This is a copy of a letter from John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, to Colonel Thomas L. McKenney, commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated February 15, 1838. Ross expresses his gratitude for the kind sentiments offered by McKenney on the deteriorating state of affairs in the Cherokee Nation. Ross refers to the Cherokees as powerless and indicates that the sympathy of the U.S. government is their only hope for relief.

This is a copy of a letter from John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, to Colonel Thomas L. McKenney, commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated February 15, 1838. Ross expresses his gratitude for the kind sentiments offered by McKenney on the deteriorating state of affairs in the Cherokee Nation. Ross refers to the Cherokees as powerless and indicates that the sympathy of the U.S. government is their only hope for relief.

This document is a letter from a delegation of Cherokee leaders, including John Ross, Elijah Hicks, George Lowrey, and Major Ridge, to Colonel Thomas L. McKenney, of the Department of War, dated April 29, 1824. The delegation communicates a number of issues to McKenney from Principal Chiefs Charles R. Hicks and Path Killer. The bulk of the letter relates to the misconduct and abusive behavior of Joseph McMinn, U.S. agent to the Cherokees, and former Governor of Tennessee (1815-1821). In particular, McMinn had allowed unauthorized whites to settle in the Cherokee Nation, in violation of numerous treaties, and refused to prosecute them when they committed depredations within the Nation. They also discuss payment for improvements and claims under the treaties of 1817 and 1819, and the boundary line along the Unicoi Turnpike.

Description: "Enclose an address of Samuel S. Conant of New York and request that you transmit to him such specimens of Indian Oratory as you may be able to collect. Note of Sibley states could not furnish anything in time for publication without great inconvenience so sent nothing".

Getting the Message Through, the companion volume to Rebecca Robbins Raines' Signal Corps, traces the evolution of the corps from the appointment of the first signal officer on the eve of the Civil War, through its stages of growth and change, to its service in Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. Raines highlights not only the increasingly specialized nature of warfare and the rise of sophisticated communications technology, but also such diverse missions as weather reporting and military aviation. Information dominance in the form of superior communications is considered to be sine qua non to modern warfare. As Raines ably shows, the Signal Corps--once considered by some Army officers to be of little or no military value--and the communications it provides have become integral to all aspects of military operations on modern digitized battlefields. The volume is an invaluable reference source for anyone interested in the institutional history of the branch.