Excerpt from We Present Herewith Various Papers, Show Ing" The Claims of the Texas Cherokees and Their an/I'iliatecl Bands, Against the State of Texas; We Feel That We Cannot Aclcl Any Thing to the Historical Statements Here Made: And Trast That the Legislatare of Texas Will Recognize the Justice and Merit of the Claim, Anal Be Willing to Act Promptly in Rendering" That Relief That Is Properly Due the Indians On the 2oth December, 1826, hunter and fields, Cherokee delegates concluded a treaty of amity and friendship with the whites as against the Mexicans, with the understanding that they were to receive title to their lands from the whites then in revolt against Mexico. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

In 1819 to 1820 several hundred Cherokees-led by Duwali, a chief from Tennessee-settled along the Sabine, Neches, and Angelina rivers in east Texas. Welcomed by Mexico as a buffer to U.S. settlement, Duwali’s people had separated from other Western Cherokees in an effort to retain the tribe’s traditional lifeways. As Dianne Everett details in The Texas Cherokees, they found themselves "caught between two fires" in many respects: between the Cherokee ideal of harmony and the reality of factionalism, between white settlers pushing westward and western Indians resisting incursions, and between traditional ways and the practical necessity of accommodating to whites.

Originally published: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.

"Prior to the forced migration of Eastern Cherokee during the "Trail of Tears," several hundred tribesmen migrated to Texas in 1819. Following a brief stopover in Arkansas and then the future site of Dallas, Texas, the Cherokee ultimately established a settlement near present-day Nacogdoches. For the privilege to officially establish this settlement, the tribesmen first petitioned the Spanish government and then---following its war for independence--the leaders of Mexico, and, ultimately, the independent Republic of Texas. Despite negotiating in good faith with each regime--including the Treaty of February 23, 1836, negotiated with Texas president Sam Houston--the Cherokee were ultimately driven off their Texas land in 1839. Most of the Texas Cherokee, who had suffered hundreds of casualties, fled to the Indian [Oklahoma] Territory, once again falling victim to a white government attending to real-estate interests rather than honoring prior agreements with Native Americans. The details of the Cherokee experience in east Texas are described in a legal document filed on behalf of the Cheroke's descendants by attorney George W. Fields Jr. in 1921. The grandson of Texas Cherokee tribal co-leader Chief Richard Fields, the younger Fields compiled the document to support his--ultimately unsuccessful--suit in the U.S. Supreme Court. Fields was attempting to win compensation for the Texas Cherokee after they had been forced out of Texas. Unpublished for over 80 years, the contents of Fields' account of the Texas Cherokee experience from 1820-1839 has now been transcribed for publication, complete with affidavits and facsimile illustrations, by Mr. Jeff Bowen. In addition to quoting sources documenting the agreements or understandings between the Texas Cherokee and governments in question, Fields' transcript includes a number of newspaper articles published in connection with the suit, illustrations of Chief Bowles and other personalities involved in this episode, correspondence, and a full name index to all the persons--both white and Cherokee--who figure in this forgotten episode in Cherokee history"--Publisher's description.