The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-03-25
MILL HONOR A
FAMOUS INDIAN
Movement on Foot Among the
Cherokees to Erect Statue
for Sequoyah.
Ask CONGRESS FOR AID
lie Was UnquestionabIy the Greatest
Indian This Nation Ever Produced
and Is So Revered by the Full
Blood Cherokees.

Kansas City Journals: The effort on the
,art Of several prominent Cherokee In
uans to erect a statue In the capital
quaro at Tahlequah, l. T., to the memory
If Sequoyah has renewed interest In this
wonderful Indian. He Is unquestionably
he greatest Indian this nation ever pro-
luced, and Is so revered by the full-blood
cherokees, but as these do not form the
most considerable part Of the tribe and
he mlXed-bloods control affairs In the ma
ional council, bills for a monument to
,erpetuate his memory in marble have
heretofore failed. A number of promi-
lent men have been interested in the
project this time, however, and 1t Is hoped
he bill Will pass. No one doubts that
President Roosevelt will sign the bill
making it possible to erect the monument
1t once. Although Sequoyah is the espe-
Ial favorite Of the full-blooded Cherokees,
le was not one Of their number. His life
york, however, was devoted to their in
erests. This work was the formulating
If an alphabet which consists of eighty
i've characters. So simple Is it that it
las been learned by students In from three
20 four days, and it is grounded on such
thorough principles that when learned by
me knowing the spoken language no DIFF
iculty is experienced In reading. 1t has
oeen pronounced one of the most complete
tlphabets in existence, and for it Sc
luOyan mas DCGn uuDDeQ lle American
-[admus.'
Sequoyah was born in ITO, in Georgia,
where the Cherokee tribe was then llv-
ng. Ills mother was a full blooded Cher
)kee and his father q German trader,
Known as George Gelst or Guess. In 1881,
viii other members Of the tribe, Sc
luoyah moved to the Indian territory and
ived on Il little farm in a district known
~ his name, some twelve miles north Of
| AJ,,l1rnw nHIara ~ r-nc thnt he thnnph
wholly uneducated, fashioned the letters
or his alphabet, which will doubtless live
Is a study long after the last Indian has
passed away. He was a farmer and
counted well-to-do, as he owned cattle,
aogs and horses. A personal description
If him. secured several years ago from,
houston Beng of Fort Gibson, WHO has
since died, Is that Sequoyah was a slender
nan, witt fine features and a pleasant eN-
preston. He was lame in one leg, due to
L white swelling he was afflicted with
when a boy. When he Travelled abroad
le roa1e a white mule. In 1S42, in COM
pany with his son and another Indian, he
started on a trip west, to try and find a
band of Cherol1ees which had gone there
years before. The party Travelled in a
cart, drawn by a yoke of oxen, but had
horses with them. Somewhere in the
northern part Of Mexico SeQuoyah be-
came separated from his companions and
they were compelled to return without
him. He was never heard Of again, and 1t
is supposed persisted from want. At the
time of his disappearance he wore a large
silver medal, presented to him by con-
gress in recognition Of his services toward
the uplifting Of the Indians.
The written language he invent has
been of great use to people dealing with
the Indians. Soon after it was made pub
lie the bible and many other books were
translated into Cherokee, and a paper,
known as the Cherokee Advocate, started.
This newspaper is still in existence. One
half of it Is printed in English and the
other in Cherokee. The office is located
at T~ahlequah, capital Of the Cherokee ma
ion.