Who are the Western Cherokee?

The Western Cherokee are Native Americans who identified themselves as Cherokee, identified
with the mountainous areas of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. They lived west of the
Mississippi before the Trail of Tears, and did not migrate to Indian Territory after the Cherokee
Treaty of 1828. The Western Cherokee are not a single group but instead are a coalition of
groups with various historical backgrounds in Arkansas, southern Missouri, Eastern Oklahoma,
Kansas and Texas. They identify as a community with a singular identity. They are a single
nation unified by their identity as Cherokee, and in their shared government, and recognized
by the United States as the Cherokee Nation West under the Treaties of 1817 and 1819. The
Cherokee Nation West never ratified or recognized the Treaty of 1828, which removed the
Cherokee Nation West lands. The Western Cherokee delegation who signed that document,
which was sent for approval to the United States Congress by President Adams before it was
ratified by the Cherokee Nation West Full Council, informed the United States verbally and in
writing that the treaty was not valid until it was signed by the Full Council in Arkansas (Royce
1975:118-120). The Western Cherokee were not bound by the Treaty of 1828 since it had not
been approved or ratified by the Full Cherokee Nation West Council (Sub-Agent Brearly letter
Secretary of War, September 27, 1828).
The Western Cherokee constitute a coalition of diverse Cherokee groups each with a unique
individual history. The unifying factors that held the Western Cherokee together included (1) an
identity separate from other Cherokee based on their identification with the Ancient communities
West of the Mississippi and a common belief that Creator had wished the Cherokee to stay
west of the Mississippi to remove themselves from the European influences, (2) a common
government, the Full Council of the Cherokee Nation West, and (3) identity with the Sacred
Homelands in the Ozarks. Their lands included the hilly and mountainous areas of Arkansas,
southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Texas. Their core
Sacred Homelands were bounded on the north by the Devils Backbone (the north/south water
flow break point in southern Missouri), the Mississippi River on the east, the Arkansas River
on the south, and the end of the hill county in eastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas.
The Sacred Homelands had been lands that were held for at least 1800 years, though they were
partially lost to invading People Eaters from the south and the Great Warriors from the
west about 800-900 years ago (Interviews: Lee Brody and Jean Skaggs September 14, 2000,
Red Wasp (John Dushanack) May 20, 2001, Richard Craker November 24, 2001). Their lands,
associated with their relationship with the United States government, were those lands outlined
in the Treaty of 1819.
The history of the various Western Cherokee groups are numerous and complicated. I am still
working out histories of the groups, and some groups have yet to provide permission for me to
release their histories. For practical purposes, I have broken the groups into three different types
based on their temporal history. They include the Ancient Ones (those who were in the western
region prehistorically or in very early historic times), The Early Immigrants (prior to 1780 and
are poorly documented), and Late Immigrants (those after 1780 and who generally promoted the
Treaties of 1817 and 1819). Each group does constitute a land area and a type of group, though
most of the group areas overlap that of other groups.
Most of the Ancient Ones groups trace their origins to 900-800 years ago when the invaders,
the People Eaters who came out of the south and the Great Warriors who came out of the west,
requested certain priestly groups to stay and maintain the Sacred Fire mounds. The invaders
feared the retribution of Creator if the fires were not continued at the Cherokee mounds. The
Cherokee in this prehistoric period would have existed in occasional villages in a country
dominated by conquerors. Over time, the population of conquerors diminished, particularly
after the arrival of the Spanish in the southeast United States and the spread of diseases they
brought. This allowed the Cherokee groups to expand. Examples of Ancient Ones groups are the
Amonsoquoth, the Grand River Cherokee, the Dardanelle Cherokee, the Hot Springs Cherokee
and the White Dove Cherokee. The Amonsoquoth are located in southeastern Missouri and trace
their origins to the Mountain of the Three Chiefs and the beginning of the Western Cherokee
in the eastern Ozarks (Interviews: Red Wasp (John Dushanack) May 20, 2001, Many Suns June
8, 1999). The Grand River Cherokee are located in the upper reaches of the Grand River, from
the Fort Gibson Dam and north. They cared for the major fire mounds including the largest of
the small mounds at Taylor Ferry South. The Dardanelle Cherokee (a name I have given them
since they live in the area of Dardanelle) cared for the mounds along the Arkansas River in
west central Arkansas. I am still working on the history of the Hot Springs Cherokee but their
function was to maintain a sacred fire near the hot springs, which were as popular in prehistoric
times as they are today. The White Cherokee (sometimes called White Dove or Messenger of
Peace) are located in Arkansas and Missouri in the Mountain Home area north of the White
River. There are a number of sacred sites and sacred fires the group maintained in that region
(Interview: Snowbird May 21, 2001). There are other Ancient Ones groups but they are still
being researched or have not given permission to announce their presence. All of these groups
are encompassed inside the areas claimed by other Western Cherokee groups. We look forward
to these groups coming out and joining the Cherokee Nation West.
The earliest Cherokee to immigrate west of the Mississippi in historic times returned to the
area to join Ancient Ones groups where family relationships had been sustained. The arrival
of Europeans had long been a prophesized and feared event. In prophesy the Europeans would
come close to destroying the Cherokee. Upon the European arrival, groups of Cherokee in the
southeast United States started to migrate west. The migrations in the 1500s and 1600s are
not historically documented but are recorded in oral history. The bulk of these early migrants
settled southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas though some did move into Ancient
Ones in other areas such as in south central Missouri, north central Arkansas, and northeastern
Oklahoma. When the Cherokee moved into these areas, there were other Native People living
there though their populations had dramatically declined since their invasion 900 years before
and continued to decline to levels found when the de Soto expedition moved through the area in
the 1540s (Akridge 1986, Dickinson 1987, Hudson 1985, Mitchem 1996, Morse 1988, Morse et
al 1990, Schambach 1989, Young et al 1999). The oral history of the early Western Cherokee
immigrants is replete with wars with local Native American populations. Village after village
was ransacked and eventually some of the existing populations were absorbed into the Western
Cherokee. The French established settlements in the district of Mine La Motte in the 1720s.
The Western Cherokee carried out raids against them and by the 1770s had shut down mining
operations Since the Cheraquis Indians compelled the miners at Mine La Motte located fifteen
leagues from Ste. Genevieve, to abandon it, only a small amount of lead had been taken from
other small mines (Houck 1909: 100, 1775 Don Francisco Valle letter). It is interesting to note
that historians have written that the La Motte massacres were conducted by the Osage when
in this letter it is quite explicit that it was the Cheraquis (French name for the Cherokee) who
conducted the raids. In 1737, the French become alarmed when 400 Cherokee settled just north
of the Ohio River where it dumps into the Mississippi at Cairo, Missouri (Anderson and Lewis
1983:48). In a 1761 document the French openly state that the Cherokee are in current Arkansas
and Missouri and that no one would dare cross the area north of the Arkansas River from fear of
encountering the Cherokees and Chickasaw hunting near the Mississippi River (Anderson and
Lewis 1983:67). In 1765, the French ask the commander of Arkansas Post to make enquiries
with the Cherokee about a missing person west of the Mississippi (Spanish Dominion Arkansas
Post (1763-1802) Letter to M. Variguire July 15, 1765).
One interesting account of the Cherokee in south central Missouri was presented by Black Hawk
in his autobiography. In 1787, while a member of a Sac and Fox party, they battled a group of
Cherokee near the Merrimac River in Missouri. Black Hawks father and seven others died along
with twenty-eight Cherokee. (Hawk 1882:9). The Merrimac River is located in the northwestern
corner of the southeastern quadrant of Missouri.
History often depicts the western Cherokee moving into southern Missouri and northern
Arkansas and moving onto Osage territory which caused the wars between the Osage and
Cherokee. In fact, it was simply the clash of two Native Americans groups, both expanding and
moving, but the clash was located in the western part of southwestern Missouri and at about the
current Arkansas/Oklahoma border.. The Cherokee and other Native People such as the
Delaware and Chickasaw were well established in southeastern and south central Missouri and
northern Arkansas by the early 1700s as I have discussed above. In these early accounts, there is
little mention of the Osage in those areas. Instead, the Osage seem to have been on and north of
the Osage River in Missouri and in current eastern and northern Kansas (Thomas 1928:202). The
Osage then began to expand into southeastern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma in the very
late 1700s taking advantage of settlement land. In 1771 and 1772 John Thomas, an English
agent, attempted to get the Cherokee, Chickasaws, and Shawnees to war against the Osage who
were moving out into new lands. John Thomas was suspended from his post since he did not
have the authority to interfere with Native People in Spanish Territory (Anderson and Lewis
1983:139). The establishment of Fort Carondelet on the Osage River in 1795 places the Osage in
west central Missouri (Hoig 2008:23) by that date. The move of the Osage into northeastern
Oklahoma occurs in the 1790s after the Osage split into two factions in a trade rivalry. One
Osage group moves to the Neosho River (Clermonts Village) and others establish towns around
the confluence of the Arkansas and Verdigris River (Hoig 2008:44). At the same time, the
Cherokee were moving into the same area. It was here that the Cherokee and Osage began to
clash over land and hunting issues. In 1802, the Spanish commander of Arkansas Post met with a
large party of Osage in an attempt to make peace. The commander talked with the Osage leaders
in the presence of many Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Cherokee, who lived around the post,
asking the Osage to seek peace (Anderson and Lewis 1983:596, Letter from Manuel de Salcedo
to Juan Ventura Morales 9 Nov. 1802). The Cherokee/Osage wars had begun. In the 1808 Treaty
with the Osage (November 10, 1808, Ratified April 28, 1810), the Osage ceded lands that
included approximately that land between the Missouri River and Arkansas River from the
Mississippi to just east of the current Missouri/Kansas, Oklahoma/Arkansas line. They ceded this
land for one thousand dollars and merchandise in the amount of five hundred dollars, a cheap
price for land that supposedly the Osage held so dear. Based on the earlier historical facts, the
land was not in Osage possession or in their control and not theirs to cede.
Historical documents show that the Western Cherokee had settled in the area by at least the
early 1700s though their oral history places the first migrations in the late 1500s. Examples of
early immigrant groups include the St. Francis Band of Cherokee, Salem Cherokee, Current
River Cherokee (in the Poplar Bluff Missouri area including Doniphan), Cherokee in the Cape
Girardeau area, Cherokee in the Mountain Grove/West Plains Missouri area, and a group in the
northwestern corner of Arkansas and the northeastern corner of Oklahoma. You will notice that
some of these groups are listed by location and not name. Most do have names but the name can
vary within the group and the clan association of the person to whom you are talking. This shows
that these groups were coalitions of small groups (probably in the 100s) of immigrants who came
west of the Mississippi from 1540 to 1780. Though each individual migrating group was small,
the number who would have immigrated over two hundred and forty years would have been at
least in the thousands.
The late period of immigration is well documented since much of what happened involved the
new United States who kept records of the events. Possibly as many as half of the Cherokee
who came to live in the formal Cherokee Nation West lands by 1828 arrived in these late period
migrations.
Many historians place the initial migration of the Cherokee west of the Mississippi after 1794
when those Cherokee who disagreed with the American Cherokee Treaty of Tellico Blockhouse,
1794 (Kappler 1904) migrated. But as has been presented above Cherokee settlement and
resettlement was much earlier. It is recorded in Spanish colonial records that by the 1780s the
Cherokee regularly traded furs at Arkansas Post (Sabo 1992:116-117).

The earliest account I have found so far concerning Cherokee seeking formal permission to settle
in Spanish lands west of the Mississippi was in 1792. In May, a group of Cherokees contacted
Estevan Miro, the Spanish governor of Louisiana Territory, and received permission to settle
in Spanish lands west of the Mississippi (Markham: 7). Earlier requests will be found with
additional research.
After an incident with whites in which a number were killed, The Bowle, a prominent Cherokee
warrior and leader also known as Duwali, decided to move west of the Mississippi to escape
possible punishment. In 1794, he took the rafts of those killed and went into the St. Frances
River (1869 Cephas Washburn Reminiscences of the Indians, Richmond: Presbyterian
Committee of Publication 75-79). Part of a group of Cherokee who had been living near Cairo,
Missouri, and the mouth of the Ohio River moved down to the St. Francis River to be with the
Bowles group (Cherokee Chiefs to Joseph McMinn July 23, 1818 Documents Related to the
Negotiations of Indian Treaties).
Late in 1811, the New Madrid earthquake killed untold number of Cherokee in the Saint Francis
River basin. After the earthquake, The Bowle moved with his group south of the Arkansas
River west of the Petit Jean River in todays northern Yell County (Markham 1972 31-35). The
majority of Cherokee though remained in the St. Francis River Basin area.
A November 1794 report from el Baron de Carondelet to el Duque de la Alcudia discusses the
importance of the Cherokee in protecting the Spanish from the Americans. They particularly
point out that the Cherokees are important for the defense of the west bank of the Mississippi
(Anderson and Lewis 1983:560).
Another early account of large numbers of Cherokee crossing the Mississippi was after the treaty
of Hopewell in 1785. Cherokee dissatisfied with the agreement descended the Tennessee, Ohio,
and Mississippi Rivers, ascended the St. Francis River, and established a settlement. A few
years later, they relocated to the White River (possibly due to destruction of lands from the New
Madrid earthquake and hence overpopulation in the St. Francis River basin) (Charles C. Royce,
1887, The Cherokee Nation of Indians: 204, Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, Washington). Here they were joined from time to time by their dissatisfied eastern
breathern, in families and small parties, until they numbered, prior to the treaty of 1817, between
two and three thousand souls. (Royce 1975:76).
An 1802 Spanish correspondence not only shows the presence of large number of Cherokee
in Arkansas and Missouri but also show how that the Osage did not enter the region until the
late 1700s. In an 1802 correspondence between Manuel de Salcedo to Juan Ventura Morales,
they discussed meeting with the Osage at Arkansas Post and in the presence of many Choctaw,
Chickasaws and Cherokees who live around the post, asked the Osage to seek peace with the
Arkansas, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Cherokees (Anderson and Lewis 1983:596).
Dr. John Sibley United States agent for Orleans Territory, reported in an 1807 letter that a party
of Cherokee, who came in two canoes to Natchitoches to barter skins, had been high up in the
Red River. They were having difficulty with the Caddo that developed out of an accidental
killing of a Cherokee seven or eight years earlier in Caddo country. Abel, Annie Heloise, ed,
A Report from Natchitoches in 1807, by Dr. John Sibley. Page 16 (Museum of the American
Indian, New York).
Tollantusky, a noted Eastern Cherokee leader and warrior, left Tennessee and removed to
Arkansas in 1809 because of dissatisfaction caused by the Treaty of 1807. Tollantusky headed
a party of three hundred Cherokees including seventy warriors. He was accompanied by John
D. Chisholm, a white member of the tribe, and by the old and well known chief, Takatoka. His
village was located about seven miles upstream from the mouth of the Illinois Bayou. (Joseph
McMinn to Secretary of War January 10
th
1818, Office of Indian Affairs, Retired Classified
Files).
The number of Western Cherokee in Louisiana Territory had become so large that in 1813 the
government assigned them William L. Lovely as their sole agent.
Governor William Clark of Missouri received permission from the Secretary of War to survey
Indian land set asides in Arkansas County. This survey was to include Quapaw, Osage, and other
Native People lands. When Governor Clark asked Secretary of War Crawford about setting aside
and surveying the Western Cherokee land, the Secretary of War replied, Should the line of the
Osage treaty prove that they [the Cherokee] are settled upon the Osage lands, nothing can be
done for them. (Royce 1975:88; William Crawford to Return J. Meigs, September 18,1816).
This was stated despite the fact that the Osage had settled onto Cherokee occupied lands prior to
the Louisiana Purchase as discussed elsewhere in this paper.
Due to this and other refusals to accept Cherokee settlements, some Western Cherokee groups
sought a formal treaty with the United States. These negotiations resulted in the July 8, 1817
Treaty that provided for Cherokee lands in Arkansas and recognized the Cherokee Nation
West (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII: 156). The Treaty was submitted to Congress,
approved, and the President ratified it on 26
th
December 1817. It was stated at that time that there
were 3,700 Cherokee living in Arkansas. Though some historians believe this was exaggerated
(Foreman 1967:44), I believe that the number was an underestimate even for the formal
Cherokee Nation West lands. The 3,700 included only the more recent emigrants living in the
southern part of the Cherokee Nation West lands along the Arkansas River and its tributaries. It
did not include the Cherokee living along the White River and other tributaries in the northern
part of the Cherokee Nation West lands as well as the Cherokee living in other areas of current
Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The Treaty of 1817 was signed by twenty-two of the chiefs and headmen whose names are
attached to the memorial as well as six other on behalf of the eastern Nation and fifteen chiefs
representing those in Arkansas (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII: 156). The Treaty was
submitted to Congress and approved and the President ratified it on 26
th
December 1817. The
fact that there were fifteen Arkansas signers indicates that there were at least that many Western
Cherokee groups with each signer representing a different group. There were other groups,
such as The Bowles group, totaling a few thousand people that did not agree to sign the treaty.
Cherokee groups ranged in size from about a thousand to thousands, so the presence of at least
sixteen groups would indicate the number of Western Cherokee at least 30,000 at the time of the
1817 Treaty.
The Treaty of 1817 did stimulate migration to the Cherokee Nation West lands, particularly from
east of the Mississippi. Government records indicate that by 1819 the number of Cherokee on
Cherokee Nation West formal land was over 6,000 (Royce 1975:90).
Some of these immigrations are documented. In 1817, a party of 37 immigrant Cherokee under
John Rogers immigrated to Arkansas (Gov. Joseph McMinn to Secretary of War, November 11,
1817 Office of Indian Affairs, Retired Classified Files). A large Cherokee immigration came out
of Tennessee and Georgia in February 1818 consisting of 400 Cherokee (McMinn to Calhoun,
February 28, 1818, Office of Indian Affairs, Retired Classified Files, Special File No. 131).
The Glass, a noted Eastern Cherokee leader who had been part of numerous treaties, and a party
of 167 immigrated to Arkansas in late 1818 (Meigs to Calhoun, November 15, 1819, Cherokee
West Agency Office of Indian Affairs, Retired Classified Files).
In the Treaty of 1817, United States commissioners proposed with the Arkansas Cherokee for
lands in Arkansas to form a nation in exchange for two tracts of land in Tennessee and Georgia
and two small tracts in Alabama. The Eastern Cherokee were adverse to the exchange. They
were distressed with the alternative proposals to remove to the Arkansas country or remain
and become citizens of the United States (Royce 1975:89). The Eastern Cherokee persecuted
those Cherokee who favored emigration with bitterness and violent animosity. Those supporting
emigration became the subject of scorn and hatred. They were the subjects of persecution so
relentless that it was never forgotten (Royce 1975:90-91).
Early in 1818, a delegation of Cherokee from Arkansas visited Washington DC seeking a
separate and independent nation and government for themselves separate from the Eastern
Cherokee. In January 1818, they addressed a memorial to the Secretary of War asking,
among other things, that the United States should recognize them as a separate and distinct
people, clothed with the power to frame and administer their own laws, after the manner of their
brethren east of the Mississippi (Royce 1975:93). The Cherokee Nation West also sought an
indefinite outlet west in order to secure access to buffalo and other large game. The extension of
their territory was promised by the President in the near future, and in the summer of 1819 the
Secretary of War instructed Reuben Lewis, United States Indian agent, to assure the Cherokee
that the Presidents was ready and willing to fulfill his promise (Secretary of War to Reuben
Lewis, United States Indian agent, July 22, 1819). A Treaty was signed February 27
th
, 1819, with
the Western Cherokee. The Treaty of 1819 separated the annuities of the Arkansas Cherokee
from the Eastern Cherokee and established a separate reserve for the Cherokee Nation West.
The Cherokee Nation West became a fully recognized independent nation that formed its own
national council and formulated its own constitution and laws (Royce 1975:93).
According to oral history, the Western Cherokee began to organize themselves into a formal
government shortly after the 1817 Treaty. Just prior to the 1819 Treaty, there were twelve
districts throughout Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Each district elected two
council members who served on the Full or Greater Council. Four of these districts constituted
the formal Cherokee Nation West lands based on the 1819 Treaty (Markman 1972:115, Starr
1917:123). The full council consisted of 24 delegates two from each of the twelve districts. It is
easy to see this in the signers of the 1819 Treaty with the Western Cherokee. There are twenty-
one signers of the treaty who state that they are Chiefs and Councillors of the Cherokees
in full council assembled. Only three were not there to sign the document. Attached to the
1819 Treaty is another document signed by eight Chiefs. Two of these signers, The Glass
and Tuchalar, were signers of the 1817 Treaty. They may well have been two of the missing full
council members missing in the other section of the treaty.
The Cherokee Nation West set about acting as an independent nation. In 1825, the Western
Cherokee sent a delegation to Wapakoneta, Ohio, accompanied by Western Shawnees, whose
mission was to induce the Shawnee to join them in the west. Governor Lewis Cass held a council
at Wapakoneta lasting nine days, but the effort was unsuccessful (Secretary of War to Reuben
Lewis, United States Indian agent, May 16 to 24, 1818, inclusive).
In the spring of 1828, the Cherokee Nation West sent a delegation to Washington with the
authority to present a number of grievances to the President. These issues included the final
survey and fixing of the western boundaries of the Nation, securing the promised Western Outlet,
working on the continuing hostilities with the Osage, the encroachment of white settlers, and
the irregularity in the receipt of annuities (T.L. McKenny letter to the Secretary of War, March
18
th
1828). The Cherokee Nation West Council had not given the delegation the authority to
negotiate for cession or exchange of land. The Cherokee Nation West Council would have to
approve and delegate into law any cession or exchange of land. The Secretary of War proposed
to the delegation the exchange of land in Arkansas for land to the west. The delegation informed
the Secretary of War that any treaty would have to be approved by the Cherokee Nation West
Council; otherwise, it would be null and void. Part of the delegation signed the treaty and the
Secretary of War rushed the treaty for Congressional approval and was approved by Congress on
May 28, 1828.
The delegation, upon returning to Arkansas was met with anger. The Cherokee Nation West
Council found the delegation guilty of fraud and deception and declared the treaty null and void
(Cherokee Phoenix, November 12, 1828). The council informed the United States government
stating that the treaty was not approved by the Cherokee Nation West Council and that the
delegation had no authority to sign or approve a treaty and that they wanted to send another
delegation to work out the problems (Sub-Agent Brearly letter Secretary of War, September 27,
1828).
The United States government ignored the Cherokee Nation West Council and continued
with the provisions of the treaty. Agent Duval was advised of the ratification of the treaty by
the U.S. Congress, and R. Ellis and A. Finney were appointed as commissioners to value all
improvements and property abandoned by the Cherokees (Secretary of War letter to Agent
Duval, May 28, 1828).
So far, I have discussed only the Western Cherokee who were living in or close to the officially
recognized Cherokee Nation West lands in Arkansas. In addition to these Western Cherokee,
there were other Western Cherokee living in southern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas,
southwestern Arkansas, and northeastern Oklahoma. The Cherokee Nation West Council had
representatives from these other Western Cherokee groups.
The Western Cherokee in the Salem to St. Genevieve, Missouri area had occupied the region
since at least 1700 and were problems for the La Motte miners discussed earlier. There are
various groups in this area that currently go by different names including the Salem Cherokee,
the Upper St. Francis Cherokee, and Merrimac Cherokee. Due to the length of time the Cherokee
have occupied this area, the number of Cherokee are quite large. I am constantly encountering
new Western Cherokee groups in this area. By the time of the 1828 Treaty, the number of
Cherokee in this region could have easily numbered 5,000 or more. None of the groups in this
area say that they were forced out after the 1828 Treaty.
Much of the population in the southern part of southeastern Missouri is Western Cherokee.
Groups there include the Current River, Ohio Cherokee, numerous groups around Popular Bluff,
Cape Girardeau and Doniphan. These groups say that they had been there since prehistoric
times and dramatically increased in number starting in the late 1600s (Interview: Red Wasp
(John Dushanack) June 2001, Many Suns June 7, 1999). By the time of the 1828 Treaty, the
number of Western Cherokee in this region could have easily numbered 3,000 to 5,000. Oral
history indicates extreme measures were used in an attempt to remove some of these groups. An
example is the Paint Rock Massacre.
The area north of the White River in south central Missouri was occupied by the White
(sometimes called White Dove) and Northern Cherokee, as well as some smaller groups. They
were directly north of the Cherokee Nation West lands. Most of these were immigrant groups in
the early to mid-1700s. Their oral history is full of stories about attempts to force them out of the
area after the 1828 Treaty, though most seem to have managed to remain (Interview: Snowbird
September 2, 2000, May 2001; Red Wasp (John Dushanack) June 2002). At the time of the 1828
Treaty, there would have been thousands of Western Cherokee in that area.
Northern Cherokee and the Sac River, who came into the area in the mid to late 1700s occupied
the southwestern section of Missouri . These groups are well entrenched in the area and did not
have a lot of difficulties after the 1828 Treaty in the Springfield area (Interview: Richard Craker
November 23 and 24 2001). Thousands would have been living there at the time of the 1828
Treaty.
The Ouachita Cherokee occupied the region of the Ouachita Mountains in southwestern
Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. According to oral history, they had occupied this region
based on a treaty they made with the Caddo in 1791. Though I have not been able to find a copy
of this treaty, agreements with the Caddo and mention of the Cherokee near the Red River are
mentioned historically.
The Coshattas, Delawares, and Cherokees, obtained permission from the Caddos,
to settle on the Red River. .the Cherokees came within the last few years from the
Arkansaw. (Morse 1822:257-258)
half of the tribe has now moved west, residing first around the St. Francis River, next
along the Arkansas, and lastly near the Red River. (Anderson and Lewis 1983:515)
These references may be referring to The Bowle moving down into the Red River area, but The
Bowle moved there since there were sympathetic Western Cherokee to the north in the Ouachita
Mountains of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Large concentrations of Western Cherokee can be found
around Mena and Hot Springs Arkansas, though small groups are spread throughout the Ouachita
National Forest area. There was not a lot of pressure placed on the Ouachita Western Cherokee
after the 1828 Treaty other than for those that lived in the Indian Territory area. Most moved
out of Indian Territory and resettled in Arkansas. As with other areas, there would have been
thousands of Western Cherokee there at the time of the 1828 Treaty.
The St. Francis Western Cherokee were survivors of the New Madrid Earthquake who did not
leave the area after the disaster. Most were survivors of the earthquake, but a subgroup of the
St. Francis Band, who consider themselves more spiritual, call themselves the Crowleys Ridge
group. This group claim to have listened to Tecumsehs (the Shawnee prophet) prophesizes
and concentrated at Crowleys Ridge just months before the earthquake (Eckert 1992:764
citing George Washington Campbell, Letter to H. S. Halbert, n.d., Tecumseh Papers, Draper
Manuscript Collection, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison). Exactly how many
Western Cherokee were in that region in 1828 is uncertain. Considering the length of time
the area had been occupied by the Cherokee, possibly into prehistory, there were thousands
(Interview: Bill Riley June 6, 1999; Many Suns June 7 and 8 1999). Today, the Western
Cherokee are the predominate people in the area.
The mountainous areas south of the Arkansas River in central Arkansas was settled with
groups that moved into the area starting in the mid-1700s with groups coming in as late as
the 1820s. Groups exist today in the area of Dardanelle, Danville, Booneville, Waldron, and
Morrilton, Arkansas. At the time of the 1828 Treaty, this area was occupied by many of the
later immigrants who had moved south of the Arkansas River rather than living in the Cherokee
Nation West Lands. As in other areas, there would have been thousands of Western Cherokee
living in this area. Oral history indicates that many of these people had to stay invisible in
order not to be forced to move to Indian Territory. From historical documents though, they
become quite visible just prior to the Civil War.
The truth is that the people of the Cherokee Nation West did not abandon their lands in
Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma and move to the lands provided for in the Treaty of 1828.
Most remained on their lands and continued their government and traditions in Arkansas,
Missouri, and Oklahoma. The proof that the Western Cherokee did not abandon their lands in
Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma is a simple fact of numbers. By 1819, there were at least
6,000 Western Cherokee occupying the formal Cherokee Nation West lands in Arkansas (Royce
1975:90). By the Treaty of 1828, that number would have grown dramatically with the addition
of immigrants during the first half of the 1820s and with population gains from births. As
discussed earlier, there were also Western Cherokee occupying southern Missouri, northeastern
Arkansas, southwestern Arkansas, and northeastern Oklahoma in 1828 and had representative
districts in the Cherokee Nation West Full Council. So, in all there were at least 15,000 Western
Cherokee in the Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma area by the Treaty of 1828.
From records, it appears that no more than a three thousand members of the Cherokee Nation
West moved into the lands in Indian Territory (future Oklahoma) after the 1828 Treaty. Less
than a thousand were members of the John Brown group of Cherokee in the Russellville,
Arkansas and surrounding area, particularly along the Arkansas River. They moved reluctantly
but voluntarily. More than two thousand Western Cherokee were forced to leave Arkansas on
their own Trail of Tears.
Under pressure from the United States and individual states, Cherokee from the Old
Nation, many destitute to the extreme, continued to migrate west to the Indian Territory.
Arkansas newspapers and missionary journals reported many of these group removals.
During the spring of 1829 some 40 to 50 families passed Little Rock, then 65 more, then
a smaller group; 200 more in February 1830, 70 in March; then in 1832 contingents of
500 in March, 400 in May, 626 in April. Cherokee agent George Vashon reported that
many were so destitute that they were selling their claims to speculators in order to buy
food and supplies (Hoig 1998:143
Many of these contingents moved through Little Rock and were Western Cherokee who were
living in northeastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri. The same locales where oral history
states there were problems with forced removal.
More Western Cherokee may have moved to the Indian Territory lands before the winter of 1839
and the Trail of Tears, but there is no evidence of migrations after 1832, even though the states
of Missouri and Arkansas passed laws attempting to force the Western Cherokee out of their
states.
In Missouri and Arkansas, those Western Cherokee who tried to gain title to the land they had
occupied for more than 100 years were not allowed to retain that land and/or were removed
to Cherokee lands in Indian Territory. This was particularly true if they continued to identify
themselves as "Indian" or exhibited Western Cherokee traits (such as wearing a turban), customs
(i.e. practicing traditional religion by holding festivals and dances), or behaviors (having
multiple spouses). In Missouri, there were laws that prohibited Indians from hunting or roaming
within the state (State of Missouri, 1835, Laws of Indians, Sections 1-7). When Indians went
to the courthouse to register their land, they could be construed as not owning land since they
did not yet have legal title to the land. Therefore, they were Indians "hunting or roaming"
in the state since they did not "own" land. Under state statutes, a militia could be formed to
remove them from the state. If the Indians resisted removal by the militia, they could be forcibly
removed and if the militia felt threatened they could, under Missouri statute, use lethal force.
The law and the actions conducted under the law, in essence, kept "Indians" from living in
Missouri. This law and subsequent similar statutes were not removed until 1909. In addition
to the laws, there was the intimidation Indians received from Whites who wanted their land
and would villainize Indians in order to control them. In Arkansas, there does not appear to
have been state statutes against Indians, but they were removed under the guise of the Cherokee
Treaty of 1828. According to Western Cherokee oral history intimidation and reprisal were also
used to control Indians in Arkansas.
The 1851 Old Settler Roll was a list of Cherokee who were living in Indian Territory when
the main body of Cherokee arrived in the winter of 1839. The list is a few people over 3,000.
This shows that more than half of the members of the Cherokee Nation West did not leave their
Arkansas lands, and as presented in oral histories, the Western Cherokee in other areas did not
remove to Indian Territory. This would have left at least 12,000 Western Cherokee in Arkansas
and southern Missouri at around 1830. That would be a substantial portion of the population in
1830 since according to the U.S. Census Bureau there were 30,388 people living in Arkansas.
The Cherokee Nation West (Western Cherokee) are those people who chose not to remove to
Indian Territory after the illegal Treaty of 1828 and stayed in their lands in Arkansas, Missouri
and Oklahoma
They Western Cherokee are different than the current Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma constitutes
mainly those Cherokee who were removed from the east after the 1835 Treaty of New
Echota. The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians consists some of the post 1817
immigrant Cherokee who came to the Cherokee Nation West in Arkansas and then moved
into Indian Territory after the 1828 Treaty. The arrival of the main body of Cherokees over
the Trail of Tears in 1838 and 1839 led to a power struggle with the Old Settlers over the
structure of the government. The contest ultimately ended in a bloody civil war. (http://
digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/U/UN006.html, Leeds 1992). Today, the United
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee maintains their independence from the Cherokee Nation of
Oklahoma.
The people of the Cherokee Nation West (the Western Cherokee) did not fully participate in
the Cherokee government in Indian Territory. They did not sign the Cherokee Constitution of
1839 and never agreed to merge with the Cherokee in Indian Territory. There were continuing
attempts to form relations with the Cherokee in Indian Territory, and they shared part of
this history with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee. This is still being written and
documented.
Primary documents show that the Cherokee Nation West continued its community, culture,
and government. Most counties outside of southeastern Arkansas have a Western Cherokee
Old Settlers Census for 1850 or 1860. We are still working on these censuses to determine the
populations sizes and community just prior to the United States Civil War. And these were
individuals willing to admit they were Western Cherokee despite the prejudice and possible
expulsion to Indian Territory with the loss of everything they owned. The documentation of this
continuance is being researched and prepared and will be provided in future documents. This
history was constructed to provide the Western Cherokee with some of the evidence for their
separate and distinct identity. As research continues hundreds of documents for the early history
of the Western Cherokee will be added.
References
Akridge, Scott
1986 De Sotos Route in North Central Arkansas. Field Notes: Newsletter of the Arkansas Archeological
Society No. 211, pages 3-7. Fayetteville.

Anderson, William and James Lewis
1983 A Guide to Cherokee Documents in Foreign Archives. The Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey.

Cherokee Phoenix, November 12, 1828; Letter from William Thornton dated September 28,
1828.

Dickinson, Sam
1987 Arkansass Spanish Halberds. The Arkansas Archeologist Volumes 25 & 26, pages 53-62. Arkansas
Archeological Society, Fayetteville.

Documents Related to the Negotiations of Indian Treaties, United States, Annals of the Congress
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Eckert, Allan W.
1992 A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh, Bantam Books, New York.

Foreman, Grant
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Hawk, Black
1882 Autobiography of MA-KA-TAI-ME-SHE-KIA-KIAK, or Black Hawk: Embracing the traditions of his nation,
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J.B. Paterson edi, Oquawka, Illinois.

Hoig, Stan
2008 The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade. Albuquerque, New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press.

Houck, Louis
1909 The Spanish Regime in Missouri, Volume 1. R. R. Donnelley and Sons Company, Chicago.

Hudson, Charles
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Kappler, Charles
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Leeds, George R.
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Lewis, Dr. Anna
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Markham, Robert Paul
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Mitchem, Jeffrey M.
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35, pages 87-95. Arkansas Archeological Society, Fayetteville.

Morse, Dan F.
1988 Comments on Arkansass Spanish Halberds by Sam Dickinson. Field Notes: Newsletter of the Arkansas
Archeological Society No. 222, pages 7-10. Fayetteville.

Morse, Dan F., and Phyllis A. Morse
1990 The Spanish Exploration of Arkansas. In Columbian Consequences, Volume 2: Archaeological and Historical
Perspectives on the Spanish Borderlands East, edited by David Hurst Thomas, pp. 197-210.
Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C..

Royce, Charles C.
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Sabo, George III
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Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Schambach, Frank F.
1989 The End of the Trail: The Route of Hernando de Sotos Army Through Southwest Arkansas and
East Texas. The Arkansas Archeologist Volumes 27 & 28, pages 9-33. Arkansas Archeological Society,
Fayetteville.

Starr, Emmet
1917 Early History of the Cherokees: Embracing Aboriginal Customs, Religion, Laws, Folk Lore, and Civilization, Emmet
Starr publisher, copy from the University of Tulsa.

Spanish Dominion Arkansas Post (1763-1802). Selected French and Spanish Translations, Archivo General
do Indias Sevilla Paples de Cuba, Legajo 107, Paris Archives Nationale 1766-1785.


Thomas, A. B. French and Spanish Exploration of Oklahoma 1713-1763. Chronicles of Oklahoma 6:2, Junes
1928:201-212.

Young, Gloria A., and Michael P. Hoffman (editors)
1999 The Expedition of Hernando de Soto West of the Mississippi, 1541-1543. University of Arkansas Press,
Fayetteville.

@ Dr. Timothy Jones
Property of the Cherokee Nation West