Chief Pushmataha, American Patriot: The Story of the Choctaws’ Struggle for Survival

By Anna Lewis

This is the compelling biography of one of the greatest Indians in American history. Historian, author Anna Lewis, herself part Choctaw, not only provides a dramatic chronicle of the Choctaw’s struggle to survive aggression by both Europeans and Americans, but a revealing history of the Choctaws and their picturesque legends.

“THE NAME OF THE CHOCTAW CHIEFTAIN Pushmataha heads the list of great chiefs in Choctaw history. This volume is an attempt to serve the double purpose of a biography of Pushmataha and a history of his people during their struggle to survive white aggression, both European and American. The position taken by Pushmataha in this transition period was to accept white civilization as much as possible, yet to remain Choctaw. For this reason, he aided the Americans in the War of 1812 and signed the Treaty of Doak’s Stand. By this treaty he agreed to exchange lands in Mississippi for a large tract of land west, in the present state of Oklahoma. He was a simple, primitive Indian, but he had to deal with land-hungry Americans, who were not simple in their knowledge of the power of flattery and bribery.”—Anna Lewis, Foreword

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papamoa Press
• Release date: Dec 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781789125665

Anna Lewis

Anna Lewis (1885-1961) was a noted teacher, historian and writer, who specialized in American History, and particularly the History of the Southwest. She was born on October 25, 1885 near Poteau, which was then Indian Territory to a family of mixed Choctaw and European Ancestry, and reared on a ranch in the Choctaw Nation. Her formal schooling began in the National Choctaw Boarding School for Girls, and she earned doctoral degrees from University of California, Berkeley (1915) and University of Oklahoma (1930). She was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Lewis spent her educational career from at the Oklahoma College for Women, now the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO), where she was Professor Emeritus of History until her retirement. She was the author of several books, including Outlines of Oklahoma History (1926) and Along the Arkansas (1932), and numerous articles for publications in her area of interest before retiring in 1956 to a home she had built in southern Oklahoma (the former Choctaw Nation before Oklahoma became a state). She died in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma on August 1, 1961, aged 75.

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Text originally published in 1961 under the same title.

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Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

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CHIEF PUSHMATAHA

AMERICAN PATRIOT

BY

ANNA LEWIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 4

DEDICATION 7

PREFACE 8

I—I know nothing about it; I am my own ancestor—JUNOT DUC D’ABRANTES 9

II—A man had better starve at once than to lose his innocence in the process of getting bread—THOREAU 20

III—Savages we call them, because their manners are different from ours—BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 24

IV—Courage is virtue only in proportion as it is directed by Prudence—FENELON 37

V—Courage should have eyes as well as arms—THOMAS FULLER 51

VI—There is no debt with so much prejudice put off as justice—PLUTARCH 64

VII—War seldom enters but where wealth allures—DRYDEN 70

VIII—Pretexts are not wanting when one wishes to use them—GOLDONI 77

IX—Races, better than we, have leaned on her wavering promise, having naught else but hope—ESAIAS TENGNER 89

X—Ripe in wisdom was he, but patient and simple and childlike—LONGFELLOW 106

XI—All men are wont to praise him who is no more—THUCYDIDES 120

BIBLIOGRAPHY 131

PRINCIPAL PRINTED MATERIALS 131

NEWSPAPERS 132

ORIGINAL SOURCES 133

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 134

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DR. ANNA LEWIS, Professor Emeritus of History at the Oklahoma College for Women, is a member of Oklahoma’s Hall of Fame and the state’s Historical Society, and the author of one previously published book, Along the Arkansas.

Dr. Lewis was born near Poteau, Indian Territory, and reared on a ranch in the Choctaw Nation. Her formal schooling began in the National Choctaw Boarding School for Girls and was continued at the University of California, where she earned B.A. and M.A. degrees, and the University of Oklahoma, where she received her Ph.D.

The author became Professor of History at the Oklahoma College for Women in 1917 and served there until 1956. Dr. Lewis now makes her home on a farm near Clayton, Oklahoma.

DEDICATION

To the memory

of

my brother, Grady Lewis, who was the inspiration of this study on Pushmataha.

PREFACE

THE NAME OF THE CHOCTAW CHIEFTAIN Pushmataha heads the list of great chiefs in Choctaw history. This volume is an attempt to serve the double purpose of a biography of Pushmataha and a history of his people during their struggle to survive white aggression, both European and American. The position taken by Pushmataha in this transition period was to accept white civilization as much as possible, yet to remain Choctaw. For this reason, he aided the Americans in the War of 1812 and signed the Treaty of Doak’s Stand. By this treaty he agreed to exchange lands in Mississippi for a large tract of land west, in the present state of Oklahoma. He was a simple, primitive Indian, but he had to deal with land-hungry Americans, who were not simple in their knowledge of the power of flattery and bribery.

The Choctaws of Oklahoma have a just pride in the name and the achievements of Pushmataha, and to them this book is dedicated.

Grateful acknowledgment to many faculty friends and students of the Oklahoma College for Women, for their inspiration and encouragement. Most of the work on this volume was done at the Oklahoma College for Women. The material was gathered from the Library of Congress and the National Archives in Washington, D.C., also from the Mississippi State Historical Library, Jackson, Mississippi. Special aid was given me by my sister, Winnie Lewis Gravitt.

A. L.

I—I know nothing about it; I am my own ancestor—JUNOT DUC D’ABRANTES

IT WAS THE YEAR OF 1764 in one of the villages of the Six Towns people, a division of the Choctaw Nation in the territory of Mississippi, that the great Pushmataha was born. These were critical years in the history of the Choctaws. The French and Indian War had just ended, with France giving up her colonial claims in America. And with the departure of the French, the Choctaws lost a great friend and ally. The French for over a hundred years of contact, through trade, and alliances, had developed a strong friendship with the Choctaws. Now, with the French influence gone, the Choctaws were subjected to the intrigues of both the Spanish and the English. The Choctaw country was the buffer state between the two great European rivals, Spain in Florida and England in the Carolinas. If ever a people needed a great leader and wise chieftain, who could guide them through this foreign web of intrigue and domestic troubles, it was the Choctaws. These were troublesome times.

According to Choctaw custom, chiefs gained their position not by birth but through their own qualities of leadership and courage. The exact date of Pushmataha’s birth and the circumstances surrounding it, together with the history of his family, were lost long before Pushmataha became a chief. His rise to power was gradual, and not until the turn of the century was he a recognized leader of the Choctaw people. He had achieved this leadership through wisdom and foresight; wisdom in dealing with his own people, foresight in making an alliance with the ever growing power of the United States. This alliance with the United States brought the Choctaws into the War of 1812, and their aid to General Jackson became a very real contribution. As a result of this war, Pushmataha became General Pushmataha of the United States Army. He was recognized as a true friend of the American people and a hero of the Southwest.

In the early nineteenth century, stories about Indian leaders were becoming very popular with the reading public. A young journalist came from New England to the Choctaw country to secure material for a book on Indians. In his search for an interesting subject, he was told by a missionary that Pushmataha, the great Choctaw chief, would be a good subject. He was well known in the Southwest as an outstanding individual and as a warrior. But the Choctaw warrior had never told anyone of his family or of his early achievements. There seemed to be a great mystery surrounding his past, according to the missionary.

The journalist decided that Pushmataha would make an interesting story. He immediately set to work to get all the information he could, particularly about Pushmataha’s early life. He was told that Pushmataha was susceptible to flattery, and perhaps through this weakness he might secure a great story. Having learned that the chieftain was to make a speech upon a certain occasion, the writer laid plans to attack the great Pushmataha at his weakest spot, his vanity.

Very soon the opportunity came; Pushmataha was to be the speaker at an important gathering commemorating an historical event in Choctaw history. All the Choctaws were assembled. Pushmataha made one of his great speeches. When he had finished, a friend of his, who had knowledge of the writer’s scheme, arose and commented upon the importance of a great leader. He told Pushmataha that since he was a great man his people should know all about him; who his parents were, where he came from, and all the other interesting events of his life; that a record of this should be kept for future generations. He suggested to Pushmataha that this would be a very favorable time to tell the people all about his early life and how he had been selected chief. Books, he said, are written about great men, and the Choctaw people want their great chieftain to be written up in a book.

Pushmataha arose from his seat, took the speaker’s stand, and, after a few preliminaries on the subject of vanity in general, and in particular the vanity of one who aspires to political prestige through that channel, gravely delivered the following:

"It was a long time ago, at the season when the glorious sun was pouring down his brightest, balmiest, and greatest life-giving influence; when the gay flowers bedecked in their most gorgeous dresses were sweetest, brightest, and most numerous; when the joyous birds in full chorus were singing their gleeful songs of love and life, full of inspiration; all nature seemed to quiver in rapturous emotion. ‘Twas noon. The day was calm and fair and pleasant. There was a beautiful wide-spreading plain with but few trees on it. One there was of giant size and venerable age. It was a red oak, and its dark waving branches, overshadowing an immense area of beautiful green plain, had bid defiance and braved unscathed the storms of many winters. There it stood, vast in its proportions, calm in its strength, majestic in its attitude. It had witnessed the rise and fall of many a generation of animal life. But everything must have its time, fulfill its destiny. That magnificent red oak, which had for centuries been the feature of the far-reaching landscape, had not yet accomplished the object for which the Great Spirit had planted it. There it was in full foliage, casting its dark, widely spreading shade upon the sunlit plain. All nature was clad in smiles of joy on that bright day. Anon, a cloud arose in the west, a black angry, threatening cloud, looming upward and rapidly widening its scowling front. Harshly rumbling as it whirled its black folds onward, nearer and nearer, it very soon overspread the whole heavens, veiling the landscape in utter darkness with an appalling roar. A sweeping tornado, fringed with forked lightning, its thunders were rolling and bellowing. The winds fiercely howled and the solid earth trembled. At the height of this confusion and war of elements, a burning flash of fire gleamed through the darkness. A shattering crash followed by a burst of terrific thunder that, rumbling through the surging storm, seemed to shake down humid contents of the fast-rolling clouds in irresistible torrents. Awful sounds assailed the startled senses as the frightful tornado swept on in its devastating course.

However, the storm soon passed and all was calm again. The sun poured down his beaming rays in their wonted brilliancy. But the vast time-honored sylvan king, the red oak, had been slivered into fragments; its odd-shapen splinters lay widely scattered on the rain-beaten plain. No vestige remained to mark the spot where once had stood the tree; not even a snag or stump remained. The object of its creation was accomplished, and in its place was a new thing under the sun. Shall I name it? Equipped and ready for battle, holding in his right hand a ponderous club, standing erect on the place of the demolished red oak, was your dauntless chief Pushmataha.{1}

Then he took his seat and looked as if to say, I knew your scheme. And with the wit and humor which characterized his life he might have added, Gentlemen, that is the origin of Pushmataha, take it or leave it.

Pushmataha probably knew very little of his parentage; tradition says he was left an orphan at an early age. To inquiries he always answered, I had no father nor mother. To the Choctaws this was no mystery; they knew what Pushmataha meant, because no one spoke of the dead. It was a Choctaw custom that one never spoke of or called the name of the dead. After certain ceremonies were performed, the spirit of the dead was left in peace. He was to be forgotten. The early white settlers thought that there must be some great mystery, for here was a great man, yet he had no family. Late in Pushmataha’s life he enjoyed this amusing statement and he would repeat on almost all occasions, I had no father nor mother,{2} in order to see the reaction upon his audience.

Concerning the origin of the Choctaw people themselves there are as many legends and mysteries as there are concerning their greatest leader, Pushmataha. Most of the legends center around their sacred mound, Nunih Waiya, in Mississippi. The tradition best known, and the one most widely accepted by the Choctaws, is that their ancestors came from a far country, the country toward the setting sun. They had to leave their old home because a great calamity had come upon them. They were about to lose their freedom and their racial identity. Foreigners were coming in and making slaves of them. They had to find a new home, a home where they could keep their independence and their own customs. A place where their children could remain Choctaws.

A general council was called, and after weeks of grave deliberation a day was chosen when they could all bid farewell to their old homes and under the leadership of the brothers, Chactah and Chikash, should seek a new country. A new country far away from their trouble.

The evening before they were to leave a fabussa, or pole, was set up in the middle of the village by the chief medicine man and prophet, who told them that this pole would be their guide.

The next morning, the pole leaned toward the rising sun. In this direction they went. For weeks and months they continued east, and to their astonishment they reached a great river. They had never seen or heard of so great a stream. Where it came from or where it went they did not know. So they named it Misha Sipokni, which in their language meant beyond ages, whose source and terminus are unknown. From this the Mississippi got its name.{3}

They marched many weary miles. In all probability several years had passed since they had left their original homes. During this long journey many of their people died; according to custom, they could not leave their dead behind so their bones must be carried along. At last they reached the bank of a little river and stopped to rest in order that their scouts could explore the country around, and also so the aged and feeble and overburdened could catch up and rest. Many of the families were so loaded with the bones of their dead that they could not keep up; neither could they be left behind.

As winter was coming on, the leaders decided to rest for a while here along the river on the side of a hill. The land was beautiful and there was much rejoicing. The chiefs gave instructions for the ground to be prepared to plant the seed corn they carried. However, only a few ears were left, and these ears had been kept by the old people who had no teeth. The soil was prepared and the precious corn was planted. At one end of their camp there was a great mound with a hole in one side. As it seemed to lead toward the creek, the people called it Nunih Waiya, meaning leaning mountain. They passed the winter at Nunih Waiya and planted their crops. When they gathered a bountiful harvest, they said the mountain really produced.

When it was time to go on, the leaders realized that some of the people could carry the bones no farther, yet they were unwilling to leave them behind. The pole was set up again in the middle of the encampment. Early one morning the chief observed the pole and, to his surprise, at the moment of sunrise the pole danced and pushed itself deeper into the ground. Here it soon settled into an upright position without twisting or leaning in any direction. Seeing this, the chief said, It is well, here we remain. So it was decided to make Nunih Waiya their home and to bury the bones of the dead in the mound nearby. After this ceremonial was completed, a feast was made and they sang:

Behold the wonderful work of our hands and let us be glad. Look upon the great mound; it is surmounted by the golden emblem of the sun; its glitter dazzles the eyes of the multitude. In it are inhumed the bones of our fathers and relatives who died on our sojourn in the wilderness, in a far-off wild country. They rest here at Nunih Waiya. Our journey ends.

This legend offers an interesting and very plausible explanation of the mound, which was held sacred by all Choctaws. The Great Mother was another name by which the mound was called.

After the selection of Nunih Waiya as their final resting place, the Great Spirit divided the Choctaws into iksas or clans, and gave them their marriage law, which they must keep; first, that one always marries into a different clan; second, that the children all belong to the mother’s clan.{4}

Pushmataha belonged to the iksa or clan Kin-sah-a-hi, a reed or potato. This name came from the cane and the wild potatoes which grew along the bank of the creek. Sometimes they were known as the potato-eating people. This wild potato, which was common food among the southern Indians, was made edible by boiling.

By 1764, at the time of Pushmataha’s birth, the primitive customs of this tribe of Choctaws had hardly been touched by white civilization. The Six Town division of the Choctaws to which Pushmataha belonged, lived in the southeastern district of the Choctaw Nation and were regarded by the white traders as being the most backward of the Choctaw people in taking on European customs and trade. The French and Indian War had removed the one nation, the French, with whom they had become accustomed to trade. Now their country was overrun by different type of traders, the English and the Spanish. The new influences created many problems. The Choctaws were not familiar with the language or their methods of intrigue, hence a period of confusion and disunity and even civil war was the result. Pushmataha’s youth was spent in this period of confusion. A confusion which arises when a people is becoming economically dependent, but at the same time losing their political independence as well. Therefore, we know little of Pushmataha’s childhood. One thing we do know is that young Pushmataha learned well the traditions and history of his people. From his earliest boyhood until his death he was proud of his race and his tribe and often expressed his pride in the characteristic Choctaw way: "Chacta sai Hoke, I am a Choctaw."

From his earliest boyhood Pushmataha excelled in hunting and ball playing, but in his later years his interest was in war and statesmanship. Hunting to the young Pushmataha was an art; and in hunting he had his training or his schooling. The weapons he used as a youth were those typical of his race, the bow and arrow and the blow cane. The blow cane, which was used for small game, was a straight cane about eight or nine feet long. This was hollowed out; then a small arrow, covered about one-third of the whole length with cotton or some similar substance, was put in the end. The other end was put near the mouth. It was blown so expertly that a hunter seldom missed his mark at fifteen or twenty feet. This was the weapon used in killing squirrels and birds. For the larger game a bow and arrow and later a rifle were used, never a shotgun.

The first time that Pushmataha stands out as an individual in Choctaw history was on a hunting expedition, a bear hunt it was, over in the Mississippi bottoms. This was long before the Louisiana Territory had become a part of the United States. These were traditional bunts, both for pleasure and for food.