.
Within a year after the troops went into camp, sufficient barracks and quarters had been completed to house the garrison. Also, a strong stockade had been built around the post for its protection. The old post was laid out in the form of a square, with the river for one side, and at each of the three remaining corners strong blockhouses were built.
In the early part of 1836, Brevet Brigadier General Arbuckle, then in command of the district, deemed it advisable to put Fort Gibson in a strong state of defense for fear of a rebellion among the Indians. Accordingly, the palisades were considerable strengthened. Guns were mounted in the blockhouses and everything made ready for an attack. Be it said to the credit of the Cherokees, that notwithstanding their just cause for provocation, there was never an outbreak nor rebellion, and the government found no need for its blockhouses. Of this old fort few landmarks now remain, except small portions of the once beautiful gravel walks that extended around the inside of the square, and two of the old houses used as the dragoon's quarters, now occupied as dwellings.
In 1832 a detachment of United States troops was ordered from Fort Gibson, to re-occupy Fort Smith, which had been wholly abandoned for nine years. The government continuously occupied the post at Gibson till 1857, when it was abandoned and given over to the Cherokee nation. It was re-occupied for the first time by the Confederate troops in the winter of '61 and '62. Two of the blockhouses which were still standing were filled with beef which was barbecued for their use. The Confederate troops abandoned Fort Gibson and removed across the river to Fort Davis. From the summer of '62 till the close of the Civil War Gibson was held by the Federal troops, when the post was again re-occupied by regular United States troops, and the government spent at least one million improving it, with a view to occupying it permanently. In connection with its occupancy the government laid out a National Cemetery, the only one within the confines of the Indian Territory. This cemetery has received up to this time the remains of 2,456 dead. These government buildings were all well built of stone, and laid out in the form of an "L," with parade grounds in front. Most of these buildings are still standing in a greater or less state of preservation. The old fort, the barracks, the officers' quarters, with the ruins of the old artillery building, cavalry stables, kitchens, etc., are to be found in Old Fort Gibson. Modern Gibson is about one mile out in the prairie from "Old Town."
The Cherokee Nation used to appoint a keeper for these buildings, but from inefficiency and carelessness on the part of those who held the office the custom gradually fell into disuse, and now these buildings are occupied free of rent by any citizen who happens to first secure them when vacated.
The post was deserted for the second and final time and reverted to the Cherokee nation October 1, 1890. Few cities and towns within the borders of this great country can truthfully claim the honor of having had as its residents so many men of national fame as this old Indian fort. It is claimed that Henry M. Stanley once taught school in the village of Gibson. The distinguished American author, Washington Irving, when he accompanied the expedition for the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi, stopped at Fort Gibson, where he met the company of troops detailed as his guide upon the excursion from which he wrote his "Tour of the Prairies" published in 1832. Almost every distinguished officer in the United States army has seen service at Fort Gibson. It has been visited by Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. About the year 1867 or 1869, Phil Sheridan, major general, commanding the United States army, was at Fort Gibson for a short time. In 1871, General Wm. T. Sherman stopped at Fort Gibson while on his return from an expedition against the marauding Comanches and Kiowas when the noted chief, "Big Tree," "Sultana" and others were taken to a fort in Florida. In 1878 and 1879, James G. Blaine, Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, visited his daughter, Mrs. Coppinger, while her husband, Lieutenant Coppinger, was in command of the fort at Gibson. During this visit Senator Blaine was taken seriously ill, and public attention was once more attracted to this Indian post. Zachary Taylor himself once commanded at Fort Gibson and went from there to Corpus Christi, Texas, and marched to Palo Alto Rasaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buenta Vista, and on to the presidency of the United States.
Samuel Houston, whose name and fame are household words all over the United States as the gallant leader of the patriotic Texans in their struggle for independence from Mexico, after resigning the governorship, resided near Fort Gibson, and was almost daily at the Fort in the early thirties. If we had space in this article, it would be interesting to follow this "Man of Destiny" during his strange and checkered career from the governor's chair in Tennessee to his life among the Western Cherokees, both in Arkansas and after their removal the present Cherokee nation in 1829. He dressed like the fullblood of that date; hunting shirt, buckskin leggings, moccasins and shawl turban upon his head. He used often to meet with them at their "Council Ground" (as the capitol was then called) Tah-lon-tu-skee. He married a Cherokee, Titana Rogers, and was formally adopted by them and made one of their tribe. Many prominent Cherokees have been named for him. Sam Houston was the first and only president of the Republic of Texas, a United States Senator, and afterward the first governor of the State of Texas. At the beginning of the Civil War the log house where Sam Houston resided was still standing, and was pointed out to strangers as a landmark of interest and curiosity. It was torn down later and rebuilt, and is still standing at the present time.
One of the most interesting historical events connected with this old post, is the fact that the famous Jefferson Davis, the patron saint of the South, whose memory is so deeply engraven upon the hearts of his people that it will never grow dim, was for some time stationed as First Lieutenant of First Regiment of Dragoons, Company E., at Fort Gibson. This was in 1834 and 1835, shortly after his graduation from West Point, and while he was still a young man. He remained at Fort Gibson until ordered to take part in the Black Hawk War, an expedition against the Pawnees in which the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, and his brother, The Prophet, were the chief instigators. Jefferson Davis was an officer in the Texas War for independence, afterward a United States Senator from Mississippi, and finally the first and last president of the Confederacy. The house occupied by this distinguished chieftain was still standing until recently, a historic and interesting memento of an era that has passed. This building was quite a pretentious log house erected in 1824, and has been more frequently photographed and copied by artists than any other one house in Indian Territory.
So here is an obscure but picturesque little Indian village of never more than one thousand inhabitants, whose citizens have been intimates and associates of the presidents of three different republics.
During the Civil War, General Watie, a fullblood Cherokee, and universally conceded to have been the bravest of his race, camped for months near Gibson. He built Fort Davis on the south side of the Arkansas, about the same distance that Gibson is north. He made frequent dashes and destroyed the hay camps of the Federals, and at one time captured all their wagon horses that were being grazed on the Gibson prairies. At this time nine Federal soldiers and two Cherokees were killed. After the assassination of his kinsman, Major Ridge, and his son, John Ridge, then the most powerful men of the Cherokee nation, Watie became leader of the "Treaty Party" among his people. He successfully passed through the disturbances of his own tribe from 1832 to 1847, and through the Civil War. Watie was first a colonel, then a brigadier general, and finally the only Cherokee major general in the Confederate army, receiving his appointment to that office from President Davis. General Watie was noted for his courage and bravery. It was claimed by his followers that he was the bravest man that ever put foot on Cherokee soil. Many stories of his remarkable fearlessness and courage are current among his people today. The fullbloods finally believed that this Indian general possessed a charmed life, and that the bullet was never molded that could kill Stand Watie. They also believed that he possessed the necromantic power of foretelling events of the battlefield and it is handed down as tradition among his people today that he never failed in prophesying who would or would not fall in battle at a certain time and place. To this day Stand Watie is honored and revered by both his followers and his opponents.
There are two cotton gins in Fort Gibson, and many interesting darkey characters of the truly Southern type are to be found in and about the old fort. Some of these old aunties and uncles can tell many historical incidents, when, during the Civil War, the old fort was held first by one side and then the other. They love to tell of the romantic traditions of Jefferson Davis and the pretty daughter of the general commanding the post, and delight in pointing out to this day the camping ground of Washington Irving, the spot where Stanley once taught school, and to relate, as only an old time darkey can, the visit of Mrs. Dewey, when her first husband, young Lieutenant Hazen, brought her there as a bride. Truly, Fort Gibson is rich in historical and romantic interest.
The Romantic Derivation of the Euphonious Sounding Title
The Artist and Sculptress was Made the God Mother of the Town--Mabel W. Anderson, by Request, Writes Interestingly of That Talented Lady
Vinita has not only cause for congratulation upon a fair prospect of becoming the metropolis of the Indian Territory, but she has more than one reason for being proud of the name it bears.
First, because it is universally conceded to be the prettiest and most euphonious name of any city in the Indian Territory.
And secondly, on account of its unusually romantic derivation. While not in reality an Indian name, as many naturally suppose, yet the Indians have reason to be proud of the fact that the town was christened by a Cherokee, and one of the most distinguished of his race--the gifted Cornelius Boudinot. Not as a lawyer, an orator, a statesman, or a man of advanced ideas, has the name of Col. Boudinot endeared itself to his people, but he possessed in a marked degree that admirable quality of loving his fellow men and was by them beloved.
His talent for refined and pleasant entertainment was of an unusual order. He was the fascinating exponent of interesting conversation, sentiment and song. The beauty and poetry of his nature found its happiest expression in his songs. These were his friends and those who were enraptured by them were among the most honored in the land. Many eminent people were numbered among his personal friends.
Few, indeed, of his race ever stood so high socially as he, nor received so profusely the attention usually bestowed upon genius.
On account of his advanced ideas upon allotment and other matters, Col. Boudinot was for a long period of time exiled from his native country and he made the city of Washington his home for many years. 'Twas here [5] he met the famous Vinnie Ream and the mutual admiration and friendship between the two is familiar to all who knew him.
It is a fact well known to every citizen of this country that the town of Vinita was originally called Downingville in the honor of Lewis Downing, the distinguished chief, and as a matter of local history, equally worthy of note, the name was afterwards changed, at the instigation of Col. Boudinot to "Vinita," in honor of his first love, "Vinnie Ream," the famous sculptor.
In the field of art America furnishes no greater name perhaps, certainly not among women, than that of Vinnie Ream Hoxie, who enjoyed the distinction of being the first woman who ever received an order from the United States government for a statue.
During the civil war she was employed for a time in the post office department--in Washington, D.C., but subsequently studied art and soon devoted her whole attention to sculpture. Her work in this line was so successful that she made busts of Gen. Grant, Sherman, Albert Pike, Sheredy Johnson and Thaddeus Stevens, besides producing "The Indian Girl," a full length figure in bronze, the Marble "Miriam," and others of note. Her most important execution at this time was the statue of Lincoln, ordered by the government and placed in the capitol at Washington.
Vinnie Ream spent several years abroad and perhaps her most widely known statue is that of Admiral Farragut, which was cast in bronze from metal obtained from the flagship "Hartford," and placed in Farragut square, Washington, D.C.
She was married in May, 1878, to Capt. Richard L. Hoxie, of the U.S. [Army] corps of engineers.
Like the classic poet of Greece, many states and cities have claimed the honor as the place of her birth. That honor, however, must be bestowed upon Madison, Mich. [6], where she first saw the light of day Sept. 23, 1846. Though the place of her birth has been so far disputed, yet it is a fact that her parents resided in Fort Smith, Arkansas, during her early youth and girlhood.
While residing in Fort Smith she was at one time a Sunday school pupil of Miss Abbie Washbourne, sister of the talented Edward Pason Washbourne, of "Arkansas Traveler" fame.
In view of the association with her name, the citizens of this city should feel a particular interest in the life and character of Vinnie Ream and Col. Boudinot. Let Vinita do credit to the beauty of her name by rising as a fair monument to perpetuate in memory the friendship of two gifted spirits, the one who expressed the melody of his soul through song, and the other who still speaks to the world through the silent medium of marble and bronze.
A Beautiful Indian Legend Which Accounts for the Origin of the Salt Springs Near Claremore, Cherokee Nation
Years ago when the Indian Territory was a wild, uncultivated land, the Osages wandered over its plains and hills, claimed it as their own, and no man disputed their right. At that time a portion of Georgia belonged to the Cherokees, and was known as the Cherokee Nation. But, the white man had become covetous of the soil, and congress agreed to remove the unhappy Indian from the state. Thus, forced by oppression and necessity, they sought an independent and separate existence in the wilds of the West. Leaving their beloved and familiar haunts behind them they wended their way to that part of the country west of the Mississippi now known as the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. About twenty years previous to this final emigration, which occurred in 1837, a portion of the tribe voluntarily emigrated to the Indian Territory. Hoping to find it uninhabited, they were surprised and disappointed to find themselves among the wild and warlike Osages. These wild Indians did not like the intrusion of a superior and more civilized race, and immediately began hostilities.
The Old World at that time was the scene of innumerable civil and political wars, Napoleon had been overthrown, the French monarchy re-established and many of his followers were compelled to seek safety and protection on the shores of the New World. Among these adventurers was a young Frenchman of the name of Claremont, who, having taken refuge in flight from his native country, landed in New Orleans, then composed principally of French descendants. Still influenced by the spirit of adventure, he sailed up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas River, where he landed, and so continuing his explorations, he found himself in that portion of the country now known as the Cherokee Nation, which was then occupied, as has been said, by the Osages. With the ease and versatility characteristic of his nationality, he at once adapted himself to their aboriginal habits and customs, and so won their confidence and admiration by his courage and military bearing that he soon became one of the leaders of the tribe, and finally its chief. By this time the Cherokees were emigrating from the old Nation by scores and hundreds and encroaching with vigor upon the supposed possessions of the Osages. The Cherokees wished to be at peace, and overlooking the first attacks of their would-be enemies, their chiefs and principal warriors visited the Osage villages and proposed a treaty of amity, which was concluded, the tomahawk was buried, the calumet of peace was smoked, and tokens of fidelity were exchanged. The Cherokees, well pleased with the attainment of their object, took up their march to their own homes, but while on their way hither a party who had been sent out to kill game for food to supply them with provisions for the journey were waylaid and murdered by the Osages, a number of whom had followed them thus far.
After this violation of the treaty the Cherokees took up arms against their treacherous neighbors; their warriors, amounting to some 250, met the Osages numbering some 2000 warriors. On the very first fire scores of the Osages were slain. Very soon after this victory a man by the name of Tak-ah-to-kuh emigrated from the old nation. This man was descended from the ancient priesthood. He had been a chief and a brave warrior. He was immediately regarded as the highest authority by the Cherokees. Having been told the situation, he approved of their open declaration of war. The Cherokees, though greatly outnumbered by the Osages, were uniformly victorious. In the western part of the Cherokee Nation a dreadful and final battle took place in which Claremont, the chief, was slain, with scores of his followers. The remainder took refuge in an inglorious flight. The signs of this battle are yet to be seen in the hecatombs of the fallen braves known as the Claremore mounds. These mounds are a short distance from the thriving town of Claremore, which name is a corruption of "Claremont," the name of the adopted Osage chief, for whom they were both called. On one of those mounds this famous Osage chief was buried with all of his possessions, but his remains were afterward exhumed, and every bone and personal belonging was carried away by the Osages, thereby proving their affection and appreciation of him. These mounds are easily seen from the passing trains, and are landmarks of interest and curiosity, and to this day people in search of curios, by diligent search, may find buried relics of the Osages. Many of the adjacent farms are Osage graveyards, where human skulls and personal belongings are yet turned up by the plow. Thus disappeared from the land of the Cherokees the last of the Osages, taking up their abode in that portion of the country purchased by them from the United States government.
This battle has furnished the subject of a very pretty Indian legend, accounting for the origin of the Salt Springs near the Cherokee Orphan Asylum. In a valley between the hills of Saline district, on the shores of the Grand River, in the center of what appears to be an arid waste, where neither sprig of grass nor green shrub is to be seen, so impregnated is the soil with saline matter, boiling up to the height of several feet are a number of salt springs, which are not only objects of curiosity, but of usefulness as well, for years ago they furnished the entire supply of salt consumed by the Cherokees in that part of the country. To the present day the old iron kettles, portions of the engine and pipes, and other instruments used in the manufacture of salt may be seen now spoken of as the ancient salt works of the Cherokees. Beneficent nature, which never does anything by halves, has not belied her reputation in the instance. A few yards opposite the boiling salt springs may be seen a number of other springs, at whose fresh and sparkling waters the Osage maidens had often quenched their thirst and bathed their shapely limbs.
Years ago, so the story runs, near the present site of this natural wonder, dwelt an Osage maiden, Palisha, a daughter of one of the chiefs, whose ponies, trinkets and gorgeous blankets were the envy and admiration of every other young squaw of the tribe, and whose hand was sought in marriage by many a stalwart Osage brave; but Palisha, after the manner of all maidens since the days of Eden, had smiles and glances for only one Adam, a brave and youthful warrior in Claremont's army at the battle of the mounds. During this battle runners were sent as news bearers between the Osage village and the scene of the battle, some twenty-five miles distant. As the news of the battle fluctuated from victory to defeat, the hopes of the young girl rose and fell: she neither ate nor slept during its progress, but kept a constant vigil awaiting the arrival of the messenger, whose coming held such fatal interest for her, for all too soon the tortures of uncertainty were replaced by her melancholy cries to the Great Spirit to sustain her in her grief, for the dreaded news had reached her that the battle was over, and her lover was slain. At the foot of a gigantic oak she threw herself, prostrate upon the bosom of mother earth and gave herself wholly to her despair. Like the Grecian Niobe of old, she wept and wept without ceasing till the Great Spirit in pity transformed her into the artesian-like springs, whose salty waters shall forever perpetuate her tears.
A Romantic Tradition of Spavinaw, Indian Territory
Spavinaw is the most beautiful stream in the Cherokee Nation. Nourished by the sparkling waters of the many springs in that locality, it winds like a shining thread of crystal through the narrow valleys between the hills which bear its name; curving its way by circuitous route, as if reluctant to leave its native hills, the murmur of whose pines chant a tuneful accompaniment to the music of its waters.
Nestled among the hills and within these valleys are the homes of many of the fullblood Cherokees, who seek the seclusion and the quiet of the forests in preference to the open prairies, dotted with farms and towns and traversed by railroads. These little Indian cabins are scarcely less difficult to locate than are the haunts of the deer. Secluded in the summer by the luxuriant foliage of the forest trees, the unfamiliar traveler might well imagine, by the whispering of the pines, that "this is the forest primeval. [8]"
In one of the most picturesque spots of this section of the country stands a lonely Indian cabin which possesses more than ordinary interest to the stranger, for all the world loves a romance, as well as a lover. Tall pines and moss-grown rocks shelter the building from the gaze of the intruder. Fate seems to have chosen this site as a fit setting for the gem of romance that has made this cabin an object of interest and curiosity. It was once the home of a young Indian girl, the heroine of a romance that had its origin in the National High Schools of the Cherokee Nation, which are located at Tahlequah, the national capital. 'Tis the pathetic story of Nowita, a sweet singing Cherokee maiden, a pupil in the Female Seminary, and a young professor from the East, who taught in the Cherokee Male Seminary.
The Male and Female Seminaries were originally situated three miles from the town of Tahlequah, and separated from each other by the same distance of lonely prairie--lonely in the winter when the unbroken landscape lay bleak and colorless, but beautiful in the summer, when you might gaze as far as eye could reach over the green billows of the Boston and Ozark mountains.
It was an old custom, years ago, at the Female Seminary, to give a reception to the teachers and pupils of the Male Seminary, once every quarter, and every year, on the seventh day of May, the anniversary of the founding of the two schools, was celebrated by a picnic upon the beautiful banks of the winding Illinois, three miles away. Thus it came about that Nowita, the sweet singer, sang ballads in her own native tongue to the "pale face stranger" on "reception days," and on May-day picnics they wandered side by side down the lovely stream, allured from the society of the others by the music of its waters, gathering the spring violets as they went, which they afterward made into a wreath for Nowita's dark braids, all unconsciously waving a bleeding heart among the purple blossoms, for the little Indian maid had learned the language of love more rapidly than she had acquired English, though unusually bright and advanced for her age and environments, her broken sentences and quaint expressions amused and charmed her admirer as much as the musical cadences of her voice.
So time went by and the young man realized that he welcomed with an indefinite eagerness every opportunity that threw him in the society of the young Indian girl, and noted, too, that her dark eyes, usually so serene and melancholy, shone with a happy luster in his presence, and he found a vague and pathetic pleasure in the thought that the school days were almost over, and that their final parting was near.
But Fate, that with cruel and relentless hand, had brought together these two young people so dissimilar by environments and nationality, decreed that one of them at least, should fulfill the destiny allotted to her. So, when the summer vacation came, and Nowita returned to the primitive home of her parents among the hills, contrary to the advice of his friend and the accusing memory of a pair of blue eyes among the green mountains of New Hampshire, the young professor joined a camping party for a fortnight's recreation on the banks of the Spavinaw, ostensibly to gather "Indian lore and legends." It is needless to say that he soon sought and found the home of Nowita, the object of his thoughts.
The old story begun at the school was renewed and continued among more romantic surroundings, and with fewer obstructions, save for the grave rebuke and distrust writte