Ethan Allen Hitchcock

                                   Major General Ethan Allen Hitchcock

          Ethan Allen Hitchcock was named after his grandfather, the Revolutionary War hero, Ethan Allen. He graduated from West Point in 1817, stayed on as an instructor, and served as commandant of cadets from 1829 until 1833. In 1836 Hitchcock served in the Florida campaign against the Seminole Indians. He was appalled by the injustices committed against the Seminoles, and he reported his views to the war department. In 1840 when William Henry Harrison was elected president, Hitchcock was appointed special advisor for Indian affairs. 

          Complaints from the Five Civilized Tribes over the management of their removal attracted enough attention in Congress that in 1842,  the Secretary of War, John Bell, sent Hitchcock to Indian Territory to investigate. Hitchcock travelled throughout the territory for six months, meticulously documented the Indians' condition, and the history of their treatment during the Removal. On returning to Washington he submitted a detailed report.

          Hitchcock said in his report that "worn out oxen and bulls were forced on half starving people at an exorbitant price. Various white men are pointed out as having made $10,000 to $20,000 each in a year in this plunder of the helpless. Bribery, perjury, and forgery were the chief agents in these infamous transactions." "Spoiled rations to the value of $200,000 had been sold to the Chickasaws," and they were charged $700,000 for rations that were never delivered. Short weights in grain and beef occurred daily. The Chickasaw contractor was paid 14 - 16 cents per ration where the usual rate was 6 cents. The transportation rates were also "shockingly high." The rate for transportation by boat from Memphis to Ft Coffee was $14 per person with $2.50 added for luggage. Three thousand Chickasaws travelled by boat and they were charged $108,000. The total amount withdrawn from the Chickasaw fund for the Removal was $1.5 mil.

          Hitchcock concluded "the air is full of scandals." He expressed "astonishment, disgust, and indignation," and promised "that the foul transactions shall be probed to the bottom and the thieves punished." He observed that "It will certainly appear very extraordinary that the portion of the Indians over whom the Government assumed a guardianship should be precisely those fixed upon for a sacrifice."  

          Hitchcock' report was suppressed at first. The Secretary of War refused to release it to Congress. Not cowed by the powerful politicians, Hitchcock accused the administration of trying to protect government officials implicated by his report. When the report was finally released, the matter was investigated further but nothing was done. A token repayment was made to the Chickasaws almost 50 years later.

          Ethan Allen Hitchcock truly stands out as one of the good guys of history. Even though he failed to win justice for the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory, he was given one more chance to help the Indians. In 1843 he was sent to Florida with orders to put down what was left of the Seminole revolt. Unlike his predecessors Hitchcock treated the Seminoles with respect and compassion, and managed to end the conflict without further violence.

          Ethan Allen Hitchcock retired from active military service in 1867 and devoted himself to reading and writing about philosophy and history. One of the most interesting of his works is the diary he kept during his journey through Indian Territory in 1842.

          When I took out the diary, published as A Traveller in Indian Territory, edited and annotated by Grant Foreman, to review my notes for this article, I couldn't put it down until I had reread the entire book. I can't think of a single work that I can recommend more highly. The diary contains a wealth of information about the way of life of the Five Civilized Tribes at the time, as well as their beliefs, their culture, and the challenges they faced.

          Hitchcock was fascinated and impressed by the tremendous strides the Indians were making toward creating a new life for themselves in the wilderness. The fact that there are virtually no accounts of the time recorded by the Indians themselves makes Hitchcock's observations are even more valuable.

          Hitchcock questioned everyone he met. He learned from one of his guides, a negro called Sambo, how the Chickasaws started fires on the hills to rouse the bears for a hunt. He spoke with a man who accompanied a band of Osages on a buffalo hunt, how they carried rifles but killed the buffalo with bow and arrow, how the Indians rode bareback without using the reins, and how their ponies were trained to chase the buffalos and then to veer off as soon as their rider's arrow had struck its mark. Hitchcock tried eating buffalo tongue, but it was so rich it made him sick.

          Hitchcock commented on the neatness and refinement of the Indian women. He described an Indian church service where the parishioners were so sincere that "Carlyle himself would have been pleased." He told of the public cooks in Tahlequah, the Cherokee capital, who prepared food that was free for anyone who was hungry. He was invited to attend a session of the Cherokee council where he was impressed with the orderliness and dignity of the proceedings. He visited a mission school and reported how well the Indian students were reading. He described a Cherokee ball where the ladies and gentlemen danced to a reel "more complicated than the old Virginia Reel" for 22 hours, stopping only 10 minutes for breakfast. 

          The only place in the diary where Hitchcock expressed impatience was when he was stranded in a storm bad enough "to make a saint curse," with "no one to talk with but a man who says he is from New York, and shows his importance by inquiring about the progress of building the exchange, etc., and asking me if I think we shall have war with England. I'll start out after dinner if it rains pitchforks."  

          Hitchcock visited Indian Territory soon after the great conference of Indian tribes held in 1839 by the Cherokees. He told of writing to Washington recommending that the government treat the Cherokees with more respect because of the great influence they had on the other tribes. Hitchcock described visiting the site of construction of Fort Washita, built to protect the Chickasaws against raids by the hostile tribes as they moved into their assigned lands. He suggested to the commander of Ft Gibson that he distribute rations to the starving Seminoles, and that he issue orders to forbid trade in alcohol. 

          Hitchcock's visit to Indian territory was during a time of monumental change. The Chickasaws were being raided by the Shawnee and Wichita Indians from the west, and by white settlers from Mexico (now Texas) to the south. He met some of the great men of the time:  Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee alphabet, John Ross, Samuel Worcester, the Creek chief Opothleyaholo, Roley McIntosh, the Chickasaw leaders William McGillivray, Sloan Love, Isaac Alberson, and Pitman Colbert. He heard Cyrus Kingsbury preach. He visited Edwards' trading post, where the Comanches came to exchange hostages kidnapped from white settlements in Mexico, and he stayed at the home of my step great great grand father, Jason McClure. (See post of 12/22/2010)

To be concluded.