Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1898-06-02


love-gifts at the feet of the strip
ling who was soon to fatten upon
their liberality, grow mighty and
finally arrogate to himself the mas
terv of his old host and benefactor.
In this way, it was, that Virginia,
the mother of presidents, was
"conceded;" in the same way, too,
the Carolinas were "conceded;"
and Georgia, the golden, and wild
Kentucky, with Alabama, the
beautiful land of plenty and rest,
were all conceded" And yet,
in return for all these imperial
benefactions at the hand of the
Cherokees, what have they ever
received but a transient smile of
ungrateful satisfaction, and a
wretched little volume of false
promises called treaties?
But the time came at length, in
the course of years, when it was
deemed by the Cherokees that this
extravagant species of liberality
had needs to be discontinued 1t
had been found to be trenchIng So
seriously upon the amplitude of
their original domain, that the mo
lives of self preservation suggested
with much emphasis the imprac
ticability of further CONCESSIONS"
they could give no more. Con
cessions," with them, came to
bear the significance of expatria-
ton. impoverishment, starvation,
beggary, and despised tramphood
strolling from door to door in
quest OF ill-paid labor and poor
bread.
In their new home west of the
Mississippi, they had been Undue
ed by the iattering promises OF
the government, TO entertain very
cheerful hopes of future eternity
of repose; but in this also they
were deluded. The old demand
for concession" like a trailing
spectre, hung upon their heels,
and, at the cl ose of the late war,
found out their retreat and set
upon them with renewed and quite
unexampled ferocity. AT the first
note of alarm, hearlding the break
ing out OF hostilities, the govern
ment hastened to withdraw her
troops from the south, leaving her
helpless wards, the Cherokees, TO
shift for themselves ih the heart of
the Southern Confederacy. At the
close of the struggle, Congress pro-
iessed itself to be seriously offend
ed with them, because they had,
in the meantime, failed to keep the
Union flag aloft over ground upon
which even Mr.. Lincoln's armies
had deemed it unsafe, at the time,
to bivouac for single night. The
result was, they had to "concede'
the western half of their country
as a penalty for disloyalty. Nor
was this the whole of that most
unjust and unreasonable punish.
ment. The Cherokees were, al
this time, owning handsome tract
of eight hundred thousand acres,
lying, like a jewel, snug down in
the southeastern corner of the
state of Kansas; this was included
in the penalty, and had to be ICON
ceded" accordingly. Nor was this
the whole of il. 1t was found that
those ancient surveyors who ran
the western boundary line of the
state of Arkansas and the southern
line of Kansas, had made a mis-
take, fixing the former, in many
important places, much too far to-
ward the east, and the latter
throughout, some miles too far to
the north. Hence it came to pass,
apparently as an uncontrived ne
cessity, that. when these two lines
were corrected by the modern
sticklers for concession" the
CAerokees found that they bad
again to "concede" many thous-
and additional acres, to be shared
by these two states in proportion
to the gravity of the wrong which
had been practiced upon them re-
specti7ely in the old survey. Nor
was this all; the penalty was still
further enlarged in the following
manner:
The Cherokees were required by
the government to assent to the
construction of as many, at least,
a. two railroads through their
lands, and to "concede" to these
corporations, as mere gratuity,
all and whatever of their realty
that might be needed for such Il
purpose This, however. was but
a little matter compared with the
magnitude of the injustice by which
this measure was subsequently,
supplemented Congress, without
the knowledge or consent of the
Cherokees, and in violation of the
most sacred forms of plighted
faith, made a conditional free gilt
to one of these corporations of
about eight hundred thousand
acres in the very center OF the
Cherokee home lands. Now, the
government had, for valuable con-
sideraiion, engaged with the Cher
okees to keep them in peaceful
possession of this, their home tract
for all time to come; but instead of
observing this promise, she in this
way virtUally subsidized one of the
most powerful! agencies on earth
to annoy them without ceasing.
Accordingly, for the last thirty
years this corporation has been
tireless in c)ntriving schemes for
the bringing about OF that specified
condition (the extinguishment of
the Cherokee tile. which, accord
ing TO the terms of the grant, Was
10 no fact it, nu,, fltla and rive II