The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-08-04
CHEROKEES TO RECEIVE
THEIR TRlTAL ESTATE

CORNERSTONE or Indian affairs. Is pr
pairing to distribute, in the nea future.
the sumo of $500, 00o remaining on
hand belonging 10 the Cherokee In
dian nation, which has been dis
solved by the
The passing of the Red Man and his
SLOW but steady absorption into the
BODY of American citizenship were
made evident by the recent order Of
the Indian Office disSolving the Chero-
kee nation as a tribal emit July
last. and placing the members Of the
largest of the FIVE civilized tribes on
the same footing as white residents of
Oklahoma.
The Cherokees have figured in some
of the notable stages of American
history. E~thnolosicaliy they are said
to be a branch of the Irouui. family
although never allied politically With
the Iroquois nation. Originally they
occupied h A~ppOmattox basin of
virginia. but were gradually driven
south into Georgia and the Caroiinas.
with branches in Kentucky and Zen
nessee- Here they developed the pow
erful c~onfederacy which made treaties
with the United States and resisted
the efforts of the States to dispossess
them This raised one Of the first is
sues over the States being bound hv
Federal treaties. When the United
States Supreme Court sustained the
Cherokee treaties. Andrew jackson.
then President. made mis- famous re-
mark:
We'll, John Marshall has made his
decision, now let him enforce it."
M..Ge Rapid Progress.
The Cherokees made rapid prosresS
in education and civilization, aban-
donlng the has for agriculture, and
finally developing an alphabet and
language Of their own. This was the
production of one Of their mi~xed-biood
members, Sequoya, or George Guss.
who invented a ~syflabary of evenly
eight signs. forming the basis Of the
Cherokee language, since known as
SeQuOya. About this time d news
paper, the Cherokee Phoenix, was
started at New EchOta, in Georgia, the
capital of the nation. The office was
q log house and the ape was printed
in English and Cherokee. Publication
was suspended after six years by the
Georgia authorities.
At the height Of the C~heTokees
prosperity gold was discovered within
the territory and agitation for tht
removal Of the dia soon began
After a hopeless struggle lasting fOl
years, under their great chief, John
Ross, the C~herOkees December %
1885, signed "a treaty by which the,
agreed to sell their remaining terri
tory and move out beyond the Missis
Sippi to Il country there to be set aisle,
for them, in indian Territory.
Forced to Migrate.
Objection to the migration develop
Ell among many of the C~herokees, an,
Gen. Winfield Scott was finally sen
to forcibly remove the 1900 In
dams TO their new home in the Yves:
They suffered terrible h~ardships OIL
the long journey by foot. and it i
said nearly one-fourth Of the minnie
; persisted. Arriving in their new HON
. they formed a national government
with the capital at Tahlequah.
: The task of converting the Chero
KEGS from a tribal community into
body OF individual land owners be2a
/ in 1902. when they signed an agree
> ment with the United States by Whic
I the government undertook to max
cCnpIete rolls Of all the tribesme
and divide the land and money anon
them.
The Curtis act. passed by Cons.es
: in 1898, provided for the Valuatic
= and allotment of the lands of the fly
i civilized tribes. In 1906 the the le.
\ islatlve and judicial departments {
= the Cherokee nation passed out Of e,
istence, but the executive branch va
Il kept up under Principal chief w. I
Rogers. In 1907, when h State
n Oklahoma was formed, all memoe
RI fOt the tribe became ClllZoliS-
Progress Of Dissolution.
Il The task of diSSOlvinS the Chet'
: KEGS, which might, in a general Wa,
be compared with that Of winding y
the affairs of an immense estate. ha'
o by July / last, progressed to sucn
Gecreed that it only remained for tf
y limited States to execute d few fee'
to small tracts of land. All con
) mupity property has beer conFeT'e
! ;,to cash and each Cherokee III
r. ceiyed his allotment. When Con
/ missioner Sells distributes h remain
20 ing cash on hand-$600, o0o-thc II
n tribution will figure out about 80 ~
a ca pita to the 41-1S9 members OF II
a tribe. The principal chief. ". {. Ro;
- ers. has been invited to sens 10 h
resignation.
. Agreements similar to that with "a
Cherokee were made with the oh,ef'
= saws. Choctaws, Creeks and Sc"
~ noIes. and the work Of winding !
If their affairs is now in progress. :