Oklahoma Genealogy

A visit to Oklahoma would not be complete without a trip to the Wichita Mountains. These mountains have long been known by miners as rich in minerals, and they have long looked forward to the time when they might develop them. According to Spanish records Father Gilbert, with one hundred men, led an expedition into the Wichita Mountains as early as 1657, and sunk a shaft to the depth of one hundred feet about nine miles northwest of Mount Scott. About the year 1738 another expedition was lead to the mountains, and work was begun towards developing a mine in … Read more

The first treaty that ever was made between the United States and the Cherokee Indians was concluded at Hopewell, on the Kiowee, November 22, 1785. There came a division among the Cherokees, and a chief by the name of Dutcher became dissatisfied and decided to go towards the sunset about the year 1808. A number of French traders came up the Tennessee River from New Orleans. They had a large stock of goods and undertook to establish a trading post. They had a quantity of whisky among their stores, and the Indians all got drunk. It is said by the … Read more

As far back as the Creeks know themselves, they were living in Alabama and there came trouble among them, and one part of them went to Florida. These were called Seminoles. They made a treaty for the country in which they now live about the same time the Cherokees moved west. Possibly as late as 1836 they, by agreement, divided their territory among themselves, the Seminoles taking the west part. They made a treaty in 1866, and sold their surplus land in Oklahoma, as the’ Cherokees had done, at 47½ cents per acre, to be used to settle friendly Indians upon, … Read more

There is a tradition that these two tribes once inhabited the same country where they now live, and that a great tribe of Indians from the northwest made war on them so long and so fiercely that they decided to leave the country. They started east, guided by a dog and a magic pole. At night they would plant the pole in the ground, and in the morning the way the pole would be leaning would be the way they would go. They traveled east until they came to the Mississippi River. The dog was drowned crossing the river, leaving … Read more

It will be remembered that the Comanches were not able to handle the Texas Rangers in the war known as the treaty war in 1860, and were forced to retire to the plains north of the Red River. They started in then to get help from their red brothers, and made a treaty with the Apaches and other associated tribes. A council of war was held in the Wichita Mountains in the fall of the same year. It was decided that in the spring of 1861, on the first full moon after the first whippoorwill had been heard, all the … Read more

A Sketch Of Their Beneficent Work Among The Indians The first schools for the education of the Five Civilized Tribes were established in Georgia and Tennessee about the beginning of the last century by Moravian, Presbyterian and Baptist missionaries. Religious teaching received rather more emphasis than academic instruction, and although these schools furnished free tuition, the Indians did not manifest any great amount of interest in them, and for many years the attendance was but slight. But by patient, earnest, persistent efforts, the work of the various missions was crowned with success. The Moravians were the first to undertake this … Read more

The Act of Congress providing for the appointment of a commission to the Five Civilized Tribes was the most important law enacted by Congress, looking toward the abolishment of the tribal governments and the settlement of their vast estates. The law was passed on March 3, 1893, and provided that the President should appoint three commissioners to enter into negotiations with the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muskogee (Creek) and Seminole nations, for the purpose of extinguishment of the tribal . title to the lands of Indian Territory, either by the cession of the same or some part thereof to the United … Read more

The origin of the Creek tribe of Indians, like that of most other tribes, is shrouded in doubt and mystery. While uncivilized and of nomadic disposition, it was not possible to preserve any reliable historic records of the tribe. They have assumed the name “Muskogee Nation,” but 200 years ago, they constituted but one branch of the powerful confederation known as the “Muskhogeans,” which at one time included the other four tribes of Indian Territory. The early English settlers gave them the name of “Creeks,” because of the numerous small streams of water in the sections of Alabama and Georgia … Read more

For many years prior to 1889 the United States District Court of western Arkansas had jurisdiction over the Creek and Cherokee Nations in matters in which non-citizens, i.e., persons not members of the Indian tribes, were interested. Judge Isaac C. Parker, who presided over that court established the reputation of being “a terror to criminals,” it being claimed that during his administration fully one hundred men were sentenced to be hanged. Judge Parker was kind and courteous to attorneys, witnesses and jurors, but he possessed no sympathy for crime or criminals. It was very inconvenient and expensive, however, for lawyers, … Read more

William G. Coffin, superintendent of Southern Indians, in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated August 31, 1863, says:  “The contrariness and interference manifested by the military authorities in the Indian country towards those who are having charge of the Indians within the Cherokee Nation is so annoying and so embarrassing that it has become unpleasant, difficult and almost impossible for them to attend to the duties of their official capacities with success. If the military would only make it their business to rid the Indian Territory of rebels, instead of intermeddling with the affairs of the Interior … Read more

On the 20th day of November, 1785, while the American colonists were still operating under the defective Articles of Confederation, the First Treaty was concluded with the Cherokees, known as the Hopewell Treaty. This treaty was made by and between Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens, Joseph Martin and Lachlan McIntosh, commissioners representing the Colonies, and the headsmen and warriors of all the Cherokees, thirty-seven in number. Article I provided that the Cherokees should restore to the Colonists all prisoners and property taken by them during the Revolutionary war. Article II provided that the Colonists should restore to the Cherokees all Indians … Read more

Indian Ball Game      The following account of an Indian ball game, played some years ago, has been sent to the writer.       When it was announced that the teams were about to appear, there was some nervousness on the part of most of the spectators. It had been reported that the red men would appear in costumes that would put the sea-side bathing suit to shame and make the average ballet dancer consider her dress fit for the Klondike. Instead of this, however, no one appeared in breech cloth and with the exception of two or three who were … Read more