The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-06-30

+ the darkest evening. At the beginning
of the third decade of the nineteenth
, century there arose throughout the
state of Georgia the persistent voice
| lof the white men crying for the expul-
sion of the Cherokees. Mistreatment
; and imposition were put into practice
| lby the Georgians "for the purpose of
( wearing out the forbearance of the
/ Cherokees and either forcing them
from their homes, or in a frenzy of de-
, spair to commit deeds of desperation
that would excuse their extermina-
/ Ition." Not alone were the Indians
, mistreated. Even the missionaries did
7 not escape. Those who would not
accede to the demands of their perse-
! cutors were imprisoned.
A law had been enacted by the legis-
llature of Georgia which forbade any
white man to reside in the Cherokee
Nation without the taking of an oath
of allegiance to Georgia, and in 1881
Wheeler, printer of the Cherokee
Phoenix" and the missionaries, Butler,
Worcester, Thompson, Proctor and
Trott, were placed under arrest. These
men were all in the Cherokee Nation
Iby permission of the United States
Iagent. They felt that American citi-
zenship should hold good in any part
of the United States and declined to
take the oath. Cat later date, how
lever, some of the missionaries did take
the oath, but Revs: Worcester, Butler
and Trott positively refused to do so.
They were thereupon tried, convicted.
dressed in prison garb and set to work
with hardened felons in the state pen
itentiary.
The Rev. Mr. Worcester plead in his
defense that he was a citizen of Yer
mont, and that he had entered the
Cherokee Nation by permission of the
lpresident of the United States and
with the approval of the Cherokees.
|, That the United States had in several
treaties acknowledged the Cherokee to
be nation with guaranteed and de-
finite territory, and that the state of
Georgia had no right to interfere with
him. This plea was ignored. With
his two companions he was sentenced
to four years at hard labor.
| AS a test case the matter was ap-
pealed to the supreme court of the
! United States on March 3, 1882. It's
decision, rendered by Chief Justice
arv and the Cherokee Nation. Georgia,
through her governor, however, de-
/ fled the decision, threatened opposi-
, ton. even to the annihilation of the
Union, and refused to release the mis-
: sionary until a year later
The Cherokees had hoped much
from President Jackson, whom they
had greatly assisted in the terrible
, Creek war of 1914, and as a country
man it would seem that the mission
aries might have looked for speedy aid
| from him. But that he was in SYM
pathy with the Georgians is indicated
by the following remark, uttered, it is
said, upon hearing of the decision of
the supreme court: "John Marshall
has made his decision, now let him en-
force it,"
The Rev. Royal Robbins, scholar and
historian, says, in speaking of the
ICherokees and the missionaries:
"a favorite measure with President
Jackson has been the removal of the
Indians in the southern states, beyond
the limits of the republic, to be con-
gregated into a community by them
Iselves under the care of the general
government. In the contests of the
Estate of Georgia with the tribe of
Cherokees within her borders, and
with the United States on the subject,
Gen. Jackson has ever favored the pre-
tensions of that state. Arising out of
this controversy history has to record
the surprising fact that three Chris
tian missionaries, Messrs. Butler,
Trott and Worcester, were sentenced
by the superior court of Georgia at
Lawrenceville, to four years imprison-
ment at hard labor, in the penitentiary,
for residing in the territory occupied
by the Cherokees without taking an
oath to support the constitution and
laws of Georgia. 1t is consoling, how
ever, to know, and it will appear on
the page of history to the latest time.
that in the case of these missionaries,
the law of Georgia under which they
were imprisoned, and by which the
state assumed jurisdiction over the In
dian Territory, is contrary to the laws
and constitution of the United States,
and therefore null and void"
The government confessed itself
"powerless to enforce the mandate of
the court" in so far as the upholding