Okla-homey
7/12/2010, 06:59 AM
July 12, 1861 Confederacy signs treaties with Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6280/acbraves9hv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Flag of Confederate Cherokees who fought under Stand Watie. The flag had a white star for each Confederate state and a red star for each of the "Five Civilized Tribes"
149 years ago today, Confederate special commissioner Albert Pike completes treaties with the members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes, giving the new Confederate States of America several allies in Indian Territory.
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5402/albertpope29yx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Albert Pike photographed in late life in Masonic regalia. Pike was one the most influential Masons of the latter half of the 19th century having written extensively on Masonic morals and dogma
A Boston native, Pike went west in 1831 and traveled with fur trappers and traders. He settled in Arkansas and became a noted poet, author, and teacher. He bought a plantation and operated a newspaper, the Arkansas Advocate. By 1837 he was practicing law and often represented indians in federal court in disputes with the government.
Pike was opposed to secession but nonetheless sided with his adopted state or Arkansas when it left the Union. As ambassador to the indians, he was a fortunate addition to the Confederacy, which was seeking to form alliances with the tribes of Indian Territory. Besides the agreements with the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, Pike also engineered treaties with the Creek, Seminole, Comanche, and Caddos, among others.
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/6341/aseminolecommflag5au.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Oklahoma Seminole Confederate battle flag
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5898/achoctaw2ae.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Oklahoma Choctaw Confederate battle flag
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/98/acsacreek5vm.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Oklahoma Muscogee Creek Confederate battle flag
Ironically, many of these tribes had been expelled from the Southern states in the 1830s and 1840s but still chose to ally themselves with those states during the war. For example, the Choctaws and Chickasaws historic lands were located in Alabam and Mississippi. The grudges those tribes held against the Confederate states were offset by their animosity toward the federal government.
Indians were also bothered by Republican rhetoric during the 1860 election. Some of Abraham Lincoln's supporters, such as William Seward, argued that the land of the tribes in Indian Territory should be appropriated for distribution to white settlers. As an aside, Seward, you may recall, would end up serving as Lincoln's Secretary of State and in that capacity engineered to purchase of Alaska from the Russians.
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/1131/asewardw1vs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
William Seward
Also significantly, many Choctaws and Chickasaws held black slaves and clearly the Confederate government was very sympathetic to their continued ownership.
When the war began in 1861, US Secretary of War Simon Cameron ordered all US military posts in Indian Territory abandoned to free up military resources for use against the Confederacy, leaving the area open to control by pro-Confederates.
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5708/acamerol3gi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Simon Cameron created a power vacuum when he withdrew all US Army personnel from the I.T. for service elsewhere.
By signing these treaties, the tribes severed their relationships with the federal government, much in the way the southern states did by seceding from the Union. They were accepted into the Confederates States of America, and they sent representatives to the Confederate Congress. The Confederate government promised to protect the indians' land holdings and to fulfill the obligations such as annuity payments made by the federal government.
Some of these tribes even sent troops to serve in the Confederate army, and one Cherokee, Stand Watie, rose to the rank of brigadier general. Watie ended up being the last Confederate flag officer to surrender.
Watie's most important contribution outside of the I.T. came at the battle of Pea Ridge when he took his Indian regiments over to western Arkansaw to try and block the Federal advance to SW Missouri. It didn't work out, and after that fight, Watie confined his troops' activities in support of Confederate operations in the I.T.
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6792/asq0rf.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Stand Watie was the only American Indian to attain the rank of Brigadier General during the Civil War, and was the last Confederate General to surrender. He was born in Georgia in 1806. Among the battles in which he participated were Wilson Creek, Bird Creek, Pea Ridge, and Cabin Creek. He attained the rank of Brigadier General on May 10, 1864. In the battle of Cabin Creek, the Confederates routed the Federals and captured about three hundred wagons loaded with supplies, thus, for a time, enabling the destitute Indian Confederates to continue in the war. At the urging of Peter Pitchlynn, Stand Watie surrendered his command at Doaksville near Fort Towson on June 23, 1865. He died September 9, 1871 near Grove, Oklahoma.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4259/awatie5xy.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The enduring legacy of these pro-Confederate alliances by tribes in the I.T. during the Civil War/WBTS is probably the fact that the victorious US government had little or no sympathy for the tribes and was more inclined to allow white settlement in what would become the state of Oklahoma.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3590/insane7zo9bg.jpg
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6280/acbraves9hv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Flag of Confederate Cherokees who fought under Stand Watie. The flag had a white star for each Confederate state and a red star for each of the "Five Civilized Tribes"
149 years ago today, Confederate special commissioner Albert Pike completes treaties with the members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes, giving the new Confederate States of America several allies in Indian Territory.
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5402/albertpope29yx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Albert Pike photographed in late life in Masonic regalia. Pike was one the most influential Masons of the latter half of the 19th century having written extensively on Masonic morals and dogma
A Boston native, Pike went west in 1831 and traveled with fur trappers and traders. He settled in Arkansas and became a noted poet, author, and teacher. He bought a plantation and operated a newspaper, the Arkansas Advocate. By 1837 he was practicing law and often represented indians in federal court in disputes with the government.
Pike was opposed to secession but nonetheless sided with his adopted state or Arkansas when it left the Union. As ambassador to the indians, he was a fortunate addition to the Confederacy, which was seeking to form alliances with the tribes of Indian Territory. Besides the agreements with the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, Pike also engineered treaties with the Creek, Seminole, Comanche, and Caddos, among others.
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/6341/aseminolecommflag5au.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Oklahoma Seminole Confederate battle flag
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5898/achoctaw2ae.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Oklahoma Choctaw Confederate battle flag
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/98/acsacreek5vm.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Oklahoma Muscogee Creek Confederate battle flag
Ironically, many of these tribes had been expelled from the Southern states in the 1830s and 1840s but still chose to ally themselves with those states during the war. For example, the Choctaws and Chickasaws historic lands were located in Alabam and Mississippi. The grudges those tribes held against the Confederate states were offset by their animosity toward the federal government.
Indians were also bothered by Republican rhetoric during the 1860 election. Some of Abraham Lincoln's supporters, such as William Seward, argued that the land of the tribes in Indian Territory should be appropriated for distribution to white settlers. As an aside, Seward, you may recall, would end up serving as Lincoln's Secretary of State and in that capacity engineered to purchase of Alaska from the Russians.
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/1131/asewardw1vs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
William Seward
Also significantly, many Choctaws and Chickasaws held black slaves and clearly the Confederate government was very sympathetic to their continued ownership.
When the war began in 1861, US Secretary of War Simon Cameron ordered all US military posts in Indian Territory abandoned to free up military resources for use against the Confederacy, leaving the area open to control by pro-Confederates.
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5708/acamerol3gi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Simon Cameron created a power vacuum when he withdrew all US Army personnel from the I.T. for service elsewhere.
By signing these treaties, the tribes severed their relationships with the federal government, much in the way the southern states did by seceding from the Union. They were accepted into the Confederates States of America, and they sent representatives to the Confederate Congress. The Confederate government promised to protect the indians' land holdings and to fulfill the obligations such as annuity payments made by the federal government.
Some of these tribes even sent troops to serve in the Confederate army, and one Cherokee, Stand Watie, rose to the rank of brigadier general. Watie ended up being the last Confederate flag officer to surrender.
Watie's most important contribution outside of the I.T. came at the battle of Pea Ridge when he took his Indian regiments over to western Arkansaw to try and block the Federal advance to SW Missouri. It didn't work out, and after that fight, Watie confined his troops' activities in support of Confederate operations in the I.T.
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/6792/asq0rf.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Stand Watie was the only American Indian to attain the rank of Brigadier General during the Civil War, and was the last Confederate General to surrender. He was born in Georgia in 1806. Among the battles in which he participated were Wilson Creek, Bird Creek, Pea Ridge, and Cabin Creek. He attained the rank of Brigadier General on May 10, 1864. In the battle of Cabin Creek, the Confederates routed the Federals and captured about three hundred wagons loaded with supplies, thus, for a time, enabling the destitute Indian Confederates to continue in the war. At the urging of Peter Pitchlynn, Stand Watie surrendered his command at Doaksville near Fort Towson on June 23, 1865. He died September 9, 1871 near Grove, Oklahoma.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4259/awatie5xy.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The enduring legacy of these pro-Confederate alliances by tribes in the I.T. during the Civil War/WBTS is probably the fact that the victorious US government had little or no sympathy for the tribes and was more inclined to allow white settlement in what would become the state of Oklahoma.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3590/insane7zo9bg.jpg