On July 16, 1839, more than 700 Texas Cherokees and allies from a dozen other Indian tribes made their final stand against a force of more than 900 Texas Rangers, Texas Army soldiers and Texas Militia volunteers. The Battle of the Neches was the largest conflict ever fought between Native Americans and Texans. The Cherokees were led by 83-year-old Chief Bowles, who had tried in vain to secure clear land title rights for his people in East Texas from both the Mexican and Texas governments. Author Stephen L. Moore traces the history of the Cherokees' migration across the United States, their entry into Mexican Texas and the subsequent difficulties they encountered with the Republic of Texas. Drawing on archival documents and participant accounts, The Last Stand of the Texas Cherokees relates the inevitable showdown between Chief Bowles and the Texas frontiersmen he challenged during the so-called Cherokee War of 1839. Armed with sophisticated Garrett metal detectors, search teams return to the Neches battlegrounds 170 years later and successfully recover dozens of artifacts which helped pinpoint the key areas of combat. These relics have since been put on display with the American Indian Cultural Society and with the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum so that future generations can appreciate the significance of the largest battle involving Indians and Rangers ever fought in the Lone Star State

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.

This is a lively effort to pierce the thick fog of Falsehood, calumny, ignorance, and legend surrounding the four years Sam Houston spent among the Cherokees in what is now northeastern Oklahoma, the broken years in Tennessee, and his advent in Texas on the eve of the War for Independence.–Virginia Quarterly Review

A Cherokee Encyclopedia is a quick reference guide for many of the people, places, and things connected to the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, as well as for the other officially recognized Cherokee groups, the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokees. From A Cherokee Encyclopedia "Crowe, Amanda Amanda Crowe was born in 1928 in the Qualla Cherokee community in North Carolina. She was drawing and carving at the age of 4 and selling her work at age 8. She received her MFA from the Chicago Arts Institute in 1952 and then studied in Mexico at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel under a John Quincy Adams fellowship. She had been away from home for 12 years when the Cherokee Historical Association invited her back to teach art and woodcarving at the Cherokee High School. . . ." "Fields, Richard Richard Fields was Chief of the Texas Cherokees from 1821 until his death in 1827. Assisted by Bowl and others, he spent much time in Mexico City, first with the Spanish government and later with the government of Mexico, trying to acquire a clear title to their land. They also had to contend with rumors started by white Texans regarding their intended alliances with Comanches, Tawakonis, and other Indian tribes to attack San Antonio. . . ."

"If you want to be successful, it is this simple. Know what you are doing, love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing." -- Will Rogers When Chad Smith became Principal Chief, the Cherokee Nation was a chaotic and dysfunctional entity. By the end of his tenure, 12 years later, the Nation had grown its assets from $150 million to $1.2 billion, increased business profits 2,000 percent, created 6,000 jobs, and dramatically advanced its education, language, and cultural preservation programs. How could one team influence such vast positive change? The Cherokee Nation's dramatic transformation was the result of Smith's principle-based leadership approach and his unique "Point A to Point B model"--the simple but profound idea that the more you focus on the final goal, the more you will accomplish . . . and the more you will learn along the way. In other words, "look at the end rather than getting caught up in tanglefoot." In Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation, Smith combines Cherokee wisdom handed down from generation to generation with a smart leadership approach that takes today's very real issues into consideration. He explains why this leadership approach works and how you can apply it to your own organization, whether business, government, or nonprofit. Learn all the lessons that drive powerful leadership, including how to: Be a lifelong learner Solve problems with creativity and innovation Recruit and develop strong leaders Delegate wisely Act with integrity and dignity Don't be distracted from your objective Lead by example More than a simple how-to leadership guide, Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation offers a holistic approach to the subject--how to become a powerful leader inside and direct your energy outward to accomplish any goal you set your mind to. Praise for Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation: "These are lessons that can be applied to every organization. Principal Chief Smith's book on leadership is sound and provides steps for every business and organization to improve." -- Frank Keating, President and CEO, American banker's Association, and former Governor of Oklahoma "An indelible chronicling of time-proven elements for tribal and organizational success; just as applicable today as they were a thousand years ago." -- Jay Hannah, Cherokee Citizen, Executive Vice President of Financial Service, BancFirst, and former Chairman of the 1999 Cherokee Constitution Convention "A remarkable account of how the Cherokee Nation reached a pinnacle of success by incorporating common elements of planning, group action, and sharing credit for that success." -- Ross Swimmer, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation 1975-1985 and former Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, US Department of the Interior "Chief Smith shares stories with lessons that work in business; it is not where we are, but where we aspire to go that counts." -- Harold Hamm, Chairman and CEO, Continental Resources, Inc. "Chief Smith shares from a Cherokee perspective how to get from where you are to where you want to go." -- Archie Dunham, Independent Non-Executive Chairman, Chesapeake Energy, and former Chairman, ConocoPhillips "Outlines the reasons for the Nation's amazing growth and stability during [Chief Smith's] term. His principles of organization, leadership, and caring make sense; they work in all organizations." -- David Tippeconnic, CEO, Arrow-Magnolia International, Inc., and former President and CEO, CITGO Petroleum Corp.

No one questions the horrific impact of the Civil War on America, but few realize its effect on American Indians. Residents of Indian Territory found the war especially devastating. Their homeland was beset not only by regular army operations but also by guerillas and bushwhackers. Complicating the situation even further, Cherokee men fought for the Union as well as the Confederacy and created their own “brothers’ war.” This book offers a broad overview of the war as it affected the Cherokees—a social history of a people plunged into crisis. The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War shows how the Cherokee people, who had only just begun to recover from the ordeal of removal, faced an equally devastating upheaval in the Civil War. Clarissa W. Confer illustrates how the Cherokee Nation, with its sovereign status and distinct culture, had a wartime experience unlike that of any other group of people—and suffered perhaps the greatest losses of land, population, and sovereignty. Confer examines decision-making and leadership within the tribe, campaigns and soldiering among participants on both sides, and elements of civilian life and reconstruction. She reveals how a centuries-old culture informed the Cherokees’ choices, with influences as varied as matrilineal descent, clan affiliations, economic distribution, and decentralized government combining to distinguish the Native reaction to the war. The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War recalls a people enduring years of hardship while also struggling for their future as the white man’s war encroached on the physical and political integrity of their nation.