East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-08-23

When the new state of Oklahoma
opens a hall of fame filled with stat
ues carved by members of its own
academy of fine arts, the central fig
ure, If it is to represent one of the
first and greatest of the Caucasion
pioneers OF what is now ''the soil of
Oklahoma" will be statue of heroic
size, in an embroidered hunting shirt
of white decrskin, yellow leggins heav-
lily fringed. beaded moccasins. a red
blanket thrown over the left shoulder
and full circlet of turkey feathers
as a headpiece.
If accurately carved and colored in
the ancient Greek style, according to
this description, the statue will rep
resent the first "squaw man" who is
historically known to have built n
cabin and made a clearing in what
are now the limits of the new state OF
Oklahoma. 1t will represent "Colo-
neh,' the adopted son of John Jolly
"OO-loo-tee-kah), chief of the Grand
river Cherokees. This Coloneh was
first adopted into the Cherokee tribe
when boy after he had been appren-
ticed to the keeper of a backwoods
store while the Cherokees still lived
in east Tennessee.
He ran away from the store, and,
ed to be adopted into the tribe. Jolly
ed to be adopted int othe tribe. jolly
consented at once. and the boy lived
with the tribe until he learned the
Cherokee language and the habits and
traditions of the tribe. After the
Cherokees had been removed from
east of the Mississippi to what is now
the state of Oklahoma, he ran away
once more, Joined them, and lived
with them as he had done when
boy. Finally, marrying a Cherokee
wife, he built a cabin and made n
clearing on the Grand river, nearly
opposite Fort Gibson. where, no doubt,
there may still be found the stumps
of gnarled trunks of some of the fruit
trees he planted.
He Never Told Why.
When he ran away the second time,
he was governor of Tennessee. He
lived and died without telling exactly
p why he did it, though those who knew
him guessed that he had been told of
the beautiful and accomplished girl
he had just married that she did not
love him and that she had been vir-
tually forced by her family to marry
him that she might become "the gov
ernor's lady," Whether this is the ex-
planation or not, it is what he proba-
bly, would have done, if she had actu-
ally told him this.
What he did do was to file his res
ignation as governor with the secre-
ldly VI sldlSs lllOuIll lllb llOEst anu lluC
out of Tennessee. He kept on west
until he reached the cabin of his
Cherokee father, Jolly John, on the
Arkansas river. about 80 miles from
Fort Gibson. When he walked into
the cabin and said How" it is not
likely that John Jolly showed the least
surprise or killed the fatted calf for
him as a returned prodigal. He and
his adopted father were seen after
ward however. seated on the floor OF
the cabin eating hominy together from
a wooden trough, which the hospita-
BILE Jolly kept constantly filled for the
benefit of all who came in. said How
and squatted down on the buffalo
robes on the floor.
His Long Spree.
After this return to his foster faith
er the ex-governor of Tennessee was
introduced to the tribal council and
formally received once more into
membership in the tribe. Then he
began a spree" which lasted with
occasional intermissions, until his fos-
ter father and most of his foster broth
ers were heartily ashamed of him.
They were already one Of "the civil
ized tribes" and when he went on
drowning his Tennessee sorrows in this
way until his Tennessee wife had time
TO secure a divorce on the ground OF
abandonment, they did not think he
was doing credit to the civilization the
tribe had brought with it from Ten
nessee. He still continued to drown
his sorrows, however, until they were
so deep in the special brands Of water.
ed alcohol st. Louis and Louisville
then supplied the Cherokee country
that the reason for them never came