Description:

John Ross
Park Hill, OK, July 8, 1861
Cherokee Chief John Ross Letter Reiterating Alliance with Confederacy
AD
A clerical copy of a letter written by Cherokee Chief John Ross, regarding a Treaty of Alliance with the Confederacy. 2pp, measuring 7.5" x 12.5", Park Hill, Cherokee Nation, dated July 8, 1862. Signed by the clerk on behalf of Ross, "John Ross Princ. Chief Cherokee Nation." In a letter addressed to Colonel William Weer, commander of the Union's "Indian Expedition", Ross refuses to meet with Weer due to a prior treaty having been signed between the Cherokees and the Confederate States. With flattened mail folds and small separations at the edges. Light toning and soiling. Wear and thinning in places, likely from a removed seal. Very good overall.

In part:
"Your communication…under a flag of Truce per Doc. Gilpatrick have been duly received and in reply I have to state that a Treaty of Alliance under the sanction and authority of the whole Cherokee People was, entered into on the 7th day of October 1861 between the Confederate States and the Cherokee Nation; and published before the world. And you cannot but be too well informed on the subject, to make it necessary for me to recapitulate the reasons and circumstances under which it was done. Thus the destiny of this people became identified with that of the Southern Confederacy. There is no Nation of Indians, I venture to say, that has ever been more scrupulous in the faithful observance of their Treaty obligations, then the Cherokees!...my policy has ever been to preserve peace and good feelings among my people and the observance of law, and order - That the horrors of Civil War with which this beautiful country is threatened is greatly to be deprecated…I cannot under existing circumstances entertain the proposition for an official interview between us, at your Camp. I have therefore respectfully to decline to comply with your request…"

John Ross, or "Mysterious Little White Bird" (1790-1866) served as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 until his death. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Cherokee people were divided, with some choosing to support the Confederacy to protect their slaveholdings, while others feared allying themselves with the rebelling states might void previous treaties with the U.S. government. Ross attempted to keep the Cherokee Nation neutral, but eventually signed an alliance with the Confederacy in order to keep his people together. Even so, many Cherokee people less committed to the Confederacy and more committed to the Cherokee Nation refused to engage in battles against other Native peoples. At those close of the war, the U.S. government required the Five Civilized Tribes to negotiate new peace treaties. Although Ross had previously negotiated with Lincoln during the war, the assassination enabled U.S. commissioners to treat the Cherokee Nation as a defeated enemy. As Ross had feared, commissioners used the alliance with the Confederacy to enact strict penalties upon the Cherokee Nation.

William Weer (1824-1867) was a lawyer, attorney general for Kansas and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1861, Weer was appointed to command the so-called "Indian Expedition" into the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), with the goal of driving Confederate forces out of the territory. A sizable force of 5,000 men was assembled and departed from Baxter Springs, Kansas. The expedition started well, but eventual low supplies, oppressive summer heat, and indecision on Weer's part led to extreme low morale among the Union troops. Weer's habitual drunkenness led to a mutiny among the other officers of the expedition, and he was arrested and relieved of command.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.5" x 12.5"
  • Medium: AD

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