Hattiesburg daily progress. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 18??-1909, 1902-12-15
A CHOCTAW MIGRATION.

Without single emotion, save al
occasional heaving of the bosom, OF
tear glistening i'll beady eyes, a
party of 40 ChOctaw Indians stood at
the union depot last night awaiting
the train which was to carry them to
their new homes in the Indian Terri
tory. They spent yesterday in Meri-
dian and attracted much attention.
They were accompanied by Mr.. j. Z.
Arnold of ArdmOre, l. T., who is pro-
noting the ChOctaw emigration
scheme. Since the last session OF
congress, when the Dawes commission
bill was passed, agents have been
among the remnants of the Choctaw
nation in Mississippi endeavoring to
persuade them to go west and enter
their claims for government land, of
which half section is due each mem
Der of the ChOctaw tribe.
A great many will take advantage
of this offer from the government,
leave the land of their fathers and
spend the remainder of their lives
amid the fiowery prairies of the west
This is not the first time the Choc
taw nation has turned its face toward
the west. In 1884 they, with the
Greek, Chickasaws and Cherokees,
guarded by the blue-coated soldiery
of General Scott, were escorted across
the Father of Waters to that beau
tiful country set aside for them by the
government. a portion of the tribe,
however, repudiated the treaty and
were not included in that historical
removal. Since that time they have
lived in Newton and the adjacent
counties and INDUCED in the peaceful
pursuits of life.
Very little is known of their orr
gin. Some writers pretend that they
came from the province of Kan
schitski. 1t is said they suddenly
made their appearance and rapidly
overran the whole country. This ap-
pearance was so spontaneous that il
seemed as If they had sprung from the
earth like mushrooms. With regard
to their degree of civilization it is
sufficient to say their traits were in
common with other Indian nations
In 1861 a great many volunteered,
entered the COME 1erate service and fol
lowed the fortunes of the southhern
cross until the end of the war. Among
the party last night was two grizzled,
battle-scarred veterans, who served
throughout the war with Spann's
battalion of the independent scouts,
commanded by Maj. f. S. Spann, OF
this city.
Something akin to pity would arise
in ones breast as he watched the In
dians stand in dumb silence, with
their characteristic stoicism and
watch the preparations being made
that were to carry them away.
There was an old woman, bowed
with age, her silvery hair falling in
a mass over her dropping shoulders.
her hands clasped on her breast, as
though asking the Great Spirit to
watch and protect the remnant of her
country and her kin. A glittering
tear coursed its way down her rugged
cheek as she gazed sorrowfully out
into the darkness toward the land
where sleep her ancestors now beneath
the cotton fields of the pale face.
An Indian girl stood silently near
her, thinking perhaps of some dusky
sweetheart left behind, and perhaps
wondering with little pang of pain
if he would remain true and some
time they might meet and fulfill the
vows of love made beneath the whis-
pering pines of Mississippi.
The party will be on the road
abont three days. Meridian Press.
Don't go out of town to- buy what
you want. we have it right here. Hat