Union and American. [volume] (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1875-1877, 1875-12-02
DOEgWt..11,aaR!
An AtnaOSt f0rGOffess Hnce OF
Reo.le IA. fLe MAua3n{kau ak

an
People in fhe Mountains OF
.SI ENOs'fh sGaroitna.s
Editor. UaIon and Amsricaa:
= Theys are the remnants Of the
two eacs large aAdspewerfBl kribes
of Cherokee andCatawba Insiians,
tha held Cor neasIy 3 sensnry and
a half all the lands Of the State of
n G. Their chief settlement wac
Crest smoky MouDt1
aims and the Tuckaseege river
They were not jnctuded in the
treaties Of 1Si9-36 by which the
United States bought all their
lands, and gave them instead lands
hing weat-of the Miss ssippi river,
as hunting grounds. A great body
Of the red mep removed to their
new homes, leaving this fragment
OF a people, a mountain region call
ed Qualla, watered by the Tucka-
seege and Ocona Lufta ~Iivers, in
North Carolina. Qualla Town is
chiefly inhabited b, the Cllerokees
among whom are a few OF the Ca
tawba tribe. They have a tract of
81 thousand acres of land given
them as a reservation aud hunting
grounds by tho U. S. Go.erarnenI.
The Qualla Town people are di-
vided into seven clans, each elan
has q town, over which a chief pre-
sides. Nearly all of them can read
IN their own language, and most
of them can understand English,
but few can speak it. They man
ufactured. until within the last few
years, their W clothes, farming
utensils. and guns. Now they are
furnished them by the Govern
ment. They have their councils,
aad all disputes, and a~ggressions
are settled by their own judges.
lawyers and %juries. They pay no
taxes, but have the right of fran
chise, which, however, is rarely ex-
ercised. Within the last 80 years
letters for the Cherokee alphabet
have been invented by q native
Indian. 1t consists of Sc cliarac-
ter Each one represents n single
syllable. The New Testament and
many works have been printed in
this language. rr.s.
Early in the history of the United
States they desired To remove west
of the Mississippi river, as the
white man Was encroaching upon
them, q few, however, wished to
remain on the lands of their faith
crs, and become c%nltivators OF the
soil. Both petitions were granted,
and those that washed to move were
sent to new hunthag grounds. and
the few that wished to remain were
made citizens oil the United States,
and each family was allowed q res
ervation OF $40 acres Of land. The
whites claimed this land and in
stituted suits IN the Courts 1t was,
finally decided in favor Of the In
dians, and thereafter they lived
happily under their good old chief,
Drowning Bear for E:on,a-gus-kal
About 1850 their old chief assem-
bicd them in council to try and i'm
prove their condition and he be-
came convinced that whiskey, and
whiskey traders would eventually.
destroy::himsef and his people. He
determined TO live temperate. He.
quoted for example the present
and previous condition of the Ca
tawba tribe whowere almost totally
extinct. all caused by the Injurious
effects of intemperancc. He caused
a pledge to be written out and had
it signed by the whole tribe, and
what is more compelled them to
keep il. In course Of time E on a.
gus-ka died. just before his death
he called a single white man to his
b dside and, accor ling to the GUS
toms of his tribe. he appointed his
Successor. He gave the govern
ment of his people to this man.
who for a number of years has eX-
erciscd al unlicensed dictatorship
over !hem. He WAS their judge,
ruler, business agent, and, in short,
their master. They did everything
wholly according to his order. The
man MAS NOT without some ill-defin-
eel ideas of morality for, although
he permitted p0lygamy among
theM, he compelled them all to
sign the pledge again, and keep it.
At last he managed to hold in hls
name every foot of land owned by
the IAdIsns, and when his outside
speeolatiOns failed it was seized
by his creditors aad sold. 1t was
the ground on which these Indians
had lived ever since the memory
al mah,aAd for every foot of which
their money had paid. The case
Of swIndling was sO fagrant that
when it a brought into the
Gnurts of North Carolina Judgment
Was promptly awarded in behalf
Of the Indians, But the proba-
bllity 10 now, since the decision in
their favor. in May last. the poor
Indians will become the prey Of
a half dozen spectators instead of
one as heretofore.
They number about 10000, and
are shut in by high mountain
ranges and almost impossible hill
roads, from the rest of mankind.
Soon the untrayeled gorges of the
SOeO and OcOna Lufta will be PEN
esrated by Government agents,
traders and dealers in whiskey. and
drive the Indian down the short
road to ruin, which he always
treaas sc rapidly. Last May a
Surveying party IA sent oNs from
this place under MI. n. s. Te0ple,
U. S. Surveyor General, to survey
the lands recovered by the Indians,
and lay OF homes for them ALL
The party has suspended opera
tiOSs for the winter, bst will re-
sumo again in the spring. When
this SURVEY Is finished it is to be
hoped that the whites will allow
the few remaining Indians to live
in peace and qHietutle and become
useful citizens the rest of their
days. So-Lo-LA-NI-rA.
.fE Letter Iisf, a-s-