Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1875-10-28
QUALLA.
The Cherokees of Western
North Carolina.
The Story Of An Almost Forget
teR People.
NEW Yoh Tribune, ;Sth.l-

anu paIhetic III we COulu ROD
ourselves Of the Consciousness that
they are Indians, we should find it as
strange IS that of the flight of a Tar.
ter tribe told !by DE Quincy. They
are q tribe of Cherokees who were not
included in the treaties of 1919 and
1896, by which the United States
bought the land belonging to the In
dians in the South and gave them In
lieu tracts west of the Mississippi.
The great body Of red men removed
leaving this fragment of a people.
numbering about 1900 souls, still oc.
cupying their original territory, a
mountainous region called Qualla, wa.
tered by the Tuckaseege and Ocon-
alutta Rivers. TIL s tribe fell for a
whole generation under the absolute
control Of a single white man, who, We
are told, exercised q dictatorship as
unlicensed over them rs did "Dr. Fran.
cia over the half breeds of Paraguay"
This man was their ruler, jude, bust,
ness agent. religious leader, and in a
word master of their souls and bodies
They married. worked, and managed
their households wholly according to
his orders. The man a, parently had
some ill-dcfned ideas Of morality. for
although he permitted ~polygamy among
them he compelled the whole tribe to
sign the pledge, and what is more to
keep it. Ills conscience. however,
did not hinder him from following the
usual couIse of the white man with
the red. In the thirty years in which
he ruled them he managed to possess
himself of every foot OF the large ter.
ritory owned by them, and also of a Z
ditional tracts purchased by the mon
ey paid them by Government in lieu of
that which would have been given
them had they gone West. This whole
region was held in his name; conse
quently when his outside speculations
failed, it was seized by his creditors
and sold under the hammer. 1t was
the ground on Which these Indians had
lived since the memory Of man, and
for every foot of which their money
had paid These Cherokees. too,
differ from their Western brethren in
that they have never made public ap.
peals for aid, have received no help
from any religious body, have no mis-
%sionaries or teachers, and yet have
lived %peaceable, inoffcnsive lives. work.
Ing willingly and hard to better their
condition have built with their own
means two churches in which men of
their nation preach and have bought
by hard l'bor ten thousand acres Of
land under cultivation. ur
The case of swindling was so fragrant
that when it vas brought into the
courts of North Carolina judgment was
promptly awarded on behalf of the In,
dians, and they are noG restored to
the possession Of their homes and land
Justice, it appears. does not wear so
thick a bandage III Puncombe County
as in Washington. Bat the probabili.
ty is, now that they are restored to
thcil rigl is. that the honest nlen who
aided them to gain them will blake
themselves to their own concel ms, and
the poor Indians become the prey of a
dozen spectators instead. as hereto
fore, of one. They number about H..
600 they are shut in by high noun.
tain ranges and almost impracticable
hill roads from the rest of mankind {:
they are untaugbt but eager for know,
ledge and for q place in the unknos N
world outside. Since the decision in
their favor lin May last) Government
agents, traders, and dealers in whisky
have become cognizant of their where
abouts, and penetrated the hitherto
untraveled gorges of the 'Soco and
Oconalufta. Unless something is done
by better men in their behalf, there is
every probability that this people will
be driven down the short road to rum,
which the Indians always tread SO
readily. .atgur .s. q. H.el
a writer in LippincoH's Mugaziae,
who explored their country thoroughly
last Summer, states the facts for the
purpose of inducing some church or
individuals to take up the work of
educating them. We all know vast Is
the scheme of missionary work at
tempted by Christian churches in
America. the sums required for its
support, and the zeal and fervor with