54th
Congress, 2nd sessoin, Senate, Document #
144
The Catawba Tribe of
Indians
February 23rd,
1897 – ordered to be printed as Senate Document for use of
committee on Indian Affairs. Mr. Pettigrew presented the following
memorial on behalf of the individuals formerly comprising and
belonging to the Catawba Tribe of Indians, and accompanying papers.
Department of the Interrior, Wasington, Feb. 1, 1897.
Sir, I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your communication of 23 untimo, with the
following papers:
A memorial on behalf of
the individuals formerly comprising and belonging to the Catawba
Tribe of Indians.
In response thereto I
transmit herewith copy of a communication of 29th instant
from Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to whom the matter was referred.
I return herewith the
memorial of the Catawbas, and trandmit herewith copies of the
Correspondence referred to in the Commissioners letter, which
contains, it is stated, a full and complete trestimony of those
Indians as described from the files and records of his office
andother sources, with his views concerning the policy to be adopted
regarding them.
Very respectfully,
D. R. Francis,
secretary.
The Chairman, Committee
on Indian Affairs
Department of the
Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, January 29th,
1897
Sir, I am in receipt, by
Department reference, of * * * * * a memorial in behalf of
individuals formerly comprising and belonging to the Catawba Tribe of
Indians, with request of the inquiries contained in sid memorial be
answered and information concerning the statements therein and the
appended memorandum be furnished., the memorial submitted by Senator
Petigrew is signed by James Bain, and George E. Williamson, Secretary
of the Catawba Indian Association, and they ask on behalf of the
individuals formerly comprising and belonging to the Catawba Tribe of
Indians to be informed “as to the status of the tribal lands of the
Catawba Indians formerly occupied by the Catawba Tribe of Indians in
the Carolinas, and to secure anything that may be due them as accrung
from said lands, and also to receive any further relief, help, or
benefits they may be found, upon careful examination of the facts in
their case, be entitled to receive in write, justice or equity from
the United States or otherwise in the matter of new homes in the West
or their lands in the East.”
In answer to this
memorial, I rspectfully enclose herewith a copy of a letter from this
office, dated January 16, 1896, addessed to Honorable H. M. Teller,
United States Senate, also a copy of a letter from this offica dated
March 28th, 1896, addressed to R. V. Belt, esquire, in
this city. These letters give a full and complete history of these
Indians, as disclosed from the files and records of this office,
concerning the policy that should be adopted respecting them.
The communication of
Senator Pettigrew and the disclosures referred to therein a herewith
returned.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
D. M. Browning, Commissioner
The Secretary of the Interior
MEMORIAL
To the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
Assembled;
Your petitioners come
representing that they are the representatives of the individuals and
their descendants who were formerly the members of the Catawba Tribe
of Indians that owned and occupied lands in the states of North
Carolina and South Carolina; that in pursuance of the policy of the
United States to remove all the Indian Tribes to new homes to be
provided for them west of the Misissippi River, Congress passed an
act July 29,1848, appropriating $5,000 for the removal of the Catawba
Indians, with their own consent, to the west of the Mississippi
River, and for settling and subsisting them one year in new homes
first to be obtained for them (9 stat. L., 264); that nothing was
accomplished under this act; that the provisions and appropriations
thereof were reenacted in the act of July 31, 1854 (10 stat. L.,
316); that some efforts were made to secure for the Catawbas new
homes among the Choctawand Chickasaw Indians in the Indian Territory,
and under the encourgement of hopeful results, and of the laws of
Congress on the subject, many of the Catawba Indians left their lands
and homes in the Carolinas and journied at their own expense to the
country west of the Mississippi River, hoping and expecting to be
there furnished with and loated there and subsisted for one year upon
new homes; that the Department of the Interior has so far failed to
accomplish anyhting towards securing for the Catawbas such new homes
or in doing anything in their behalf as was contemplated and expected
under the provisions of the law referred to; that the Catawbas
reached the states and territories bordering on the then Indian
Territory, where they expected to be settled in new homes, but have
been left stranded in that territory and in the neighboring states,
where they have had to seek a livelyhood s best they could, without
any land upon which they could build homes for themselves and
families; that they are in great need, and are very anxious to be
given lands, homes, or allotments of any of the lands that now are or
may hereafter become available for that purpose in the Indian
Territory or n Oklahoma Territory; that they desire to be informed sa
to the status of the tribal lands of the Catawba Indians formerly
occupied by the Catawba Tribe of Indians in the Carolinas, and to
secure anything that may be due them as accruing them rfom said
lands; and also to receive any other or further relief, help, or
benefits they may be found, upon careful investigation of the facts
in their case, be entitled to receive in right, justice or equity,
from the United States or otherwise in the matter of new homes in the
West or as to their lands in the East; and they pray that all these
as the facts may warrant, demand and require.
And your petitioners will ever pray.
Fort Smith, Arkansas, December, 7,
1896
James Bain, President of Catawba
Indian Association
Geo. E. Williamson, Secretaty of
Catawba Indian Association
CATAWBA INDIANS
The present location and
number of those Catawba Indians who went West, expecting to be
located on lands west of the Mississippi River by the Department of
the Interior are as follows, as furnished by James Bain, president of
the Catawba Indian Association at Fort Smith, Arkansas:
Greenwood, Ark.,44;
Barber, Ark, 42; Crow, Ark., 13; Oak Bower, Ark., 3; Enterprize,
Ark., 6; Fort Smith, Ark., 17; Total Ark., 125.
Checotah, I. T., 17;
Texanna, I. T., 15; Jackson, I. T., 15; Star, I. T., 34; Panther, I.
T., 22; Oak Lodge, I. T., 10; Redland, I. T., 4; Rainville, I. T., 2;
Indianola, I. T., 3; Center, I. T., 4; Ward, I. T., Sacred Heart, I.
T., 4; Steigler, I. T., 2; total 132.
Grand total, 257.
Department of the Inerior, Office of Indian Affairs,
Washington, January 16th, 1896
Sir,
I am in receipt of your
letter of January 9, 1896, enclosing one from P. H. Head, a Catawba
Indian, of Sanford, Colorado, submitting a petition perporting to
have been signed by himself and 25 others, embracing six families,
who claim to have once resided in South Carolina but are no longer
“recognized” by said state, and asking to be united with the Ute
Indians now living in the Uintah Reservation, and to be recognised by
the Government as members of said Ute Tribe receiving and enjoying in
common with them all rights and priveleges at the protection of the
government. Mr. Head, in his letter, entimates that this petition
will be followed by one signed by the Ute Indians in Utah.
You asked that the
matter might receive my attention, and advise given as to what steps
are necessary to have this change made.
In reply, I have to
say that it is the policy of the government to abolish the tribal
relatonship of the Indians as fast as possible, and to settle each
Indian upon a separate tract of land that he can call his own, to the
end that hemay become self-supporting and independent of government
bounty. It would not be in keeping with this policy, I think, to
gather up people who happen to have more or less Indian blood in
their veins and are living among the Whites, separate and apart from
Indian communities, and incorporate them into a tribe and place them
upon an Indian Reservation.
(1)
The General Allotment
Act of 1887 wisely provided for Indains who were not living upon any
reservation at the date of passage of said act, or for whose tribe no
longer no reservation had been created, by allowing them to apply for
and secure to themslves lands upon the public domain.
To answer your question
directly as to what steps would be necessary to have these people
united to the Indian Tribe occupying the Uintah Reservation in Utah,
I should say that where there are no specific Treaty stipulations
with any given tribe touching such matters, as to the case with these
Ute Indians, the usual course persued is to obtain he concent of the
tribe to which an Indian desires adoption and then to have such
adoption approved by this office and the Secretary of the Interior;
any such consent must be procurd under the eye of he agent and should
bear his certificate to the effect that the action of the Indians in
adopting such Indian represented the wishes of the tribe and was
taken in open council. This briefly would be the proper course to
persue in order to obtain adoption into an Indian Tribe
The petition, with Mr.
Head's letter, is herewith, respectfully returned.
Very respectfully,
D. M. Browning,
Commissioner
Hon. H. M. Teller,
United States Senate
Department of the
Interrior, Office of Indian Affairs, Wasington, March 28, 1896
Sir;
I am in receipt of your
letter of February 22nd, transmitting in pamphlet form a
“Petition and Memorial in the matter of claims and demands of the
Catawba Indian Association of the United States.” publihsed at Fort
Smith, Ark., giving the proceedings of a conventions of Catawba
Indians held in that city April 15, 1895, called for the purpose
ofconsidering the condition, status and welfare of all Catawba, and
all non-Reservation Indians, and to take action in procuring and
allotment of land under the forth section of the General Alotment Act
of Feb. 8, 1887 (24 Stat. L., p. 388), as amended by the Act of Feb
28., 1891 (26 Stat. L., p. 795).
This memorial purports
to come from the Catawba Indians comprising, they allege, “All
persons of Catawba Indian descent, and ther descendants, including
all persona who have intermarried with Catawba Indians, and all
persons of mixed Catawba and White Blood and descent, residing in any
of the states or territories of the United States or in the Indian
Territory;” claiming further that theUnited States has never made
any provisions for them in giving them a grantor title to large
tracts of the public domain as it has done for the Cherokees, Creeks,
and other tribes, only giving them a small tract of land in South
Carolina, although belonging to the same groups of Indians as the
Cherokee and Creeks; the United States of America has made no
provisions whatever to occupy and use any part of the public domain
belonging to the United States, except the aforesaid small tract of
land in South Carolina, unless it be to take alotments under the
aforesaid section 4 of the Act of 1887, as ammended by the act of
1891, and and asking for such Executive action or conrgessional
legislation as may be necessary to secure equal rights with other
Indians to share in the public domain belonging to the United States.
In your letter,
transmitting this petition and memorial, you state that you are
requested to ascertain (one) whether or not th Catawba have any
tribal lands in the sattes of North or South Carolina to which the
tribal title has not been ceded or extenguished; (two) whether there
is any reason why these individual Indians may not take up lands in
severalty on the pblic domain as provided in said section four of The
Act of 1887.
You suggest that
arraingements might be made whereby they could take land in severalty
within the kiowa and Comanche and Wichita Reservations, Oklahoma
Territory, when the unalotted lands of said reservation shall be
opened to to public settlement, or between the time of the
ratification of their agreements, and the issue of the presidents
proclomation opening the same to esttlement, or even befoe the
ratification of said agreement, etc.
In reply I have to state
that the Catawbe Indians are a division of North American Indians,
which included in the last century twenty-eight confederated tribes.
A few of these ewre in North Carolina, but most of them were in South
Carolina. The principle tribe in the later state was the “Katawba.”
, and their chief on in the former was the “Woccon”. The few
survivors of this people are on the Catawba Reservation in York
County, S. C. They do not belong to the Muscogeean linguistic stock,
of North American Indians, as intimated in the Memorial, but to the
Siouan stock, while the Cherokees belong to the Iroquoian stock.
In a publication
entitled Statistics of South Carolina by Robert, Mills, published in
1826, in Charleston, South Carolina, by Hurlbut and Lloyd, pages
104-129, is given a history of the Indians oraboriginal of the
country, to the effect that South Carolina, when
first settled by the English, was settled with numerous tribes of
Indians whose settlements extended from the ocean to the mountains.
From documents extant in the secretry of state's office, and other
sources that might be relied on,, Mr. Mills concluded that the number
of thses different nations or tribes exceeded twenty-eight. The
Westoes and Savannahs were the two most potent tribes. A right to the
soil of the country was grounded upon the acknowledged truth of this
doctrine, that the earth was made for man, and was intended by the
creator of all things to be improved for the benefit of mankind.
These wild lands therefore, were not recognized as the separate
property of the few savages who hunted over them, but belonged to the
common stock of mankind. This doctrine is argeeable to the judicial
determination of the courts of South Carolina with respect to the
rights in land derived soley from uninterupted possession for a term
formerly of five, now (1826) of ten years.
But most of the first ettlers of Carolina, not satisfied to rest
their right of soil upon the law of nature and their government, made
private purchases from the Indians, and the government (state) itself
entered into treaties with the aborigines. The first public deed of
conveyance by the Indians found on record is dated March 10, 1675.
In giving a description of the names, location, and number of Indian
tribes in Carolina about the year 1700 he gives the following on page
108:
“The Catawbas, Sugaree on Sugar Creek, Lancaster District,
occupied the country above Camden on each side of the river of the
same name, a small remnant of this tribe of Indians still occupies a
tract of country, laid off 15 miles square, lying partly in York and
partly in Lancaster districts, on both sides of the river.”
Speaking of the population, he states (p. 114):
“The Catawbas are now reduced, from habits of indolence and
inebriation, to very few; their numbers do not exceed 110 of every
age. In 1700, (some years after the first settlement of Carolina)
they mustered 1,500 fighting men. This would give the population of
the nation at that time between 8,00 and 10,000 souls. About the year
1743 the Catawbas coud only bring 400 warroirs into the field,
composed partly of refugees from various smaller tribes, who, about
this time, were abliged by the state of affairs to associate with
them, on account of their reduced numbers. Among them were the
Wateree, Chowan, Congaree, Nachee, Yamasee, and Coosah Indians. At
present not 50 men can be counted in the list of their warriors.
The remains of theirnation now occupy an area of 15 square miles,
laid out on both sides of the Catawba River., and include parts of
York and Lancaster districts. This tract embraces a body of fine
lands, timbered with oak, etc. These lands are almost all leased out
to White settlers for 99 years,, renewable at the rate of $15-20 per
annum for eath plantation of about 300 acres. The annual income from
these lands is estimated to ammount to about $5,000. This sum,
prudently managed, would suffice to support the whole nation, now
comprized of about 30 families, comfortably. Yet these wretched
Indians live is a state of abject poverty, the consequences of their
indolence and dissipated habits. They ???? for their rent before it
is due, and the $10 or $20 dollars received are requently spent in a
debauch; poverty, beggary, and misery follow for a year.
The Catawba have two villages, one on each side of the river.. The
largest is Newtown, situated directly on the river bank. To the
other, which is upon the opposite side, they have given no name, but
it is generally called Turkeyhead. King's Bottom” is a very rich
tract of land which the Indians have had sense enough to reserve for
their children.
The first settlement was made in this district by emigrants from
Pennsylvania around the year 1745, was called “The Waxhaws”, from
the name of the creek on which the principle settlements ewre located
(then supposed to be within the bounds of North Carolina). These
settlements were made in the neighborhood of the Catawbas, then a
powerful and warlike tribe of Indians., whose chief town was situated
on the west side of Sugar Creek (more properly “Sugawee,” that
being the ancient Indian name), just opposite the mouth of Little
Sugar Creek. The sight of this ancient. The sight of this ancient
town is now in York district and under cultivation in the plantation
of Mr. Alderson, but not a vestage of it is to be seen.
About
the year 1750 the early settlers of the Waxhaws became in a great
measure rid of their powerfuland dangerous neighbors, the Indians,
as the small pox brokw out among them and carried off, from the best
information, three-forths of the whole tribe. Shortly afterwards they
leased out most of their lands on Sugar Creek to some
of the emigrants and removed and esttled in the towns where they now
reside.”
In the description of
the county of York, he states:
“This section of the
of the country was settled about the yar 1760, principly from
Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its name may be placed to York, in
Pennsylvania, from whence some of the first settlers came.
There are no other
settlements, as villages, in the district, except the Indian
settlement on Catawba River. These Indians have two towns. The most
important is called Newtown, situated immediately on the river; the
other is on the opposite side, and is called Turkeyhead. The Indian
lands occupy an extent of country on both sides of the river equal to
180 square miles or 115,200 square acres. [NOTE: not my mistake –
it does say “square acres. An acre is a measurement of area, not
length, so the word “square” is reduntant, confusing, and
misleading]. Most of this has been disposed by them to the whites in
leases for ninety-nine years, renewable. The rent of each plantation
is from ten to twenty dollars per annum. . . . The Catawba Nation
could, at the first settlement of the state; muster 1,500 fighting
men. At present their warriors do not exceet 30. For your nformation
I include a sketch of a portion of a map of South Carolina and North
Carolina, showing the aforesaid Reservation of 180 square miles.
Schoolcraft, in his
History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, volume 3, page
293, has an article on “Carolina Manusript Respecting the Origin of
the Catawba”. N this paper he states that:
“The Catawba are a
Canadian Tribe. The Connewangos were their heredity enemies, and with
the aid of the French, were likely at last, to overhelm them. The
Catawba, judging correctly of their perilous condition, determined on
a removal to the vicinity of the English settlements. They set out
from their ancient homes about the year 1650, crossed the St.
Lawrence, probably around Detroit, and bore for the headwaters of the
Kentucky River. The Connewangos all the time kept in full pursuit.
The fugitives, embarrassed with their women and children, saw that
their enemies would overtake them, chose a position near the source
of the Kentucky and there awaited the onset of their more powerful
adversaries. Turning therefore, upontheir pursuers, with the energy
disperatoin sometimes inspires, they gave them a terrible overthrow.
This little naton, after their great vistory, without proper regard
to policy, divided into two bands. The one remained on the Kentucky,
which was called by the hunters the Catawba, and were in tme absorbed
into the great families of the Chickasaws and Chickasws. The other
band settled in Botetourt County, Virginia., upon a stream afterwards
called Catawba Creek. They remained there but a few years, their
hunters pressing on to the South, discovered the Catawba River, in
South Carolina (Eswa Tavora), and the entire Virginia band (about
1660) came in a body to effect a prmanent settlement upon that
stream.
[NOTE: this whole story
has no basis in fact whatsoever. Spanish explorers discovered Siouan
speaking tribesmen in the Carolinas in the 1540s and again in the
1560/70s.]
“In the year 1735 the
nation had in reservation only 30 acres of their large and fertile
territory, not a foot of which was in cultivation. In the history of
South carolina, Ramsey solemly envolkes to the people of South
Carolina to cherish this small remnant of a noble race, always the
friends of the Carolinians, and ready to peril all for their safety.
They never have shed a drop of American blood, nor stolen property to
the value of a cent. They have lost everything but their honesty.
Hagler or haigler waas a great man, and the nation still speak of him
with great feeling. They have never looked up since his death.”
Hagler or Haigler was
succeeded by King Prow or Frow in 1765, who reigned but a short time.
On his death, General Newriver, who had gained a splendid victory on
New River n Virginia over the Northern Indians, was called to rule
over them., they having determined, in imitation of their white
brethren, to repudiate royalty. He was succeeded by General Scott,
grandson of King Hagler or Haigler, and afterwards by Colonel Ayers.
In an appendix to the
laws of the Colonial and state governments relating to Indians and
Indian affairs, from 1633 to 1831, inclusive, published in Washington
City in 1832 by Thompson and Homans, is given the “Proceedings of
the Congressand the Confederation relating to Indians and Indian
Affairs.”
On page 15 of said
Appendix, under the date of November 2, 1782, appears the following,
viz:
“The Committee,
consisting of Mr. Duane, Mr. Ramsey, and Mr. Wharton, to whomwas
rferred a letter of the first, from the Secretary of War, report;
“That they have had a
conference with the two deputies of the Catawba Nation of Indians;
that their mission respects certain tracts of land reserved for their
use in the state of South Carolina, which they wish may be so secured
to their tribe as not to be intruded into by force, nor alienated
evenwith their own concent; whereupon,
“Resolved, That it be
recommended to the legislature of the State of South Carolnia to take
such measures for the satisfction and security of the said tribe as
the said legislature shall, in their wisdom, think fit.”
In Brevard's Digest of
the Laws of South Carolina, vol. 1, title 96, Indians, among other
things appears the following, adopted in 1808, viz.:
“Sec. 8. Whereas it is
expedient that the Catawba Indians should have the power to rgant and
make leases for life, for lives, as well as for a term of years, of
the lands vested in them by the laws of this state.
“Sec. 9. Be it
therefore enacted, that rom and immediately after the passing of this
act, it shall and may be lawful for the Catawba Indians to grant and
make to any person or persons any lease or leases, for life or lives
or term of years of any of the landsof any of the lands vested in
them by the laws of this state: provided that no lease shall exceed
the term of 99 years or three lives in being.
“ Sec. 10. And be it
further enacted, that the governor for the time being shall be
authorized and is hereby required to appoint five fit and proper
persons to sprintend the leasing of the lands of the Catawba Indians
in manner aforesaid. And no lease of the lands of the aforesaid
Catawba Indians hereafter to be made,, whether for life or lives or
term of years, shall be heald or deemed as valid and good in law
unless the same be witnessed by a majority of the said
superintendants at the time of making thereof, and signed and sealed
by at least four of the headmen or chiefs of said Catawba Indians:
Provided, that a annual rent be reserved as a compensation for such
lease.
“Sec. 11. And be it
enacted, That the said superintendant shall be commissioned for the
purpose aforesaid, for seven years, which commission shall be rcorded
n the office of Secretary of State, and an office copy thereof shall
be taken and received as good evidence in any court of law or equity
witin this state as the original would be if produced in any case
within it might be necessary to produce such original commission.
“Sec. 12. And it be
further enacted, that all acts and claims of acts or resolutions
repugnant hereto be, and the same are hereby repealed.
Sec. 13. Whereas many
inconveniences have been experienced by he leasees of the Catawba
Indians, as well as by the Indians themselves,, under the operation
of an act passed in the year of our Lord 1808, which act ordains that
two shall at any time be made for such lease, or any part thereof,
for more than three years rent in advance, and that nopayments shall
be demed or held to be valid unless the same be made conformably to
this act, and receipts therefor given by such of the chiefs of the
nation as usually transact their affairs, and by a majority of the
said superintendants.
“Sec. 14. And it be
further enacted, that no payments shall be hereafter made for such
lease, or any part thereof, for more than seven years in advance, and
that nopayment shall be held or deemed valid ; unless receipt
therefor be given and attested by one of the said superintendants.
“Sec. 15. And it be
further enacted, that a lease for three years or 99 years of the said
Catawba lands shall be, and the same is hereby, declared to be a
qualification equivalent to a free hold in all cases where a free
hold is not required by the constitution of this state or of the
United States.
In 1815 an act was
passed by the legislature of South Carolina entitled “An Act to
Authorize and Empower the Superintendent of the Catawba Indians to
Institute Actions ffor Tresspass on Their Lands, and For Other
Purposes Therein Mentioned.”
“Whereas certain
persons now hold posesson of the landsbelonging to the Catawba
Indians, without obtaining a lease for the same from the headmen or
chiefs of the nation, agreeable to the act of assembly passed the
15th day of December, 1808, empowering the said Indians to
lease the lands vested in then, and there is no power or authority
in any person or persons to institute an action or actions at law to
put such persons as hold their lands without a lease out of the
possessio thereof: For remedy whereof, be it enacted by the honorable
Senate and House of Representatives, now met and setting in general
assembly, and by te authority of the same, that from and immediately
after the passing of this act, the supernitendant now appointed, or
that may be hereafter appointed, by the governor of the state, or a
majority of them shall be, and are hereby authorized and empowered,
in their own names or in the names of a majoriey of them, as agents,
to comence and prosecute, an action or actions of trespass to try
titles to the lands claimed by and vested in the said Indians, that
is now or may hereafter be held in possession by any person or
persons, without a lease frm the headmen or chief of said nation of
Indians, in persuance of the act of the general assembly aforesaid,
and also in like manner an action or actions of quare clausum fregit,
for trespass committed on said lands; and also actions for injuries
done to the personal property of said Indians; and the damage
recovered in the actions to try titles, or in any actions to quare
clausum fregit, or action for injury done to the personal property of
said Indians, shall be collected by the said superintendent for the
benefit of said Indians.
“And it be enacted by
the authority aforesaid, that the said superintendents, or a majority
of them, shall have power I the same manner, as they are authorized
to bring actions, to make distress for for arrearages of rent now
due, or that may hereafter become due, or bring an action or actions
to recover the same in any court having jurisdiction.
“And be it further
enacted by the authority aforesaid, that this shall be deemed and
taken as a public act, and judically noticed as such without special
pleading, and liberally construed for carrying the purposes aforesaid
into effect.”
“Catawba Indians –
For the removal of the Catawba Tribe of Indians now in the limits of
the State of North Carolina to the Indian Country west of the
Mississippi, with the consent of said tribe, under the direction of
the President of the united States, a sum not exceeding $5,000:
provided no portion of this sum shall be expended for the purpose of
removing said Indians until the President shall first obtain a home
for them. Amongst some of the tribes west of the Mississippi River,
with their concent, and without any charge upon the government.”
In a letter dated
November 13th, 1848, John C. Mullay, a clerk in this
office, forwarded a letter, dated Oct. 6, 1848, from one George T.
Mason, enclosing a request by the Chief of the Catawbas,, a memorial
of said tribe of Indians at Quallatown, Haywood County, N. C., dated
Oct. 4, 1848, on file in this office (misc. M., 280), addressed to
the President, signed by William Morrison, chief, and following heads
of each Catawba family, viz., Phillip Kegg, Lewis Stevens, John
Heart, John Scott, Franklin Kenty, Antony George, David Harris,
Thomas Stevens, John Harris, Jesse Harris, Nancey George, Sally
Harris, Polly Redhead, Patsey George, Harriet Stevens, Betsy Heart,
Cynthia Kegg, Patsy George, Jr., Mary Ayres, Margaret Ayres, Betsey
Ayres, Susan Kegg, Eliza Kanty, Frankie Brown, Jinny Joe, Jenny
Ayres, Rachel Brown, Easther Scott, Katy Joe, Sally Redhead, William
George, Peggy Kanty, Rosa Ayres, Becky George, Polly Harris,
Elizabeth Brown, Polly Harris [same name is listed twice], Mary Joe,
Allen Harris, Mary Harris and James Kegg, comprising 42 persons, all
of whom signed by mark, in the presence of Abram Sellers, George T.
Mason., and John T. Gibson, requesting the appointment of a reliable
and trustworthy business man to superintend their removal west.
In transmitting said
memorial Mr. Mullay speaks of him, after several personal interviews
held with said chiefs, as an intelligent, respectable Catawba, and of
the preference of his people to a home with the Chickasaw Indians
West, who, he stated, had at one time given the Catawba an invitation
to esttle among them.
In this annual report of
this office for the year 1849 (Doc. 5, p. 949), it is stated that –
“The department has
not yet succeeded in finding a suitable home west of the Mississippi
for the Catawba Indians residing in North Carolina. They prefer a
residence among the Chickasaws, to whom application was made to
receive them,, but to which there has been no final answer. Proper
efforts will be made carry out, next season, if practiceable, the Law
of July 29th, 1848, providing for their removal.”
Agent A.M. M. Upshaw was
instructed, Nov. 6, 1848 (Chickasaw Letter Book C., p. 32), to
ascertain whether or not the Chickasaw Nation would receive the
Catawba on the terms prescribed by the law.
In said instructoins it
was intimidated that the Department knew very little about the
Catawbas, othing of their origins, or of their language and customs,
, or how they got from their home in South Carolina to Haywood
County, in North Carolina. Hey were believe d however, to be a quiet
and well disposed people, numbering in all about 80 souls. From their
location and supposed former alliances with the Cheorkees, the
impresson was established that they would prefer a residence with the
Cherokees, and steps were taken to ascertain whether or not they
would receive the Catawbas on the terms prescribed. Information was
subsequently obtained that they would probably object to going to the
Cherokees, and expressed a preference to take homes with the
Chickasaws. Agent Upshaw responded, on the 8th of January,
1849, that the Chickasaws would probably receive the Catawbas, but
that their council must first act on the subject. (Chickasaw U. 55)
It does not appear however, that the Chickasaw Council ever took
action on the case.
Subsequently, it appears
that the Choctaw Council passed an act entitled “An Act
Naturalizing Certain Persons Therein” which was approved November
3rd, 1893, (Choctaw Laws, 1869, p. 124) as follows, viz.:
Sec. 11. Be it enacted
by the general council of the Choctaw Nation assembled, that Willim
Morrison, Thomas Morrison, Sarah Jane Morrison, Molly Redhead, Betsey
Heart, Rebeccah Heart, Phillip Keggo, and the infant child of Phillip
Keggo, Rosey Ayres, Betsey Ayers, Julian Ayres, Mary Ayres, Sophonia
Ayres, and Sally Ayres be,and they are hereby declaresd, naturalized
citizens of the Choctaw Nation, invested with all the rights,
priveliges, and immunities of Naturalized citizens of the same.”
Although there is
nothing in the act to show the nationality of these persons, you will
see by a comparison of the names attached to the aforementioned
memorial of the Catawbas, that they are the same persons. This
opinion is coorborated by a subsequent Act of said council, approved
November 12, 1856 (Choctaw Laws, 1869, p. 153) entitled, “An Act
Giving Greater priveleges to the Catawbas hereby naturalized).”
Sec. 18. Be it enacted
by the General Counsil of the Choctaw Nation Assembled, that the
Catawbas who were made citizens of this nation by a special act of
Session XX, section11, of 1853, between the Choctaws and the
government of the United States.”
The Hon. James L. Orr,
of Anderson, S. C., and Reprsentatives in Congress, having called the
attention of this office to the fact that a remnant of the Catawba
Tribe of Indians numbering about 70 persons residing within his
state, expressed a desire to become affiliated with the Choctaw
people; that they possessed a small reservation in South Carolina
that they were willing to sell, and that the proceeds in connection
with a contemplated appropriation for their benefit of the
legislature of the state, would supply them with a fund amounting, as
was presumed, , to about $5,000 suffecient, if properly applied,, to
enable them to make the improvements necessary to a successful
commencement of cultivating the soil, and of other pursuits incident
to civilized life. This office instructed C. W. Dean, Superintendent
of Indian Affairs, in a letter addressed to him at Ft. Smith,
Arkansas, dated January 6, 1857 to direct agent D. H. Cooper to lay
the subject before the Choctaw nation in council assembled or other
wise, as he might deem most judicious, inviting attention to the
generocity and hospitality of the Choctaws manifested in the
reception and kind treatment of a small party of their fellow
Catawbas, then living among the Choctaws which had inspired them with
confidence in that people, and with an anxious desire the same
privileges with their brethren who had gone before them in the same
enterprise.
He was advised that in
the Indians appropriations act approved July 31st 1854,
(10 stat. 1, p. 316), the following item appears, viz. –
“For the
reappropriation for expences of the removal of the Catawba Indians
to the west of the Mississippi River, and of settling, and subsisting
them one year in their new homes, provided that a home shall first be
obtained for them, and that they shall be removed only with their own
cencent to receive this small band ofCatawbas, and , and would permit
them to reside within the limits of their territory.
Superintendent Dean
reported on this matter March 20, 1857, as follows:
“It is the opinion of
Agent Cooper, in which opiniion I concur, that nothing can be
effected as to the procurement of homes for these Indians among the
Choctaws until the next session of the general counsil of the nation,
and I believe it does not again convene until next Autumn.”
“I was in hope,
indeed, from inquiry, was almost satisfied – that the act of the
Choctaw Counsil passed at the Choctaw Counsil passed at the session
of 1853, conferring the privelege of citizenship upon certain Catawba
Indians that emigrated and were permitted to settle in the Choctaw
Country in that year, was made general and comprehensive in its
terms, so as to include all the Catawba Indians that might be
disposed to cast their lot with them, as there seemed at the time to
be an understanding that the greater portion, if not all the residue
of the tribe was desirous of emigrating to the Choctaw Country.; but
I have recently procured a copy of the act of 1853 (a transcript of
which is in file in the Indian Bureau), and perceive it is limited
and specific in its terms, including only those that emigrated in
that year.
I am further inclined in
the belief that the Choctaws were dissapointed that the Catawbas that
emigrated at the time mentioned were unable to turn over to the
treasury of the nation a certain sum of money that it was supposed
that they were to receive from the United States for their removal
and temporary subsistence, but which amount, instead of being paid
into the treasury of the Choctaws, reverted instead to the surplus
fund of the treasury of the united States. As thee Catawbas were
invested with the full priveleges of the citizens of the Choctaw
Nation and became equal participants in the distribution of their
annuities, etc., it seems not unreasnable that any fund set apart for
the use of these catawbas should have become a portion of the common
stock for common good, and such, I learn, was the general expectation
of all parties when the act of 1853 was passed.
Agent Cooper gives it as
his opinion that on assembling of the National Council of the
Choctaws and Chickasaws, on the payment of a reasonable sum thereof
by the United States or by the State of South Carolina.
Under these
circumstnces, and as from the tenor of your letter of january 6, the
exact provision that may be made for the rmoval and settlement of the
Catawbas of South Carolina appears as yet to be indefinite. And
unascertained. I beg permission to suggest that the interim that must
occur before further action can be had with the tribes be occupied in
adjusting definitely and with precision what amount will be under
control of the department so secure the purposes indicated, so that a
proposition determinant in its charactermay be ready to be laid
before the tribes whose cooperation is asked in the premises.
“From Agent Cooper's
letter to me on the subject, I beg leave to offer the following
extant, and to ask for it the consideration of the department:
“I have but little
doubt the remnant of the Catawba Indians can be accomodated in the
Choctaw and Chickasaw Country, upon the payment by the United States
or the State of South Carolina, of a reeasonable consideration to the
Choctaws and Chickasaws, both ofwhich tribes have an interest direct
in all sums of money that might be realized from the use or sale of
the country embraced within their boundaries.
No action appears to
have been taken by the government or any of the Indians on the
question of their removal to the Choctaw or any other Indian Country
until 1872 when Hon. J. C. Harper, of the House of Representatives
from Georgia, brought to the attention of this officethe question of
the removal of certain Indians in North Carolina and Georgia.
Presuming they were Cherokee, this office requested him on the 13th
of June, 1872, to furnish a list of the names and ages of said
Indians. In reporting the names, Mr. Joseph McDowell , of Fairmount,
Georgia, under date of October 1872 (Misc. M., 229), stated that the
Indians referred to, and asking relief of the government, were
Catawba Indians, and 84 in number, viz:
Those italicized desired
permission of the president to settle in the Indian Territory, all of
whom Mr. McDowell states were good and loyal people, and that if any
Indian deserved assistance from the government these Indians did:
that their grandfathers onon both sides the government in the War for
Independence, and that their names were on the muster rolls in the
War Department.
William Guy, of
Granville County, Georgia, and Simon Jeffers, of Belleville Virginia,
Catawba Indians, served five years in the Army and were honorably
discharged, and these 84 persons were their descendants.
Buckner Guy, 80 Rose
Guy, 12 Judy Guy, dauther of
Lucinda
Anderson McClelland Guy, 8 Simon Jeffers, 80
(his daughter, wife of
Wm. U. S. Grant Guy or Edmond Guy, 80
Anderson, a Cherokee,
60 Wolford Grant Guy, 7 Willis Guy, 61
Polly Guy, 50 Luisa
Guy, 8 Mahala Guy, 61
James Guy, 55 John
Guy, 6 George W. Guy, 36
Clark Guy, 53 Johnson
Guy, 11 Mary S. Guy, 33
Judy or Judith William
Guy, 6 Andrew T. Guy, 31
Guy, 48 Katy Guy,
2 Martha Bingham, married
Silvy Guy, 45 Peter
Guy, 40 a White man, 29
Elizabeth Guy,
20 Tabathy Steward, 50 Amanda M. McDowell,
George Guy, 19 Viney
Guy, 48 married a White man, 27
Amanda Anderson, 25 Ann
Gipson, 46 Joshua R. Guy, 25
Nathaniel Anderson,
23 Katherine Guy, 45 Amanda T. Guy,
white wife
Mary Anderson,
21 Rachel Guy, 43 of Joshua
R. Guy, 24
Eliza Anderson, 21 June
Bingham, married Erastus M. Guy, 3
Nancy Anderson, 19 a
white man, 41 Mary C. Guy, white wife of
Cornelia Anderson,
18 George Guy, 28 A. T. Guy, 28
William Washington
Thomas Guy, 14 Henry H. Guy, 4
Guy, 20 John Guy,
12 Emma F. Guy, 2
Albert A. Guy,
28 Henrietta Guy, 8 Ruth M. Guy, 21
Amanda Guy, 26 Mary
Guy, 23 Sarah A. Guy, 19
Joseph M. Guy,
24 Newton Guy, 16 Isaac H. Guy, 17
Caroline T. Guy,
22 Caroline Guy, 14 Millard F. Guy, 16
Martha Guy, 23 William
Guy, 12 Lily F. Guy, 12
Alexander Guy, 21 Ann
Guy, 10 Samuel H. McDowell, son of
Sarah Guy, 18 Daniel
Guy, 35 Amanda M., 5
Geraldine Guy, 12 Mary
Guy, 45 Eli H. H. J. McDowell, son
George Guy, 11 Charles
Guy, 18 of Amanda M., 1
Henrietta Guy, 9 George
Guy, 16 Elizabeth Guy (white) wife of
Tennessee Guy,
7 Adaline Guy, 14 G. W. Guy, 30
Ann Guy, 14 Brag Guy,
12 Laurado Guy, 4
Caly Lee Guy, 2
Charles Bingham,
son of
Martha, 3
As these Indians were
Catawba's and not Cherokees, Mr. McDowell was informed Oct. 22, 1872,
that they could not receive any of the benefits arising from the
Cherokee removal fund of 1848.
A schedule of seventy
persons very similar to the forgoiing list, each containing many of
the same names was forwarded to the office by Mr. McDowell, Oct. 19,
1869 (Misc. M. 805), but for the same reasons, no relief could be
granted them at that time more than in 1872.
Another interval of 15
years or more lapsed before the subject was again presented to the
department.
On the 21st
of November, 1887, James Kegg, of Whittier North Carolina, in
addressing the Secretary of the interrior (No. 31383), made the
following statement, viz.:
Many years ago his
people, the Catawba Indians, leased the land they owned in South
Carolina and became a wondering tribe, without homes for their wives
and children. They made application he states, to the Cherokees of
North Carolina, for homes upon their land and made over to them all
their leased lands in South Carolina in consideration of their
adoption into their tribe; that about 500 were so adopted and have
been identified as such; that some 300 of them were removed ewst
under the Cherokee Treaty of New Echota, made December 29th,
1835, leaving a few living among the Cherokees as Cherokee citizens
and a small portion remaining in South Carolina “upon a section of
land which they owned and was not leased out for a term of years,
upon which they now reside.” Those Catawbas remaining in South
Carolina, Mr. Kegg states, had no interest whatever in the lands
which were leased out by those who became Chrokees by adoption, and
he wished to ascertain whether or not the United States gave its
concent to the Catawbas to lease out their lands to the State of
South Carolina or to her citizens, and if so, upon what terms and the
length of term said leases ran.
Without indorsing the
statements herein made by Mr. Kegg. He was informed on the 7th
of April, 1888, that the Catawba Indians held their lands in South
Carolina under agreements or arraingements made with that state over
which the Federal Government had no control or jurisdiction. He was
then cited to the laws of South Carolina, a set forth I Brevard's
Digest, vol 1., titled “Indians”, and to the volume in colonial
law herein cited, and for further information respecting the history
and previous status of the lands and leases he was referring to the
Secretary of State of the State of South Carolina.
There have been frequent
communications from and concerning the Catawba Indians since 1888,
but none involving of furnishing any new facts of information
concerning the history or status of these Indians or their lands.
The last communication
on the subject was a letter dated Jan 9th, 1896, from
Senator H. M. Teller, including one from P. H. Head (who had been
furnished a copy of office letter to Senator Teller dated Feb.13,
1890, giving the status given the status of their lands in South
Carolina as above set forth), a Catawba Indian, of Sanford, Colo.,
submitting a petition perporting to have been signed by himself and
25 others, embracing six families, Catawba Indians, who claim to have
once resided in South Carolina, but who are no longer recognized by
said state, and ask to be united with the Indians now living on the
Uintah Reservation in Utah, and to be recognized by the government as
members of the Ute Tribe, receiving and enjoying in common with them
all the rights and priveleges of Utes and the protection of the
government. In said letter Mr. Head intimaated that this petition
would be followed by another signed by the said Ute Indians, which
however, has not yet been received in this office.
Senator Teller, in
submitting said petition, requested that it receive due attention and
that he be advised as to what steps were necessary to have such
change effected.
He was informed on the
16th of January, 1896, on the return of said petition,
that it was now the policy of th government to abolish the tribal
relations of the Indians as fast as possible, and to settle each
Indian upon a separate tract of land that he can call his own to the
end that we may become self-supporting and independent of government
bounty. It would not be in keeping with that policy to gaher up
people who happen to have more or less people who happen to have
Indian blood in their veins and were living among the White separate
and apart from Indian communities and incorporate them into a tribe
and place them upon an Indian Reservation.. A copy of the General
Alotment Act of 1887, and the Amendatory Act of 1891, with a copy of
the rules and regulations indicating the manner of procedure to
obtain an alotment of lands upon the public domain under the fourth
section of said act were sent to said petitioners for the information
as the said section wisely provided for Indians who wre not living
upon any reservation at the date of the passage of asid act, or for
whose tribe no reservation of land had been created by allowing them
to apply for and to ecure to themselves land upon the public domain
whether surveyed or unservayed.
With respect to
incorporation into the Ute Tribe of Indians occupying the Uintah
Reservation, Senator Teller was advised that where there are no
specific treaty stipulations given with any given tribe touching such
matters, as is the case with the Ute Indians, the usual course to
pursue is to obain the concent of the tribe into which an Indian
desires adoption, and then have such adoption approved bythis office
and the Secretary of the Interrior. Any such concent must be procured
under they eye of the agent and should bear his certificate to the
effect that the action of the Indians in adopting such Indian
represented the wishes of the tribe and was taken in open council.
This, briefly, would be the proper course to pursue in order to
obtain adoption into an Indian tribe.
Having furnished tis
full and complete history of the Catawbas, as far as the same is
disclosed is disclosed from the files and records of this office and
other sources, you will see just what lands these Indians held and
now hold in South Carolina. I know of no land that they own in their
tribal capacity as Catawbas in North Carolina. I know of no reason
why these individual Indians may not take up lands in severalty under
the fourth section of the act of 1887 aforesaid. I do not think it
would practicable or wise to ask the President to withhold from
public settlement the lands ceded by the Kiowa and Comanche Indians
by their last agreement, when that agreement is ratified by Congress,
ntil such Indians had first taken allotments thereon. They should
conform to the act of 1887, as all the other Indians in like
condition have to do.
Your attention is
particularly invited to the views of this office in office letter of
January 16th, 1896, herein referred to with respect to
the policy that should be adopted respecting the Catawba Indians.
This memorial is
herewith returned.
Very respectfully,
D. M. Browning
Commissioners
R. V. Belt, Esq.
1314 Tenth Street NW,
City
