Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1904-10-01
HELD IN REVERENCE.
sEoUoYAH OF THE CHERoKREs
THE GREATEST CHIEF.
Life Work Of the Wonderful Red Max
Devoted to the interests Of That
- Tribe - A Statue In
Prospect.

The effort on the part Of several prom
inent Cherokee Indians to erect a statue
in the capitol square at Tahlequah, |. T.,
to the memory Of Sequoyah has re-
newed interest in this wonderful In
dian, says the Kansas City Journal. He
is unquestonably the greatest Indian
this nation ever produced, and is so re-
Vered by the full-blood Cherokees, but
as these do not form the most consider
able part Of the tribe, and the mixed
bloods control affairs in the national
council, bills for a monument to per-
petuate his memory in marble have here
tofore failed. A number of prominent
men have been interested in the project
this time, however, and it is hoped the
bill will pass, No one doubts that Presi-
dent Roosevelt will sign the bill max
ing it possible to erect the monument al
once. Although Sequoyah is the espe-
cial favorite of the full-blooded Chero-
KEGS, he was not one OF their members
His life work, however, was devoted tc
their interests. This work was the
formulating OF an alphabet which con
sists OF So characters. So simple Is 1t
that 1t has been learned by students in
from three to four days, and 1t is ground
ed on such thorough principles that when
learned by one knowing the spoken Ian
guage no difficulty is experienced in
reading 1t has been pronounced one Of
the most complete alphabets in exist
ence, and for it Sequoyah has been
dubbed the American Cadmus"
Sequoyah was born in ITO, in Geor-
gia, whore the Cherokee tribe was then
living. His mother was a full-booded
Cherokee and his father German trader
known as George Geist or Guess. In
1881, with other members of the tribe,
Sequoyah moved to the Indian territory
and lived on little farm in a district
known by his name some IL miles north
of MuldrOw There it was that he.
though wholly uneducated, fashioned the
letters for his alphabet, which will
doubtless live as study long after the
last Indian has passed away. He was a
farmer and counted well-to-do, as he
owned cattle, hogs and horses. A per-
sonal description Of him. secured sew
eral years ago from houston Beng, of
Fort Gibson, who has since died, shows
that Sequoyah was a slender man, with
f1ne features and pleasant expression.
He was lame in one arm, due to a white
swelling he was afflicted with when a
boy. When he Travelled abroad he rode
a white mule. In 1912, in company with
his son and another Indian, he started
on trim west To trv To find hand IF
Cherokees which had gone there years
before
The party travelled In a cart, drawn
by yoke OF oxen, but had horses with
them. Somewhere In the northern part
OF Mexico Sequoyah became separated
from his companions, and they were
compelled to return without him. He
was never heard of again, and 1t is sup
posed persisted from want At the time
of his disappearance he wore a large sill
yer medal, presented to him by con-
gress in recognition OF his services to-
ward the uplifting of the Indians.
The written language he invented has
been OF great use to people dealing with
the Indians. Soon after it was made
public the Bible and many other books
were translated into Cherokee, and a
paper known as the Cherokee Advocate
started. This newspaper Is still In ex-
istence One-half of 1t is printed In
English and the other In Cherokee. The
office Is located at TahleQuah, capital OF
the Cherokee nation