Newspaper Page Text
Entered according: to Act of Congress, in June,lß7o, by J. W. Bcrkk & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia
Vol. IV—No. 16.
Written forßurke’s Weekly.
JOHN RIDGE, THE CHEROKEE CHIEF.
»NY of the readers of the
Veekly know that the Cher
kee Indians formerly owned
and occupied all of the Northern por
tion of the State of Georgia, and por
tions of Tennessee, Alabama, and North
Carolina, and that they only gave up
and removed from this country in the
year 1838.
For some years prior to their remo
val, there were two parties in the Che
' ’~Tl„ t fi*¥ 3 rOne-' l -ead %by ,„i nP
and the other by Major Ridge, ihacn of
them had been head chief of the Chero
kee nation, and Ross was the head chief
at the time of the removal.
I could tell you a long story about
the troubles that grew out of the efforts
of the Government of the State of Geor
gia to get the Cherokees to remove to
the West, and surrender their territory
to the whites. Major Ridge and his
party, including the most intelligent
and reliable of the Indians, favored the
removal; while Ross and his party op
posed it, and threw every obstacle in
the way of it.
At length, a treaty was made with
the Cherokees, by which they agreed to
surrender all of their territory for the
sum of five millions of dollars, to be
paid to them by the United States Gov
ernment, in addition to certain grants
of land in the West. The treaty was
ratified, or agreed to, in May, 1836;
but Ross and his party still persisted
in their opposition, so that it was not
carried into effect by the removal of
the Indians until May, 1838.
One of the most intelligent of all the
Cherokee chiefs was John Ridge, a son
of Major Ridge, whose picture we give
on this page. He was first sent to
school to the Rev. Mr. Gambold, a
Moravian missionary, at Spring Place
(now in Murray County, Georgia); he
was afterwards sent to the renowned
missionary to the Indians —Rev. David
Brainard, then at Knoxville, Tennesse ;
and finally completed his education at
MACON, GEORGIA, OCTOBER 15, 1870.
the celebrated Mission School in Con
necticut. He married a white lady—a
Miss Northrop.
Returning to the Cherokee nation, he
immediately entered upon his career as
a public man. At this time, the Cher
okees were trying to organize an inde
pendent government, and Mr. Ridge
devoted all his learning and ability to
this object. He was made a sub-chief,
and was several times sent to Washing
ton, as delegate, interpreter, secretary,
or agent. In 1838, Mr. Ridge accompa
nied the Cherokees to the West; and
on the 22nd of June, 1839, he and his
father, and Elias Boudinot, another pro
minent Cherokee, were assassinated.
Major Ridge was waylaid on the road
and shot; John Ridge was taken from
his bed early in the morning, and nearly
cut to pieces with knives ; while Boudi
not was decoyed from a house he was
building near his residence, and then
set upon and murdered with knives and
hatchets. It was always believed that
these men were murdered by some of
Ross’s party, because of the active part
they took in negotiating the treaty by
which the Cherokees gave up their land
and removed to the West.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
Canine Cattle Drivers.
%wr s
HO does not admire a pretty
igt dog, especially if he is good ?
Well, we are about to tell a
true story about some dogs. They were
not all pretty, but all were good.
Willie M. has a dog, good-looking
enough, which followed him to a cer
tain old field, about a mile from home,
after the cows, until, true to the hour,
he would go for them alone, and drive
them home.
They changed their pasture, and the
dog sought them in the old field in
vain. A few evenings since, we saw
Willie driving the cattle home, his
pacing gray acting a very conspicuous
part in the play. We neared the house,
the dog heard the bell, met us, and
drove them on home in gallant style.
Os all the pretty dogs, Irving B. has
about the prettiest. He is of good size,
is almost as white as milk, and has a
beautiful brown head. He has quite an
intebectual look, and seems to think
himself a shade better than common
curs. “Hector” is, doubtless, a note-
Whole No. 118.
worthy character. He does many smart
things ; but we are only talking of dogs
as cattle drivers. Mr. B. resides near
the broad, beautiful waters of the great
Tennessee. The river bottom affords
excellent range, and thither Mr. B.’s
cattle go every morning in search of
pasturage. Irving, and his pony, and
Hector have a gay time every day, when
the shadows are long, when the turkeys
are flying up into the big timber to
roost, and the owls are hooting in the
thick branches of the Muscadine. They
have a gay time straightening out the
long file of cattle—the bell on old Brin
dle in the front saying—
“ Ding dong, come along;
Come on, come along.”
Thus they were moving, one evening,
in perfect order, their course being by
the side of a fence, when suddenly Hec
tor flanked around, got ahead of the
line, and took his position as if he
would turn them back. Mr. B. was
with his sou that evening, and was
puzzled to know what Hector meant,
when old Brindle turned through a
gap, and the whole herd followed. Mr.
B. was much pleased at what Hee. had
done, for it was a much nearer route
home. Now comes the question, do
dogs think? This looks like it, doesn’t
it ?
We never did like yellow. Yellow is
emblematic of distress. But we knew
a small yellow dog, which belonged to
a widow lady, in Decatur, Ala., that
used to go with the cattle of his mis
tress every day, and drive them home
in the evening. We have seen the little
fellow, sitting on his haunches, watch
ing the grazing herd with as much
dignity as if it was his own private
property. Do you not suppose that he
felt his importance? If we had U pic
ture, we would send it to Mr. RuuKe,
and request him to put it in his Weex
ly. Now, this fellow was little and
ugly; but do you not see how useful he
rendered himself? We should not be
backward about doing good, because
someone else may seem better quali
fied to do the work we are called upon
to do. -d- Leonidas Davis.
Trinity, Ala.