Evening journal., 1921-06-15
CHEROKEEPOET
IS FORGOTTEN
John Rollin Sleeps in Neg
lected Cemetery in Far
West
LITTLE TREE is
HIS ONLY MARKER

town. marked on every size Dy lne
footprints OF the "forty-niners."
forms the solitary Identification OF
the grave Of John Rollin Ridge. the
remarkable man Of Cherokee blood,
whose writings OF half century ago
were declared by high authorities to
show the fire OF actual genius.
Recently a small party OF Ridge
admirers sought out this neglected
grave. and while grouped about It
the poem, Mount Shasta" written
by the light OF a miners candle after
the author had toiled long hours in
the placers. was read.
Considered His Masterpiece.
The peroration OF Mount Shasta, Z"
regarded by many as Ridges MASTER
piece, is as follows;
And we'll ween in after years how
In the middle Of his furrowed track,
the plowman.
In some sultry hour. will pause. and,
wiping
From his brow the dusty sweat. with
Gaze upon that hoary peak. The
herdsman
Oft will rein his charger in the plain
and drink
Into his inmost soul the calm sublim-
ity;
And little children, playing on the
green. shall
Cease their sport. and, turning to
that mountain
Old shall OF their mother ask: who
made it?"
And she shall answer-"God."
How the blood OF an Indian prin-
cess OF the far-dlstant Cherokee ma
ton days in Georgia co-mingled with
a New England puritan maid to pro-
duce the man capable OF writing and
polishing the above lines is disclosed
tJ he who cares TO delve into the his
tory OF the family. The clue is a
stained and forgotten book, modestly
lettered. John r. Ridges Poems" !"
the foreword OF which contains a
brief biography Of the author, the
following being an excerpt:
Il am just a little less than a half
blood Cherokee Indian. My father
was John Ridge, a chief and noble
man among the people OF that aa-
ton, both before and after their
] forced migration. My mother was
Sarah Bird Northrupt. native OF New
England. am the grandson of
Chief Ka-nun-ta-cla-ge and Princes
Sehoya. My Indian name is yellow
Bird"
In the wake OF the first gold rusi
In 1850 John Rollin Ridge came e
California from Arkansas. a highly
educated stripping OF %. Already
many poems and other writings had
flowed from his pen. In California
he became a journalist OF the old
school-ponderous. caustic. bellig-
erent He served here and there as
editor. conducting in turn several OF
the foremost papers on the Pacific
Coast OF that day. dipping mean
while into politcs- In 1876, at the
age OF 40, he died. and the tree which
he had planted several years pre-
viously became his monument
] hhttHlfg NUNS It AT tlttks
The ancestry OF Ridge runs back
in direct line TO the seventeenth
century. when the Cherokees and
their allied tribes were very numer.
GUS and powerful in the South, cen.
tering in what is now the State o.
Georgia
Among the Cherokees there was
/ Vlrfnpras GAhatrn N -
ful girl with slight intermingling o
Scotch blood, dating back to an earl.
Scotch trader. sehoya fen in Low
with a young plebeian. Ka-nun-ta
cla-ge, or the Lion Who Walks b
Night" and the two eloped.
The Lion. however. having take
his wife's civilization name OF Ridge
thanks to the Scotch trader. was q
time accepted as the ruling chief O
the Federated Cherokee Nation. A
such he acquired some education
became an orator and was widel
known as a man OF peace.
But in time disquieting rumor
came from Washington that Presi
dent Monroe had lost patience witt
the tribe and was about TO send al
army to overrun and dispersa tn.
nation. This started Chief Ridgl
post haste to Washington to pleas
for one more chance. Monroe ha,
heard such pleas before and was OBJ
durate. When everything else hat
I failed. Chief Ridge dramatically Of
fered his eldest son, John Ridge, Jr.
as a hostage and pledge that tn,
Cherokees would maintain the peace
President Monroe accepted and tn,
/ 15-year-old Indian boy was SEN
from Georgia to Washington as tn,
hostage.
Instead OF ordering the Indiar
youth confined 10 prison, Monroe di.
rected that he be sent to a mission
airy school at Cornwall, Conn, TO bs
educated.
Time passed. and the Indian lae
had become a man. He belonged {,
the ruling family OF the Cheroke.
Federated Nation. and he fell IT
love, so that when he finally re.
turned to Georgia he was accompan
led by a trim Puritan maid. former
n ly Miss Sarah Bird Northrupt. ther
Mrs. John Ridge.
3 Il was from the union OF Joh,
4 Ridge and Sarah Bird Northrup
!. that John Rollin Ridge. the poe
! was born, in 1927.
Long agitation for the removal q
the tribes beyond the Mississippi Z
nally eliminated in their bein
y transported 20 what is now Easter
n Oklahoma. Then John. the fathe
! and Sarah Bird Northrupt-Ride
( died and her son joined the gol