In
the American Civil War the Union Army did not hit Indian Territory until well
into 1862, and only in full force in mid-1863. However, there was one major
campaign, perhaps the most tragic one of all. In a period 35-45 years earlier
the members of the Five Civilized Tribes and been driven off their land in the
East by the executive and unconstitutional power of US President Andrew
Jackson. For the Cherokees, the forced relocation to what is now Oklahoma
became known as the Trail of Tears. The events at the end of 1861 would be
known as the Trail of Blood on Ice.
Primary
sources for the campaign are somewhat scarce for somebody running a blog out of
Illinois. I was limited to letters contained in The Prairie Was on Fire, a wonderful source for anybody who wants
firsthand accounts of the Civil War in Indian Territory, and the official
battle and campaign reports. Aside from a letter in which Indian agent Carruth
communicates with Creek chief Opothleyahola, they are all from the Confederate
perspective. As for the secondary sources, the best was Now the Wolf Has Come, a book that seeks to reframe the campaign
entirely from the Creek’s perspective. The two authors of the book, Christine
and Benton White, do alert the reader that the Creeks’ biases come to the fore,
so keep that in mind when some heavy accusations are made against white figures
such as General Douglas Cooper. I also tried to flesh out the sources with web
sources, chiefly from the Oklahoma Historical Society, but I decided not to
include them because the information was so brief and already covered in the
books.
The Creek chief named in the image and below (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Opothle_Yaholo.jpg)
Opothleyahola
When
the Civil War began to take shape, the Confederacy was keen to make the
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations allies. They hoped
they would serve as a buffer force between Kansas and Texas. The task for many
of these nations was actually not too hard, thanks to shared cultural
traditions and the Federal Government’s abandonment of protection and services.
The latter factor was caused by the Union’s prioritization of beating
Confederates further east.
However,
many Indians also opposed an alliance with the Confederacy because they
preferred the Union, or, in the case of the following individual, did not want
to get wrapped up in a “white man’s war.” His name was Opothleyahola. He was of
the Creek Nation (their official names is Muscogee, but for the sake of lining
up with my sources I will refer to them as Creek). His name stood out in stark
contrast to the other major Creek chiefs, who had taken up western names. This
was very symbolic. Opothleyahola was a deeply conservative traditionalist who
despised much of white culture. To him whites were demons responsible for all
that had befallen the Creeks. He was more not likely to be seen in the suit and
shirt of the whites, and he rejected Christianity.
Opothleyahola
was old enough to have been present when the great Pan-Indian Shawnee Tecumseh
visited the Creeks. Tecumseh had preached that the Indians must return to their
old ways of living and makes themselves pure of both the physical and cultural
encroachments of the white men. Opothleyahola was struck by Tecumseh’s words
and had been on the side of the Red Sticks in the Creek Civil War. It was
during this event that he gained a dislike for the opposing Creeks’ white
American allies. Now he saw himself as the protector of the Creeks’ old ways.[1]
His
arch-enemies were the McIntosh family. Back during the days of Indian removal,
the McIntosh faction had voluntarily decided to head west. Their journey west
was not the mournful procession that the rest of the Creeks would face. They
even entered their new lands on steamboats, and brought their slaves with them.
Having first dibs at their new home, they quickly grabbed much of the best
farmland and set up farms and plantations.[2]
By
contrast the rest of the Creeks, the majority of them, had a miserable time of
it when they were forced out of what is now Alabama. As they trekked west they
fell into destitution, constantly cheated by more unsavory whites, exposed to
the elements, forced to endure long marches in rough conditions. When they
finally arrived the McIntosh faction was wary. They agreed to let this second
wave of migration stay as long as they accepted the laws they had already set
up.[3]
It
took time to adjust to the new country. The majority of Creeks built
settlements along the rivers, but, being unfamiliar with the weather and
natural cycles of Indian Territory, found themselves hit by flooding that wrecked
their homes, drowned valuable livestock, and propagated the spread of diseases.
Through it all Opothleyahola sought to do what he could to revive his peoples’
prosperity.[4]
Helping
the Creeks rebuild were Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian missionaries. Most
were white, though at least one was black. They set up schools at which the
Creek children could receive education and learn how to read and write. For
this case Opothleyahola made an exception, as he understood that such talents
would help his people deal with further intrusions from the United States.
Despite his efforts, the mixed-bloods were more willing or likely to attend the
new schools. Not only did this tie them more to American culture, it guaranteed
that they would have educational advantages over the other Creeks.[5]
Opothleyahola also held black slaves, just like most wealthier Creeks. It
should be noted, however, that slavery by the Creeks had existed before the
arrival of the whites. The only adjustment made to it was that only blacks could
be held in bondage.
When these mixed-bloods began to respond positively to an alliance with the Confederacy, it was only natural that Opothleyahola would stand in opposition.
Planning the
Exodus
During
the pre-war Secession crisis, militant Texans surged into Indian Territory,
keen to seize Federal property. Colonel William Emory of the Federal forces
entered the territory to determine if the Union should maintain their handful
of scattered posts: Forts Arbuckle, Cobb, Gibson, and Washita. As it turned out,
soldiers had already evacuated Fort Cobb. For his part Emory, fearing an attack
on Fort Washita, evacuated that site as well, and the garrison of Fort Arbuckle
joined him without orders. The Union was abandoning Indian Territory and with
it protection from the Comanches and Kiowa. The new Confederate forces assumed
command of the forts.[6]
It
did not help that the government agent assigned to the Creeks was an Alabamian
secessionist named William Garrett. He ensured that none of the Creeks could
easily and directly communicate with the Federal government. At the same time
the federal government was aware of Garrett’s duplicity and withheld the
promised annuities for fear that the agent would divert them to the Confederacy.
They may as well have sent them, for by withholding them the Creeks felt
further abandoned by the government and more open to Confederate overtures.[7]
As bonds between the Creeks and white southerners tightened, the Creek General
Council passed a law requiring all free blacks to go into servitude. They were
allowed to choose their master, but that could not have been much of a relief.[8]
Opothleyahola
looked on these developments in dismay. Already hostile to the whites, he did
not want to see his people risk their lives and their nation in an alliance
with the same people who had dispossessed them a generation earlier. He and
others held the mixed-bloods back from making such an alliance. One Creek,
James Scott, was ten when he saw aged chief. He recounted that his “heart was
sad at all the war talk. He visited the homes of his followers or any of the
Indians and gave them encouragement to face all these things, but above all
things to stay out of the war. It was no affair of the Indians.”[9]
In June he and many of the full-blooded chiefs left to attend a council of
Great Plains Indians. This was a major political mistake. With most of their opposition
out of the way, pro-Southern mixed-blood chiefs were able to meet with
Confederate officials and other Indian leaders. Naturally they allied with the
Confederacy, and the new deals they struck were actually more favorable than
those made with the Federal government.[10]
 |
| John Ross letter to Opothleyahola |
Feeling betrayed, neutral and Unionist Creeks joined with like-minded people from the other Indian groups to seek aid from the Union. William Garrett noted these developments with alarm. Technically the Creek Nation was allied with the Confederacy, but according to his estimates there was a severe division. The Lower Creeks were mostly pro-Confederate, but the Upper Creeks largely went against. Overall he counted 1,675 “Southern” Creek warriors and 1,575 “Northern” Creek warriors, a nearly-50-50 division though the Confederate faction was now better armed. John Ross, President of the Cherokee Nation, was sympathetic to Opothleyahola and had previously backed his efforts to keep Indian Territory neutral. But Ross had to cave in to pressure when a rival faction of pro-Confederate Cherokees threatened to supersede his authority. Now he begged the aged Creek not to give the Confederates and their Indian allies any pretext to attack him. But his pleas went ignored. Indian vs. Indian violence looked more likely every day. In her history of the creeks, the historian Angie Debo noted that this was a tragic repeat of history, as earlier in the century Creeks had divided in a larger conflict between a still young United States and the older European powers in the War of 1812.[11]
Opothleyahola
was encouraged by a response to his messages north. It was from E.H. Carruth,
another US Indian agent. “I am authorized to inform you that the President will
not forget you. Our Army will soon go South, and those of your people who are
true and loyal to the Government will be treated as friends…The commissioners
from the Confederates States have deceived you. They have got two tongues. They
wanted to get the Indians to fight, and they would rob and plunder you if they
can get you into trouble…His soldiers will soon drive these men who have
violated your homes from the land they have treacherously entered.” Carruth
sent further letters to various loyal leaders among the Indian peoples. Each
letter requested that some of their best men be sent to Kansas to meet with
Federal authorities and then to Washington to meet President Lincoln. Each
letter also promised protection for whoever refused to ally with the
Confederacy and the short arrival of Federal troops.[12]
The
anti-Confederate Creeks had a plan on how to gather without attracting
premature attention. Some Creek families with herds of pigs and cattle would
round up their animals and slaughter a large portion of them. The dead animals’
meat was dried preserved. Families and small groups would leave their homes and
take planned out routes to a great gathering place. Each had a bundle of
sticks. Each morning they would dispose of a stick until there was none left.
As the sticks were thrown away, these small groupings began to converge.[13]
Opothleyahola
went with a rearguard of armed, mounted men. One night while they camped in a
grove of oak, a white man named John Taylor rode to them. The Confederates were
aware that something was happening and had sent Taylor, a merchant and trader,
to talk the Creek chieftain into surrender. He warned that if he and the others
continued on their course, there would be war and suffering in Indian
Territory. Opothleyahola, who had been sitting on a log, met Taylor’s words
with silence. At this moment the White learned that he was surrounded by
Creeks, their rifles leveled at him. Opothleyahola declared him their prisoner.
He hoped that by taking Taylor with him, he would cause confusion among the
Confederates as to what had happened.[14]
The
size of Opothleyahola’s exodus has been estimated as high as 8,000 people, with
1,500 of those men armed for battle. It was not entirely a Creek affair.
Inspired by Tecumseh, Opothleyahola had reached out to others unwilling to ally
with the Confederacy. To quote Now the Wolf Has Come, “Let the white men slay
one another until the earth was soaked in their venomous blood…Let the many
peoples join as brothers of the same fire; Let them all shun the white man’s
war, and the gods would protect them.” Many had already been looking for a way
out of the war. Among those who heeded the Creek chief’s call were Delawares,
Kickapoos, Seminoles, and Shawnees. There were also hundreds of enslaved and
free blacks. Although Opothleyahola had no abolitionists aspirations, there
were runaway slaves in his group, riding ponies they had stolen from their
masters. Seeing an anti-Confederate exodus, this was an opportunity to escape
enslavement for free-soil Kansas. The massive body of people moved north as one
unified body on November 15.[15]
Actually,
Opothleyahola had another option on his mind, one that might remove any need to
interact with US government. To the west of Indian Territory were the Comanche.
The Comanche are rightly among the most well-known Indian peoples. After
mastering the horse, they dominated the western plains for centuries. Maps in
1861 showed the western borders of Texas and Indian Territory, but in reality
these regions often fell into Comancheria. The fierce Comanche warriors, often
alongside their Kiowa allies, constantly warred on their neighbors, including
the displaced nations in Indian Territory. Now Opothleyahola called for a great
alliance. As Indians, they should all stand together, staying free of the
emerging Civil War. A few Comanches were moved by his entreaties and some would
even join his exodus. The rest, however, were dismissive. The Comanche had
reigned supreme and could not imagine their destruction by the Americans, much
less if they were busy slaughtering each other.[16]
https://buchananej.wixsite.com/7-
cherokee-clans/the-wild-potato
So
Kansas it was. As it moved the north, the great exodus absorbed several smaller
groups, such as the Yuchis and Alabamas. Naturally with all these culture
mingling together, tensions rose. Some of the Indian peoples would refuse to
interact with traditional enemies. The Delawares killed a fox, a sacred animal
of the Cherokee Potato Clan (emblematic mask pictured left). Fortunately Opothleyahola had the natural presence
and ability to defuse these situations before they broke his movement apart. [17] So far the great chief had quelled fighting among those in his charge, but soon he would need to manage fighting against the true enemies. The Confederates and their Indian allies would not allow these differing Creeks and their friends to reach Kansas unmolested.
Next: Two battles erupt on the Trail of Blood on Ice.
[1] Christine Schultz White and
Benton R. White, Now the Wolf Has Come:
The Creek Nation in the Civil War, (Texas
A&M University Press, 1996), 19-20.
[2] Angie Debo, Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians,
(Oklahoma Press, 1941), 95.
[3] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 100-102.
[4] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 108.
[5] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 120; Mary Jane Warde,
George Washington Grayson and the Creek
Nation, 1843-1920, (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 41-42.
[6] Thom Hatch, The Blue, the Gray, & the Red: Indian Campaigns of the Civil War,
(Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole, 2003), 2.
[7] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 142.
[8] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 143.
[9] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 151.
[10] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 144-146.
[11] Debo, Road to Disappearance, 149-150; Hatch, Indian Campaigns, 7.
[12] United States, The War of
the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies Vol. VIII.
(Washington D.C. 1883), 25-26.
[13] White, Wolf Has Come, 15; Debo, Road to Disappearance, 151.
[14] White, Wolf Has Come, 20-22.
[15] Hatch, Indian Campaigns, 8; White, Wolf Has Come, 23; Warde, George Washington Grayson, 60; Edwards, Prairie was on Fire, 13.
[16] White, Wolf Has Come, 24-25.
[17] White, Wolf Has Come, 36-38.
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