RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Pushmataha stood out among area Indian leaders
William Weatherford, "Red
Eagle", and Josiah Francis, "Crazy-Brave Medicine", were two of the fiercest and bestknown war leaders of the Creek Indians, also known as the Redsticks. Weatherford led the attack on Ft. Mims and Francis attacked Ft. Sinquefield. Weatherford later surrendered after he was defeated by Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Jackson had such respect for Weatherford that he spared his life and they became close friends. Weatherford lived peacefully for the remainder of his life in Monroe County. Francis continued to make trouble and Gen. Jackson had him hung. The Creeks were always more or less antagonistic towards the American settlers on the frontier. The same was not true of the Choctaws however, who were never at war with the United States and were actually allies of the Americans in fighting with the Creeks.
Pushmataha was born in about 1764 in what is now the state of Mississippi. As he grew into manhood he distinguished himself as a warrior fighting with his people against the Osages. In one fight he disappeared for a while and was accused of being a coward. To this he made a reply by saying, "Let those who laugh show more scalps than I can," whereupon he took from his pouch five scalps and threw them upon the ground. Thereafter they looked upon the young warrior as a great man and gave him the name of the "Eagle." He engaged in many other fights and once, when asked the secret of his success, he replied: "I scare them first, and then I whip them." When he was about the age of 15, the young warrior said that his name was now Pushmataha,
meaning, "the warrior's seat is
finished." He was finished with war and wanted to spend his days at his favorite pastime, ball playing. He then lived on the Tombigbee, and once while away playing ball, some Creek Indians visited his cabin and burned it to the ground. In retaliation, Pushmataha invaded the Creek country, killing many of them, and destroying much of their property. In the War of 1812 Pushmataha sided with the United States against the British while most of the Choctaws wanted to stay neutral. He spoke: "The Creeks were once our friends. They have joined the English, and now we must follow different trails. When our fathers took the hand of Washington, they told him the Choctaws could always be the friends of his nation, and Pushmataha cannot be false to to their promises. I am now ready to fight against both the English and the Creeks." He fought with such energy and success that the white men gave him the title of the Indian General. Even though Pushmataha had a ferocious disposition, he was much beloved by his own people, as well as by the whites who treated him with real affection. He was also known for his honesty and keeping his word. After the War of 1812, Pushmataha returned to the Tombigbee and was made Chief of the Choctaw Nation. Times were peaceful for several years, but before long the white man began to encroach on his people. He made several treaties with the Government, but one in particular, in which Gen. Andrew Jackson was the commissioner; displeased him and he refused to sign his name. Incensed, Gen. Jackson put on all his dignity and addressed the chief: "I wish you to understand that I am Andrew Jackson, and by the Eternal, you shall sign that treaty as I have prepared it." Not intimidated by this haughty address, the mighty Choctaw Chief jumped up, and imitating the manner of his opponent, replied, "I know very well who you are, but I wish you to understand that I am Pushmataha, head chief of the Choctaws; and, by the Eternal, I will not sign that treaty." The general concluded that he had met his match, and having modified his views, the chief was satisfied, and then promptly signed one of the papers, which was to banish the Choctaws from the land of their fathers. In 1824, Pushmataha went to Washington with a delegation of his principal men to negotiate with the government, which was trying to persuade the Choctaws to sell more of their Mississippi lands. The Indians refused to part with any more territory. While in Washington, Pushmataha became ill, but remained the spokesman for his people: "In my own country, I heard there were men appointed to talk to us. I would not speak there. I chose to come here, and speak in this beloved house. I can boast and say, and tell the truth, that none of my forefathers, nor any Choctaws, ever drew bows against the United States. They have always been friendly. We have held the hands of the United States so long that our nails have grown to be like birds' claws. My nation has always listened to the white people. They have give away their country, until it is very small. I repeat the same about the land east of the Tombigbee. I came here, when a young man, to see my father, President Jefferson. He told me, if ever we got into trouble, we must run and tell him. I am come." Later, as he became more ill and was told that he might die, Pushmataha was calm. He thought that the capital of the nation was an appropriate place in which to die. He expressed a wish to be buried with military honors, and that big guns be fired over his grave. Near the end, he called his friends around him and gave them his final wishes. He said he wanted to die like a man, and his final words were: "I am about to die, but you will return to our country. As you go along the paths, you will see the flowers, and hear the birds sing; but Pushmataha will see and here them no more. When you reach home they will ask you, 'Where is Pushmataha?' And you will say to them, 'He is no more.' They will hear your words as they do the fall of the great oak in the stillness of the midnight woods." Pushmataha died on the 24th of December 1824, at the age of 60. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery with honors. A procession more than a mile long followed his remains along Pennsylvania Ave; minute guns were fired from Capitol Hill, and a "big" gun over his grave. Among those who attended his funeral was Andrew Jackson, who frequently said that Pushmataha was the greatest and bravest Indian he ever knew. I have always admired Pushmataha's character, and it came as a pleasant surprise when I found out several years ago that he had a close connection to one of my ancestors, Elijah Pugh, my fourth great-grandfather and Revolutionary War veteran, who came to Clarke County in 1812 from Georgia. According to the Pugh Family Genealogy published by Minnie May Pugh, Elijah's' son, Isaac, had come here the year before and lived with the Choctaws, and became close friends with Pushmataha. Isaac was a gun maker and presented Pushmataha with a fine rifle inlaid with silver figures. He was made a member of the Choctaw tribe by the Indian ceremony of mixing blood.
Source: Appleton's' Journal, a magazine published in 1870.
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
