Caveats

          Firstly I want to apologize for spending so much time on these stories about the Removal of the Five Civilized Tribes. It hasn't been easy for me either. The stories are so heartrending it's depressing to spend the time it takes to do the research about them, but each tribe's removal was different, and I wanted to give you a feel for the magnitude of the tragedy. Before I finish with the story of the Chickasaw Removal there are a few things I want to make clear to anyone who has had the interest to read these stories up to this point.

1. I'm not an impartial observer. I have feelings about these events. I've heard about the Removal all my life, and those feelings have grown stronger the more I've read about the subject.

2. I'm not a historian. While I have been careful to follow my sources in reporting the stories, I'm sure that a professional historian could take issue with some of the details. Also when I've been aware of alternate versions of the same event I've just picked the one that seems to me to best fit the situation.

3. There are a lot more details to these stories than I've been able to tell, just like there is more to the Removal than the story of the Chickasaws. That's why I tried to tell about each of the Five Civilized Tribes, but even that is not enough. There is so much more to each story that it's overwhelming, not just in the number of facts, but in the mass of suffering: the outrage, the cruelty, the hardship, the waste of life, the destruction. And even with the mass of information we have, there are virtually no accounts written by the Indians themselves. What it was actually like for the 60,000 or so Indians who made the 400 - 800 mile journey, we can never imagine.

4. In the accounts you read about the Removal, some individuals get to cast in a negative light, for instance William McIntosh of the Creeks, Greenwood Leflore of the Choctaws, and the "treaty party" of the Cherokees. I want to apologize for going along with those characterizations. I truly believe that these men tried to do right by their people. On the other hand I have no apologies for my characterization of Andrew Jackson. In my opinion he was one of the most prejudiced, and ruthless men in history.

5. There's another caveat which I'll make in advance. I have been raised by my mother with a respect, with a kind of awe for the Chickasaws, and I'm sure that comes out in my writing. I make no excuses for that. I'm proud of my heritage.