The North Little Rock Site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail:
Historical Contexts Report

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Amanda L. Paige, Research Assistant
Fuller Bumpers, American Native Press Fellow
Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., Director

Note:  The Site Reports of the ANPA are intended for use by the general public.   Permission to reprint them in their entirety is required by the authors.

Part IV:

Historical Documentation of Indian Removal
Through the North Little Rock Site

Removal through the North Little Rock site began with the Choctaws in 1831, continued with brief interruptions until 1843, and ended in 1859 with the last major party of Florida Indians to remove under provisions of the Treaty of Payne’s Landing (1832).  The following narrative documents the major removal parties of Choctaws, Muscogees, Florida Indians, Chickasaws, and Cherokees at the site, presented in the order in which each tribe’s removal began.  It makes no attempt to document the countless individuals or small family groups from all tribes who removed on their own resources or without conductors during that period.

Choctaw Removal through the North Little Rock Site

Legal authority for removal of the Choctaws was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, signed on September 27, 1830, and ratified on February 24, 1831, making the Choctaws the first of the southeastern tribes to sign and ratify a removal treaty  under the Removal Act of May 28, 1830.  A census of the Choctaws that year totaled 19,554 who ostensibly would have to be moved from their homelands in Mississippi to their new lands west of Arkansas, lying between the Red River on the south and the Arkansas and Canadian rivers on the north.  Even before the treaty was ratified, Choctaws sent private exploring expeditions west to locate choice places to settle, and Choctaws began to move west on their own in small groups.  On their return trip home, the first exploring party met some of these groups on the road. The “official” Choctaw exploring party was headed by district chief Netachache, conducted by George S. Gaines, and included district chief Mushulatubbee.  Both of these chiefs were powerful leaders.  Netachache, a nephew of Pushmataha, had distinguished himself as a warrior and became chief of Pushmataha District in the mid-1830s.  Mushulatubbee, also a distinguished warrior, had become chief in 1809.  The third district chief, Greenwood Leflore, refused to go.  The party went west in November 1830 and returned by way of Washington in southwest Arkansas and Little Rock, where they arrived in early February, 1831 on their overland journey home.¹ 

By the time the exploring party left Mississippi, Greenwood LeFlore was deeply involved in Choctaw removal.  Arguing that it would be better for the Choctaws to escape the bad influences of the Mississippians, he organized a number of removal parties, sent them west, and became the agent to dispose of the property of those who left, thus enriching himself.  These parties were poorly organized, outfitted, and provisioned and after hard winter travel arrived destitute in the West.  They crossed Mississippi and traveled across southern Arkansas by way of Ecor a Fabre (now Camden) and Washington to the Kiamichi country.²

On the evening of January 22, the Reindeer returned with another group of 500 Choctaws conducted by special agent Dr. John T. Fulton, a former Little Rock physician and postmaster turned removal agent.  These were followers of Mushulatubbee.  Under the direction of Peter Pitchlynn, 406 had traveled to Memphis, intending to go overland to Fort Smith.  They had found the Mississippi Swamp impassable, however, and Fulton had engaged the Brandywine to take them to Arkansas Post, where they transferred to the Reindeer bound for Little Rock. They remained aboard the Reindeer, anchored in the river overnight, and proceeded upstream the next day.  Mushulatubbee’s followers settled on the Arkansas, in part, to escape the influence of the missionaries, who had settled in the Red River country.  It was Mushulatubbee’s people that painter George Catlin visited in 1834, painting Mushulatubbee himself and Peter Pitchlynn as well as the Choctaw ball game and Tullock-chish-ko, the famous ball player (See Illustrations 23 and 24).8  

Winter 1832-33 Removals

Taking advantage of the Choctaws’ experiences during the previous winter’s removal, government agents developed a better-organized plan for the winter of 1832-33.  Instead of Arkansas Post and Little Rock as gathering points for large numbers, officials determined to send them through Rock Roe on the White River.  Those departing from Vicksburg or Memphis by steamboat could be taken directly there.  Those who traveled from Memphis by land could follow the public road through the Mississippi Swamp to William Strong’s just west of the St. Francis River.  From there they could take the public road southwest to Mouth of Cache (now Clarendon) and be ferried across the White to join those at Rock Roe or travel directly toward Little Rock across the Grand Prairie.¹⁰

Ration contracts were written to ensure that the Choctaws would pass by Little Rock as quickly as possible.  Ration depots were set up at strategic places along the routes.  The first station west of Rock Roe was Mrs. Black’s public house in the Grand Prairie, which served as a depot for all groups.  To prevent the Choctaws bound for Fort Smith from stopping at Little Rock, their next supply station was at Irwin’s Stand, present-day Old Austin, about twenty-five miles north of the North Little Rock site, and the one after that was Palarm, northwest of the site.  These groups, then, would simply pass through the region by way of the road from the Grand Prairie to Cadron.¹¹ Those crossing the river to go south to the Red River would be supplied at Mrs. Black’s, then “at the north bank of the Arkansas river, opposite Little Rock,” and next at Hurricane Creek near present-day Benton.  Groups taking this route would quickly pass by Little Rock.¹² 

These plans, however, frequently failed in implementation because of the cholera epidemic that reached Arkansas in the fall of 1832.  Cholera had been progressing southward from Louisville and St. Louis and had arrived at Memphis when the first contingent of Choctaws arrived there in late October.  These were followers of David Folsom, who arrived in two groups led by Wharton Rector.  When the Reindeer arrived to transport them to Rock Roe on November 1, only 457 would board because they rightly associated the cholera with the steamboats.  The remaining 400 with their horses and wagons started overland, directed by Lt. Joseph A. Phillips.  By the time the Reindeer reached Rock Roe on November 5, two had died of cholera, and while they waited the two weeks that it took for the overland party to catch up, more than twenty died.  They would lose about that many more after they left Rock Roe on November 14.  On November 12, they were joined by a party from Greenwood Leflore’s district, numbering 617, who arrived aboard the Harry Hill and Archimedes under the direction of Captain S. T. Cross.  The combined party, as they took to the road, numbered about 1,400.¹³ 

On November 18, Folsom’s party of about 800, conducted by Lt. Joseph A. Phillips, and Leflore’s party, conducted by S. T. Cross began to arrive from Rock Roe.  It was a rainy, cold day, and some of the wagons were delayed by mud because a new road only recently cut by ferry owner David Rorer and his partners had not been packed down by traffic.  Phillips reported that the contractors who had agreed to supply the ration station at the North Little Rock site had failed to do so, but he was able to obtain bread (a common term for corn meal or flour) and bacon from Disbursing Agent Captain Jacob Brown at Little Rock.  Cross reported two deaths from cholera in his group that day, and when they arrived at the river, they went into camp with Phillips’ group.  Choctaws straggled in late that night and during the next day.  The next day was cold and windy, making a ferry crossing too dangerous.  They remained in camp, issuing rations to the Choctaws as they came in.  There were three new cases of cholera.  Cross and Phillips agreed that it would be better to separate, keeping a day’s interval between the parties on the road.  Cross’s would go first.  He issued rations and forage and late in the day began crossing the river at Rorer’s Ferry, for by then, the city leaders had insisted that the Choctaws be rerouted around town by a new road, cut specifically for them to prevent their going through town.  That road connected to the lower, or Rorer’s, ferry.  On November 20, a very cold day, Choctaws continued to arrive at the north bank of the river, while Cross’s party completed its crossing and marched three miles and camped while some of the wagons were being repaired in Little Rock.  Early the next morning, they began their march toward the Red River.  Meanwhile Phillips’ group had remained in camp at the North Little Rock site on November 20.  The next day, his group crossed the river and went into camp at Three Mile Creek, where Phillips issued rations and reported three additional cases of cholera.  Early on November 22, they followed Cross’s party toward the Red River.¹⁴ 

By the time these groups departed the North Little Rock site, two other groups were on their way from Rock Roe.  One consisted of about 1,800 Concha, Six Towns, and Chickasawhay people from Netachche’s district who had reached Rock Roe aboard the Thomas Yeatman, the Volant, and the Reindeer.  From Rock Roe they traveled in two groups, the Concha under Lt. William R. Montgomery and the Six Towns and Chickasawhays under Lt. Isaac P. Simonton.  F. W. Armstrong, the agent for Choctaw removal west of the Mississippi, traveled with these groups.  Leaving Rock Roe on November 22, they reached Mrs. Black’s in the Grand Prairie, where they overtook another contingent under Captain. John Page.  Like Page’s group, they were ill with cholera, and by the time they began to arrive at the North Little Rock site on November 27, nineteen members of the party had died.¹⁵ 

Simonton’s and Armstrong’s groups, numbering about 1,800, encamped at the North Little Rock site, receiving provisions and preparing to cross the river on Rorer’s ferry.  An estimated 600 Conchas, including Netachache, crossed on November 30 under the direction of Lieutenant Montgomery.  Another group consisting of 629 Conchas crossed on December 1 under the direction of Lt. Jefferson Van Horne.  The Chickasawhays and Six Towns people, also numbering about 600, crossed and were directed by Lieutenant Simonton.  These groups left immediately for the Red River.¹⁶

These were the last Choctaw parties to go through the North Little Rock site during the 1832-33 season.

Page’s group, meanwhile, had taken a different route.  His was a combined detachment, primarily from Mushulatubbe’s district, bound for Fort Smith.  When they arrived at Memphis on November 3, most of the Choctaws refused to board the steamboats, which they associated with the spread of cholera.  William Armstrong, the agent in charge of removal east of the Mississippi, left his jurisdiction and accompanied the Indians through the swamp.  During the seven days it took them to reach Strong’s Stand, many had died.  At Rock Roe the parties were rejoined.  Directed by Wharton Rector and accompanied by Page, these 1,300 Choctaws set out with a train of 80 wagons.  They were encamped at Mrs. Black’s, with cholera raging among them, when they were overtaken by the group that Francis Armstrong accompanied.  This group, because they were headed for Fort Smith, took the route by Erwin’s Stand and Crossroads to intersect the Military Road at Cadron.  Page’s group was at Dardanelle by December 6.  Page had arranged for subsistence for the group as far as Memphis, with no complaints, he said.  His expenses were considerably less than they would have been for supplies from private contractors.  Only when they reached Arkansas, where subsistence had been contracted, did the Choctaws begin to complain about short measures and receiving rations late.  Out of the money he saved, he claimed, “I cut a road forty miles through a wilderness country.  It was cheaper to do this than travel the old road, which was very bad, and a great distance out of our way:  and, if the Creeks and Chickasaws should remove it is evident this will be the cheapest and best route for them to take, as also the balance of the Choctaws, whether they go to Red river or Arkansas.”¹⁷ 

In early January, 1833, another group of Choctaws, apparently the last to remove during the winter of 1832-33, passed through the region on their way to Fort Smith.  These were about 500 of Mushulatubbee’s people who had attempted to remove themselves.  They had struggled through the Mississippi Swamp to a point about forty miles west of Memphis, where they gave up, built temporary shelters, and hunted to survive.  William Armstrong found them in mid-December and sent them west under the direction of Wharton Rector.  The Arkansas Gazette reported on January 9 that they “passed up through the Big Prairie, a day or two ago, on their way to Fort Smith,” apparently by Erwin’s Stand and Crossroads to Cadron.¹⁸ 

Winter 1833-34 Removals

The only contingent of Choctaws to pass through the North Little Rock site during the winter of 1833-34 reached there on November 27, 1833.  Originally numbering more than 800, the group had reached Memphis in late October.  About three hundred along with wagons and baggage were transported by the Thomas Yeatman with a keelboat in tow to Rock Roe, where they arrived on November 9.  The others pushed through the Mississippi Swamp, which was surprisingly passable that season.  The combined party traveled from Rock Roe to Mrs. Black’s, where they divided into two groups.  One of 176 under John M. Millard was going to Fort Smith, and the other of 641 under Captain John Page was going to the Red River.  The former traveled west from Crossroads north of the North Little Rock site and did not pass through the site.  The latter arrived at the site on November 27 and spent that day and the next crossing the river.  Page, who had arranged for subsistence of his group the year before, found subsistence in Arkansas expensive.  Corn was forty cents a bushel at Memphis, but two dollars on the Arkansas because a flood in June had destroyed the crops in the river bottoms.¹⁹  Rorer’s ferry at the North Little Rock site had also been destroyed.  Rorer installed an up-to-date ferry the following spring.  What type of ferry he had in operation in the fall of 1833 is uncertain.

Subsequent Removals

Choctaw removal under provisions of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek officially ended in November of 1833.  However, removals of small parties under other terms continued during the late 1830s and through the 1840s.  All of these parties traveled by water, those on the Arkansas passing the North Little Rock site on their way.

Muscogee Removal through the North Little Rock Site

Although some Muscogees had voluntarily removed after passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, their enforced removal to Indian Territory did not really begin until after the signing of their treaty with the United States in 1832. That year, the Arkansas Advocate reported that 2,500 had removed and that 20,000, still remaining primarily in Alabama, were yet to go west.²⁰  All of those still to remove, whether traveling by water or land, would pass through Arkansas on the way to Indian Territory.  Those who traveled by water would pass by the North Little Rock site, and most of those who went by land would go through it. 

In addition to the anguish that attended departure from their ancient homelands, the Muscogees faced rigors of travel that the Choctaws, who had removed earlier did not face. They escaped the scourge of cholera that had debilitated the Choctaws.  Choctaw removal had been managed by the government.  Contracts for rations and forage were let, and supply stations established at strategic points along the routes through the territory.  Although the system at times failed, it was better managed than it was during Muscogee removal, which was placed first in the hands of the J.W.A. Sanford Emigrating Company and later contracted to the Alabama Emigrating Company, whose agents were lax in performing their duties and consistently exhibited an insensitivity to the needs of the Muscogee people.  Whereas commodities had been in relatively good supply during the Choctaw removal and Arkansans along the route had enjoyed good profits, goods were more scarce during Muscogee removal, and prices in local markets were driven up.  While some Arkansans took advantage of the market and engaged in price gouging, others began to feel resentment for the high prices caused in local markets by removal.  That resentment was ultimately transferred to the Muscogees and, ultimately, to the Indians of Indian Territory as removal continued during the 1830s.

Page Party, 1834

The first major party to come through Arkansas was led by Captain John Page from Fort Mitchell, Alabama. This party of 630 had traveled by way of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Columbus, Mississippi; and Memphis. By the time they reached Memphis, they had suffered greatly from the cold weather and exposure because they lacked adequate clothing.  At Memphis, the party split.  The majority of the people were placed aboard the steamboat Harry Hill for transportation to Fort Gibson, while the remainder, led by William Beattie of the Sanford Emigrating Company, driving a herd of about 200 horses, started overland toward Little Rock.  Because of inclement weather and ice on the Arkansas River, it took the Harry Hill almost three weeks to reach Little Rock, where low water forced it to stop on February 24, 1835.²¹  The Creeks were landed at the North Little Rock site, where they camped to wait for the overland group led by Beattie, who had already passed Mrs. Black’s public house in the Grand Prairie by the time the Harry Hill arrived.  In the camps, sickness had prevailed, and many had died. In this party were sixty-six slaves, who accompanied their owners:  Jelka Hacho, David Marshall, Thomas Marshall, Sally Stidham, John Stidham, Chou-e-hoc, and Whon Hoakey.  There were also fifty-four slaves who traveled without their owners, and a “mulatto” named Charles, with four in his charge, traveled independently.  The Creeks left the North Little Rock site by wagon on March 1, bound for Fort Gibson.  They encountered snowstorms and terrible road conditions, and did not reach their destination until March 28.  Only 469 had survived the journey.²²

Fish Pond, Kealedji, and Hilibi Contingent, 1836

The next major party of Muscogees came through Arkansas in January 1836, conducted by William Beattie of the J.W.A. Sanford Emigrating Company. Lieutenant Edward Deas of the U. S. Army accompanied the group to make sure the people were provided for under the terms of the contract for their removal. The group consisted of 511 people from Fish Pond, Kealedji, and Hilibi towns, organized near Wetumka on December 6, 1835, by Benjamin Marshal1, a half-blood Creek member of the emigrating company, who with his family of eight and nineteen slaves, were in the party.  This route took them overland by way of Montevallo, Elyton, Moulton, and Tuscumbia.  From there they traveled by steamboat to Waterloo, where they were placed aboard the Alpha and two keel boats for the trip west. Besides Marshall’s slaves, this group included 81 others, who traveled with their owners, and 34 blacks who traveled independently of their owners, including 12 of Opothleyahola’s and 7 of Tuckebatche Micco’s.  Though slaves were included in most Creek removal parties, this party and the one preceding it included the vast majority of the 333 slaves that the Creeks took west during 1835 and 1836.²³  On January 8, 1836, the Alpha with its two boats in tow arrived at North Little Rock site and remained anchored for only one hour before starting up river again.  Lieutenant Deas wrote in his journal that day:  “The Boats got under way this morning about 7 o’clock, and we have come to-day between 30 & 40 miles.  We passed through Little Rock in the afternoon without stopping and are now a few miles above that place.  The Small Boat was sent on ashore at the town for a few minutes, but it is always a disadvantage to allow the Indians to stop at any place where they can obtain liquor.  The most peaceable and apparently well disposed when sober sometimes becomes the most refractory and troublesome when intoxicated.  There are some examples of this with the present Party.”²⁴    Because of low water, the party did not reach Fort Smith until January 22.²⁵  

Eufaula, Chiaha, Hichiti, Kasihta, and Yuchi Contingent, 1836

A few weeks after Deas’ and Beattie’s parties came through Arkansas, ads were run in the Arkansas Advocate and the Arkansas Gazette for proposals for subsistence of the Creeks. In the ad placed by Capt. Jacob Brown, Disbursing Agent for Indian Removal, he predicted that a large emigration, an estimated 5,000 Muscogees, would be moving through Arkansas to Indian Territory in 1836 and 1837.²⁶

In August of 1836, a party of 2300 arrived at the North Little Rock site, having come overland from Rock Roe.  These were primarily Eufaulas, Chiahas, Hichitis, Kasihtas, and Yuchis, whose resistance to removal and retaliation for fraud and violence against their people in the summer of 1836 had resulted in what Americans called the Creek “war.”  When the last of the main leaders, including Jim Henry, Echo Hacho, and Eneah Micco, were captured or had surrendered in July, their people were rounded up and immediately sent to the West.  From a staging point near Tuskegee, the men and boys were handcuffed and chained and marched double-file some ninety miles to Montgomery.  Wagons followed with children, old women, and the sick.  From Montgomery 2,498 were transported by boat to Mobile, where 2,300 were transferred to steamboats that took them to New Orleans, arriving there on July 18.  They camped on the banks of the canal at the foot of Julia Street and, under the charge of the J. W. A. Sanford Emigrating Company, were put aboard the Lamplighter, Majestic, and Revenue for transportation to Rock Roe on the White River.  Reaching there on July 29, they remained until August 8 while contractors obtained the wagons and livestock necessary to take them overland to Fort Gibson.  Because only twenty wagons could be procured, many of the children, old women, and infirm had to walk, traveling at night because of the intense heat during the day.  Although there had been acts of resistance at Montgomery and at Rock Roe, by the time they reached central Arkansas, they were “peaceable and entertaining themselves in camp by ball playing, fishing, etc.,” according to Lt. John Waller Barry, disbursing agent for the party.  From the Grand Prairie, the contingent took the Cadron road, and from there continued overland along the Military Road to Fort Gibson, which they reached September 3.²⁷

These were without question the most destitute Indians Arkansans had seen.  Rounded up and dealt with as prisoners of “war,” they had no time to prepare for their march.  Most who had meager personal effects were obliged to carry them from Rock Roe westward because adequate transportation had not been arranged.  The Yuchis had been sent on their way with practically nothing.  Diet to which they were unaccustomed resulted in dysentery and diarrhea.  In the summer season, fevers and cholera infantum were common.  Fifty of those who died were children, and most of the others were the old and infirm.  One had committed suicide, one had been shot by a soldier, and one had been bayoneted.  Between New Orleans and Rock Roe, the rotten deck of a barge on which they were being towed collapsed, killing one and injuring several others.  On their arrival in Indian Territory, Captain William Armstrong wrote that he had “never seen so wretched and poor a body of Indians as this party of Creeks; they have really nothing.”²⁸

The remainder of the “war” prisoners had been left at Montgomery.  The party consisted primarily of women and children, the old, and the infirm.  They left Montgomery on August 2, directed by Captain F. S. Belton, taken by steamboat to New Orleans.  Despite extensive sickness among them, they were placed aboard the Mobile, which took them to Montgomery’s Point at the mouth of the White.  By then a number had died.  The sick were placed aboard a keel boat to be taken up the Arkansas, and those who could walk were marched through the swamps to Arkansas Post, which they reached on August 25.  Because of the Texas-Mexican conflict, Arkansas volunteers had rallied and had gone to Fort Towson to replace regular troops, taking the available horses and wagons with them.  It was not until September 6 that Belton could start his contingent west with what few rickety carts he could procure.  They reached Mrs. Black’s public house in the Grand Prairie on September 9 and from there went  across the Grand Prairie to Irwin’s Settlement, near present-day Old Austin, where they stopped on September 11.  Belton’s journal for that date details the difficulties of their travels:  “During the passage of the prairie, it has, with the exception of two days of scorching sun, rained almost all day and night.  The situation of the Indians is deplorable. The sick exceed fifty of the small party and death occasionally carries off the weakest.  The wagons or carts have been over loaded & great difficulties surmounted.  To reach settlements forced marches have been necessary.  Paid off & discharged the carts engaged at Post Arkansas.”  At Irwin’s, Belton engaged three additional wagons for the Indians and one for the officers, and his procurement reflects the economic realities of central Arkansas at the time:  “These are miserable small & old vehicles, poor teams and harness but better cannot be done.  The charges too are high indeed the people taking advantage of an obvious necessity, & having heard of larger parties in the rear, very indifferent about engaging at all.  What better can be done?  The sick require attention to their situation & weakness, & the very elements are against us.  There is nothing other in prospect.  The best wagons being with the large hostile party in charge of Lt. Barry and the volunteers marching from the neighboring settlements for Fort Towson have engaged every good thing of the kind at enormous prices.  The country is sparsely settled; we are at the mercy of circumstances.”  Belton’s party traveled west from Irwin’s by way of Crossroads.  On September 14 they traveled twelve miles in a downpour to Greathouse’s, and the next day, also in the rain, fifteen miles to Newell’s at Palarm Bayou.  By the time they reached their destination, nineteen had died and nine were missing.²⁹

Cusseta and Coweta Contingent, 1836

During November and December of 1836 several groups of Muscogees emigrated through Arkansas as U. S. officials began systematically to execute the provisions of the removal treaty. These parties had begun staging up in August.  A military officer accompanied the parties to ensure that contractors met their obligations. The first to reach the North Little Rock site was a group of about 900 aboard the Steamboat John Nelson. This group was part of a contingent accompanied Marine Lieutenant John T. Sprague.³⁰ 

The original contingent of nearly 2,000 had departed Tallassee on September 5.  It consisted of nearly all of the remaining members of Cusseta and Coweta towns, including more than a hundred who had been hiding since the end of the summer’s “war.”  Tuckebatche Hacho, whom Sprague called “the principal Chief” of the region, had delayed preparations for removal because their crops had not been gathered and their livestock had not been sold.  Once they reluctantly took up the march, their overland journey to Memphis had been fraught with the usual difficulties of overland travel.  Added to these, however, was the indifference of the agents of the Alabama Emigrating Company, who were in charge of subsistence.  Concerned for their profits, they departed camp whether the people were ready or not and made forced marches of up to twenty miles a day, leaving stragglers strung out along the route.  They were reluctant to give the Creeks a day of rest so that stragglers could catch up.  After their arrival at Memphis on October 9, Sprague threatened to rescind the contract and assume responsibility for subsistence himself if the requirements of the contracts were not met.  His threat was effective, for he later wrote:  “The ready acquiescence of the Agents of my detachment to all my wishes, after crossing the Mississippi, deserves my decided approbation; they were unremitting in every emergency.”  Some of the men associated with the Alabama Emigrating Company had been part of the J. W. A. Sanford Emigrating Company.  Most were speculators, and some were downright Indian haters.  Sanford, for example, had made a name for himself as commander of the Georgia Guard that had for years harassed the Cherokees in their own nation ³¹   A generous assessment of his views is that he cared little for the welfare of those Indians who fell under his contract.

Sprague’s contingent remained at Memphis from October 9 to October 27.  When they arrived, two other contingents were already there:  Captain M. W. Batman’s and Lieutenant R. B. Screven’s.  And there were two behind Sprague’s”:  Lieutenant Edward Deas’ and John A. Campbell’s.  There were an estimated 13,000 Muscogees awaiting transportation across the Mississippi or down it to the mouth of the White.  However, a lack of steamboats delayed movement.  Because the Mississippi Swamp on the Arkansas side was impassable for wagons at that time of year, the conductors decided to take wagons, baggage, women, and children to Rock Roe by boat and send the men through the swamp with the horses.  Sprague’s party was the third to leave Memphis, after Batman’s and Screven’s.  Sprague, however, sought to get ahead of these groups in order to acquire an advantage in obtaining subsistence.  Thus he put about 1,500 women and children with a few men, equipment, and baggage aboard the John Nelson and two flat boats, which would take them directly to Little Rock, and sent between 600 and 700 men with the horses through the Mississippi Swamp.³²

The John Nelson unloaded a part of the group at the North Little Rock site on November 3, 1836.  Swift current on the Arkansas had made towing the two flat boats impossible, so Sprague had left the remainder of the party encamped at Arkansas Post.³³   On November 6 the John Nelson returned to bring them up river.  Meanwhile the majority of those who had gone overland through the Swamp joined those in camp at the North Little Rock site on November 4 and brought a message with them.  Sprague wrote:  “Many remained behind and sent word, that ‘when they had got bear skins enough to cover them they would come on.’  Here, they felt independence, game was abundant and they were almost out of the reach of the white-men.  At first, it was my determination to remain at Little Rock until the whole party should assemble.  But from the scarcity of provisions and the sale of liquor, I determined to proceed up the country about fifty miles and there await the arrival of all the Indians.  Tuck-e-batch-e-hadjo refused to go.  ‘He wanted nothing from the white-men and should rest.’  Every resting place with him was where he could procure a sufficiency of liquor.  The petulant and vindictive feeling which this Chief so often evinced, detracted very much from the authority he once exercised over his people.  But few were inclined to remain with him.”³⁴ Subsequent events suggest that Sprague was likely wrong in his estimation of this man (See, e. g.,  Part VII below).

Thus on November 5 and 6, Sprague’s party took up the march, leaving Tuckebatche Hacho and a few of his followers, probably his family, behind at the North Little Rock site.  Sprague’s party traveled until they reached the supply station at Kirkbride Potts’ place near present day Pottsville and there went into camp to wait until the remainder of his party could catch up.³⁵

There, as at the North Little Rock site, Tuckebatche Hacho’s party had members scattered behind them on the road.  From Potts’ place up river, Sprague had sent men back along the road as far as the Mississippi Swamp to find stragglers and bring them on.  He wrote:  “They collected, subsisted and transported all they could get to start by every argument and entreaty.  A body of Indians under a secondary Chief, Narticher-tus-ten-nugge expressed their determination to remain in the swamp in spite of every remonstrance.  They evinced the most hostile feelings and cautioned the white-men to keep away from them.”³⁶ The stragglers that Sprague’s agents picked up reached the North Little Rock site, probably on November 13 or 14, for they reached Potts’ camp on November 17.  Meanwhile, the John Nelson, which had gone back to Arkansas Post for the rest of the contingent, picked up Tuckebatche Hacho at the North Little Rock site, probably on November 13, for it arrived at Lewisburg on November 14, and the chief rejoined his people at Potts’ place.³⁷  The group arrived at Fort Gibson on December 7.  Remarkably, only twenty-nine people died in this group, fifteen children and the rest old, feeble, or “intemperate.”³⁸ But they arrived without Tuckebatche Hacho.  When Sprague’s party left Potts’ place, the chief remained, and was still on the road.

Batman Party, 1836

While Sprague’s contingent was still at the North Little Rock site, there were several thousand Creeks on the way from Memphis.  Two parties attended by  Lieutenant R. B. Screven and Captain M. W. Batman had crossed the Mississippi before Sprague, but the decision to hire the John Nelson had put the latter in front.  Also on the road were contingents headed by Lt. Edward Deas and John A. Campbell.

Batman had left Tallassee with his contingent of 2,700 on August 31, 1836, but, because of claims against the Muscogees and other delays, did not reach Memphis until October 9.   When they passed Tuscaloosa, the papers said, “They all presented a squalid, forlorn, and miserable condition, and seemed to be under the influence of deep melancholy and dejection.  They are said to have left their homes with great reluctance but are becoming more reconciled to their destiny.  Their situation excited much sympathy and commiseration in the breasts of our citizens, and many a heartfelt regret was uttered at the necessity which compelled us to remove them to the Far West.”   On October 13, some 1,200 of the party, primarily the followers of Opothleyahola, were put aboard the Farmer and reached Rock Roe four days later, while the remainder with their horses went overland.  They were reported at Irwin’s Stand, less than two days’ march from the North Little Rock site, on November 3.  From Irwin’s Stand on November 7, Opothleyahola wrote Governor James. S. Conway, informing him that he had written permission from General Jesup to halt within the limits of Arkansas while he visited with General Edmund Gaines and transacted “other business” for his people, ten or twelve thousand of whom were now in the state.  “We are here with friendly feelings,” he said.  Also signing the letter were Little Doctor, Mad Blue, Tuckabatchee Micco, and Ned, Opothleyahola’s black interpreter (See Illustration 26).   Batman’s party eventually passed Sprague’s, arriving at Fort Gibson on December 7. Batman attributed the slow progress of his party through Arkansas to rainy weather and bad roads.³⁹  This party traveled from Irwin’s to Cadron, for on November 8, the Arkansas Gazette reported that the party had “passed the cross-roads, 25 miles north of this place, for the west, on Thursday last.”

Campbell’s Party, 1836

John A. Campbell’s contingent of 1,170 had been gathered by Lieutenant Edward Deas in Talledega district in early August and taken to Gunter’s Landing, where their numbers had swelled to 2000.  Deas sent this party on to Memphis under Campbell’s direction by way of Huntsville and returned to Talledega to gather another party.  Campbell’s group reached Memphis on October 25 and went into camp a half mile below Memphis to wait while the other parties ahead of them crossed.⁴⁰  They departed Memphis on November 5, and, following the lead of parties before them, sent the equipment and part of the people by boat to Rock Roe and the remainder of people with the livestock through the Mississippi Swamp.⁴¹  On November 8, the Arkansas Gazette reported that Campbell’s contingent was ten to twelve days away.  This group apparently went west by way of Crossroads.  They made remarkable progress in comparison to the others; even though they were next to last in crossing the Mississippi, they arrived at Fort Gibson third in line behind Batman’s and Sprague’s.

Screven Party, 1836

Conducted by William McGillivray under the direction of Lt. R. B. Screven, another contingent had left Wetumka on August 6, numbering 3,022.  They had increased by 120, probably from picking up stragglers, by the time they reached Memphis in early October.  They, like the groups before them, split into two, part going by boat to Rock Roe and others going overland with the horses.  They did not reach the North Little Rock site until November 20.  Screven, like Sprague, laid the blame for his slow progress at the feet of the subsistence contractors.⁴²

When Screven reached the North Little Rock site, the 3,200 Muscogees in his group encamped within “a mile and a half of Little Rock.”  There, Screven took an extraordinary step, asking Governor James S. Conway to do whatever was necessary to keep the Muscogees on the north side of the river.  This group was not only in a sad condition, but the Arkansas public had begun to grow weary of the Indians.  As commodities became scarce and prices climbed, Arkansans began to blame the Muscogees.  The editor of the Arkansas Gazette complained that this was the third party  to go through in three weeks, with others on the way.  “Although they are by no means hostile or threatening,” he wrote, “yet they are, unquestionably a great annoyance to the public—and ought always to be sent with a strong guard.”⁴³ 

Deas Party, 1836

The last major contingent of Muscogees to pass through the North Little Rock site was conducted by Lieutenant Edward Deas.  After Deas had sent Campbell’s group on the way to Memphis, he returned to Talladega where he gathered another party of  2,320 and took them by way of Decatur, Courtland, and Tuscumbia.  They reached Memphis on October 25 and went into camp with Campbell’s group a half mile below Memphis to await their turn to cross.⁴⁴    Like the others before him, Deas decided to split his group into two, sending part by boat and others overland through the Swamp.  However, at the last minute a large number for some reason refused to board the boats and started overland with a conductor Deas assigned to them, beginning their journey on November 5.  At Rock Roe, Deas encountered the difficulties that Screven’s party had faced.  Contractors had failed to stockpile sufficient supplies, and the conductor who had started overland from Memphis came in with only part of his party.  The rest were strung out along the road without food or transportation.  Deas waited until November 19 for the stragglers to come in.  When they failed to do so, he went back over the road, as far as Strong’s on the St. Francis and found between 300 and 400 stragglers, some belonging to Batman’s and Screven’s parties, who had been abandoned by the contractors.  He made arrangements to have them brought on and returned to Rock Roe to catch up with his party.⁴⁵  

The main body of Deas’ party reached the North Little Rock site on November 27, 1836.  Deas ordered them to remain encamped until the stragglers between there and the St. Francis had joined them.⁴⁶ While encamped, the Muscogees became the focus of local resentment that had begun to surface with earlier parties.  It primarily took the form of complaints of theft from unnamed citizens of Arkansas. Whether these allegations were made because of prejudice against the Indians or by greed, Arkansans  were likely hoping to make money off  the Creeks by claims of theft and destruction of property. The officers associated with these parties wrote letters to the Governor of Arkansas and to their superior officers complaining about these unfair accusations. One letter printed as fact in the Arkansas Advocate made it sound as if the Creeks were killing livestock along the trail through the state of Arkansas.⁴⁷  Governor James S. Conway, after hearing complaints that the Muscogees had killed livestock, stolen crops, and burned fence rails for fuel, felt compelled to take action. On October 22, he issued a proclamation, ordering the Muscogees to leave the limits of Arkansas and giving county militias authority to assist in carrying out his orders.  On December 6, he ordered Deas to put the Creeks in his party on the road immediately and not permit them to encamp within the state for any extended time.  He published his letter in the Arkansas Gazette as an official order for county militia groups to enforce.  Lieutenant Deas responded to the allegations:  rations had been issued regularly while the Muscogees were in camp, they had supplemented their diet by hunting and had used the plentiful downed timber for fuel.  As for the latter, Deas invited the governor to cross to the north side of the river and witness for himself that the rail fences in the neighborhood were still intact.  Deas charged that the complaints were a pretext to get the Muscogees out of the state because of high prices that resulted from their subsistence.  High prices for commodities, however, were more than balanced, he argued, by the money that the removal was bringing into the state of Arkansas, especially money that was spent by the Muscogees themselves.⁴⁸ The agents of the emigrating company were also complaining that they were losing money by long delays.  To them Deas responded that their contracts called for the removal of all of the party, not part of it, to the western country, not to Arkansas. Thus he would wait.⁴⁹ 

Captain John Stuart at Fort Coffee, Indian Territory, a receiving station for many of the groups, also believed that charges of depredations by the Muscogees were an attempt at fraud.  No specific cases of such occurrences had been reported to him.  Perhaps thinking about the kinds of fraudulent claims that had been made against the Muscogees before removal, he fully expected that such claims would follow, “founded in part, upon the Representations of respectable Citizens of Arkansas, but as many of the whites are well known to seize upon any possible pretext to make exorbitant claims against the Indians, it is not to be supposed that they will let the present opportunity escape them.”⁵⁰     

Deas refused to follow the governor’s directive to move on, arguing that he would remain in the vicinity until the stragglers along the Memphis road came in.  Among them were some of the leading men and their families, and the Muscogees in the main party were reluctant to move on without them.  However, on December 9, he ordered the group to break camp because most of the stragglers had caught up.  They moved three miles up the Military Road and encamped again.  The following day Deas learned that one of the principal chiefs with a large number of followers was still two or three days behind him.  Thus once more he decided to wait. Finally, on December 17, he ordered the party to move on while he went back over the Memphis road to look for remaining stragglers.  On the morning of December 17 what he believed to be the last detachment of them passed through the North Little Rock site.  Deas and his group finally reached Fort Gibson on January 23, 1837.⁵¹  

In retrospect, Lieutenant Sprague laid much of the blame for the difficulties in getting through Arkansas on the Alabama Emigrating Company.  Though he believed the agents had done better in the latter part of their journey, he wrote:  “A stupid indifference to the stipulations of the contract, and a disposition to break down the authority of the officer, and drive the Indians far beyond their powers, seemed to be the determination of these Agents.”⁵²  

Contingent from the Cherokee Nation, 1837

It was not until the spring of 1837 that another party of Muscogees removed through the state.  Led by Lieutenant Deas, this party of 543 left Gunter’s Landing, Alabama, on May 16.  They were Muscogees who had fled their nation after the removal treaty of 1832 and had been hiding out in the Cherokee Nation, where they were rounded up by militia.  During the first sixty miles of their journey from Gunter’s landing, seventy-one escaped.  Deas’ experiences on the overland routes during the previous winter made him feel that the easier and faster way to travel with the group would be one of the water routes.  They traveled by flat boat down the Tennessee to Tuscumbia, overland from there to Waterloo, and from there by the steamboat Black Hawk.  They made good time, reaching Montgomery’s Point and passing through the White River cut-off to the Arkansas on May 27.  Travel on the Arkansas was excellent at that time, the river starting to rise due to the melting snows in the Rockies.  The boat could run day and night, during one day steaming 75 miles.  On May 31, Lieutenant Deas wrote in his journal:  “We reached Little Rock this morning at 7 o’clock, stopped there about an hour, and then continued to run until 7 P.M. having come about 50 miles. . . .It rained last night but cleared up this morning before reaching Lt. Rock, and the weather is at present fine tho’ warm in the daytime.  A female child died this afternoon, but nothing else of importance has occurred thro’ the day.  The River is now said to be 12 or 14 feet above low water marks.”  The river level remained good, and the Black Hawk reached Fort Gibson on June 4.  Because of desertions and deaths, Deas delivered only 463.⁵³ 

Families of the Creek Warriors in Florida , 1837

November and December, 1837, brought more Muscogees through Arkansas on their way to Indian Territory.  The largest of these parties was a group of about 3,000 led by Captain John Page, who arrived in central Arkansas the third week in November. This group consisted primarily of the families of 776 Creek warriors who had been recruited to fight the Seminoles in Florida.  The government failed its obligations to protect these families from white marauders intent on driving them out and occupying their lands.  Nearly 4000 had gathered near Montgomery by early March, 1837, and were later moved to Mobile Point, where they were kept in camps for several months under the direction of Captain Page.  Some 500 were sent to New Orleans in April, and the remainder moved to Pass Christian, Mississippi, in July.  By then, nearly 200 had died.  The last of the warriors from Florida did not join them until October, when, finally, they were transported to New Orleans.  Some under Lieutenant Sloan were sent toward Rock Roe on the Farmer, the Far West, and the Black Hawk.  Another group of 611 were sent aboard the Monmouth, which collided with the Trenton and sank near Columbia, Mississippi, costing 311 Muscogee lives.  Their numbers now reduced to about 3,000, the Muscogees were put ashore at Rock Roe and continued to Fort Gibson overland by way of Crossroads.⁵⁴  

Contingents from the Chickasaw Country, 1837

There were two additional removals by water.  On November 17, the steamer Fox with Muscogees aboard passed up the river, and on November 24 the Itasca arrived with about 800 aboard, directed by Captain Morris.  These were Muscogees who had fled to the Chickasaws after the removal treaty of 1832.  By late 1837, the Chickasaws had begun to remove; thus these Muscogees were rounded up and shipped out of Memphis.  After a night’s layover in the river, the Itasca went on upstream the next day.⁵⁵  

On his return back east through Little Rock in January of 1838 Captain Page reported to the Arkansas Gazette that the emigration of the Muscogees through Arkansas was complete. Over 21,000 had passed through the state.⁵⁶

Florida Indian Removal through the North Little Rock Site

 The removal of the Florida Indians can be marked as the most complicated and misunderstood of the five major removals through the North Little Rock site.  Scholars have classified it the Seminole Removal, and by doing so they have unfairly lumped numerous individual tribes under one title.  In fact, Florida was the scene of a developing culture at the time of removal as a result of the nearly complete eradication of the original inhabitants of Florida by European diseases by the late eighteenth century.  The extinction of these peoples freed up the rich soils of the peninsula for others.  Thus, indigenous peoples began to move into the area and create their own societies and cultures.  Over time these groups established themselves and began to intermingle.  In the early nineteenth century, these groups, seeing the benefit of unity, slowly began the process of organization.  However, this development also came at a time when the designs of U. S. removal policy fell upon the lands of Florida.  

At the time of Florida Indian removal, there were at least eleven individual tribes and around 5000 native people in Florida.  These tribes maintained their own identity and were classified separately by the U. S. soldiers stationed in Florida during the Seminole Wars.  These groups were the Seminole proper, the “Friendly Indians“ or pro-removal Florida Indians, the Miccosukees (whose tribe is still federally recognized in Florida), the Tallahassees, the Apalachicolas (who were at the time of removal federally recognized as a separate entity), the Yuchis, the Spanish Indians, the Indian Negroes, the Negroes (Runaway Slaves), the Red-Stick Muscogees, the Choctaws, and numerous other small groups that called Florida home.

These groups made up an extremely eclectic population before removal, which  made it extremely difficult for the Americans to treat with them.  Through the Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823), the Treaty of Payne's Landing (1832), and numerous "talks" and meetings, U. S. agents sought to convince the Florida Indians to remove to the West.  However, the Indians of Florida saw no reason to leave their homelands.   Whereas the removal process of the other major tribes were based on pressures from white settlers on native lands, the removal process of the Florida Indians was in fact a preemptive strike by the United States Government to remove all native peoples of Florida before white settlers began moving into the area.  Without the internal pressures from white settlers, the Indians of Florida had no immediate annoyance to facilitate their removal.  Therefore, they could see no reasons for leaving their lands, except the spite of the third Government to claim sovereignty over their homelands in recent decades.  This fact coupled with the shady Treaty of Payne's Landing (1832) and a basic desire to stay in Florida created the foundation for the Second Seminole War.

The Second Seminole War is a key factor in understanding the removal of the Florida Indians.  These Indians were the only members of the “Five Civilized Tribes” to resist and outlast the process of forced emigration by the United States Government.  Thus, except for the 1836 removal of Holata Imata’s pro-removal Indians, the majority of the removal groups from Florida were prisoners of war.  This process created unique problems for removal.  Instead of sending all of the members of a single tribe, federal officials sent people west as they were captured.  This created mixed parties of the tribes of Florida.  Thus, in one removal party one might see Yuchis, Negro Indians, Seminoles, and Miccosukees.  In the past historians, journalists, and others who did not understand the tribal distinctions among the Florida Indians, simply lumped them all together as “Seminoles.”

This removal resulted in over 4200 people moving through the North Little Rock site, a process that began in 1836 and continued until almost the beginning of the Civil War.  Even though the removal of the Florida Indians was the smallest in terms of numbers of people removed, it was in fact the longest and most expensive of the removals of the southeastern tribes.  Several historians and even the Seminole Nation itself claim that the United States Government spent over 40 million dollars on the removal of the Florida Indians.

Holata Imata’s Band, 1836

On May 5, 1836, the first group of Florida Indians arrived at the North Little Rock site--Holata Imata’s band of pro-removal Florida Indians.  Traveling on the steamboat Compromise with keelboat in tow, these “Friendly Indians,” were marked as the only members of the Florida Indians that chose not to fight in the Second Seminole War, and it was this decision that forever divided Holata Imata’s band from theire countrymen.  

Holata’s group arrived in North Little Rock with 382 members, a number that had dwindled from an estimated 400 to 500, since they had turned themselves into the United States Troops at Fort Brooke in November of 1835.  They stayed at the Fort, acting as spies and scouts for the U.S. Army until April 11, 1836, when under the command of Lt. Joseph W. Harris they boarded a schooner and set sail for their new home.  Traveling through New Orleans and up the Mississippi, this group entered the boundaries of Arkansas through Montgomery’s Point.  Upon arriving at the North Little Rock site, Lt. Harris immediately turned over the group to Captain Jacob Brown, disbursing agent for Indian removal west of the Mississippi River.  Brown stationed the group a quarter mile below Little Rock to wait for favorable waters.⁵⁷ Two days after their arrival, Brown ordered Harris’s assistant, Lieutenant George Meade to load the Indians back on the Compromise and move them to their new lands (See Illustration 27).  On May 7, the group left the North Little Rock site for their new lands along the Canadian River.  Harris wrote, “The Indians were allowed to recreate themselves in their encampment ¼ mile below the town (Little Rock) until the 7th inst, - when they were reshipped on board the Steamer & keel that brought them thus far, under the Charge of 2d Lt. Meade 3d Arty who had accompanied me as an Assistant from Ft. Brooke; and at 10 am they pursued their voyage up the river.”⁵⁸

No other Florida Indians passed through or by the site until the spring of 1838, except for a small family of eight that passed by the North Little Rock site on June 1, 1836, led by Mr. Sheffield, acting superintendent of the removal of the Seminoles.  This family was originally assigned to Holata Imata’s party but missed the boat at Tampa Bay while they were out fishing.

Micanopy’s, Emathla’s, and Jumper’s Bands, 1838

The year 1838 is discernibly the most significant year for the removal of the Florida Indians.  This year saw some 2000 to 3000 people pass through or by the North Little Rock site from Florida.  The first of these groups came in May and June of 1838.  Some 878 Seminoles and 257 Negro Indians traveled through on the steamboats Renown and South Alabama.  Some 453 (about 150 of these were Spanish Indians) were on board the Renown, which left New Orleans on the morning of the of May 19, and 674 were on board the South Alabama, which left New Orleans on May 22.  The latter included all the Negroes with the exception of the 32 left at New Orleans, in the hands of the civil authorities because of a slave claim that had followed them from Florida.  Those on the Renown were under the command of Assistant Conductor G.Y. Adde, Attending Physician S.S. Simmons, and 10 U.S. Soldiers as guard, and reached the North Little Rock site on May 26, passing up the river the same night, but because of low water they could not ascend more than one hundred miles farther.  Those on the South Alabama were under the command of Lt. John G. Reynolds, Doctor James Simons, Directing Physician, and Lieutenant Terret with 10 U.S. soldiers as guard.  They reached the North Little Rock site on the evening of June 1.⁵⁹          

While the South Alabama was anchored in the river, Lieutenant Reynolds called on the Governor of Arkansas, Sam C. Roane, for assistance.  It was Reynolds’ duty to try and separate the Seminoles from some of their slaves, who were claimed by whites, but he knew this could not be accomplished without help from the local militia.  In Reynolds’ letter to Roane, on June 3:  “It appears from documents in my possession, and other papers in the hands of the attorney sent on for the recovery of the negroes, that they are those taken by the Creek volunteers, in the Seminole War, and have been sold by the Creek Delegation, who have been recently at Washington; the attorney Mr. N. F. Collins of Alabama was appointed by the delegation .  .  .  .I have agreeably to my instructions, given every assistance to Mr. Collins within my power, but have not the force necessary to compel the Indians and Negroes to submit to an identification - my only resort therefore is the aid of the Civil Authority. . . .”⁶⁰ Roane flatly refused:  “After due reflection on the subject I have determined NOT to afford you any assistance to carry these instructions into effect. - And respectfully request of you not to attempt to turn over those negroes to the claimant, within the State of Arkansas and more especially in the neighborhood of Little Rock – And I require of you to proceed with your command of Indians and Negroes to their place of destination with the least practicable delay - that the citizens of Little Rock and its vicinity may be relieved from the annoyance of a hostile band of Indians and Savage Negroes.”⁶¹

Thus on June 4, Reynolds loaded his contingent onto two boats built with shallow draft and left the North Little Rock site.  The steamers Liverpool and Itasca with keelboats in tow ascended the river about one hundred miles, where they joined the Renown.  When the parties reached Fort Gibson, the final count of the combined parties totaled 1069.  In all, 54 died on the journey, including Jumper, who had died in New Orleans, and Emathla, or Philip, who died shortly before reaching his destination (See Illustrations 28, 29, and 30).⁶²

Co ho lata’s Band, 1838

The next group of Seminoles to travel through the North Little Rock Site was a party of 117.  This group arrived in New Orleans on May 28, and within the week was loaded on the steamboat Ozark and shipped up the Mississippi.  A short distance below Pine Bluff, the Ozark ran into a snag that tore a hole in the hull.  The boat was immediately run onto a sandbar, and began to take on water.  All of the passengers began unloading the ship’s cargo, and without the help of the Florida Indians much of it would have been lost.  The next day the Indians were transferred to the Mt. Pleasant and brought up to the North Little Rock site, where they arrived on June 11.  They were placed on the Fox and, on June 13, shipped up river.⁶³

Talmas Neah Party, 1838

On June 23, Captain Pitcairn Morrison passed the North Little Rock site with a group of 305 Florida Indians and 30 “Seminole negroes,” who had reached New Orleans on June 14.  This group traveled through the site on the steamboat Livingston and numbered around 335 strong.  At some point on the trip Morrison picked up some more passengers, because upon arrival at Fort Gibson his numbers had increased to 349.⁶⁴

“Negro Indian” Party, 1838

 On June 28, the 33 Negro Indians that had been detained in New Orleans because of a slave claim were finally allowed to leave for the Indian Territory under command of J. B. Benjamin.  The Indians trusted Benjamin, who had been left with the blacks during their confinement, apparently at the Indians’ request.  They were sent up river with 25 days’ supplies and reached the North Little Rock site sometime between July 7 and July 10.  However, they were obliged to remain at the site because of low water and the absence of boats of shallow enough draft to ascend the river.  Since it would take several days or even weeks to procure transportation, the group to hitch a ride on board the steamer Tecumseh, with Whiteley’s party of Cherokees (See Cherokee removal below).   The boat could go no farther than Lewisburg, 70 miles upstream, where the Negroes remained in camp with the Cherokees until the July 18.  Benjamin procured two ox teams (numbering 12 oxen total), along with two wagons for land transportation later that day, and they continued by land.⁶⁵