Mabel Washbourne Anderson - Life of General Stand Watie: The Only Indian Brigadier General of the Confederate Army and the Last General to Surrender

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LIFE OF GENERAL STAND WATIE

BY

MABEL WASHBOURNE ANDERSON

C.S.A.

Do we weep for the heroes who died for us,

Who living were true and tried for us,

And dying sleep side by side for us;

The Martyr-band

That hallowed our land

With the blood they shed in a tide for us?

Oh! fearless on many a day for us

They stood in the front of the fray for us,

And held the foeman at bay for us;

And tears should fall

For eer oer all

Who fell while wearing the gray for us.

How many a glorious name for us,

How many a story of fame for us

They left; would it not be a blame for us

If their memories part

From our land and heart,

And a wrong to them and a shame to us?

But their memories eer shall remain for us.

And their names, bright names, without stain for us:

The glory they won shall not wane for us,

In legend and lay

Our heroes in gray

Shall forever live over again for us.Father Ryan.

Contents

To the Memory

of

Major and John Ridge and other signers

of the treaty of 1835, and to the brave

veterans, both living and dead, who

fought under Stand Watie, this biography is affectionately

dedicated

It is impossible to write a biography, however brief, of Gen. Watie, who was so intimately associated with the Cherokees, during a most turbulent and interesting period of their history, without touching upon contemporary events and contemporary men that helped to influence and to mould his destiny.

All the world admires a brave man, but the world both admires and loves a brave, good man. Here is one whose honor and integrity were above reproach, who performed during the war of 1861 to 65 many acts of bravery, patriotism and self sacrifice, any one of which would have made his name immortal. But for lack of a herald to proclaim it to the world the name and history of Gen. Stand Watie remain practically unknown outside his native country and his own immediate people.

It is a matter of regret that some one of the many who were familiarly associated with the life of Gen. Watie, did not write his biography shortly after his death, for there is very little printed matter to aid one in a work of this kind and that little is not easily obtained.

Ever actuated by the desire to have this Life Sketch as authentic as possible, the author has spent months gathering material from living lips. Only those were consulted who were in position to verify all information given. In almost every instance living participants have been consulted who took part in every battle and skirmish mentioned. This has been a long slow work, fraught with many delays and difficulties. Any corrections or interesting additions will be gratefully received.

Especial thanks and appreciation are given to Judge J. M. Keys of Pryor, Col. James Bell of Bernice, Hoolie Bell of Vinita, and other Oklahoma veterans who so kindly helped with material for this work.

This little booklet was written with a three-fold purpose.

To pay a long neglected tribute to this great Indian character of Oklahoma.

To awaken a public interest in the noble work the Oklahoma Division of the Daughters of the Confederacy has undertaken, that of erecting a lasting monument to his memory.

To stimulate in the minds of the student body of Oklahoma a greater desire for a more careful study of the early history of the Cherokees and other Indians of Oklahoma and the men who made that history possible.

If it will in a measure fulfill any one of these missions the author will feel amply repaid

LONG years ago in the Old Cherokee Nation in Georgia, there were born two full-blood Cherokee brothers, known to their tribe as, Gah-na-tah-tle-gi and OO-wa-tee. who adopted him and sent him to Cornwall, Connecticut, and had him educated at his own expense. This Cherokee, Elias Boudinot was Clerk of the National Council when Echota was founded as the seat of the Cherokee Government in 1825; and he afterwards became the first Editor of the Cherokee Phoenix in 1827, which paper later became the Cherokee Advocate, published in both English and Cherokee for so many years at Tahlequah. This Boudinot was the father of the well known and gifted Elias Cornelius Boudinot, who represented the Cherokees at Richmond, Virginia, as Delegate to the Congress of the Confederate States, and who afterwards took an active part in the restoration of the rights of the Southern Cherokees, which were threatened with forfeiture at the close of the War between the States. The second son of David OO-wa-tee is the illustrious subject of this sketch.

General Watie was born in the Old Cherokee Nation at the old Watie home, on the Coo-sa-wee-tee Stream in Georgia, near the present site of the City of Rome, December 12 th , 1806.

At his birth General Watie was named only in Cherokee though it was customary, in those days, to give a Cherokee child both an Indian and an English name. It is an interesting study to trace the origin of these given, or personal, names among the early Cherokees and other Indian Tribes. They usually gave a child a name with some special significance and a similarity of meaning or interpretation was followed by members the same Clan, of which there were seven among the Cherokees. These Clan names were the nearest approach to anything like a Surname among the Cherokees as late as 1700. Personal names were sometimes changed, but Clan names were never changed in ancient times among the Cherokees. This Indian Hero of Oklahoma was given in infancy the name of Ta-ker-taw-ker, which meant in English, To Stand Firm, Immovable. How significant a title, in after-life, for this man so steadfast in character, so immovable in purpose when he believed his convictions were right! At the time of Gen. Waties birth the only missionary station among the Cherokees was at Springdale, established by the Moravians of North Carolina in 1800, and conducted by Rev. John Gambol and his wife, both remarkable people. Though the Cherokees, for generations before this date, had manifested a belief in the Great Hereafter, and followed a form of worship of the Great Spirit or Almighty, yet it was at this place that the first Cherokees were baptized as members of a Christian Church. It is probable that Gen. Waties mother was among the first converts, as she was a member of the Moravian Church. Her baptismal name was Susannah and she had her son Ta-ker-taw-ker baptized with the English baptismal name of Isaac; but Watie ever retained the one Cherokee name given him at his birth. At this mission also John Ridge, Buck Watie, and other prominent Cherokee boys attended school. Later John Ridge and Jack Dell were sent East to be educated, attending the same school with Buck Watie.