The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-06-30
(By w. S. Ross in the Oklahoma City
Times)


the name of Worcester omitted from
its pages, would be incomplete. The
ashes of this eminent missionary res
at Park Hill, a place famed in thai
section where once existed the Chero
kee Nation.
Nearly one hundred years ago, wher
the Cherokees we're living in their an
cient ancestral land east of the Mis-
sissippi river, the American Board Of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions
sent their first missionary into their
country He, the Rev. Cyrus Kings
bury, in 1916 founded the noted mis-
sion station which known as Brainerd
was but a short distance from Mis-
sionary Ridge, the scene of terrific
battle ia the days of the civil war.
During the decade following the es-
tablishment of the Brainerd Mission
there were It least ten other such in
stitutions placed in operation by the
board at various points in the Chero-
kee Nation.
It was to assume charge of one Of
these missions. established for the pur-
pose of improving the moral religious
and intellectual character Of the Cher
okees, that in 1926 the Rev. Samuel
A. Worcester of Vermont, arrived in
their country. AS a missionary of the
American board to these people, he
was destined to spend his life among
them; to witness and be a participant
in the most tragic episode in their his
tory; to wear, like Paul the Apostle
to the Gentiles. chains for conscience
sake; to gain name pre-eminent in
the annals of Indian missions, and
when mortal life was ended to rest be-
meath the soil of the nation for the
welfare of whose people he had so
wisely labored.
The original home of the Cherokees
was in the region in which are now
comprised northern Alabama, Georgia,
western North Carolina, Virginia, West
Virginia and the greater part of Ten
nessee. DeSoto passed through their
country in 1540. No other Indian ma
tion has been as conspicuous as they
in the history of the United States.
They have been called the Highland
ers of America" Many long years
ago they had villages. corn fields and
peach orchards on the slopes and in
the valleys of the Alleghanies. The
word, Allegheny, is derived from the
name by which they called themselves,
"Alligweii." meaning "The People,"
Their first meeting with men Of the
Anglo-Saxon race occurred about the
time of the beginning of the colonies
in Virginia. the Caroiinas and Georgia.
In 1880 they were visited by one Sir
Alexander Cummings, of Scotland He
had been authorized by King George
II of England to make treaty Of
Friendship and Alliance" with the
Cherokees. From this date they are
often mentioned in colonial history
Sometimes they warred with the col
onists. Again, they assisted them in
beating back the savage warriors of
other tribes and nations They took
little or no part in the war of the
Revolution. They were allied by sol
emn treaty promises with England.
The Cherokees never broke treaty.
At the close of the. war they are re-
ported as having made some progress
''in the arts and knowledge of civilized
life" Their surroundings were wild
and rugged. There were no schools in
their country. The outlook for the
future was not bright The wave of
white settlement was ever advancing
westward Soon the frontiers of the
colonies touched the boundaries of the
Indian country Onward the ever-in-
ereasing settlers moved, until the
Cherokees eventually found them
selves occupying a tract of country
very small in comparison with the
vast region of which they were the sole
occupants at the time of the planting
of the colonies. Their first treaty-the
Treaty of Hopewell-made with the
United States was signed in 1885 Since
that time they have progressed stead.
lily, though sometimes very slowly.
Their retrogression, however, would
never have been predicted by the most
skeptical resident observer Persecut-
ed often, their numbers decimated by
war, the fact Of their existence three
hundred and seventy-one years after
their first meeting with the Spaniards,
proves the power of recuperation they
have possessed through many an
eventful and trying year
A bright and wonderful page in the
history of this old native American is
that whereon is recorded the story of
the missionaries who. of various Pro-
testant denominations, through long
period of years, gave their time who'll