The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-10-06
AN OLD CHOCTAW CHIEF.
PUSH-MA-TA-HA: THE WARRIORS
SEAT IS FINISHED.
life and Deeds Of nm Interesting sa,ag"
Who Wa. - Friend of Andrew Jachs""
o,a u,sL,,, said lie Was thsSBravest Of
All Indians.
Especial Corrcspondencel

lSrcclal Correspondence
KANSAS CRY. Oct. 3.-Thc Choctaws
Are possessed of the most picturcsquely /
beautiful aud inherently fertile portion T.
Of the Indian territory. IL may with
truth bc said there can scarcely bc
found a finer country on carih-magnli.
cent valleys with their rich share oil
wooded streams, gently undulating up .
lands. and an clysian cxpansc of pralrie.
watcred by the Arkansas. and tho "hcd +
river of the south.
The Choctaws, or, properly, ChataS' |
when De Soto, who was the first ex-
plorer on the continent to ueet them
15iO. occupied an immense region,
now comprised in Mississippi. Alabama
Georgia and Florida. and, unlike their
surrounding neighbors, were peaceably
disposed-a nation OF farmers, much
further advanced in civilization than
any other tribe.
This tribe has produced some of the
greatest characters in Indian history
whose deeds have long ago been woven
into the archives of the United States,
and it has been my fortune TO have
known one or two intimately and many
Of the lineal descendants of others.
The most conspicuous of all, and the
one whose memory is revered to tins DAY
with almost saint like alteration, was
"Push.ma-ta-ha,' which means "Ihe
warriors seat is finished.
lie was born in Mississippi in 1863,
and died in Washington, ID. c., Dec. -,
1894 He had distinguished himself on
the warpath before he was 20 years old'
He joined an expedition against the
Osages. whose country lay west OF tho
great river. and was laughed at by the
older members Of the party because OF
his boyishness and propensity 70 talk'
The Osages were defeated in conflict
that lasted an entire day. "Push-ma-
ta-ha" disappeared early in the ight'
and when he returned to the camp at
midnight he was ieercd at, and openly
accused of cowardicc. Let those laugh,
was his reply, "who can show more
scalps than l. whcreupon he took i've
from his pouch and threw them on the
ground!
They were the result of an onslaught
he had made single handed on the en-
emv's rear and this feat gained for INN
the title of "The Eagle.
After spending several years in Mex
leo. he went alone to Torauqua village
killed seven men with MS own hand,
and made good his retreat uninJured
Duting the next two years he made three
additional expeditions into the Iorauqua
country and added eight fresh scalps 10
his war costume.
For fifteen years afterwards he seemed
to have slipped out of history but III
1910 was living on the Tonfbigbce river
and had the reputation of being an eA'
pert Indian ball player.
During the war of 1912 he promptly
took sides with the United States. and II
was through his eloquenceand influence
AT the great council ordered by Iecum
sch the celebrated Shawnee, for the pur
pose of uniting all the southern Indians
with the English, that the purpose o.
the council was defeated and the Choc
Jaws sided with our people.
That memorable council was held OF
the Tombigbee river, about five miles
4 north of where Columbus, Miss, now Is
, It lasted ten days and nights, and a
! first all the warriors counseled neutrality
hut John Pitchlynn and "Push-ma- ia
haw
Tecumseh made the grandest oratorica
effort of his life, and apparently had l
all his own way until Push-ma-ta-ha
who was then 81, addressed the assem-
blaze. and then the great Shawnee che
could only persuade portion OF IN
warriors 10 follow him.
The proceedings of that famous coun
: Gil must have been solemnly impressive
but no official record, of course, wa
; kent. because the Indians who partlc
q mated at that time were "untutored say
1 ages" and without written language
= for it was not until ten years afterward
that Se-auo-vah, the Cadmus OF the Chez
okees, completed his alphabet.
Some of the spectacular features Of IN
- mighty gathering were told to me SIX
. seven years ago by the son-then an Of
- man-of one of the earliest Baptist mi
" sionaries 10 the Choctaws. who was pre-
ent fthe Rev. Mr.. Cushman), and VII
=, often related the story TO his family.
= One of the ceremonies particularly II
terested me, because it rescmbled Il
- sacrifice of the Jews during the admin
"a istration of Moses-but am not one
= those who believe in the theory that Il
g Indians of America are descendants
q s.the lost tribes of Israeli" | am firm
q nv conviction Of an indigenous orig
for the primitive peoples of this cont
II nent. which many of their tradition
= confirm. The ceremony referred 10 WI
% the demand made by the prophet OF Il
"a tribe-so called, and who in the Chocta
& cult of that period, seemed TO bear Il
a same relation to his people as the me
/ icine man of today among the Plan
Indians. This prophet, to more del
70 nitely determine the question OF ne
~ trality. or whether the nation should sic
rs with the English or Americans In Il
,e impending war, ordered brought TO IN
pr ga spotless red heier" with which
N propitiate the Great Spirit and Leaf
@. His desires or advice on the vexed que
m toni
The required animal was shortly pr
ne duced, a huge altar of logs constructe
Is the beast with much ceremony slaug
er tered by the prophet, its naked carca
lc dedicated to the flames, and while Il
Is thick smoke OF the offering was ascen
ing to the clouds, he took the bloody hid
and commanding every warrior to thro
himself prone upon the ground, Ia
downward, which. as soon - lac WI
lin oteyed, he wrapped himself III IN al
err waited for communication from Il
~ Great Spirit!
More than an hour was occupied
ho this curious but impressive ncantatio
lie meanwhile not a warrior moved iro
his his abject position; not a sound disturb
led the awful silence save the cracking
III ,ha ior,o and tho cizzinO OF the lelfe