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

Halpata Hacho’s (Alligator’s) Party, 1838

Meanwhile, Lt. John G. Reynolds had left New Orleans on the steamboat Itasca in command of 67 Florida Indians on July 11.  They arrived at the North Little Rock site at on July 19 but were also detained by low water.  Reynolds could not find land transportation, thus on July 22, he risked taking the Itasca on up the river.  On reaching Clarksville, Reynolds learned that the 33 Indian Negroes were encamped about eighteen miles from the landing.  He obtained a horse and rode out to their camp.   Within twenty-four hours, they were aboard the boat with Reynolds’ 67 Indians and were on their way to Fort Gibson.  On July 27 the Itasca stopped two miles below Fort Coffee and could go no farther, and the party completed their journey by land, arriving on August 6.⁶⁶ 

Apalachicolas and Dog Island Muscogees, 1838

The last major groups to come through the North Little Rock site in 1838 were the last remnants of the Apalachicola Tribe.  When the Second Seminole War broke out, three groups of Apalachicola were left in Florida: Tamatl (Chukonlkta) whose micco was John Walker, Ikanchati (Tohtohultl) whose micco was Ikanchati Micco, and the remains of John Blunt’s town that had decided not to emigrate with him to Texas before the war.  Under the guidance of these leaders, the Apalachicola assisted the United States Government against the Indian uprising.  They were led to believe that since they were a separate group from the Seminoles and that by helping the United States, they would be allowed to remain in Florida.  This was not the case. They left Pensacola on November 29, numbering around 250.  Also aboard ship with them were 34 Muscogees from Dog Island.  They arrived at the North Little Rock site under the command of Major Daniel Boyd aboard the steamboat Rodney.  Because of low water, they were transferred to the North St. Louis, which left on November 23.  The boat ran aground below Cadron, and the party traveled overland to the Indian Territory.⁶⁷

Coe Hacho’s Band, 1839

On April 2, 1839, the steamboat Buckeye arrived at the North Little Rock site with a party of 204.  They had reached Fort Jackson, Louisiana, by sailing ship in early March, directed by Captain Pitcairn Morrison.⁶⁸  From there they embarked on the Buckeye for Fort Gibson.  Their journey had been slow because of low water, and they remained anchored at the site while they waited for the water to rise.  The Arkansas Gazette noted:  They are all fat and good humored, and look as if they had been living a life of indolent ease, instead of being hunted like wild beasts from fastness to fastness.  A good portion of the party is composed of women and children.”⁶⁹ The report reflected the kind of misinformation the popular press engaged in regarding the Seminole “war.”  There had, in fact, been little fighting for some time.  Instead, General Thomas S. Jesup had been engaged in “negotiating,” and the Cherokees had sent a delegation to Florida to try to “negotiate” an end to the “war.”  The truth was that the party looked well fed because they had been at St. Augustine for some time, subsisting on rations furnished by the Army.

They were primarily the band of Coe Hacho, who had been to Fort Gibson before.  In 1832, he had been one of the delegates who had traveled west to look at the land assigned to the Florida Indians.  He had been taken prisoner along with Osceola under a flag of truce by General Jesup in the fall of 1837.  He had served as a spokesman for Osceola in negotiations with General Joseph Hernandez before they were seized and imprisoned at Fort Marion in St. Augustine.  He had served as a guide for the Cherokee delegation that had gone to Florida to mediate the war and aided them in bringing in Micanopy, Yaholochee and other leaders, whom Jesup imprisoned as he had done Coe Hacho himself (See Illustration 31).⁷⁰

Though the Gazette had concluded wrongly about the Indians’ condition in Florida, it accurately reported in part the makeup of the group.  There were only 30 men between the ages of 25 and 50, but there were 36 women in the same age group and 66 persons under age 25. However, there are some interesting omissions in the Gazette’s report.  In addition to Coe Hacho’s people, in this group were Abraham (whom the Gazette noted), Tom, Cudjo, and Tony Barnett, free black interpreters and scouts for the U. S., who had played a major role in the early years of the Second Seminola War.  Also aboard were a number of other free blacks as well as slaves belonging to Micanopy, Sally, Nocose Yahola, and Micco Potokee.⁷¹  Though the Gazette mentioned Abraham, it did not report him as a “negro,” as most contemporary sources did, nor did it report the other 13 free blacks and 48 slaves, even though they made up 30% of the party.

This party arrived at Fort Gibson on April 13, having lost only one person:  a member of the party of Miscar, who fell overboard and was lost on March 11.⁷² 

St. Augustine Prisoners Party, 1839

Another group passed by the North Little Rock site in mid-December, 1839.  This group of 48, all of who were under the age of 25, had departed St. Augustine aboard a schooner, reaching the U. S. Barracks at New Orleans on November 28, accompanied by Lieutenant B. Board.  From there, they shipped out aboard the steamboat Orleans.  The Arkansas was at low water, so the Orleans could go no higher than Fort Smith, where Board left the Indians in the care of Arnold Harris, who sent them on a few days later when the river rose.  They reached Fort Gibson on December 23, 1839.⁷³

Seminola Delegation Party, 1840

Small groups such as the last two indicated that removal had all but halted.  The war, as well, had ground to a halt.  Because no large parties had been sent west since early 1839, in the summer of 1840 the United States ventured into a new strategy to effect removal:  negotiation enhanced by monetary incentives.  As a result, the next party of Seminoles to travel the Arkansas by way of the North Little Rock site was going from west to east on its way back to Florida

This group was a delegation of Seminoles whose task it would be to persuade the Indians remaining in Florida to surrender for removal.  The 14 Seminoles and two interpreters gathered at Fort Gibson shortly after August 1.  They had made preparations for their families’ care while they were gone and received talks from those who still had relatives in Florida to whom they were to deliver the messages.  They were to travel under the direction of Captain John Page of the 4^th Infantry.⁷⁴   Page listed the following delegates as he says they were interpreted to him “in Indian and English”:  Ho la too chee (Blue), No co se o ho la (Bear), Tus ta nuc cee chee (Lieutenant), Cotchar (Tiger), Hoth lee poye (Finish the War), Tommy Ho lata (Little Blue), Thuth lo Hacho (Crazy Fish), Lifte Hacho (Crazy Wolf), Ho pis Hacho (Crazy Heart), No-co-see Tus te nuc kee (Lieutenant Bear), Antonio (Sharp Bullet), Par sack E O Hola (Sentinel), and Tony and Primas (black men), interpreters.  Two other Seminoles were later added without translation, Capitsa Shopka and No cosa Hacho.  Despite their early preparations and apparent desire to go, the delegation did not get away from Fort Gibson until October 1 and passed the North Little Rock site a few days later on their way to New Orleans.  There, they boarded the schooner Harbinger for Tampa Bay, where they arrived on November 7.⁷⁵

During the ensuing three months, the delegation was effective in getting large numbers, primarily Tallahassees, to surrender for removal.⁷⁶

Tallahassee Band, 1841

 In late March, 1841, a party of 221of Tallahassees and a few others, embarked from Tampa Bay and arrived at New Orleans on March 29.  On April 4, the remaining 205 Indians and 6 “Indian negroes,” and one black were placed aboard the steamboat President for Fort Gibson under the direction of Major William G. Belknap of the 3^rd Infantry, Lt. John T. Sprague of the 8^th Infantry, and Assistant U. S. Army Surgeon Barnes.⁷⁷ 

This party included the Tallahassee band of Echo Imata and his subchiefs Parhose Fixico and Tustenuggee Micco.  Also in the group were 24 Spanish Indian women and children, whose warriors had been killed by troops under Col. W. S. Harney; 5 members of the party of Dennis, a free black; a slave of Parhose Fixico; and a slave known as Friday or Jim, who was claimed as the property of General D. L. Clinch.⁷⁸  They passed by the North Little Rock site on April 10 or 11 and arrived at their destination on April 19.  They were unloaded opposite the mouth of Grand River, loaded into wagons, and transported to the Deep Fork to join Micanopy’s group.⁷⁹

Mixed Party, 1841

The next group to pass by the North Little Rock site did so about the first of June, 1841.  This group of 206 arrived at New Orleans from Tampa Bay on May 13 with instructions from General Walker K. Armistead to have them vaccinated and to allow them to visit New Orleans for several days.  Major Isaac Clarke, commander of the U. S. Barracks at New Orleans sent them on three days later aboard the John Jay under the direction of Capt. Henry McKavett because he claimed that there were slave hunters with false claims hanging about.  He ordered that no man be allowed to board the steamer until it reached the Indian Territory.  LeGrand Capers, however, claimed that the water was high and boats were ready as the reason Clarke sent them on.⁸⁰  He expected them to make the trip in seven or eight days, but was nearly a month before they reached their destination.  Low water forced them to land near the Choctaw Agency on June 13, and from there they traveled overland to the Deep Fork.⁸¹

Seminole Delegation Party, 1841

In late September, another delegation of Seminoles passed by the North Little Rock site on their way back to Florida.  This delegation apparently grew out of a desire  on the part of some who had relatives in Florida to return and try to persuade them to remove.⁸²   The delegation consisted of Alligator, Hotulke Emathla, Woxie Emathla, three other Seminoles, and an interpreter.  They traveled with Captain S. B. Thornton and troops of the 4^th Infantry under Col. John Garland.⁸³ 

Coacoochee (Wild Cat) and Hospetakee Bands

The next major removal contingent passed the North Little Rock site aboard the steamer Little Rock in early  November 1841.  Aboard were two major leaders, Coacoochee (Wild Cat) and Hospetakee (See Illustration 32).  Of the two, Coacoochee was by far the more important.  Known early in the war as one of the most prominent fighters in the field, he had been captured but had escaped and reentered the fighting.  After the government entered a policy of negotiation, he had become a target of negotiators, who sent him as emissary to other leaders in an attempt to persuade them to come in and remove.  In early June 1841, he was suddenly seized and shipped to New Orleans.  However, Colonel W. J. Worth, commanding the army in Florida, had him returned to Florida in order to bring his band in and to use his influence with the leaders remaining.  It was through his efforts that Hospatakee was taken.⁸⁴  The party of 200 embarked from Tampa Bay on October 12 aboard the brig Laurence Copeland.  From New Orleans they were shipped on October 24 aboard the steamer Little Rock under the direction of Captain Washington Seawell and Lieutenant Forbes Britton.  They lost three on the way, and the remaining 197 arrived at Fort Gibson on November 12.⁸⁵

Cooacoochee’s Band and Others, 1842

Another party passed the North Little Rock site in late April 1842, aboard the steamer President.  This party of over 200 had departed Tampa Bay on February 4, and had remained at the U. S. Barracks at New Orleans for several weeks under Captain T. L. Alexander.⁸⁶   They were joined by a group of 94, who left Tampa Bay on April 10, and all were embarked on the President.  In this party were Coacoochee’s family, his aunt’s family, and Alligator’s sister.  After the President passed the North Little Rock site in late April, it was stopped by low water about sixty miles up river.  After a lengthy delay, they went on, arriving at Webber’s Falls on June 1.  They were finally mustered at the Seminola Agency on June 14.⁸⁷ 

Halleck Tustenuggee and Gopher John Bands, 1842

Another group of 100 under Lt.  E. R. S. Canby arrived at the North Little Rock site in early August, 1842.  This group, including the well-known chiefs Halleck Tustenuggee and Gopher John (John Cavallo), had reached New Orleans on July 21 and embarked the following day aboard the Swan.  Superintendent of removal LeGrand Capers was doubtful of their time of arrival because the Arkansas was at a particularly low level.⁸⁸  His doubts were realized when the party was forced to abandon the Swan six miles below Little Rock and march overland to Fort Smith and the Choctaw Agency.  This is the only land removal of Florida Indians through the site.  Canby had no authority to requisition land transportation and, not having money, had to borrow money from the black chief John Cavallo to pay for the trip from the North Little Rock site to the Choctaw Agency (See Illustration 33).  Though they suffered much sickness on the way, only one died.  They were delivered to the Western Seminole agent at the Creek council ground on September 6.⁸⁹ 

Octiarche, Thlocco Tustenuggee (Tiger Tail), Pascofa, and Passachee Bands, 1843

Another party, consisting primarily of four bands, passed the North Little Rock site on March 11, 1843.  The first two groups were 99, including Octiarche and his band and Thlocco Tustenuggee (Tiger Tail) and 26 of his followers.  They arrived in New Orleans from Cedar Keys on January 1.  Thlocco Tustenuggee, who had been quite ill from the outset, died while they were in New Orleans.  Octiarche’s group was followed shortly by Pascofa’s band, which numbered 51.  This party left Cedar Keys on January 26, 1843, under the direction of Lt. W. S. Henry.⁹⁰  This party joined Octiarche and Tiger Tail’s bands at the U. S. Barracks at New Orleans.  Then Passachee’s band of 62 left Cedar Keys on February 28, and all four bands embarked from New Orleans on March 4, aboard the steamboat Lucy Walker.  Capt. H. M. McKavett conducted the party.  The boat made good time to Little Rock, but the water rapidly fell.  Over a month later, they were encamped on the riverbank about twenty miles below Fort Smith.  McKavett could not arrange land transportation because the contract with the captain of the Lucy Walker was unconditional.  That meant that the steamboat owner was obligated to deliver his passengers at the point of destination in order to be paid.  A rise in the Canadian watershed allowed them to go as far as Webbers Falls, where they arrived on April 26, after nearly two months en route.  McKavett had then unloaded on the south side of the Arkansas to prevent their joining the bands of Coacoochee and Alligator, who remained in the Cherokee Nation.⁹¹ 

McKavett had taken good care of this group.  He had made frequent and generous rations of beef, corn, salt, pork, and flour. Although the Indians had been accused of being improvident in the consumption of rations, this group reached the West well supplied, in part, McKavett thought, because of “their prudence in saving large portions in each family” or because of fear that the rations would be stopped in the West or, perhaps, because there were a large number of children in this group, whose volume of consumption was lower.⁹² 

This group arrived west with some deep-seated resentment against U. S. officials and their agents.  Octiarche, Passokee, and Neha Imata complained that the government had not fulfilled its promises regarding how much each person was to receive upon removal.  Octiarche claimed that General Worth had forced them from their camps and told them not to mind the property they left:  they would be paid for it.  Capt. Screven, he said, made a list of what was left.  Worth promised to pay them at New Orleans, but they did not receive it.  Octairche said, “What has passed between us I have not forgot:  The General has it in black and white, but I have it in my heart.”⁹³ 

The five boxes of silver that Octiarche believed he had been promised might also have contributed to the hatred the group had for their two black interpreters, Toney Barnett and John Crews.  Toney claimed to have been promised $500 if he could induce the Indians to come in, and he said that the money was shown to him and that he was promised to be paid at New Orleans.  However, when he reached there, no order had  been received to pay him.  General Worth said of Octiarche’s and Toney’s claims:  “in respect to that scoundrel Toney, I only regretted that it was not lawful to have had him shot instead of emigrating him.”  Promises were made upon faithful fulfillment of his duty.  But, Capers said, instead of doing his duty, he was soon caught at his “old tricks of duplicity and double dealing and finally his conduct was so bad and treacherous, that, as an example to the other interpreters the Commanding General ordered him to be soundly whipped and the punishment was duly inflicted.”⁹⁴  The Indians blamed Toney and John Crews for betraying them to the Americans, and attempted to kill Toney shortly before they got to their destination, but he escaped.  They succeeded with John Crews.  One day, shortly after their arrival in the West, as he lay down to take a nap, several Indians told him that it had been a year since he had betrayed them, and with that they stabbed him to death.⁹⁵

Hiatus in Removal

In early February 1844, Commissioner of Indian Affairs T. Hartley Crawford wanted to transfer future Indian removal to the military officers in Florida.  No party had left Florida for a year, the few remaining Indians were reluctant to move, and the army seemed indisposed to coerce them.  Thus he saw no need to keep an agent.    General Worth, commanding in Florida, thought that the time was not quite right and that a removal party might be collected soon.⁹⁶  LeGrand Capers, the Indian Office’s removal agent, believed that future removals would be more tedious than any before and would require “knowledge and experience of Indian character” because of “the peculiar relation in war to the Indians remaining here.”  He said, “The greater portion of the warriors now remaining here, are young & have grown up since hostilities commenced in this country; consequently the difficulty in treating or even communicating with them, was great, from the fact, that they have been taught to engraft in their nature a deadly hatred to the whites, and to treat every overture as made to them, as a designing plot, to entrap & remove them without their consent.”⁹⁷    By the summer of 1845, General Worth apparently felt that the time was right.  Capers was relieved of his duty and Captain J. T. Sprague took his place.⁹⁸ 

Capichuche and Cacha Fixico Bands

No removals were effected for a number of years.  In 1849 another delegation from the West went to Florida in yet another attempt to persuade the remaining Indians to remove.  On February 28, 1850, eighty-five under Capichuche and Cacha Fixico barded the schooner Fashion for New Orleans.  Duvall and his Arkansas delegation followed them on March 13.⁹⁹

Small Party, 1850

Another “small party” under Lt. Enoch  Hudson removed in late 1850.¹⁰⁰

Hiatus in Removal

The United States entered a long period of   “peaceful” coexistence with the remaining Florida Indians, during which it experimented with a commission-on-removal policy.  Under a private agreement, Luther Blake arrived in Florida in May, 1851 with authority to bribe or otherwise cajole the remaining leaders, primarily Billy Bowlegs, to remove.  If successful, Blake was to receive a commission for every Indian who removed.  Blake traveled to the Arkansas to recruit interpreters and could not return to Florida with them and a delegation from the West until late December.  Despite months of talks and offers of bribes, 36 Indians—12 warriors and 24 women and children—removed in August 1852.  Another western delegation went to Florida in early 1854 and returned in April, taking seven Indians with them to the West.¹⁰¹  These removal parties passed unnoticed by the North Little Rock site.

From 1854 on, attention focused on Billy Bowlegs.   During the preceding five years, tensions between the Indians and whites had increased as the white settlers in Florida pressed southward into the areas that the Indians inhabited.  By 1849, Billy Bowlegs was referred to as the “head chief” of the Seminoles and “acting chief” of the Miccosukees, who attempted to diffuse conflicts.  But his task became more difficult after a survey of the Everglades was ordered.  When a surveyor crew destroyed one of Bowlegs’ camps in 1855 and refused to pay for the damage, he attacked their camp on December 20, 1855, setting off the what is termed the “Third Seminole War.”¹⁰²  Knowing the difficulties of fighting a war in Florida, the United States set about trying to persuade Bowlegs to remove.

Those efforts paid off in 1858.  That year, Elias Rector, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Superintendency, and Samuel Rutherford, agent for the Western Seminoles, headed a delegation of 40 Seminoles and 6 Creeks led by Chief John Jumper.  Through offers of money and other inducements, they persuaded Bowlegs to remove.

Billy Bowlegs Band and Miccosukees, 1858

On May 4, 1858, a party of 125, including Bowlegs and sub-chiefs Assunwha, Nocose Emathla, Foos Hacho, Nocus Hacho (who was Bowlegs’ brother-in-law), and Fushatchee Emathla, left on the steamer Grey Cloud.  They stopped at the entrance to Tampa Bay and picked up 40 more, making a total of 39 warriors and 126 women and children.  Among these were Bowlegs’ brother-in-law Long Jack (John Chupco), his two wives, one son, and five daughters.  Bowlegs was a man of considerable wealth, with 50 slaves and $100,000 in cash.  After spending a week in New Orleans, the party shipped out on the steamer Quapaw, arriving at Fort Smith on May 28, 1858 (See Illustrations 34, 35, and 36) .¹⁰³

Bowlegs Party, 1859

Bowlegs, however, was not finished with Florida.  In December 1858 he returned to his homeland with Rector and seven Seminoles and persuaded 75 more Indians to leave.  They departed for New Orleans on February 15, 1859, and were back in the Indian Territory by early March.¹⁰⁴  This was the last  Florida removal under the provisions of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and, therefore, the last removal party of any tribe to pass the North Little Rock site on what was known as the Trail of Tears.

Chickasaw Removal through the North Little Rock Site

Although the Chickasaws did not sign a final removal treaty until 1837, they had long anticipated the inevitable.  In November of 1830 a delegation of Chickasaw leaders passed through the North Little Rock site on their way to survey the land west of Arkansas for a potential relocation site.  The Arkansas and Canadian rivers bound the land they were interested in.  Ratification of the Treaty of Franklin (1830) depended on the results of the trip.  A few months after their trip one of the tribal leaders, Levi Colbert, wrote a letter to President Andrew Jackson, saying the Chickasaws had found the land unsuitable.¹⁰⁵ 

Even though the Treaty of Franklin was void, excitement grew over the possibility of emigrating Indians passing through central Arkansas.  A few months after the 1830 delegation passed through Little Rock, the Arkansas Gazette reported on the probable route of the tribes through central Arkansas to their new homes.  The strategic positions of the North Little Rock and Little Rock sites were evident.¹⁰⁶  By the time of Chickasaw removal, the possible routes had been well established by the Choctaws and Creeks, and those earlier removals had proved that Indian removal was a boon for the local economy.

In 1833 another delegation of Chickasaws came through the area on their way to Indian Territory to look for land under provisions of the Treaty of Pontotoc (1832).  Other exploring parties went west in 1835 and 1836, but a treaty was not approved until January 1837.  The exploring party of 1836 reached an agreement with the Choctaws at Doaksville, Indian Territory, whereby the Chickasaws could purchase a part of the western portion of the Choctaw domain as a permanent home.  At the time, the Chickasaws numbered about 4,914 and 1,156 slaves.¹⁰⁷ 

Once this treaty was signed, arrangements were made for Chickasaw removal to begin in the summer 1837 under the supervision of A. A. M. Upshaw.  Following the usual method for removal, each party would be assigned a conductor who led the party, a physician who not only took care of the Indians but determined how far they could travel each day, and a disbursing officer who supervised the distribution of rations between depots.  Upshaw arranged for subsistence stations at Memphis, the North Little Rock site, and Fort Coffee, with 100,000 rations deposited at the North Little Rock site.¹⁰⁸ 

In most ways, Chickasaw removal was the quickest, cleanest, and most spectacular (in its basic sense of spectacle) of all the removals.  The vast majority of the nation assembled for removal in the fall of 1837 and, within a short time, passed  through Arkansas, creating scenes like none witnessed before.

1837-1838 Removals

 The first group of Chickasaws to go west to their new territory was led by conductor John M. Millard.  Working with him was disbursing agent Captain Joseph A. Phillips.  This party of 450 Chickasaws marched with their personal belongings, slaves, and livestock to Memphis, where they crossed the Mississippi on July 4, 1837.  They found getting through the Mississippi Swamp with their wagons a difficult task because of heavy rains.  According to Millard, they “traveled boggy roads and through mud and water, frequently up to the axletrees of the wagons.  The distance we come to day is about eight miles and by every person acquainted with the roads considered a good drive.”¹⁰⁹  As the party continued through Arkansas, they were joined by other parties that had left Memphis after them.  By July 16 they numbered nearly 500.   On July 20, the party reached Mrs. Black’s, a well-known resting place in the Grand Prairie, and reached the North Little Rock site on July 25, by then numbering 516.  In this train were 13 wagons and 551 horses.  An estimated 30 Chickasaws who had not enrolled with the party were still behind and were expected to catch up.¹¹⁰ 

On July 26, the group remained in camp, preparing for the final leg of their journey.  The plan was to hire steamboat transportation for the women, children, sick, and old, while the others were to go up the Military Road to Fort Coffee.  Late that day, however, problems developed.  Millard wrote, “At a late hour to day Lt. Morris came to our camp and informed that Rations had not been thrown on the road, on account of the impossibility of procuring wagons.  This being unexpected caused some little delay, also some difficulty having arisen with the Indians as to the road they would go.  They were told by E. Mubby a chief of the nation that they should go the Red River route and some of them are determined to do so, though contrary to the positive direction of myself and all concerned in the emigration.  8 P.M.  The Indians after being twice in council concluded to disobey the wishes of the conductor and go as they had been directed by their chief.  After much persuasion however they, by way of compromise, agreed that their women, children and infirm should go on board the steamer Indian and proceed to the Choctaw Nation by water, and that the young men with the chief Sealy should go by land with the horses.”¹¹¹

All was made ready for departure on July 27.  Millard wrote, “We now believed that all difficulty was settled to their satisfaction but we were deceived.  The baggage was scarcely on board the boat when Sealy the chief came and informed me that about 300 of his men, would go with him by way of Fort Towson and would go no other way.  They could not be persuaded from this intention by all the arguments and instructions of the conductors and such citizens of Little Rock as were acquainted with the Indian character and the country through which they were compelled to pass.  They were told the comparative distance of the routes and the impossibility of procuring food on any but the Fort Coffee road, as the rations purchased for them were deposited at that place, but they could not be shaken from their determination.  At 3 ock: this day, Capt. Morris, Dis Officer, Doct Keenan direct. Phys., and myself left in the Steamer Indian with all the baggage and one hundred  & fifty Indians for Fort Coffee.  W. R. Guy, asst. conductor left at the same time with a party of thirty Indians, about one hundred Horses and two wagons for the same place by land.  The party headed by their chief Sealy were determined to go to Red River and stop when and where they pleased.”  After Millard left his group at Fort Coffee, he turned back to Little Rock and on August 10 set out to overtake the group on the road to Fort Towson.¹¹²       

During the summer and fall of 1837, about 4,000 Chickasaws enrolled for removal.  Agent Upshaw made a contract with Kentuckian Simeon Buckner to transport them by boat from Memphis to Fort Coffee, using six steamboats pulling flatboats and keelboats to carry their property.  Chickasaws would drive their livestock overland.  In four groups they marched to Memphis and began establishing their camps on November 9.  However, about a thousand Chickasaws decided to avoid the boats and go overland when they learned that the Thomas Yeatman, which had been used in earlier removals, had blown a boiler and killed a number of crewmen.  Thus four boats left Memphis on November 25:  the Fox, Dekalb, Kentuckian, and Cavalier.  Meanwhile, the overland party with their wagons and horses crossed the river and started west.  The steamboats carrying the Chickasaws took advantage of a rise in the Arkansas, went unnoticed past the North Little Rock site, and reached Fort Coffee in eight to ten days.  Those who went overland were on the road for weeks.  Part of the reason was their determination to take personal property with them.  Upshaw wrote, “The Chickasaws have an immense quantity of baggage.  A great many of the Chickasaws have fine wagons and teams.”  They also had 4000 to 5000 ponies, which Upshaw had vainly tried to get them to sell.¹¹³

The overland party, with its equipage, baggage, and vast herds of horses were remarkable scenes for travelers and residents.  Bowes Reed McIlvaine, a Louisville merchant, crossed the Mississippi with the land party.  Imbued with the romanticism of his day, he described them as they marched to the river.  He wrote, “I do not think that I have ever been a witness of so remarkable a scene as was formed by this immense column of moving Indians, several thousand, with the train of Govt wagons, the multitude of horses; it is said three to each Indian & beside at least six dogs & cats to an Indian.  They were all most comfortably clad—the men in complete Indian dress with showy shawls tied in turban fashion round their heads—dashing about on their horses, like Arabs, many of them presenting the finest countenances & figures that I ever saw.  The women also very decently clothed like white women, in calico gowns—but much tidier & better put on than common white-people--& how beautifully they managed their horses, how proud & calm & erect, they sat in full gallop.  The young women have remarkably mild & soft countenances & are singularly decorous in their dress & deportment.  There were some white women, wives of Indians & they were decidedly the least neat of the party.”¹¹⁴

Once across the Mississippi, they presented a picturesque sight.  “I shall never forget,” he wrote, “the singular picture the whole party presented, when all were got across the Miss--& in one mass covered the whole open ground on the bank.  It was a scene to paint, not describe with words—civilized society is as uniform & tame in the dress & manner & equipage that a crowd has no life in it.  Here however no one man was like another, no horse caparisoned like another.  Their clothing was of all the bright colors of the rainbow & arranged with every possible variety of form & taste—but all flowing & fantastic & untailorlike.  I wish I could have sketched that scene, as they stood each above the other from the water’s edge to the top of the ascending ground. They seemed grouped there, to present one grand display of barbaric pomp.”¹¹⁵

On December 2, Upshaw departed Memphis with 400 more Chickasaws aboard the Fox, which had returned from Fort Coffee, having delivered a first group.  He arrived at Fort Coffee on December 7.¹¹⁶

One land contingent left on December 2, and the second was supposed to leave two or three days later.  J. M. Millard conducted the first group with about 1100 and Joseph A. Phillips was to take the second group of about 200.  There was a third group of 114 that had gone ahead of them and crossed the White River on December 7, with 72 horses, 58 oxen, and 3 wagons. ¹¹⁷ Meanwhile, Millard’s contingent reached Strong’s on the west side of the St. Francis on December 10 with 38 wagons and 1,100 horses.  The road through the Mississippi Swamp was bad, and a number of horses bogged and died in the mud.  At Mouth of Cache, the government had paid to cut a road to a new ferry over the White River.  They crossed there on December 6 and arrived at the North Little Rock site on December 13.  On December 19, the Arkansas Gazette reported that the Chickasaws and their horses had “been lying for some days opposite this place.”  Two days earlier, two or three hundred had left upstream aboard the Cavalier with Millard while the others went by land up the Military Road.¹¹⁸

Parties on the road had combined at the North Little Rock site.  On December 10, some 1938 Chickasaws, 4098 horses and oxen, and 61 wagons crossed the ferry at Palarm Bayou, and on December 15 the same numbers crossed the Cadron.¹¹⁹

Phillips’ party did not get away as soon as Upshaw had expected.  On January 6, 1838, he crossed the White River with 979 Chickasaws, 888 ponies, 63 oxen, and 8 wagons.  On his return from Fort Coffee, Upshaw found Phillips and his party encamped at the North Little Rock site.  They had lost a large number of horses in the Swamp, and those that remained were in sad shape from “fatigue and falling off.”  Upshaw ordered a ration of corn for them to help them recover.¹²⁰

Meanwhile, another contingent was en route to the North Little Rock site.  They crossed the White River on December 24 with 1220 Chickasaws, 902 ponies, 246 oxen and 156 wheels (George W. Ferribee, the ferry owner, charged by wheels rather than by vehicles).  They reached the North Little Rock site in early January.¹²¹

In early February, a contingent of nearly 799 Chickasaws reached the North Little Rock site under the direction of R. B. Crockett.  They had departed the Chickasaw Nation east on January 15.  They had with them 761 horses, 201 oxen, 48 wagons, and one cart. Friedrich Gerstacker, the German traveler, found them there when he arrived on February 9:  “Long after sunset on the 9^th I arrived on the Arkansas river; the lights of Little Rock shone from the opposite bank, but a strange fantastic scene presented itself on this side of the river, on which I stared with astonishment.  An Indian tribe had pitched their tents close to the banks of the river.  A number of large crackling fires, formed of whole trunks of dry fallen trees, which lay about in abundance, offering good shelter against the wind; over the fires were kettles with large pieces of venison, bear, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, wild-cats, and whatever else the fortune of the chase had given them.  Here young men were occupied securing the horses to some of the fallen trees, and supplying them with fodder; there lay others, overcome by the firewater, singing their national songs with a mournful and heavy tongue.  I stood for a long time watching the animated scene.”

Gerstacker continued, “A tall powerful Indian, decked out with glass beads and silver ornaments, came staggering towards me, with an empty bottle in his left hand and a handsome rifle in his right, and, holding them both towards me, gave me to understand that he would give me the rifle if I would fill his bottle.  The dealers in spirituous liquors are subject to a heavy fine if they sell any to soldiers, Indians, or Negroes.  The poor Indians have fallen so low, and become so degraded by the base speculations of the pale faces, that they will give all they most value, to procure the body and soul-destroying spirits.  Though I had but little money left, only twelve cents, I declined the exchange; he turned sorrowfully away, probably to offer the advantageous bargain to some one else, in which case I thought it best to indulge the poor savage, and save him his handsome rifle; I took the bottle out of his hand, filled it, and gave it back to him.  On my refusing to accept his rifle, he laid hold of me, and dragged me almost forcibly to his fire, obliged me to drink with him, to smoke out of his pipe, and eat a large slice of venison, while his wife and three children sat in the tent staring with surprise at the stranger.  He then stood up, and in his harmonious language related a long history to me and to some sons of the forest who had assembled round us, and of which I did not understand a word.  At last as the noise became annoying, I stole away quietly to seek a berth for the night.”¹²²

1838 Removals

In late May, 1838, the Gazette reported that “a party of near 200 of this tribe, who have been loitering along the roads on this side of the Mississippi, for some months past,” had arrived at the North Little Rock site the week before.  Their intent was to cross the  river and go to Fort Towson.  When about half had crossed, John Millard arrived on his way down river.  He persuaded most of them to recross the river  because the provision station was at the North Little Rock site.  Millard purchased wagons and about May 30 started up the Military Road with principal chief King Ishtehotopa and his party.  Those who remained on the Little Rock side of the river went southwest and paid their own way.¹²³  

Subsequent Removals

Chickasaw removal was slowing down.  On July 16, Upshaw reached the North Little Rock site with 130 more, and on November 25 he arrived with about 300 with their train of wagons, cattle, and horses.  Two days later they were still crossing the ferry in preparation to going on to the Red River country.¹²⁴  

Although the Gazette announced that this was the end of Chickasaw removal, small parties continued to make the journey west at least until 1850.¹²⁵

Cherokee Removal through the North Little Rock Site

Authority for removal of the Cherokees came from the Treaty of New Echota (1835), generally thought to be a spurious treaty because the United States negotiated with only a small minority of the Cherokee people.  Nevertheless, the United States Senate ratified the treaty.  Following the treaty, a number of groups of Cherokees removed to the land secured to them by the Treaty of 1828.  These groups included not only many of those who had favored the Treaty of New Echota but others who believed that removal was inevitable. The vast majority of the Cherokee people, however, remained in their homeland, best by legal restrictions set on them by the State of Georgia, harassment by local whites, and confiscation of their property and other outrages, while Cherokee authorities sought legal remedy to their plight.

In May of 1838 the treaty deadline imposed for removal had passed. The United States Army began rounding up the Cherokees placing them in camps. It was these camps that the first groups began the process of the Cherokees’ forced removal to Indian Territory in June 1838.  The first four contingents, removed by the federal government, came by water and passed by the North Little Rock site.  In the summer of 1838, the Cherokees received permission from the United States to remove themselves.  The fifth group to pass through the site was one of the thirteen contingents organized by the Cherokees themselves, but because they were Treaty Party adherents, their removal was the source of a bitter intra tribal debate.  The final party was the one including Chief John Ross, who came by water. The following historical survey focuses on only these six groups.

Deas Party, April 1838

Some time around 11: 30 A.M. on the morning of April 11, 1838, a party of 250 Cherokees under the charge of Lt. Edward Deas reached Little Rock aboard the Steamboat Smelter. This party had left Waterloo, Alabama, on April 6 on their way to their new lands in the West,¹²⁶ going by Paducah, Kentucky, on April 7, and Memphis, Tennessee, two days later. The party reached Montgomery’s Point, Arkansas, at 3 P.M. on April 9, where Deas hired a steamboat pilot who could to navigate the Arkansas River. By 9 P.M that evening Deas’ party was traveling on the Arkansas, which, at the time, was not very high, making it impossible to run the steamboat at night. Deas became concerned that the party would not be able to go by boat much further than Little Rock.

When they arrived there, Deas had the captain anchor the boat between Little Rock and the North Little Rock site while he conferred with the disbursing agent about problems with the river. Usually, when the boat was anchored, Deas let the party disembark for awhile. However, he knew that Little Rock had problems with whiskey peddlers. By anchoring in the stream, Deas hoped to prevent the whiskey peddlers from having access to the Indians. He decided to to transfer them to another boat, the Little Rock at $5 a person, to go upstream as far as possible. The party would have access to one of the keelboat, the top of the other, and access to the Little Rock except for the cabins.¹²⁷ Deas and his party proceeded 5 miles up the river to meet with the Little Rock.

Trouble continued to plague the group.On the morning of April 12 the party boarded the Little Rock and started upstream. Unfortunately, troubles persisted as they hit a sand bar only six miles into their trip. Deas became concerned that any more delay would be dangerous to the health of the Cherokees. The main concern was smallpox, a disease he called “most fatal” to the Cherokees, which had reached epidemic levels in parts of Indian Territory. They reached White’s on the Lewisburg sand bar at 3 P.M. the morning of April 14, where they encamped for the night and were issued their rations of pork and flour for the next four days. The party continued a few days longer, stopping to encamp on sandbars or staying at houses along the way. At McLean’s Landing Deas found it impossible for the boat to go much higher. The party encamped for four days while he hired wagons and drivers to transport the party for the remainder of their trip. They again underway by April 24, and on May 1 they finally reached Sallisaw Creek in the Cherokee Nation where the Disbursing Agent mustered them out.¹²⁸

Deas Party, June 1838

The second party of Cherokees to pass through the North Little Rock site arrived about 8 P.M. on June 17 and lay at anchor in mid-stream for about an hour. This was one of three groups totaling 2,000 that were gathered in early June of 1838 at Ross’ Landing, Tennessee. According to Lt. Deas, who also conducted this party, his group was made up of recently captured Cherokees from Georgia, and he found the majority of the group to be “…of the poorer class, and brought with them little property.” Thus, clothing was purchased from a fund set aside for the poor and given to them for the journey.¹²⁹ 

Before setting out on June 6, Deas estimated his group at around 650. He did not enroll them on the outset because he thought that with such a large number it would be better to start the journey as soon as possible. He also believed it better for the party’s health to set out immediately.  The Cherokees were forcibly placed on the steamboat George Guess and six keelboats by wenty-three guards, who were in charge of keeping them from deserting.¹³⁰

The water route was similar to that taken by Deas and his contingent the previous April. They were to rendezvous with the Steamboat Smelter at Tuscumbia, Alabama. The party had some difficulty with one keelboat’s running aground and heavy fog, but, those were minor problems compared to the obstacle presented by Muscle Shoals. The party had to disembark at Decatur, where they boarded railroad cars to take them to Tuscumbia to meet the Smelter. Deas thought it unnecessary for the guard to go any further with the Cherokees so he dismissed them at Decatur on June 10. The train had to make two trips to transport the party. Unfortunately, the Smelter left Tuscumbia with only the first half of the Cherokees because the river was falling and the boat had to get past Colbert Shoals below Tuscumbia. Deas and the second half of the party encamped at the Tuscumbia landing on the night of June the 10.  The next morning he discovered that over one hundred of the party had escaped during the night. By June 12 his party numbered only 489.¹³¹

The party stopped briefly at Memphis on June 13 and went on because good river and weather conditions ensured that the steamboat would be able to run all night. They reached Montgomery’s Point by 1 P.M. the next day, hired a pilot, and passed through the cut-off for the Arkansas River. Once on the Arkansas, the party was able to travel seventy miles beyond Montgomery’s Point. They encamped that evening along the river, where the provision of beef that Deas procured in Memphis was distributed. They left by daylight the next morning and traveled another seventy miles by sunset, stopping fourteen miles below Little Rock where they encamped again.¹³²

On June 17 Deas’ party again set out at daylight and reached Little Rock around 8 A.M. Again, to prevent access by whiskey peddlers, the steamboat anchored in the stream for about an hour. The Arkansas was rising, so Deas decided to leave the keelboat behind in Little Rock to increase the speed of the steamboat.¹³³

There were no problems with their travel by steamboat, except a “…slight accident, to the wheel” that caused a two-hour delay, in their journey. Within two days, the party arrived and encamped opposite Fort Coffee; they wanted to settle there because they had friends and acquaintances that had settled in the neighborhood. Deas arranged for their subsistence and made sure that they were issued cotton cloth was issued to help protect them from the heat, since this group had little in the way of possessions. The evening of June 23^rd Deas mustered the Cherokees, reporting as 489;  apparently no deaths occurred during their journey.¹³⁴

Whiteley Party, 1838

The next party to reach the North Little Rock site arrived on July 6, 1838. They had left Ross’s Landing, Tennessee, on June 12 under the charge of Lt. R.H.K. Whiteley.  This party was well staffed with two attending physicians, Mrs. Betsy Woodard as interpreter, and Betsy McDaniel as hospital attendant. They began their journey down the Tennessee on six flatboats. At Brown’s Ferry more Cherokees joined the party, two more flatboats were added.  Gen. Nat Smith, the Superintendent of Cherokee Removal, accompanied Whiteley’s party, which had problems with desertions. The party started out with an estimated 875 Cherokees, but by the time they reached Waterloo, Alabama, the number was much lower because of desertions. The desertions had stopped when the party was put aboard the Smelter there.¹³⁵

They entered the Arkansas on July 4 and from there made good time, reaching the North Little Rock site in two days.  But the progress stopped.  Whiteley landed his party on the North Little Rock site on July 6.  This party had resisted departure.  Whiteley had bought clothing for those who were destitute, but they refused to take it.  They refused to be mustered and to give their names.  They deserted.  Whiteley had estimated their number at 875 before he departed so he used the stop at the North Little Rock site to count the people.  He wrote on July 6, “Started at 4 A.M. and landed the detachment one mile above the city of Little Rock on the opposite bank of the Arkansas river at 3 P>M.  The boat was anchored twenty feet from the shore, a plank thrown out, and the Indians made to pass over it singly.  They were then accurately counted and found to number 722.  Making an allowance of two for the  deaths that occurred on the passage, I gave a certificate for 724.”¹³⁶

Because of low water the party encamped on the north bank of the river to await arrangements for transportation.  Whiteley’s journal entry for July 7 through 11 reads, “Remained stationary on the river bank waiting for a light draft boat to carry the Detachment up.  Much sickness in the party, diseases, measles & summer complaint.  S.B. Tecumseh arrived on the 11the made a contract with the owner Mr. Gleason to carry the party on the steamboat & two keels to Fort Coffee or Fort Gibson for the consideration of $5.50 per head, and should the river be too low to ascend on high to be paid a proportion to the distance.”¹³⁷ On July 12, they departed the North Little Rock site, but two days later, the Tecumseh grounded on Benton’s Bar near Lewisburg.  The party remained in camp on the riverbank for six days, while Whiteley procured wagons, sending the people overland from that point.  Before they got out of Arkansas more than half were sick, and on one day six or seven died.  In all, seventy died on the trip.  The survivors reached their destination around August 1, 1838.¹³⁸

Drane Party, 1838

The next party reached the North Little Rock site on July 26, 1838. Captain Drane’s party left Ross’s Landing, Tennessee, the same time as Lieutenant Whiteley’s party had left. Drane delayed in joining the party until June 25 when his and Whiteley’s parties were at Bellefonte, Alabama. The next day, as Drane was about to set his party on their march, word came that General Winfield Scott had agreed to put off further removals until the fall.  Many of the Cherokees refused to go any farther and began to go back to Ross’ Landing. Drane received assistance from a militia company in Bellefonte to go after the Cherokees who had deserted, but about 225 escaped even with the militia’s assistance. ¹³⁹ Gen. Nat Smith ordered Drane to muster the militia into service to accompany him for a month to help keep the peace with the remainder of the party. 

Drane mustered out the militia at Waterloo, from where he intended to take his party overland to Indian Territory. He thought the water route approved by the government was “unhealthy,” preferring instead the overland route approved by the Cherokees at Ross’ Landing.¹⁴⁰ He was still in Waterloo when Smith arrived back from accompanying Lieutenant. Whiteley’s party to Little Rock.  Drane was still having problems with the Cherokees, even unable to fill out a muster roll for the party because they refused to give their names.   Smith ordered Drane to comply with the approved water route. Drane reluctantly boarded his party on the Steamboat Smelter on July 14 to proceed west.¹⁴¹

About a week later, the Smelter was stuck thirty miles below Little Rock because of the low water.  Drane’s party encamped while the Smelter went on to Little Rock with Drane’s request to Capt. R.D.C. Collins, Disbursing Agent in Little Rock, to arrange for alternate travel. Collins sent the lighter draft steamboat Tecumseh on July 25 to bring the party up to Little Rock.¹⁴²  The party reached Little Rock on July 26 and encamped on the north side of the river about a mile above town, where they remained for about a week while Drane made arrangements for wagons to take the party on to Indian Territory. Many in the party were sick with what the Arkansas Gazette called “the summer (or bowel) complaint,” which had caused many in Drane’s party to die.¹⁴³

Drane’s party refused to go by land to Indian Territory. A rise in the Arkansas River made it possible for him to hire the steamer Itasca to take the party up. However, they were forced to land on August 13 and encamp one mile below Lewisburg, where Drane again began to make arrangements for travel by wagon. The party departed August 18, finally reaching Mrs. Webber’s in the Cherokee Nation west on September 4. The party was finally mustered out on September 7 greatly reduced from the number that started. According to Drane, the party numbered 1072 upon leaving Ross’ Landing, 293 deserted before reaching Waterloo, and 141 died along the route. With two births along the way, Drane’s party numbered 635 when they arrived in Indian Territory.¹⁴⁵

Bell Contingent, 1838 -1839

Little Rock did not host another removal group of Cherokees until December 1838. General Scott had issued an order at the request of the Cherokees, postponing removal until the fall of 1838 due to drought in the country they would travel through. The next party to pass through Little Rock was one of the thirteen Cherokee land detachments and led by John Bell and Captain Edward Deas, who had made many trips to the west during Indian removal. This party was supposed to have traveled the Missouri route to Indian Territory, passing through northern Arkansas near present-day Pea Ridge. But the drought of the previous summer had caused Deas concern about how his party would fare in a drought-stricken area that many other Cherokee parties would be passing through. By going overland directly to Memphis and then by water from there, hoped to avoid problems with obtaining supplies for the party. However, at Memphis Deas learned that the roads west of there to White River were in good shape enabling the party to travel overland instead of by water.  From Memphis on November 23, Deas sent what he called “a considerable quantity of the baggage, pot-ware, and etc.” to Little Rock in the custody of George W. Long.  By reducing their load, he hoped to make the overland trip to the North Little Rock site much faster. ¹⁴⁶

However, the journey took longer than he expected.  One writer speculates that they were held up for several days somewhere in Monroe County, where the party buried seventeen of its members.  Illness had apparently incrased in the group before they left Memphis.  Dr. J. W. Edington, the attending physician, had stocked up on medicines before they left Memphis and bought more from William Strong on the way.  Edington’s tenure ended a few days before the party reached the North Little Rock site. ¹⁴⁷

Just when they arrived at the North Little Rock site is uncertain.  . The Arkansas Advocate noted on December 19, 1838, that the party had arrived on the north side of the river “a few days since, where they have remained encamped.”  They were probably there by December 15, when George Long was relieved of custody of their baggage.  William E. Woodruff, the ferry operator, received $10 for storage of the baggage for the same period and for moving it “from the steam boat to store house.”¹⁴⁸  Newly arrived Little Rock resident Releaf Mason, however, recorded in her journal on December 13 that she had that day visited the town, where she picked up a bit of news:  “Heard of the unexpected death of a young lady of the Cherokee nation. A very pleasant young lady but I fear she had no interest in the blood of Christ.”¹⁴⁹

Local farmers and others provided the subsistence and forage for the party while there were at the North Little Rock site.  C. G. Harris, John W. Garretson, and James Danley, a north side farmer, supplied corn.  James Irwin supplied fresh beef, Danley supplied corn meal, and James McClanahan and Pleasant McCrae supplied fodder.  The mercantile firm of Pitcher & Walters of Little Rock ferried fifty-two pairs of brogans across t0 the Cherokees.¹⁵⁰

On December 16, Mrs. Mason and her husband attended a religious meeting, apparently on the north side of the river.  She writes, “This morning after attending to our usual devotions, prepared for a meeting.  Weather very cloudy and wet yet our carriage very tight and comfortable.  When we came to the river our horses took fright at some Indians encamped near the road and came very near precipitating us into the stream.  But Providence seemed to favor us and we all succeeded in crossing the stream and reaching the meeting house in safety.”  She noted that December 17 was “a wet rainy day,” and then on December 18 she wrote:  “To-day the Indians amounting to 700 passed off, which for several days have been encamped near us.  Many of them very interesting, some Christians.”¹⁵¹

John Ross’s Party, 1839

The final party of forcibly removed Cherokees came past the North Little Rock site in February of 1839 aboard the Steamboat Victoria. This group of a little over 200 Cherokees, including the family of Cherokee leader John Ross (See Illustration 37), consisted of ill or otherwise feeble members of the Evan Jones and Rev. Jesse Bushyhead parties, who were picked up at Cape Girardeau because they were unable to complete the overland trek through southern Missouri and northern Arkansas into Indian Territory. The Arkansas Gazette announced the party’s arrival on February 6, 1839 and reported the death of John Ross’s wife shortly before their arrival. She was buried in the city cemetery sometime before February 6.¹⁵²

Notes

1.  Grant Foreman, Indian Removal:  The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, New ed. (Norman:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1972, 28-33, 47, 51n, 103-104n; Arkansas Gazette, November 30, 1830, and February 9, 1831.

2.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 33-40.

3.  See, e. g., Arkansas Advocate, August 31, 1831; Arkansas Gazette, November 7, 1832.

4.  Ibid., 40-47; Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr., “The Choctaw Removal of 1831:  A Civilian Effort,” Journal of the West 6 (1962), 237-242.

5.  Arkansas Gazette, February 23, June 13, August 31, November 30, and December 21, 1831.

6. Foreman, Indian Removal, 52-53; DeRosier, “Choctaw Removal,” 244; Arkansas Gazette, December 28, 1831, and January 4, 1832; S.V.R. Ryan to George Gibson, January 11, 1832, 23^rd Congress, 1^st Session, Senate Executive Document 512 (5 vols.), I: 826-827 (hereafter cited as Document 512).  A good brief history of the removal season of 1831-1832 is Muriel Wright, “Removal of the Choctaws to Indian Territory, 1830-1833,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, 6 (June 1928), 113-119.

7.  Arkansas Gazette, January 18, 1832; Wharton Rector to Gibson, January 19, 1832, Document 512, I: 827.

8.. Foreman, Indian Removal, p. 51; Arkansas Gazette, January 25, 1832; Harold McCracken, George Catlin and the Old Frontier (New York:  Bonanza Books, 1957), 138-143.

9.  Arkansas Gazette, February 1 and 8, 1832; Foreman, Indian Removal, 57-58.  See DeRosier, The Removal of the Choctaw Indians (Knoxville:  University of Tennessee Press, 1970), 129-147, for an overview of the Choctaw removals during the winter of 1831-1832.

10.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 75.  A good brief history of the removal season 1832-1833 is Wright, “Removal of the Choctaws,” 119-123. See also Arkansas Gazette, September 26 and October 10, 1832.

11.  Most current research on the Grand Prairie-Clarendon segment of the removal route is being conducted by Carolyn Kent, Jacksonville, Arkansas.  Some of her research on the Bayou Meto, Old Austin, and Crossroads areas is currently in press.  See her earlier article on Samson Gray and Bayou Meto:  Carolyn Yancey Little, “Samson Gray and the Bayou Meto Settlement, 1820-1836,” Pulaski County Historical Society Review 39 (Spring 1984), 2-16.

12.  Arkansas Advocate, October 18, 1832; Arkansas Gazette, October 10 and November 7, 1832.

13..  S. T. Cross, “Journal of Occurrences,” National Archives Microfilm Publication M234, Roll 185, Choctaw Emigration 1833, National Archives Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received (this collection hereafter cited as M234, followed by the Roll number); Foreman, Indian Removal, 767-77, 81; J. A. Phillips to Gibson, October 31, 1832, Document 512, I: 786-787.

14. Foreman, Indian Removal, 78, 82; S. T. Cross, “Journal of Occurrences”; Phillips to Gibson, December 2 and December 22, 1832, and Cross to Gibson, January 10, 1833, Document 512, I: 632, 788-789

15.. Arkansas Gazette, November 21 and 28, 1832; F. W. Armstrong to Lewis Cass, March 20, 1833, Choctaw Emigration 1833, M234-R185; Foreman, Indian Removal, 87-93; W. R. Montgomery to Gibson, January 5, 1833, and F. W. Armstrong to Gibson, December 2, 1832, Document 512, I: 401-402, 771-772.

16.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 93-94; Arkansas Gazette, December 5, 1832; Armstrong to Cass, March 20, 1833.

17. Foreman, Indian Removal, 80, 93; Arkansas Gazette, December 5, 1832; Document 512, I: 401-402, 787-788, 796.

18.  See Foreman, Indian Removal, 80.  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.” 

19.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 101; Arkansas Gazette, November 13 and 29, 1833; Phillips to Gibson, October 23 and November 2, 1833, Document 512, I: 811-812.  The Gazette of November 13 reported that Millard’s group would “proceed up, via the Cross Roads, 25 miles north of this place, to Fort Smith.” A good brief history of the removal season of 1833 is Wright, “Removal of the Choctaws,” 123.

20.  Arkansas Advocate, May 9, 1832.

21.  Arkansas Gazette, November 25, 1834; February 24, 1835; March 3, 1835.  For a more detailed account of this removal, see Foreman, Indian Removal, 126-128.

22.  Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., Africans and Creeks (Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 1979), 115; Foreman, Indian Removal, 126-128.

23.  Littlefield, Africans and Creeks, 115-117.

24.  Gaston Litton, ed., “The Journal of a Party of Emigrating Creek Indians, 1835-1836,” Journal of Southern History, 7 (May 1942), 236.

25.  Arkansas Gazette, January 12, 1836; Foreman, Indian Removal, 142-144.

26.  See, e. g., Arkansas Advocate, February 5, 1836.

27.  Arkansas Gazette, August 2, 1836; Foreman, Indian Removal, 152-156.

28.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 156-157.

29.  See Captain F. S. Belton’s Journal of Occurrences, 1836, Creek Emigration B121-36, M234-R237.  See Arkansas Gazette, August 23, 1836; Foreman, Indian Removal, 158-160.

30.  Arkansas Gazette, November 8, 1836; Foreman, Indian Removal, 164.

31.  John T. Sprague to C. A. Harris, April 1, 1837, Creek Emigration S249-37, M234-R238.  For a glimpse at Sanford’s anti-Indian activities, see Cherokee Phoenix, March 5, June 4, August 20, September 3, October 29, 1831, and May 3, 1834.

32.  Ibid.

33.  Arkansas Gazette, November 8, 1836.

34.  Sprague to Harris, April 1, 1837.

35.  Ibid.

36.  Ibid.

37.  Ibid.

38.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 162

39.   See Arkansas Gazette, October 11, 1836; Foreman, Indian Removal, 160-162; Opothleyahola to James S. Conway, November 7, 1836, National Archives Record Group 94, Records of the Office of the Adjutant General, General Jesup’s Papers, Letters Received, Box 12.

40.  See Foreman, Indian Removal, 163.

41.  See Edward Deas to George Gibson, October 26, 1836, and Deas to Gibson, November 5, 1836, Creek Emigration D17-36 and D18-36, M234-R237.

42.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 162-163.

43.  Arkansas Gazette, November 22, 1836.

44.  Deas to Gibson, October 26, 1836; Foreman, Indian Removal, 163.

45.  Deas to Gibson, October 26, 1836; Deas to Gibson, November 5, 1836; and Deas to Gibson, November 22, 1836, Creek Emigration D17-36, D18-36, and D26-36, M234-R237.

46.  Deas to Gibson, December 19, 1836, Creek Emigration D35-36, M234-R237..

47.  Arkansas Advocate, December 16, 1836.

48.  Arkansas Gazette, November 1 and December 20, 1836.

49.  Deas to Gibson, December 19, 1836.

50.  John Stuart to R. Jones, January 15, 1837, Creek Emigration 1837, M234-R238..

51.  Arkansas Gazette, December 20, 1836; Deas to Gibson, December 19, 1836; Deas to C. A. Harris, January 25, 1837, Creek Emigration D56-37, M234-R238.

52.  Sprague to Gibson, December 20, 1836, Creek Emigration S167-36, M234-R237.

53.  Creek Emigration Journal of Occurrences of Lt. E. Deas, May, 1837, and Deas to Harris, May 31, 1837, Creek Emigration D97-37 and D89-37, M234-R238; Foreman, Indian Removal, 188-189.

54.  See Foreman, Indian Removal, 181-188; Arkansas Gazette, November 21 and 28, 1837.

55.  Arkansas Gazette, November 21 and 28, 1837; Foreman, Indian Removal, 190.

56.  Arkansas Gazette, January 17, 1838.

57.  Joseph W. Harris to George Gibson, May 11, 1836, Seminole Emigration H 73-36, M234- 290.

58.  Ibid.

59.  Journal of John G. Reynolds, March-June, 1838, Florida Emigration R277-38, M234-R290.

60.  Reynolds to Sam C. Roane, June 3, 1838, Florida Emigration R280-R38, M234-R291

61.  Roane to Reynolds, June 4, 1838, Florida Emigration R280-38, M234-290.  For a history of the slave claims in question, see Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., Africans and Seminoles  (Westport, CT:  Grenwood Press, 1977), 36-43.

62.  Reynolds to C. A. Harris, June 18, 1838, Florida Emigration R280-38, M234-R290.

63.  Arkansas Gazette, June 13, 1838; P. Morrison to Harris, June 20, 1838, Florida Emigration M436-38, M234-R290.

64.  Arkansas Gazette, June 27, 1838; Morrison to Harris, June 24, June 20, and July 6, 1838, Florida Emigration M418-38, M436-38, and M425-38, M234-R290.

65.  Reynolds to Harris, June 28 1838, and Reynolds’ Journal, June 28, 1838, Florida Emigration R272-38 and R277-38, M234-R290; Muster Roll, June 28, 1838, Florida Emigration R278-38, M234-R290.

66.  Muster Roll, July 9, 1838, Florida Emigration R278-38, M234-R290; Muster Roll, July 11, 1838, Florida Emigration R290-38, M234-R290; Quarterly Statement of Agents, September 30, 1838, Florida Emigration R399-38, M234-R290; Reynolds to Harris, August 18, 1838, and Reynolds’ Journal, July 11-August 5, 1838, Florida Emigration R290-38 and R277-38, M234-R290; Arkansas Gazette, July 25, 1838.

67.  Boyd to Harris, October 28, 1838, and November 13, 1838, Florida Emigration B615-38 and B39-38, M234-R290; Boyd to T. Hartley Crawford, December 3, 1838, Florida Emigration, B655-38, M234-R290; Arkansas Gazette, November 21 and 28, 1838.

68.  Morrison to Crawford, March 7, 1839, Florida Emigration, M674-39, M234-R291.

69.  Arkansas Gazette, April 3, 1839.

70.  John K. Mahon, History of the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842 (Gainesville:  University of Florida Press, 1967), 214-216, 223.

71.  Muster Roll, March 6, 1839, Florida Emigration M674-39,  M234-R291.

72.  Muster Roll, March 6, 1839; Morrison to Crawford, April 16, 1839, Florida Emigration M705-39, M234-R291.

73.  William Armstrong to Crawford, January 11, 1840, Florida Emigration A736-4, and Lt. B. Board to Crawford, January 20, 1840, Florida Emigration B866-40, M234-R291.

74.  John Page to Crawford, August 19, 1840, Florida Emigration P846-40, M234-R291.

75.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 374-375; Page to Crawford, November 13, 1840, Florida Emigration P872-40, M234-R291.

76.  Page to Crawford, November 13, 1840; March 3, 1841; and March 14, 1841, Florida Emigration P872-40, P949-41, and P951-41, M234-R291.

77.  LeGrand Capers to Crawford, March 19 and April 4, 1841, Florida Emigration C1369-41 and C1831-41, M234-R291.

78.  Muster Rolls, April 1, 1841, B1175-41, M234-R291.

79.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 378; Littlefield, Africans and Seminoles, 51.

80.  Capers to Crawford, May 7 and 18, 1841, Florida Emigration C1404-41 and C1415-41; Isaac Clarke to Crawford, May 14 and 16, 1841, Florida Emigration C1410-41 and C1413-41, M234-R291.

81. William Armstrong to Crawford, June 14, 1841, Florida Emigration A1024-41, M234-R291.

82.  D. R. Mitchell to Crawford, August 10 and September 27, 1841, Florida Emigration M1189-41 and 1208-41, M234-R291.

83.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 378.

84.  Capers to Crawford, July 8, July 27, and August 27, 1841, Florida Emigration C148-41, C1495-41, and C1521-41, M234-Roll 291.

85.  Capers to Crawford, October 11 and November 6, 1841, Florida Emigration C1500-41 and C1557-41, M234-R291; Foreman, Indian Removal, 379; Littlefield, Africans and Seminoles, 53-55; Mahon, History of the Second Seminole War, 302.

86.  Capers to Crawford, February 5 and February ? 1842, Florida Emigration, C1350-42 and C1352-42, M234-R291.

87.  T. L. Alexander to Crawford, May 18, 1842, Seminole Emigration A1288-42, and June 1, 1843, enclosed in John McKee to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Seminole Emigration J1663-42, M234-R806; Littlefield, Africans and Seminoles, 57; Foreman, Indian Removal, 380.

88.  Capers to Crawford, July 15, 21, and 24, 1842, Seminole Emigration C1762-42, C1767-42, and C1768-42, M234-R806.

89.  E. R. S. Canby to Commissioner, September 16, 1842, Seminole Emigration C1802-42, M234-R806; Littlefield, Africans and Seminoles, 57-58.

90.  Capers to Crawford, January 26, 1843, Seminole Emigration C1889-43, M234-R806, enclosing muster roll.

91.  Capers to Crawford, February 23, 1843, enclosing muster roll, and March 2, 1843, Florida Emigration C1918-43 and C1970-43, M234-R291; Capers to Crawford, March 4, 1843, Seminole Emigration C1923-43, M234-R806; Henry McKavett to Crawford, April 15 and 26, 1843, Florida Emigration M1690-43 and M1698-43, M234-R291.

92.  McKavett to Crawford, July 12, 1843, Florida Emigration M1772-43, M234-R291.

93.  W. J. Worth to Crawford, May 28, 1844, enclosing statement of Octiarche, May 2, 1843, Florida Emigration W2445-44, M234-R291.

94.  Worth  to Crawford, April 12, 1845, with Capers’ Endorsement, Seminole Emigration W2623-45, M234-R806.

95.  Armstrong to Crawford, May 22, 1843, Seminole A1457-43,  M234-R800.

96.  Worth to Crawford, February 14, 1844, Florida Emigration W2378-44, M234-R291.

97.  Capers to Crawford, March 23, 1844, Florida Emigration C2160-44, M234-R291.

98.  Worth to Crawford, August 1, 1845, Seminole Emigration W2692-45, M234-R806.

99.  Marcellus Duvall to Orlando Brown, June 30, 1850, Seminole Emigration D422-50, M234-R807; Kenneth W. Porter, “Billy Bowlegs in the Seminole Wars” (Part I), Florida Historical Quarterly 45 (January 1967),  232-233.

100.  John Casey to Luke Lea, January 9, 1851, Seminole Emigration C50-51, M234-R807.

101.  Luther G. Blake to Luke Lea, May 15, 1851, Seminole Emigration BB914-51; Balke to Lea, June 1, 1851, Seminole Emigration ?-51; Marcellus Duval to Lea, October 1, 1851, Seminole Emigration D680-51, Blake to Lea, December 28, 1851, Seminole Emigration ?-51, Thomas S. Drew to George W. Manypenny, August 26, 1853, Seminole Emigration D380-53, Blake to Charles Mix, September 8, 1853, Seminole Emigration B274-53, and Drew to Manypenny, May 13, 1854, Seminole Emigration D603-54, M234-R807; Porter, “Billy Bowlegs,” 236.

102.  Porter, “Billy Bowlegs,” 237.

103.  Ibid., 239-240..

104.  Ibid., 241.

105.  Arkansas Gazette, November 24 and December 29, 1830; Arrell M. Gibson, The Chickasaws (Norman:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1971), 156-158, 173-174.

106.  Arkansas Gazette, February 23, 1831.

107.  Gibson, The Chickasaws, 182-183.

108.  Ibid.

109.  Ibid., 183-184; Journal of Occurrences, J. M. Millard to Harris, September 23, 1837, Chickasaw Emigration M220-37, M234-R143.

110.  Journal of Occurrences, J. M. Millard to Harris, September 23, 1837; Gibson, The Chickasaws, 184; Arkansas Gazette, July 25, 1837.

111.  Journal of Occurrences, Millard to Harris, September 23, 1837.

112.  Ibid.; Journal of Occurrences, Millard to Harris, September 17, 1837, Chickasaw Emigration M225-37, M234-R143; Gibson, The Chickasaws, 184; Arkansas Gazette, July 25, August 11, and August 15, 1837.  For another account of this episode, see Gouvernor Morris to Harris, August 2, 1837, Chickasaw Emigration M100-37, M234-R143.

113.  A. M. M. Upshaw to C. A. Harris, November 25, 1837, Chickasaw Emigration U26-37, M234-R143; Gibson, The Chickasaws, 1876-187.

114.  John E. Parsons, ed., “Letters on the Chickasaw Removal of 1837,” New York Historical Society Quarterly, 37 (1953), 280.

115.  Ibid.

116.  Upshaw to Harris, December 1 and December 7,  1837, Chickasaw Emigration U27-37 and U28-37, M234-R143.

117.  Ibid.; Receipt No. 7, Daniel L. Jackson, Chickasaw Emigration C816-38, M234-R144.

118.  Receipt No. 3, William Garson,  Receipt No. 7, Daniel L. Jackson, and Receipt No. 1, John Barkelo, Chickasaw Emigration C816-38, M234-R144; Arkansas Gazette, December 19, 1837.

119.  Receipts No. 39 and 38, Emzy Wilson and Thomas Martin, respectively, Chickasaw Emigration C816-38, M234-R144.

120.  Receipt No. 7, David L. Jackson, Chickasaw Emigration C816-38, and Upshaw to Harris, January 26, 1838, Chickasaw Emigration U32-38, M234-R144.

121.  Receipt No. 15, George W. Ferribee, Chickasaw Emigration C816-38, M234-R144.  See also Receipts No. 11, 12, and 13.

122.  122.  Receipt No.35, Frederick Fletcher and Receipt No. 27, Samuel Norris, Chickasaw Emigration C186-38, M234-R144; Friedrich Gerstacker, Wild Sports in the Far West (New York, W. L. Allison, [1890-?]), 91-92.

123.  Arkansas Gazette, May 30, 1838; Gibson, The Chickasaws, 188.

124.  Arkansas Gazette, July 18 and November 28, 1838.

125.  Gibson, The Chickasaws, 188.

126.  Edward Deas Journal of Emigration, April 1838, Special Case File 249, D217-38, National Archives Microfilm Publication M574, Roll 69, National Archives Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Special Files of the Office of Indian Affairs.  This source is hereafter cited as M574, followed by the roll number.

127.  Ibid.

128.  Ibid.

129.  Deas to C. A. Harris, June 13, 1838, Cherokee Emigration D231-38, M234-R115.

130.  Ibid.

131.  Edward Deas, Journal of Emigration, June 1838, Special Case File 249, D217-38, M574-R69.

132.  Ibid.

133.  Ibid.

134.  Ibid.

135.  R. H. K. Whiteley, Journal, June 1838, copy retrieved from http://www.mindspring.com/~wayne.gibson; Foreman, Indian Removal, 294.

136.  Whiteley, Journal, June 1838.

137.  Ibid.; Arkansas Gazette, July 11, 1838.

138.  Whiteley, Journal, June 1838; Foreman, Indian Removal, 295.

139.  G.S. Drane to Winfield Scott, October 17, 1838, Cherokee Emigration S1555-38, M234-R114.

140.  Ibid.

141.  Nat Smith to Scott, July 12, 1838,  S1073-38, Special Case File 31,  M574-R4.

142.  Arkansas Gazette, July 25, 1838; Drane to Scott, October 17, 1838.

143.  Arkansas Gazette, August 1, 1838; Drane to Scott, October 17, 1838.

144.  Ibid.

145.  Drane to Scott, October 17, 1838.

146.  Wayne Gibson, “Cherokee Treaty Party Moves West The Bell-Deas Overland Journey, 1838-1839,”  Chronicles of Oklahoma, 79 (Fall, 2001), 327-328.

147.  Ibid., 329, 335n; see Alfred Edington’s receipts, December 17, 1838, Edward Deas File, National Archives Record Group 417, Records of the Treasury Department, Second Auditor’s Records, Indian Accounts; hereafter cited as Deas File.

148.  Arkansas Advocate, December 19, 1838; Gibson, “Cherokee Treaty Party,” 335n.

149.  Releaf M. Smith Mason Journal (typescript), Small Manuscripts Collection, Box 11, File 5, p. 17, Arkansas History Commission.

150.  See receipts to these men, December 13-18, 1838, Deas File.

151.  Mason Journal, p. 18.

152.  Foreman, Indian Removal, 309-310; Arkansas Gazette, February 6, 1839.

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