The halfbreeds belong to the Knights of the Golden Circle, a society whose sole object is to increase and defend slavery, and the fullbloods have -- not to be outdone -- got up a secret organization called 'the Pins' which meets among the mountains, connecting business with Ball-playing, and this is to be understood to be in favor of the [Lincoln] Gov't.32
The pressure upon Ross was intense. The heat being felt in the churches was equally intense. The Cherokee Nation was splitting apart just as was the larger United States. Moreover, all of the Five Nations were facing internal conflicts that reflected the impending catastrophe of the coming war. Ross, with the support of his conservative allies within the Keetoowah Society, was working within the political system to maintain the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation, abide by their sacred treaties, and to establish a position of neutrality between North and South. At the same time, the conservative forces were working within the Baptist churches to build the "beloved community," to preserve the religious traditions, to promote the common welfare, and to provide for independence and sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation.
At the heart of the resistance movement lay a core of beliefs that was best defined as the "white path of righteousness;" these beliefs became embodied in the "Kituwah Spirit." Very much in the tradition of Cherokee culture, this fusion of the "old ways," the gospel of liberation, and Masonic idealism helped shape a particular vision of the Cherokee Nation. The message of the Keetoowah Society provided a sense of identity and purpose that would be a unifying element among conservatives in the political, economic, and military struggle that would come to the Cherokee Nation over the next five years.
The Knights of the Golden Circle also continued to mobilize, and sought to destabilize that religious community that they perceived to be dominated by "abolition enemies of the South." Willard Upham, minister of the Bushyheadville Church at the Cherokee mission,33 reported that the slaveholding members of the community had withdrawn their support for his mission, "There is a great reduction from former attendance and this is to be accounted for by the intense hostility to our mission on the part of the large pro-slavery party in the Cherokee Nation who have for more than a year past, by means of the press in the contiguous states, and every possible means, stigmatized our Mission as a `Nest of Abolitionists whose only business was to overthrow slavery in this country and make a Second Kansas thereof.' " 34
Upham, a Baptist minister and educator in the Cherokee public schools, had remained following John Jones's flight to Kansas. He was firmly opposed by the Knights of the Golden Circle. They sought to have him removed from his teaching position. Smith Christie, a leader of the Keetoowah, reported to John Jones a "desperate effort made to pass a bill in the Cherokee Council" for the removal of Evan Jones and Willard Upham from the Cherokee Nation.35
However, in the intervening years, a systematic effort had been made by the Keetoowah to organize politically and to elect representatives to the Cherokee Council. The Keetoowah were successful in gaining a large number of representatives to the Lower House of the council. However, their success was limited. They were soon met with strong opposition: "In every political election, whenever a Baptist happens to be a candidate for office, he is opposed as an abolitionist and sometimes successfully opposed on the ground only."36
The Upper House, dominated by the Knights of the Golden Circle, continually presented bills to remove the Baptist missionaries from the Cherokee Nation and to close down Willard Upham's school. Each time, the efforts of the Keetoowah in the Lower House prevented these bills from being passed.37 Some bills even made it through both houses only to be vetoed at the hands of John Ross. The factional dispute over slavery, which had its roots in a much deeper struggle in the Cherokee Nation, had moved to the forefront of the political process. The struggles in the Council were representative of a more violent struggle to be carried out in other places in the Cherokee Nation.
In November 1860, a four-day "meeting" led by Smith Christie at the Peavine Church was attacked by what John Jones called "emissaries of the Prince of Darkness." They attempted to break up the meeting, "They came to the meeting in the evening and made a formidable demonstration. The Cherokees immediately gathered a strong force and arrested the whole gang and kept them under guard the whole night. This put an end to their enterprise of abolition hunting; but a man belonging to their party, named Alberty, threw a paper of gunpowder into the fire, at one of the camps. Fortunately, no one was hurt... May the Lord [set] down all opposition to his cause by converting the offenders and changing them from enemies into friends of God and truth." 38
In early February, a plot to assassinate Evan Jones was launched within the Cherokee Nation. The plan to murder Jones was part of a larger "plot to kill off several of the principle men of the Nation. All this was, of course, in behalf of the 'peculiar institution.' " 39 Once this was accomplished, "the buildings on the mission premises were to have been burned."40 Evan Jones, taking the plot seriously, fled to Kansas where he spent much of the duration of the next five years. In late February, Willard Upham left the Cherokee Nation to escape "apprehension and arrest by Southern Troops" from his position as missionary to the Cherokee and in mid-April, fearing for his safety, left the Cherokee Nation.41
In late February, a group of representatives from the State of Texas made a diplomatic mission to Indian Territory to explore the sentiments of the various Indian governments regarding relations with the Confederate States of America. After meeting with Chief John Ross, they concluded that the Chief did not recognize the Confederacy and would not be easily swayed; they likened his position to that of fellow Cherokee and Freemason Sam Houston who refused to secede and was ultimately deposed from the governorship of Texas.42 The Texas delegation also considered him to be the leader of the "common Indians of the Cherokee" and unduly under the influence of abolitionist Evan Jones, a "Northern missionary of education and ability," who has been among them for many years, and who is said to exert no small influence with John Ross himself. The Texas Delegation placed their confidence in the progressive Cherokee -- "the intelligence of the nation." 43 In spite of their doubts about him and the "common Indians, " Chief Ross assured the delegates that "if Virginia and the other Border States seceded from the Government of the United States, his people would declare for the Southern Government that might be formed."44
On the fourth of March 1861, Robert Toombs, the Secretary of State of the Confederate States of America, sent forth a resolution requesting a "special agent to the Indian Tribes west of the State of Arkansas."45 The next day, the Confederate States of America appointed Albert Pike, a fellow Freemason and member of the Democratic American Party (Know-Nothings), as Confederate Commissioner to the Indian Nations.46 On March 15, 1861, the Confederate Congress created the Bureau of Indian Affairs, under the auspices of the War Department, and appropriated $100,000 for the activities of the Department.47
Albert Pike was well known among the Five Nations. He had been legal counsel to the Choctaw in a successful effort to recover misappropriated federal funds. In addition to having been legal counsel, he was also founder of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.48 In spring of 1860, Albert Pike had raised Peter Pitchlyn (Chief of the Choctaw), Cherokee Elias C. Boudinot, and Holmes Colbert (National Secretary of the Chickasaw Nation) to the 32nd degree of the Scottish Rite.49 In a very real sense, Pike's Masonic connections would be a critical factor in consolidating support for the Confederacy.
The exact role and relationship of Freemasonry to the diplomatic effort on the part of the Confederate States of America to organize and galvanize the Southern Indian Nations around the Confederacy is hard to establish. That a conscious effort was made to capitalize upon fraternal connections is evidenced by repeated references made by John Ross and others to the effect that these Southern elements were using the "Blue Lodges" associated with the Arkansas Grand Lodge to "create excitement and strife among the Cherokee people."50 Though Freemasonry deems itself to be an apolitical organization and forbids the discussion of politics at its meetings, its members are definitely involved in politics and use their Freemasonic connections to further their political and social aims. It is difficult, almost impossible, however, to ascertain how these relationships are used and the impact of Freemasonic connections on external political movements. That these connections do exist is evidenced by the birth of the Anti-Masonic party -- the first third party in United States history -- in the early nineteenth century.
In March 1861, a secession convention was held in Arkansas. In a diplomatic maneuver to win favor among the Cherokee elite, Elias C. Boudinot, a Cherokee resident of Little Rock, was appointed secretary of the convention. On May 6, the convention passed the Arkansas Ordinance of Secession.51 Shortly afterwards, a party of Cherokee led by Stand Watie, leader of the Knights of the Golden Circle, met with Albert Pike and General Benjamin McCulloch, "in order to ascertain whether the Confederate States would protect them against Mr. Ross and the Pin Indians, if they should organize and take up arms for the South."52
Pike and McCulloch were well aware of the conflict that existed within the Cherokee Nation. "It appears that there are two parties in the Cherokee Nation--one very much in favor of joining the Southern Confederacy; the other hesitates, and favors the idea of remaining neutral. These two parties are kept apart by bitter feuds of long standing, and it is possible that feelings of animosity may tempt one party to join the North: should their forces march into the Indian Territory."53 Pike urged Watie to assume responsibility for the destiny of the Cherokee Nation. However, he was not alone in his efforts. Previously, a group of secessionists from Arkansas had met with Watie and informed him that twenty-five hundred guns were being shipped to western Arkansas. They assured him that a goodly number of these could be made available to protect the interests of the Confederate States of America in the Indian Territory.54
Albert Pike and Benjamin McCulloch then set out in late May for the cottage of John Ross, hoping to win the Cherokee Chief and his nation over to the side of the Confederacy. If not, they would inform Ross that there would be serious consequences for the Cherokee. Fully aware of the hostile nature of the feelings within the Cherokee Nation, Pike proclaimed, "If he refuses, he will learn that his country will be occupied; and I shall then negotiate with the leaders of the half-breeds who are now raising troops."55 With the Federal government refusing to make payments owed to the Cherokee and Federal forces having abandoned all outposts in the Indian Territory, Ross was in dire straits. In spite of all of this, he courageously maintained the neutrality of the Cherokee Nation and stressed the precedence of Cherokee treaties with United States that forbid allegiances with foreign governments.
Ross told a Federal officer, "We do not wish our soil to become the battle ground between the States and our homes to be rendered desolate and miserable by the horrors of civil war."56 However, the Cherokee Nation was divided, and, according to Albert Pike, the Cherokee people, "could not remain neutral."57 Elizabeth Watts, a former slave from the Cherokee Nation, described the state of the Nation in 1861:
Years passed, and the bad feeling between the two factions seemed to get worse over the question of slavery. Ross opposed it. Stand Watie, relative of Boudinot, was for it. Missionaries came along the "Trail of Tears" and opposed it. Some Indian Agents were for it. The Indians did not want to fight... Not many full bloods owned slaves and they had a secret society called "Kee-too-wah." They wore two common pins crossed on their coats for an emblem. Most all full-bloods belonged and wanted to stay with Tribal laws and customs. Most of them were the Ross faction and opposed Slavery. Those who endorsed slavery had a society and it was made up of half-breeds and they owned most of the slaves. About this time the war broke out. A man named Albert Pike came from Arkansas and wanted the Cherokees to join the Southern Army. Lots of them joined, but Chief Ross never would do it, and tried to keep all of them from it. But the half-breeds and some of the full-bloods did it anyway, and finally, Pike got the Cherokees to sign as a whole, promising them many things, but all of them didn_t join the South though a hasty treaty was made.58
In early June, John Ross again called for a council of the Five Nations to discuss the issues and to determine the course of the Indian Territory in the impending struggle of the Civil War. The counsel, to be held at Antelope Hills, was composed of traditional leaders or "Northern and other Indians," as Albert Pike described it later. Pike also stated the purpose of the meeting as being, "to remain neutral" and "to take advantage of the War Between the States, to form a great independent Indian Confederation."59 Though Albert Pike was to crow about the "Southern Indians" and their solid support for the Confederacy, a different vision was beginning to spread beyond the Cherokee Nation.
32 Report of E.H. Carruth, General Files, United States Bureau of Indian Affairs: Southern Superintendency, Records of the Southern Superintendency of Indian Affairs, 1832-70 [microform] (Washington: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1966). 33 According to William Mc Loughlin, the Bushyheadville Church of the Baptist Mission was the most integrated church in the Cherokee Nation. The records of the church clerk report thirty-five Cherokee, fifteen white, and twenty-six black members. [William G. McLoughlin, Champions of the Cherokees, 302]. 34 Willard Upham to J.G. Warren, February 20, 1861, "Correspondence of Missionaries to Native Americans, [microform], 1825-1865," American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, N.Y. 35 John B. Jones to B. Stow, July 12, 1858, "Correspondence of Missionaries to Native Americans, [microform], 1825-1865," American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, N.Y. 36 Ibid. 37 John B. Jones to J.G. Warren, December 4, 1860, "Correspondence of Missionaries to Native Americans, [microform], 1825-1865," American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, N.Y. 38 Ibid. 39 John B. Jones to J.G. Warren, March 6, 1861, "Correspondence of Missionaries to Native Americans, [microform], 1825-1865," American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, N.Y. 40 Ibid. 41 Evan Jones to J.G. Warren, July 10, 1861, "Correspondence of Missionaries to Native Americans, [microform], 1825-1865," American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, N.Y. 42 Sam Houston left home at the age of sixteen lived among the Cherokee for three years where he was adopted into the family of Chief Jolly and lived as a Cherokee in dress and language. Houston was made a Mason at Cumberland Lodge #8, Nashville Tennessee, in 1817. In 1818, he resigned his commission and removed with the "Old Settlers" to Indian Territory establishing a trading post near Webber's Falls and married into the Cherokee Nation. He moved in Texas in the early thirties and became a member of Holland Lodge #36, then under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana. In February of 1861, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America and was thus deposed. 43 "Report of a Committee of the Convention, being an Address to the People of Texas, March 30, 1861" in Abel, The Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist, 93. 44 Ibid. 45 Kenny Franks, Stand Watie (Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1979), 116. Robert Toombs was also a Freemason. 46 Sammy Buice, "The Civil War and the Five Civilized Tribes," (Ph.D. diss., University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 1970), 10. 47 United States War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 130 Volumes. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1900), Vol. III, 575; Wardell, 142. 48 The Scottish Rite is a higher degree of Freemasonry. It was established in the new world in Haiti in 1763 under the auspices of Stephen Morin. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, it entered the United States through chapters in Boston and Charleston. 49 Robert Denslow, Freemasonry and the American Indian (St. Louis: Missouri Lodge of Research, 1958), 61. 50 John Ross to Evan Jones, May 5, 1855, "Correspondence of Missionaries to Native Americans, [microform], 1825-1865," American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, N.Y. 51 Constitutional Convention of Arkansas, An Ordinance To Dissolve The Union Now Existing Between The State Of Arkansas And The Other States, United With, Her, Under The Compact Entitled "The Constitution Of The United States Of America" [microform.] (Memphis: Lithographed from the original manuscript by O. Lederle, 1861). 52 Albert Pike to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 17, 1866, in Abel, The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist, 135. 53 Benjamin McCulloch to the United States War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. III, 587. 54 Kenny Franks, Stand Watie (Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1979), 115-116; Wardell, 127. 55 Albert Pike to Robert Toombs, May 29, 1861, in Abel, 189. 56 United States War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. XIII, 493. 57 Albert Pike, Message of the President and Report of Albert Pike, Commissioner of the Confederate States to the Indian nations west of Arkansas, of the results of his mission [microform.] (Richmond: Enquirer Book and Job Press, 1861). 58 Elizabeth Watts, Indian Pioneer History Collection [microform], Grant Foreman, ed. (Oklahoma City Oklahoma: Indian Archives Division, Oklahoma Historical Society Microfilm Publications, 1978-1981);See also John C. Neilson, "Indian Masters, Black Slaves: An Oral History Of The Civil War In Indian Territory," Panhandle-Plains Historical Review 1992 65: 42-54. 59 Albert Pike to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 17, 1866, in Abel, 136; Christine Schultz White & Benton R. White, Now the Wolf has Come: the Creek Nation in the Civil War (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1996), 24-25.