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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.