Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1912-02-28
(By George =. Mellen. }


propriate act Born within the
limits OF what is now Tennessee, the
/ Volunteer state shares In the honor
accorded 10 his memory. As the IN
yentor OF the Cherokee alphabet.
rightly did the Cherokee nation es-
TEEN and denominate him their Cad
mus he founded the city. like an
cient Thebes an act imputed 10 Cad
mus bat the glory that was Cadmus
through the giving the letters TO
Greece belongs equally 10 the IN
tutored Cherokee He evolved ont
OF his brain the characters and syn
/ tables that enabled his people 70
transmit thought on paper as the
palciacc brother could do
The story Of Tie ancient Cadmus i.
cnlcl0ped in tradition and mythol-
o-y Except the wear OF Sequoy's
birth. the leading facts OF his long
ana interesting lite are well suhstan-
ti7ted. There are not wanting. how
ever. traditions with which romance
/ loves 10 invest the nero and the
genius HIS birth wear is placed any,
where from 1850. the date OF the
seiec Of Fort London. 20 l76S, When
q German poddler George Gist, Is re-
puted 10 have entered the Cherokee
nation 10 exchange his trinkets for
the Indian furs James Mooney the
/ leading authority OF the Cherokee
MYTHS. suggests. since he was born
LAT nearby Tuskeegee. that he Whit
have been a product OF lnior OF
some Fort London soldier With his
/ Cherokee sweetheart II is a mater OF
] history that some half dozen Chero-
kee women ~ wives did consort
with some of the Fort soldiers. ana
/ that through the steady carrying OF
food to their beleagucred lovers the
scipe was prolonged. There Vss a
] Nathaniel Giet OF Kentucky. out
Of Washington in the disasterous
Hraddock campaign who has been
proclaimed In recent wears the inn
mediate progenitor of SeW'oya
some thorough, urtrUstwor'hy
statements In connection with the
assertion of the relationship
sufficient 20 cast discrcdit on the
whole story.
Strange 10 say. while the father OF
q written language, Scq1oya mover
learned 10 speak or write the English
/ language His English name IS hcst
known MS George Guess or Guest. as
the nearest approach 20 The spellirs
Of his German fathers name. Whe:
he had grown Ia be- man OF sCne
importance among his people, he re-
Quested the principal chief OF the ma
ton, Charles Hicks. 70 write down
the name. and as good guess Tor
the pronunciation OF Giet Hicks
wrote Guess" At least. this g. the
information conveyed b, a most in
.tercsting article on SeGuoyd m
Harper's Magazine, September. lt7a.
hv " A. Phillips This article is not
absolutely free from the flo,pr OF
rom1utcism though purportinr tu
be- history. For instance, Se0uoya
home among the Western Cherokee
Is spid 10 have been AZ Brainerd. an
evident confusine OF the mission near
present Chattanooga with Dvicht Of
Arkansas territory lie Is also said
tc have been driven 20 exile a3 the
great removal of 1S2S Is spoken OF
Long before this. in 1892. after hav-
Ing lived successfully in Chattlnoga
county. Ga and az Wilstown Ma.
he went 10 live among those CEoro
KEGS who went voluntarily westward
with the beginning of the sentiment
that the best interest of both rgces
demanded tho migration.
Before the acquisition of fawo and
gratitude. Seouova has gained ava m
fluentia position among his people
I'm 1856 his name is seen 10 Zee s.lncd
20 a treaty with the tnited States 10y
mark George Guess. u was
through the years Of 1909 10 f>o1
that he was engaged on the task
which he had set for himself n
first h. attempted lbs rmplish-
ment through the invention of sym
hols, hut the necessary expansion of
these into the thousands made &c a
'orlorn work At the ogt-ct Do met
many disbursement. The hest i'm
formed chiefs OF the nation toll him
that he was pursuing idlr dreams
knowing the significance of the lel.
tors of the English alphabet. he made
nso OF such as he deemed f.t Oh con
vcv the necessities and pc.ll.arities
OF sounds iu his own spoken laueuag,
Sy'lal les instead of letters Wen. the
basis of this, and these as frudlnen-
tails were reduced 10 the number OF.
e'ehty-tive.
The successful completion of the
task caused a Transformation among
ms people Within @ few months
their ability to read thir own Lam
grage had become universal. Groves
ms we'll as the cabins were converted
into places for its acquisition Chill
rem and their elders became pro-
ficient in the deciphering. Tho
Bible was soon made the more nc.
cessable through trarslations which
all could speak. Letters between the