The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-02-23
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ALBEPF RdSIs6N TEPH0Ht
ocoNosroTA.

OSONO0 Vim
ocouostota. king Of the Creeks and
Chsrokess, lord o. thousands Of
square mites 81 IeFfit org eQds of 20
600 xarriors, fiaAj ea4sd the
chief Who lived. idEsse ahly be
cause ,no5S6as ea9@S When he was
bofl sAS died.
I'm 20 he was one Of delegation
of Indian chiefs who crossed the At.
lantic and visited King George II. OF
England. At that time he was already
a grown man and a famous warrior.
In 1SOs-eighty years later-he was
stIll alive. For In a letter Of that
date David Meigs. Cherokee Indian
agent, writes that greasy old oconos-
tota" had Just visited him.
The aged chief was therefore in all
probability long past his hundredth
year when he journeyed to Meigs's
home. incidentally, he had lived to
sink from king to outcast tramp.
oconostota was chosen king Of
the Cherokees and of their Creek al
lies in 1888. He was giant, OF un-
believable bodily strength, and With
the courage OF an angry wildcat. He
ruled his ."natIon" with a tyralt's
sway that none dared dispute.
France and England went TO war,
the French seeking to gain mastery OF
all North America. oconostota threw
his mighty influence on the side Of
the English. But for the tactless bru-
ality Of certain British settlers he and
his savage army would have proved
valuable allies. But party Of from
tIersmen accused some OF his braves
of stealing their horses. 1.-THE IN
dams denied the charge-Whei her
truthfully or not-and the cOlonfsts
undertook to punish the theft by at
lacking one OF oconostota's villages.
An Injury Avenged.
This was enough to turn oconosto-
ta's friendship to hate. With 10000
warriors he attacked the two British
forts OF Loudon and Prince George,
and at the same time sent throng
Of scalpIng parties through tn" de-
fenseless settlements Of North and
South Carolina. The garrison Of Fort
Loudon was starved into surrender,
while the Prince George commander
and many OF his soldiers were slain.
oconostota promised the two hundred
inmates Of Fort Loudon safe pas
sage into Virginia. But during the
first day of their march thither he
turned loose his bloodthlrgty sayages
upon them. The only restraining in
tluence through all these days OF hor-
ror and death was exercised by
ocorostota's lieutenant Tor vice
king" as the colonists called hlm),
Atakullakulla, dwarfsh, gentle
chieftain, who again and again inter-
fered 10 soften his kings barbariues.
The British avenged the murderous
campaign OF Oconostota by ravaging
the whole Cherokee country with fire
and sword. Nor would they pause In
the fierce work OF vengeance until
Atakullakulla begged for mercy In be-
half of his luckless people. oconos-
'tota had, learned his lesson. He
henceforth. loudly declared the British.
nation the greatest on earth and him
self as its truest friend.
For time he seemed to include
the American settlers in his loyalty
to the British government. For he al
lowed pioneers to build homes upon his
tribal land at Watauga. He even re-
ceived them kindly and leased ground
TO them. But in 1775 the settlers, now
more numerous, demanded large
tracts in Kentucky and elsewhere.
Then Oconostota saw the danger and
struggled to overcome 1t. To the
Cherokee council that was discussing
the question Of giving up the land to
the settlers he made an impassioned
speech. prophesying that the Indians
would in time be swept from the earth
II they let the white men continue to
seize their hunting p grounds The
council overruled his objections and
made a treaty with the pioneers, sell
ing them the desired land. When the
treaty was signed Oconostota turned
to Daniel Boone, who had been prime
mover in the affair, and said:
young man, we have let You take
much land from us. But fear you
will fad that land hard to live In"
His yelled threat was destined to be
most amply fulfilled. Almost at once
the Revolutionary war broke out.
oconostota eagerly offered his serv-
ices to the British. With 10000
braves at his back, he fell upon the
frontier settlements, spreading havoc
in his wake. But in the five years Of
border warfare that followed between
his savages and the American militia
oconostota was again and again
beaten.
From King to Tramp.
These constant defeats weakened
the old chiefs influence with the In
dams, At last his people rose against
him, deposed him from the rank Of
head chief, or king, and put young
or rnnro naaraful leader in his DInce.