1845

          History, like life, is complicated, and doesn't always fit neatly into discrete stories. The period after the Removal was like that. It was a time of tragedy and change for the Indians. The tribes from the east and the tribes from the west were trying to find a way to survive. There was constant conflict, even between divisions of individual tribes, and constantly changing alliances. The history of the period consists of hundreds of stories, many of which we will never hear. The following two stories will hopefully give some idea of what the situation was like in Indian Territory the year my great grandfather was born.

          After their Removal in 1837, the Chickasaws lived for several years in the Choctaw domain, mainly in camps near the supply depots established to distribute their first year's rations. It wasn't safe to move into their own land to the west because the plains Indian tribes who lived and hunted there weren't willing to give up their home without a fight. The closest fort, Ft. Towson, was 70 miles to the east, so it offered little protection for the Chickasaws.

          My great great grandmother, Ela Teecha, "Ellen," and her first husband Jason McClure (see post of Dec 22, 2011) were among 12 Chickasaw families who moved into the Chickasaw domain in 1839. They settled on the Blue River just east of the Washita. There was a settlement of Kickapoo Indians nearby, and soldiers were sent down from Fort Gibson to evict them, but the Kickapoos moved right back. In 1842 construction was begun on Fort Washita, just five miles west of the McClure farm. The fort was built to provide protection for the Chickasaws from raids by the plains tribes, but it wasn't completed until 1844. In the meantime the Chickasaw families were on their own. According to stories handed down in the family, Ellen advised her husband not to fight or barricade the doors when those "horse riding Indians" came, but just to "go out and offer to feed them, because they are always hungry and they will eat and if they eat there will be no trouble."      

          As near as I can tell, Jason McClure died in 1842, and in 1844, the year that Fort Washita opened, Ellen married my great great grandfather, Smith Paul. The trouble with the plains Indians continued. In 1845, the year my great grandfather, Sam Paul, was born, there were several raids on Chickasaw settlements in the area in spite of the fort. One of these raids was on a settlement six miles from Fort Washita, almost surely my great great grand parents' farm. After these attacks, Chickasaw leaders called a meeting to plan for the defense of their settlements, and Major Beall, the commander of Ft. Washita, having sent out all his available units to search for the marauders, asked for reinforcements from Ft. Towson.

          In the mean time the Chickasaw agent, Col. A. M. M. Upshaw, sent some Delaware warriors to the Wichita village to retrieve the horses. The Delawares found the Wichita Village burned, with dead bodies lying everywhere. A band of Pani Maha, an indigenous tribe which wreaked havoc on the plains for several years, had attacked the village while the Wichita warriors were away on a hunt.

          The Creek immigrants were also having problems. In February of 1845 a group of Creek Indians surprised some Pani Maha near Edwards Trading Post. The Pani Maha shot arrows at the Creeks, who replied with gun fire, killing four Pani Maha. Word of the incident spread like wild fire. It was followed by a rumor that 500 Pani Maha were massacring Creeks settled along the Verdigris River. A war party was sent out under Jim Boy, the famous Creek war chief, to rescue the settlers. The next news was that Jim Boy's warriors had been repulsed. Principal Chief McIntosh then sent out reinforcements, and requested troops from Fort Gibson. A company of Dragoons under Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone, was sent out from the fort. Meanwhile Creek farmers living along the Verdigris began to flee for the safety of the fort.

          The situation was described by the Creek agent James Logan, who also fled to Fort Gibson:

          I should not previously have believed the Creeks to be so excitable a people. In extenuation, however, it may be said that they knew no mercy would be shown by the invaders. Everything was in the greatest possible confusion. Here was to be seen a crowd of the poorer class of women on foot, loaded down with their children and bundles containing their valuables; here a line of wagons laden with the property of the richer class … and their families on horse back; there a warrior begrimed with paint, rifle and tomahawk in hand, making the welkin ring with the discordant war whoop! The rivers were literally covered with canoes laden with women, children, etc., all wending their way to Fort Gibson; here they all congregated, conceiving themselves secure under its protection.

          As Captain Boone rode out to assist the Creek war parties, he met Chief McIntosh who was coming back. McIntosh reported that the settlements were safe, and that there had been no attack. The whole incident was a product of the imagination of the frightened settlers.

          The Pani Maha attack was indeed a false alarm, but the plans of the plains tribes to attack the immigrant tribes was not. When the Creeks sent out an invitation to the Comanche to attend a peace council later that summer, the Comanche replied that they were already planning to meet with the other plains tribes at the next full moon. The purpose of that meeting was to plan a coordinated attack on the Creeks and on the Chickasaws, the two immigrant tribes whose settlements extended furthest west. The Creek messengers were seized and would have been put to death had it not been for the brave intervention of Echo Harjo, a Creek warrior who spoke Comanche. Harjo went to the Comanche camp and successfully pled for the messengers' release.

          The Creeks sent a message to the council of plains tribes by their neighbors the Osage, who had been invited to attend. The message, delivered by Black Dog, the great Osage chief, was that the Creeks wanted peace but they would fight if needed. Black Dog went on to advise the western tribes against arousing the Creeks, the most powerful of the immigrant tribes.

          The Creeks hosted their own council that summer, which was also attended by the Chickasaws. Peace with the plains tribes was not won in a single council, but at least the Five Civilized Tribes were earning respect. Not only were they formidable foes, they were also better able to deal with the white man.  

The Comanche

                                   Comanche Horsemanship, George Catlin

          To begin with, I want to acknowledge that I'm no expert on the Comanche. I've only come across a few bits of information about them over the years, but what I've learned fascinates me. In my last post I told the stories of Cynthia Parker, who, kidnapped by Comanches as a child, grew so attached to them that after she was "rescued" she begged to return, and the story of her son, Quanah Parker, who transformed himself from the leader of the most feared band of Comanche warriors, to a successful rancher, respected by his neighbors and friend of President Theodore Roosevelt.

          Lately I've been rereading some excerpts from the journal of Captain R. B. Marcy who spent 30 years stationed on the frontier in the early 1800's. His descriptions and his understanding was not from the Comanche perspective, which makes a difference, but he did sympathize with the Indians, and he was fascinated by the Comanche.

          The following excerpt from Marcy's journal describes the horsemanship of the Comanche. I first read it several years ago and it still amazes me. He first describes the horsemanship of the Comanche brave:

          He is in the saddle from boyhood to old age, and his favorite horse is his constant companion. It is when mounted that the Comanche exhibits himself to the best advantage: here he is at home, and his skill in various manoeuvres which he makes available in battle - such as throwing himself entirely upon one side of his horse, and discharging his arrows with great rapidity towards the opposite side beneath the animal's neck while he is at full speed - is truly astonishing.

          Even more amazing is Marcy's description of the display of skill of two young Comanche girls that Marcy witnessed himself:

          Many of the women are equally expert, as equestrians, with the men. They ride upon the same saddles in the same manner, with a leg upon each side of the horse. As an example of their skill in horsemanship, two young women of one of the bands of Northern Comanche, while we were encamped near them, upon seeing some antelopes at a distance from their camp, mounted horses, and with lassos in their hands set off at full speed in pursuit of this fleetest inhabitant of the plains. After pursuing them for some distance, and taking all the advantages which their circuitous course permitted, they finally came near them, and - throwing the lasso with unerring precision, secured each an animal and brought it back in triumph to the camp. 

          Every time I see a herd of prong horned antelope standing by the road, I think of this story. Once or twice I've stopped the car and walked toward these beautiful creatures and watched as they loped easily away, launching themselves like arrows through the air. It's hard to imagine running one down on a horse, let alone lassoing one. Certainly, of all the animals I've seen, they are the fleetest of foot. 

          Marcy went on to describe the nomadic life of the Comanche, their simple needs and their dependence on the buffalo for food shelter and clothing. He told how their chiefs were chosen for bravery and skill in battle, and were quickly removed for any display of cowardice or poor judgment.

          In spite of the Comanches' reputation for ferocity in battle, Marcy described them as being

… hospitable and kind to all with whom they are not at war; and on the arrival of a stranger at their camps, a lodge is prepared for him, and he is entertained as long as he chooses to remain with them. They are also kind and affectionate to each other, and as long as anything comestible remains in the camp, all are permitted to share alike.

          Marcy continues to describe the hospitality of the Comanche, relating an experience of his own:

          The manner in which they salute a stranger is somewhat peculiar, as my own reception at one of their encampments will show. The chief at this encampment was a very corpulent old man, with exceedingly scanty attire, who, immediately on our approach, declared himself a great friend of the Americans, and persisted in giving me evidence of his sincerity by an embrace, which, to please him, I forced myself to submit to, although it was far from agreeable to my own feelings. Seizing me in his brawny arms while we were yet in the saddle, and laying his greasy head upon my shoulder, he inflicted upon me a most bruin-like squeeze, which I endured with a degree of patient fortitude worthy of the occasion; and I was consoling myself upon the completion of the salutation, when the savage again seized me in his arms, and I was doomed to another similar torture, with his head upon my other shoulder, while at the same time he rubbed his greasy face against mine in the most affectionate manner; all of which proceeding he gave me to understand was to be regarded as a most distinguished and signal mark of affection for the American people in general, and in particular for myself, who, as their representative, can bear testimony to the strength of his attachment. On leaving camp, the chief shook me heartily by the hand, telling me at the same time, that he was not a Comanche, but an American; and as I did not feel disposed to be outdone in politeness by an Indian, I replied in the same spirit, that there was not a  drop of Anglo-Saxon blood in my veins, but that I was wholly and absolutely a Comanche, at which he seemed delighted, duly understanding and appreciating the compliment.  

          In spite of his patronizing tone, I enjoyed reading Marcy's description of the old chief's attempt to make him feel welcome.

          Marcy lamented the effect on the Comanche of the extinction of the buffalo, which was approaching rapidly in 1853, the date of his report. Thousands of buffalo were being slaughtered every year,

          …for their skins, and often for their tongues alone; animals whose flesh is sufficient to afford sustenance to a large number of men are sacrificed to furnish a 'bon bouche' for the rich epicure….It is only eight years since the western borders of Texas abounded with buffaloes; but now they seldom go south of Ted River, and their range upon east and west has also been very much contracted within the same time; so that they are at present confined to a narrow belt of country between the outer settlements and the base of the Rocky Mountains. With this rapid diminution in their numbers, they must in the course of a very few years become exterminated. What will then become of the prairie Indian, whom as I have already remarked, relies for subsistence, shelter, and clothing, on the flesh and hide of this animal. He must either perish with them, increase his marauding depredations on the Mexicans, or learn to cultivate the soil. 

(The above descriptions by Captain Marcy are taken from a report he submitted to Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War for the United States, in 1853. See Advancing the Frontier, by Grant Foreman, Chapter 16.)

Nadua, Cynthia Ann Parker

                                         Nadua, Cynthia Ann Parker

          In December of 1860 the Texas Rangers made a surprise attack on 20 Comanche Indians who they believed had been raiding settlements in the area.  As the Comanche fled, the Rangers cut them down. One woman carrying a baby was spared. Her name was Nadua. Her husband was Peta Nocona, a great Comanche chief, and her son was Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanche.

          The relentless westward expansion of white settlers displaced, one by one, the Native American tribes from their homelands. Hundreds of tribes were crowded together onto land depleted of the game they depended on for survival. Relationships between tribal groups that had developed over centuries were disrupted, leading to wars among the tribes. An endless series of broken promises convinced the Indians that the word of the white man could not be trusted. Native Americans dealt with their dilemma in various ways: by trying to adopt the white man's ways, by trying to escape by moving further west, and by retaliation. The Comanche chose the latter.

          During the 1830's the Comanche lead an effort to create an Indian alliance, as had the Shawnee chief Tecumseh and the Sauk chief Black Hawk. One of the leaders of this movement was Nadua's husband Peta Nocona. Peta was the son of another Comanche chief, Iron Jacket, of whom it was said he could blow bullets away with his breath.

          In 1833, a white settler named John Parker brought his family down from Illinois to east Texas. He built a fort, made friends with some of the local Indian Tribes, and began farming. What he didn't realize was that he had settled in Comanche country. In 1836, a band of Comanche, led by Chief Nocona, attacked the Parker settlement. Five men were killed, and six women and children were taken hostage.

          Among the hostages were Cynthia Ann Parker, age 9, and her brother John, age 5. Eventually all the hostages were ransomed except for Cynthia Ann, who was given the name Nadua, 'someone found,' in the Comanche language. Chief Nocona married Nadua, and they had three children together: two boys Quanah (Fragrance) and Pecos (Pecan), and a girl Topsanna (Prairie Flower). Nocona's affection for Nadua was so great that he never took another wife unlike most chiefs of his rank.

          At the time of the 1860 attack on Chief Nocona's band, the chief and his son Quanah were away hunting. Sull Ross, commander of the Texas Ranger unit which massacred the little group of Comanches, claimed to have killed Chief Nocona. Ross made a lot of his victory over the little band of Comanches, claiming that it put an end to the "great Comanche confederacy." It earned him the notoriety that later got him elected Governor or Texas.

          The other claim made by Ross was that he had rescued the long lost captive of the Comanche, Cynthia Ann Parker. Soon after Nadua's capture by Ross, one of his men noticed that her eyes were blue. After much questioning Ross managed to connect Nadua, who had forgotten how to speak English, with the Fort Parker massacre 25 years before. Nadua was returned to her white family, and when her uncle Isaac Parker mentioned that his niece Cythia had been captured by the Comanches, Nadua said: "me Cincee Ann." Although her family tried to make her feel at home, Nadua begged them to let her rejoin her Indian family, and she tried several times to escape. Four years after her capture, Nadua's daughter Prairie Flower died of pneumonia. After that Nadua stopped eating and soon she sickened and died.

          Nadua's husband Nocona also died soon after his wife and daughter were captured. According to his son Quanah he died of injuries he had sustained years before in a battle with the Apache.

                                                  Quanah Parker

          Quanah Parker lived until 1911. He had five wives and 25 children. After his father's death he became a great warrior and a great chief in his own right. He led the largest band of Comanche to remain free until in 1875, he was finally defeated at the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon. Soon after he and his his warriors surrendered and were forced to go to the Comanche reservation in southeastern Oklahoma where he was chosen chief over all the Comanche.

          Once in Indian Territory, Quanah Parker adapted well to the white culture. He took his mother's surname of Parker, and became a successful rancher. He included among his friends Theodore Roosevelt. He rode in Roosevelt's inaugural parade and Roosevelt visited Parker at his home in Oklahoma where they went hunting together.

          Quanah Parker was loyal to his Indian heritage. He helped found the Native American Church, an attempt to join together Christian and Indian traditions. Quanah was also loyal to his family. He became acquainted with his white family and before his death retrieved the remains of his mother and sister, and buried them near his home in Oklahoma.  

                                                      Quanah Parker

The International Council of 1843

          The International Council of 1843, John Mix Stanley

          In 1826 federal commissioners made the following promise to the Chickasaws:

          Your Father the President proposes to give his Chickasaw children a fine tract of country on the other side of the Mississippi River... By removing to that country, you will be freed from the intrusions and interruptions of your white brethren. You will then be enabled to live in peace and quietness...The Government will guarantee to you and your children forever the possession of your country, and will protect and defend you against all your enemies.

          When the Chickasaws and other "civilized" tribes arrived in Indian Territory, the situation in the Territory was chaotic. The U. S. Army's heroic expedition of 1834, described in Gunpandama, Part 2, posted Jan. 30, 2011, had little effect on the turmoil. On the return of the 1834 expedition, the Osage Chief, Black Dog, demanded additional payment for their hostage Gunpandama, saying that if they weren't paid they would send a war party to recapture her. Col. Dodge paid them out of his own money. When the representatives of the western tribes came to Fort Gibson later in 1834, they were not impressed by the power of the United States military. A Kiowa chief was surprised that the U. S. soldiers did not have more horses. Some of the delegates from the western tribes died on the way home and later claimed that they had been poisoned by lightning shooting from the eyes of one of the US commissioners - he wore glasses.

          The Osage continued to raid the farms of the Creek and Cherokee, and the Comanche and Kickapoo raided the Chickasaw and Choctaw. The western tribes complained because the Creeks were hunting buffalo on the prairie. It was the opinion of the Pani-maha that the stench of the Creeks was driving the buffalo away. The Pawnee and Caddo attacked the Wichita. The Delaware stole horses from the Comanche. The Comanche were at war with Osage.  The Kansan were at war with the Pawnee. The Kickapoo and Osage were at war with the Pani-maha.

          In addition to these conflicts, Black Hawk was trying to recruit the western tribes to join his war against the white settlers in Illinois. In 1837 the U. S. government promised the Choctaws $272 to go to Florida and fight the Seminoles, and then they reneged, leaving a large number of Choctaw warriors ready to fight. These warriors started negotiating with the Mexican government to fight against the rebellious white settlers in Texas in exchange for land. The Comanches and other tribes were raiding white settlements in Texas, and also trying to form an alliance of tribes to wage a general war on the United States. The Texans, convinced that no Indians were to be trusted, raided Chickasaw and Choctaw farms in Indian Territory, and in 1839 the Texas Rangers attacked a settlement of peaceful Cherokee farmers at Natchitoches, killing 100 and sending the remaining 1500 fleeing for their lives. The Chickasaws did what they could to help these miserable refugees as they crossed their domain on the way to join their kinsmen in Indian Territory.

          The Five Civilized Tribes had taken advantage of some of the benefits of civilization, but they hadn't forgotten their roots. At the time of the Removal they were already familiar with some of the tribes in the west. Their hunting parties had been making trips west for many years because of the lack of game in their eastern domains, and large groups of Cherokees and also Creeks had settled there before the rest of their people were forced to follow them.

          While the U. S. Government was saber rattling and making fools of themselves, the immigrant tribes were approaching their western brothers with respect and diplomacy. They hosted many conferences and made many agreements independent of the government's bungling efforts. One of these conferences was the International Council of 1843, or the Council of 18 Tribes.

          The Council was held on the Cherokee Council Grounds, built in 1839 on the site of the present town of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The Council Grounds were used for meetings of the Cherokee legislature and for general meetings of Cherokee citizens. In preparation for the Council of 18 Tribes, the Cherokees had built 30 cabins to accommodate the visitors in addition to two larger buildings which were used by the Cherokee legislature. They also constructed a large shed roofed with three foot boards split by hand for the Council sessions. Messengers had been sent out with wampum to 36 tribes, from the far north to the Rocky Mountains. 18 tribes attended: The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek and Seminole, Osage, Delaware, Shawnee, Kickapoo, Iowa, Potawatomi, Chippewa, Stockbridge, Wichita, Piankashaw, Miami, Seneca, Peoria, and Ottawa. In accordance with tradition, the tribes didn=t just send representatives, they came in large groups. 3000 - 4000 gathered each day to attend the sessions.

          Representatives of the U. S. Government were invited, among them General Zachary Taylor, commander of Fort Washita, and Pierce Butler, the Cherokee agent. Some of the white people seemed puzzled by the Indians' initiative. The Agent Butler wrote in a letter to the commissioner of Indian Affairs:

          As far as I can learn their object, it is to renew old customs and friendships and to enact some international laws for the government of each and all.  

                               Black Dog, Osage Chief

          Prominent leaders from each tribe attended. Some notables included ninety year old Chief Wau-bon-sa, of the Potawatomi, who came all the way from Iowa. Pah-que-sah-ah, son of Tecumseh, represented the Shawnee. Big Soldier, an Osage who had spent 3 yrs in Europe, was there. He had medal that had been given to him by Lafayette. Another Osage attending the council, Black Dog, was almost 7 ft tall. The painter John Mix Stanley painted portraits of the leaders, and a large painting of the gathering which is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institute. 

          The Cherokees, hosts of the conference, provided food for all. A Methodist missionary gave sermons on Saturdays and Sundays. Also on Saturdays there were stick ball games. There was trading and bartering between the tribes. The Cherokees destroyed 1700 gallons of whiskey in order to prevent drunkenness.  One evening the Iowas began a procession that was soon joined by many. The Iowas led the procession around the entire gathering, singing and dancing and playing on flutes at each campsite, giving a loud whoop at the end of each performance before moving on to the next camp.    

          The thousands of Indians were dressed in their best finery. The men=s faces were painted, and the men and women=s hair was adorned by feathers. Some wore hats or turbans on their heads. Ornaments were worn in the nose and ears. The clothing was varied and colorful, from calico hunting shirts and pantaloons, to beaded buckskin leggings or dresses, to simple breechclouts. Colorful sashes, shawls, and blankets were in abundance. The Iowas wore little bells that jingled when they walked.

          The conference lasted four weeks. Meetings started about 3 o=clock in the afternoon, and were held with great dignity. The Chiefs sat in a great circle with the Delaware, acknowledged to be the most ancient tribe, occupying a favored place. A table was placed in the center for wampum and peace pipes. There were interpreters for each tribe, and each speech was translated, sentence by sentence, the speaker waiting until each tribe signaled understanding before he continued. John Ross, chief of the Cherokee, was the first to speak:

          Brothers, when we look back to the history of our race we see some green spots that are pleasing to us. We also see many things to make our hearts sad. When we look back on the days when the first council fires were kindled, around which the pipe of peace was smoked, we are grateful to our Creator for having united the hearts of the red men in peace; for it is in peace only that our women and children can enjoy happiness and increase in numbers. By peace our condition has been improved in the pursuits of civilized life. We should, therefore, extend the hand of peace from tribe to tribe, till peace is established between every nation of red men within the reach of our voice.  

          Brothers, when we call to mind the early associations which endeared us to the land that gave birth to our forefathers, where we were brought up in peace to taste the blessings of civilized life; when we see that our fires have there been extinguished, and our families been removed to a new and distant home, we can not but feel sorry. But the designs of Providence are mysterious: and we should not, therefore, despair of once more enjoying the blessings of peace in our new home.

          Brothers, by this removal tribes hitherto distant from each other have become

neighbors, and those hitherto unacquainted have become known to each other. There are, however, numerous other tribes with whom we are still strangers.

          Brothers, it is for renewing in the West the ancient talk of our forefathers, and of perpetuating forever the old pipe of peace, and of extending them from nation to nation, and of adopting such international laws as may redress the wrongs done by the people of our respective tribes to each other, that you have been invited to attend the present Council. Let us, therefore, so act that the peace which existed between our forefathers may be pursued, and that we may always live as members of the same family.

          Many others followed in addressing the group. One of the most notable being George Lowery, second chief of the Cherokee, who related a legend about how peace between the tribes had first been devised. He told of how a Shawnee messenger had come to the Cherokee, in a place also known as Tah-le-quah. According to the legend, the Shawnee messenger had started a fire which was to burn for eternity, and was to symbolize an agreement between the tribes to live together in peace. The messenger had left the fire with the Cherokee, who were then responsible for sharing this Atalk@ among all tribes.

          The delegates signed a treaty, pledging friendship, abjuring revenge and retaliation, and agreeing on the need to establish separate territories for each tribe in order that their people might improve in agriculture, manufacture and domestic arts. They also pledged not to cede any lands to the United States without the consent of the other tribes. There were clauses providing for punishment of offenders between tribes, and for extradition of offenders and restoration of stolen goods. They also agreed to repress the use of spirits, and not to introduce them into each other=s nations.

                       Osage Scalp Dance, John Mix Stanley

          The patience and bravery of the leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes is illustrated by an event which took place just two months following the end of the Council of 18

Tribes. Again it was the Osage who caused the trouble. The Osage had long been engaged in a war with the Pani-maha tribe, who incidentally had not attended the peace conference. When the Osage chief, Black Dog, found out that a group of Pani-maha had traded most of their guns to the Comanches and were unarmed, he sent out a war party against them. The party brought back 9 scalps and a woman captive. Black Dog then invited the Kickapoos to join him in continuing the war. Chief Roley McIntosh, of the Creeks, went personally to the Kickapoo camp, and bravely interrupted their war dance to remind them of their obligations under the treaty. He managed to convince them to agree to attend another conference at the Creek Council grounds in September to settle their differences with the Pani-maha, and he immediately sent out runners to invite the other tribes. 

          The immigrant tribes understood their western brothers. They knew what formalities needed to be followed in Councils to insure that every participant was shown the respect due to the leader of a nation. They understood that the relationships between Native American nations required more than just treaties. Each tribe needed guarantees that they would be secure from attack, and that they would have access to the game, corn and other supplies they needed to survive. They knew that required regular meetings and changes in agreements to fit the constantly changing situation.

          The efforts of the immigrant tribes to promote peace certainly prevented many deaths, not only among their own people but also among the white settlers.

Jack La Lanne

          The 96 year old fitness guru Jack La Lanne passed away this week, and I just wanted to offer a tribute to him on my mother's behalf. He was one of her heroes.

          In 1962, after I left home to attend college, my grandmother died. At the time I didn't realize how hard it was on my mother, but she told me later, "It almost killed me." Not one to suffer passively, Jim decided to reinvent herself. She stopped smoking and she started exercising with Jack La Lanne.

          La Lanne's exercise program was popular at the time, and it was just the thing to pick up my mother's spirits. He was enthusiastic; he was encouraging; he talked about his mother; he talked about his garden; he testified to how exercise had changed his life, and he just chatted with his audience. Jack La Lanne was a genuine he-man. He is famous for his feats of strength, but what is just as amazing to me is how he managed to click with housewives. My mother watched him religiously. She ordered his book, and once she got started she never missed a day doing her exercises.

          La Lanne's exercise program was practical. It was something a housewife could do without any equipment. The exercises were not too strenuous, and Jack kept chatting and encouraging his fans while they exercised to take their minds off the exertion. Jim gradually built up her endurance until she could exercise vigorously for 30 minutes straight.

          Jim kept up her exercise all through the years. When she went back to work the year after Grandmother's death, she got up 30 minutes early every morning so she could finish her exercises before going to work. She even talked my dad into joining her. He hadn't exercised since he played basketball at the University of Oklahoma. I think he considered exercise something you gave up when you became an adult, but Jim convinced him differently.

          Jim always worried that I wasn't taking care of myself. After my father died in 2000, I started calling her regularly, and during one of those calls she gave me a lecture on fitness. The next day she sent me her copy of Jack La Lanne's book, The Jack La Lanne Way to Vibrant Good Health.

          My mother kept up her exercises as she got older, and she was in good condition too. She walked fast. She never lost her balance. She climbed on chairs and ladders. She bent over to pick things up off the floor without getting dizzy. My cousin swears that once when he was visiting her she climbed up on the kitchen counter to reach something and then jumped down!

          Jim kept up her habit of getting up early to exercise, and once during a visit I set my alarm so that I could watch her. I was amazed. She did kicks; she did pushups and situps; she did arm exercises with weights; she rode a stationary bicycle, and then she walked briskly around her spacious living room area for 700 steps. I really don't think I could have kept up with her.

          Just like Jack La Lanne, my mother kept up her exercises to the end. Finally she had to stop because of the pain from bone cancer. She died at the age of 96, the same age as Jack La Lanne when he died.

          My mother won another fan for Jack La Lanne. I've been going through an exercise routine every day since she died.    

Gunpandama

Wun-pan-to-mee (the white weasel), a girl; and Tunk-aht-oh-ye (the thunderer), a boy; who are brother and sister. As described by the artist, George Catlin, the two are Kioways (sic)who were purchased from the Osages, to be taken to their tribe by the dragoons (with whom Catlin was traveling in the 1830s-1840s.).

          In the Smithsonian museum there are several buffalo hides inscribed with pictures, pictures of warriors, pictures of soldiers. These hides represent a sixty year history of a band of Kiowa Indians living in western Indian Territory during the early 1800's. One of these hides contains the image of a severed head with a knife sticking into it. On the section of hide representing the following year is the figure of a small girl. That girl's name was Gunpandama.  

(George Catlin recorded the young lady's name as Wun-pan-to-mee but the U.S Bureau of Ethnology spells it Gunpandama.)

          During the migration of the Five Civilized Tribes to Indian Territory in the 1830's there were several failed attempts by the United States' Army to negotiate peace with the dozens of Indian tribes already occupying the area.

          In an attempt to prevent trouble for the migrating Choctaws, two expeditions were sent out in 1832 by the commanding officer of Ft Gibson, Col Matthew Arbuckle, to make contact with the hostile plains Indians. The first group under Captain Jesse Bean was accompanied by the author, Washington Irving, who chronicled the expedition in A tour of the Prairies. The soldiers encountered only friendly tribes, and had to turn back less than halfway into their journey because of winter.

          Later that same year, Col Arbuckle sent another contingent of troops up the Red, Washita and Canadian Rivers, to drive the Comanches and Wichitas west, and to invite their chiefs to come to Ft Gibson where they might be impressed by the power of the United States. The Indians were evidently not impressed. The only contact made by the troops was when a band of Indians rode up and kidnapped one of the rangers, George Abbay. The troops were unable to catch the Indians although they pursued them for 12 days. The soldiers finally ran out of food and had to turn back. The expedition lasted for 54 days. For the last 30 days the men subsisted solely on buffalo meat. 

          In addition to the problem of the western plains tribes, who were not only raiding the Choctaws in the southern part of Indian Territory and plundering with impunity caravans headed west to Santa Fe, there was also a threat to the immigrant tribes in the north, the Osages. The Osage tribe, as I mentioned in my post of 1/1/2011, had been lured into the Arkansas River valley by fur traders during the previous century. Recently the fur trade was waning, and not only that, the Osage were being pushed off their land because U. S. commissioners, due either to ignorance or thoughtlessness, had promised it to the immigrant tribes, the Creeks and Cherokees. The Osage people were starving so they took to raiding Creek and Cherokee farms to feed themselves. The federal government reacted by withholding their annuity, which only increased the problem. 

          In addition to these blunders, the areas promised to the Creek and Cherokee tribes overlapped, so another team of commissioners was sent to revise the treaties and to resolve this three way conflict. This was how Washington Irving came to be invited to go with Captain Bean's expedition. He had come to Indian Territory with one of the commissioners to learn more about the Indians. 

          When the three tribes met, the Osage leaders received no concessions from the commissioners. After hearing the news, a party of warriors, frustrated and furious, rode west over the prairie to take out their fury on their old enemies the Kiowas. After travelling over a hundred miles they came across the trail of a Kiowa hunting party. They followed the trail back to the Kiowa village, and then in a fit of unreasoned rage, massacred all the women, children, and old men that they could catch, and cut off their heads. Kiowa warriors pursued the Osage, but lost them during a heavy rain storm. The Osage returned to their homes with 400 horses, one hundred scalps, and two captives: a twelve year old girl named Gunpandama, and her ten year old brother, Tunkahtohye.

          It's hard to understand this reaction by the Osage, but they were facing a crisis that threatedned their very existence, and they could see no solution. They could no longer live by hunting and trading, and their warriors felt that farming was beneath them, so while they were friendly with the white traders and missionaries who had come to live among them, they still carried on their warlike ways. The Kiowas were also a warlike tribe, and they might have done the same thing to the Osages if they had an opportunity. Also the Kiowa had recently massacred a white trading party, and perhaps the Osage felt that the white soldiers would be grateful to them for avenging their fellow countrymen. The Osage chief Clermont boasted that he never made war on the white man, but never made peace with his Indian enemies. He was following his code.

          Soon the young girl, Gunpandama, faced another tragedy. When the Osage war party returned, and the community around Ft. Gibson became aware of their rampage, one of the traders, Hugh Love, bought Gunpandama and her brother from the Osage with the idea of returning them to the Kiowa in exchange for a trading agreement. Before the two children could be returned however, Gunpandama's brother was killed in a freak accident.  

          The frontier artist, George Catlin, painted the two children before the tragedy. The painting, now displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, shows the little boy and his sister with her arm affectionately around him. Catlin wrote in his journal: "The fine little boy was killed at the fur trader's house on the banks of the Verdigris near Ft. Gibson, the day after I painted his picture. ….He was a beautiful boy of nine or ten years of age, and was killed by a ram, which struck him in the abdomen, and knocking him against a fence, killed him instantly."

The Trackers, Part 2

                               


                                 Isaac C Parker, "The Hanging Judge"

          When I started my last post what I really had in mind was this story, but I had read about what phenomenal trackers the Chickasaws were, so I began with that.

           Several years ago, I ordered a transcript of the murder trial of my great grandfather, Sam Paul, from the National Archives. When I received the transcript I took it with me on a visit with my mother so we could read it together. What fascinated us most about the transcript was the testimony of a cowboy who described how he tracked down a horse thief. 

          Before I let you read this remarkable account I'm going to have to give you some background about the situation in Indian Territory in the late 1800's. The Indian Nations were sovereign states. They had their own laws, their own governments and their own police force. At the same time however, their territory was part of the United States and they had no jurisdiction over U.S. citizens. As a result, Indian Territory became a haven for outlaws.

          It was during this time that Indian Territory came to be known as the "Wild Wild West." It was the time of Jesse James, and Belle Starr, of the Dalton Gang and Cherokee Bill. The federal court responsible for Indian Territory was in Ft. Smith Arkansas, presided over by  Judge Isaac C. Parker, nicknamed "the hanging judge" because during his tenure he sentenced 88 men to hang. Several more men died in Judge Parker's crowded, rat infested jail before they could be hanged, and one was shot while attempting to escape. Judge Parker's marshals, such as James Mershon and Heck Thomas, became famous in their own right. Many of the well known western dramas such as True Grit and Hang 'Em High have been inspired by Judge Parker, his deputies, and the outlaws they went up against. 

          What is not so well known is the story of the Indian police. The Light Horse Police, as they were called, were a tough bunch. Their instructions were to: Awith or without warrant, arrest all outlaws, thieves, and murderers in your section. And if they resist, you will shoot them on the spot. And, you will aide and assist US Marshals in the enforcement of the laws and make yourself a terror to evil doers. If afraid, turn in your resignation and I=ll appoint better men in your place.@ My great grandfather, Sam Paul, was a sergeant in the Chickasaw Light Horse Police force.

          The Light Horse Police had to deal with dozens of white criminals living on their land, with only a handful of federal marshals to whom they could turn for support. These criminals were dangerous, and they had friends. It was hard to transport them to Ft Smith for trial, and it was hard to find witnesses. Few were willing to travel the 200 miles from the Chickasaw Nation to Ft. Smith to testify against a man whose friends were likely to take revenge on them or on their family afterwards. As a result an Indian policeman sometimes made himself judge, jury, and executioner.That's how Sam Paul came to be charged with murder. He shot a horse thief.

          There's a lot more to that story, but what I want to do now is get to the testimony of the cowboy, Frank Welch, who tracked down the horse thief that Sam Paul killed. I've changed some of the punctuation to make the narrative more readable, and added a few comments in parentheses.

United States vs. Sam Paul, etc. For the murder of Smith (first name unknown).

Court of the Western District of Arkansas, Judge Isaac C Parker presiding.

Testimony of Frank Welch:

          It was on Saturday night the horse was stolen. I think it was in April. I missed the horse at 9 o'clock. On that night I had tied this horse so that I could have him to go to the prairie in the morning. I had him tied in the lot behind a little corn crib.

          There were 18 or 20 head of horses in the lot. There was only one bar up between the pasture & the lot. Part of the rope was there, and part was gone. It looked as if the rope had been partly cut & partly broke. It looked as if there was two more men's tracks & three horse tracks on the outside of the fence.

          The men's tracks looked as if they had stopped. The horse tracks stopped there at the lot fence; the horse had been taken through the bars into the pasture and then the pasture fence let down where the horse was taken out. 

          The three other horse tracks came down along the fence and met this horse and all went off together. I noticed the tracks. They looked like the same tracks that had stopped at the lot fence. The stolen horse was shod in front. The track going out was that of a horse shod in front. They came close to the house. The men's tracks came into the lot; cannot tell which way they went. I called the horse I lost a dapple grey. The tracks of one of these three horses outside of the fence was a large rough shod steel toed shoe. The tracks of these horses from the gap went west right close to the house where old man Ross lived. My horses track went along with the others. ("old man" Ross' son was one of the horse thieves)  

          John Covey (Welch's boss) and Watt Holford went with me and tracked them near to Rosses house. The four tracks kept together. Ross started the next morning from there. He had gone when we tracked these horses close to his house. I trailed them for several days.

          Covey had me to go on. He could not leave. I was in his employ. Two tracks went up to the house. One of them the steel toed horse & another, and the track I took for my horse and another track went north across the Washita (River). I saw some tracks up near Cherokee Town. The track was a bare footed track, I think with that of my horse…..I followed them and overtook them right there near the valley. I was alone when I saw them. I did not molest them at all. I was afraid to….. When I saw two men, I went off the road. I examined the tracks after they passed me. I think Smith's (the horse thief who was killed) horse was barefooted.

          It was my business to watch and track these men. Dr Lewis told me about meeting these men. He said he lived near Springville on Canadian (River). He said they were going towards where he lived. It is but a few miles from Cherokee Town to the Valley Store. I had been watching the train (wagon train) expecting them to meet it. I never saw the men with the train. They went to the train about ten miles below Cherokee Town. (The horse thieves were part of a wagon train led by "old man" Ross which was travelling through the territory.)

          The next morning I went around the train and saw these two parties leave the train and come up the road following me. They came for about a mile and left the road. I got into the road above the train. I went on up into the valley. Got information from Strain at Cherokee Town that two men answering the description of the men I had received information of before had gone down the direction I had seen the two men meet the train. I started to Sam Paul's house to get him to help me as he was an officer and I met him going to the valley store. I told him what I wanted and he promised to help me.

          The testimony is a little hard to follow because it is redundant and it doesn't include the lawyer's questions, but you can figure it out if you read it slowly.

          The cowboy, Frank Welch, really makes his tracking sound easy, but I think his story is remarkable. Even though the horse thieves have a head start, he manages to track them for several days before he actually sees them. He determines the number of men, the number of horses, and he can identify each of the horses by their tracks. He doesn't lose them even though they split up, cross the river, and pass by towns. Finally when he gets close enough to identify the thieves by sight and sees them join a wagon train he finds the local Indian policeman, my great grandfather, and asks him for help. Pretty amazing, don't you think?