The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1904-01-12

the proud possessor Of Jeersonan medal bearing the
date 1901 Nothing has been learned Of the end
of SeQuoyah Where he journeyed how long he lived or
how he passed to the great beyond all is couded in mys
terry May not these human bones found in the noun
tans near Snyder those Of the noted and eyerd orig
inator Of the Cherokee alphabetg
So runs the story and query to which Rev. W. A. Dun
can in the Arrow, says may" Sequoyah went OF into
the southwest in search Of health home far beyond
the possible encroachments Of the troublesome white
man Just how far he and his small party Of friends in
cIudng his son. journeyed not known; probably far
as New Mexico and, possibly south Of the Rio Grande
Becoming ILL., Sequoyah remained somewherein in the south
west and his son came home probably for aid When
tine sons party returned in search OF the old gentleman
no trace Of him could be found has his last resting
place ever been discovered When the Of the recent
Oklahoma find was made public, Mrs. L. T. Keyes, dis
tant relative Of Sequoyah, residing in Vnta wrote to
the gentleman who made the discovery for full partcu
lars From the contets Of her letter. and the specific in
quries and data it contained Mr. Franche became more
than ever convinced that he had found the noted Chero
kee He even offered pay the ladys expenses to sny
der If she would visit the place. but her state Of health
would not permit the journey.
But this little story rudely shattered by Wat Dun
can, who knows probably, much about the circum-
stances surrounding sequoyahs disappearance any y
ing Cherokee. He says;
There has been 50 much "Sagas" written about Sequo
yah and sam Houston that any conyesant with facts
feels disgust seeing it, Why is it that in telling about
things unusual, always wish to drift into the
wonderful prodigious startling? Is it because Of the
almighty ego that dominates us all or what That
Wichita find cannot be the relics Of George Guess wish
it could be 50 proven The medal dates too far back
Truly jefferson was made presidentn sobut Guess did
not complete his alphabet till 1921 OF course at
Washington could have known of that invention until
after that date 1t appears that officials of the govern
ment were cognizant Of Guess invention in this way
David Brown, writing from Wistown, Cherokee Nation
East under date Of September 2 1925 informed the ed
itor Of the Family visitor at Richmond Va Of that in
vention and under date Of December 49, 1925, Thos
Mckinney superintendent Of Indian affairs IN letter
addressed to James Barbour secretary Of war; having re-
ceyed his information from Browns letter. informed that
officer of the invention Of the Cherokee alphabet and
gave the name of Guess its inventor and also trans
mitted a full copy of the alphabet to him.
The American Board Of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions established their mission in the old Cherokee
nation In 1871 On March g. 1924 they submitted
oral to congress asking aid in carrying their work
In this memorial they dwe upon the progress made on
the part of the Cherokee but said nothing about the in
yenion Of the Cherokee alphabet which they could not
have failed to do had they known that such invention
had been made by Cherokee. In like manner about
the date agents OF other missions among the Cher
okees in representing government the progress of
the people, said nothing about the invention Of the al
pliabet.
No writer the present day has presented the public
with an adequate representation Of sequoyah man.
It not all adequate to simply say, he great
mana Cadmus. He was greater than Cadmus.
Cadmus did invent his letters. He only picked them
up among the Phoencians, who had borrowed from the
Hebrews Was not Hiram a PhOenican and did not he |
and Solomon live in closest neighborship? It said
by fine scholar "Nor is it less worthy Of note that not
an instance is known in which any man. set ofImen
ever invented the Of letters by their unaided
powers But who ever aided sequoyahy Locked up in
Cherokee language alone, without idea Of the vast
amount of research being made by scholars in the field Of
linguistic sciences without the aid Of any pen io down
notes in aid Of his memory he undertook the work Of de-
Sucing from the nebuous elements Of the Cherokee |
tongue the eghtysx principal sounds Of which it
posed and marking them down in letters And he sue
ceeded, too II win take greater than any
paper writer to ttngy tell about sequoyah To do that
he win have to take up the mind Of the man, inspect
each faculty and tell its force and the service rendered
in the grand achievement which crowned his labo in
fact such is the only to gauge the magnitude of any
man. Environments nothing but a nest5ofsstcks
w. A. DUNCAN.