Stand Watie - Tribal Leadership

Tribal Leadership

John Ross had signed an alliance with the Confederacy in 1861, but repudiated it two years later. He reflected the shifting support within the Cherokee Nation, although by then a majority favored the Confederacy. After he was captured by Union forces and ended up in Washington, D.C., Tom Pegg took over as principal chief of the pro-Union Cherokee. Following Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, Pegg called a special session of the Cherokee National Council. On February 18, 1863, it passed a resolution to emancipate all slaves within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation. Most of the "freed" slaves were held by masters who were part of the pro-Confederate Cherokee, so they did not gain immediate freedom.

Stand Watie was elected principal chief of the pro-Confederate Cherokee, who increasingly outnumbered pro-Union elements. Ross' supporters, by then in the minority, refused to recognize his election. Open warfare broke out between the "Union Cherokee" and the "Confederate Cherokee" within Indian Territory. After the Civil War ended, both factions sent delegations to Washington, DC. Watie pushed for recognition of a separate "Southern Cherokee Nation", but never achieved that.

The US government refused to recognize the divisions among the Cherokee. As part of the new treaty, it required the Cherokee free their slaves. The Southern Cherokee wanted the government to pay to relocate the Cherokee Freedmen from their lands. The Northern Cherokee suggested adopting them into the tribe, but wanted the federal government to give the Freedman an exclusive piece of associated territory. The federal government required that the Cherokee Freedmen would receive full rights for citizenship, land, and annuities as the Cherokee. It assigned them land in the Canadian addition. In the treaty of 1866, the government declared John Ross as the rightful Principal Chief.

The tribe was strongly divided over the treaty issues and return of Ross. He died in 1867 and a new chief was elected, Lewis Downing, a full-blood and compromise candidate. He was a shrewd and politically savvy Principal Chief, bringing about reconciliation and reunification among the Cherokee. Tensions lingered into the 20th century, but the Cherokee did not have the extended insurrection among pro-Confederate forces that occurred in the South.

Shortly after Downing's election, Watie returned to the nation. After the treaty signing, he had gone into exile in the Choctaw Nation. He tried to stay out of politics and rebuild his fortunes. He died in 1871, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.