Oklahoma Journeys
Week of September 30, 2007
John Ross Signs with the Confederacy October 4, 1861
John Ross asks the question, “Did you ever have to make-up your mind?” this week on Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial. The US Civil War divided the entire country including the various Indian nations. Each tribe affected by the war was forced to decide if they would support the Union or the Confederacy; the Cherokees make that decision this week on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial. I'm Michael Dean.
In 1861 the onset of the US Civil War forced each person in the country to decide or choose what side of the conflict they supported, the Union Forces of the North or the Confederates in the South. In Indian Territory, the various tribes were already in an unstable condition due to their forced relocation to the area just thirty years earlier. While attempting to reconstruct their lives, culture, and societies the various nations were now forced to decide between the two halves of a divided country. Confederate emissaries paid visits to the various Indian nations and initially at least managed to sign treaties and agreements with all of them, assuring that the Native Americans would side with the south. Of the different tribes the Creek Nation from the outset was divided into Northern and Southern factions but not so with the Cherokees. For a number of months Cherokee Chief John Ross labored over the decision of which side to join. He knew that the conflict would force the tribe to side with one or the other and that neutrality was not an option. By choosing either side the potential was great that he could cause a permanent rift in the tribe. The Confederacy had agents in the field working hard to sign up the Cherokees and the Federal Government wasn’t offering any inducements to stay. Culturally the Cherokees were southern, they held slaves and much in common with southern culture. Finally, Chief John Ross, feeling pressure from southern sympathizers in the tribe and having waited in vain more than thirty years for the federal government to fulfill its promises chose to give the loyalty of the Cherokees to the Confederacy.
It was in this week of 1861, on Oct. 4th that Chief John Ross, experiencing pressure from all sides of the issue chose to sign the Cherokee Tribal treaty with the Confederate Government. The Cherokees were the last of the major Indian Territory tribes to join the rebel movement and their decision was a source of great joy for the south and consternation for the union. For the Confederacy then this meant that the vast majority of Native Americans in Indian Territory were willing to fight for the separatist cause; it also meant, however, that the new southern government had treaty obligations and promises to fulfill, something that it was woefully unable to do. Although he later regretted the decision and in fact led 6,000 Cherokees into exile into northern held Kansas, Cherokee Chief John Ross felt that at this time, in this week of 1861 it was almost his only option to join the southern cause. You can learn more about the civil War in our military exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center, in Oklahoma city, on NE 23 street just east of the state capitol. Oklahoma Journeys: Celebrating our Centennial is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society dedicated to the collection, preservation and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.