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. AGENTS.
ir. William E. Holley, Marjville, E.
IQ/WtiHam, Colosse, New York.
CHEROKEE PHCEVIX.
JtEtY EOHOTA. $JAN. 21. <882.
gjgXg'j£FFERSON AND THE
CHEftOKEES.
In patters of politic Mr. Jeffc-san i 8
sidered good authority, especially by
who are most eager to eitcroach up-
e rights of the Indians. If the opin-
faf Jefferson is good in one case, it is so
another- Why is it that those who
Lsider him infallible on questions relat-
[to the rights of the Stages & the pow-
of the General Government utterly o-
kook his views on matters appertaining
j(Ue interest *>f the Indians? They seem
t to recollect that the champion of state
^its acknowledged, to the fullest extent,
power of the Government to protect
Cherokees in their possessions and
jivernments, Docum*'nts, bearing his
[nature,.have been frequently published
awing his opinion on v, hat is now known
|tbs dodiaa question. It will also be
en iVom the following add i css of his to
(Ulierokee Delegation in 180(1, • tk. .which,
! believe, has not been made public he
re, that he followed the 1 footsteps of
rashington in encouraging civilization a-
ong the Indians. Is it not a matter of
luck regrettthntithe admirers of Jefferson
lose who are. loudest in his praise, do not
[How his example in this particular?
ADDRESS
p |)ie President of the United Slates, de-
\ Hatred to the Chiefs of the Cherokee
Indians. on their having the teat of
Government.
Ijj Friends and phitdren,
1 .Chiefs of the Cherokee tt ation,
JBL. Having tow finished our bu-
[ness, and finished it I hope to mutual
lection, I cannot take leave of
,without expressing the s.ilisfacr
ion I have received iroin your visit.
I see, with my own eyes, that the en-
leevors we have been making to en-
ge and lead you on in the way
iproving your situation' have not
unsuccessful*—it has been like
a sown in good ground producing
intly. You are becoming i'arm-
irning the use of the plough &
he, enclosing your grounds, and
[ that labor in «|heir cultivn-
you formerly employed to
aod |h:war; and. I see hand-
: specimens of*cotton cloth, raisr
•m, spun and wove by your solves
fou are also raising cattle and bogs
fr food, and horses to assist your
: go on my children, to the
'* and be assured the further
ice in it, Ihe happier and
ahle< you will bo; our
you have pappened to
_ .« the Wait and the
.North-west, have endbtod you to com
pare your situation now with wbat it
was formerly,—they also make the
chinparffon,^-tiiey see how far you
are ahead of them, and by seeing
what yob are they are encouraged to
do as you have done. '
You will see* your next want to
be (hills to grind corn, which by re
lievitig‘your women from the loss of
tiht^ c to beating it into meal, will en
abl| ybh to spin and weave more.
When a man has enclosed and ipi
proved his farm, built a good house
on it, and raised plentiful stock of an
imals, he will wish when be dies, that
these thin gs should go to his wife and
children, whom he loved more thin
he does his other relations, and for
whoft he will ivork with pleasure du
ring hia life. You will Ihereforo find
it necessary to establish laws for this.
Whert a man has property earned by
his own labors, he ivill not like to see
another coine and take it from him,
because he happens to be stronger, or
else tu defend it oy spilling blood
You will find it necessary then to ap
point good judges, io decide contests
between man and mail according to
reason, and to the rules you shall es
tablish. If you vi’isli to be aided by
obr counsel and experience in these
things we shall always be ready to as-
sist you with our advice.
My children,—It is unnecessary for
me to advise you against spending
your time and labor to warring with
and destroying your fellow-men, and
wasting-your own numbers, you al
ready see . the folly and iniquity
of it.
Your young men however are not
sufficiently sensible of it: Some of
them cross the Mississippi to destroy
people who never did them any inju
ry. My children this is wrong, and
must not he. If we permit them to
cross the Mississippi to war with the
Indians on the other side of that river,
we must let those Indians cross the
river to take revenge on you. I say
again this^must not be.
' The Mississippi now belongs to us
it. fktust not be a river of blood. It is
uofV the water path, along which all'
our people of Natchez, St. Louis, In
diana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kenjucny,
apd the western parts of Pennsylva
nia and Virginia are constantly pass
ing witIvtheir property to and from
New Orleans. Young men going to
war are row easily restrained. Find
ing our people on the river .they will
rob them, perhaps kilt them. "This
would bring ou a war between us
and you. It is better to stop this in
time by forbidding your young people
to go across the river to make
War. If ihuy go to visit, or to live with
(be Cberokees on the other side of
tiro river we shall not object to that.,
that cout*y is ours, ue will permit
them to live ia. it.
My children, This is what I wish
ed to say to you; to go ou in learning
to oultival the earth and io avoid
the earth and io avoi
war. If any of your neighbors injure
you, our beloved men whom ive have
placed with you,.will emcavor to ob
tain justice foryou, and we will sup
port theriri in it. If any of ydur bid
people injure your neighbors, he rea.-
dy to acknoivlcdge it, &. to do them
justice. It is more honorable to refiair
a wrong than to persist in it. Tell
all your pbiefs
father, wislUlieiy happiness
|Hii ahvaji^ 1 -* 4
J we
ready td^r%r
being, and am
moto their goto).
Mjt children,-r-rl thank you for your
visit; and pray tp l,he Great Spirit
who made us all, and planted us all
on this earth to live together like
brothers; that he will conduct you
safely to ypur homes, and grant you
to find your families and your friends
To satisfy the repeated inquiries which
have been made respecting the particulars
of the late attempt to assassinate the Prin
cipal chief of this nation, by a white ruffian
—wehave been induced to call upon
Mr. Ross bihnself for (he facts attending the
perfidious treaction, and we have been
favored with "the .following narrative—
“On the S0(h of November last my
brother Andrew Ross, who being at
that time at my house on a visit, ac
companied me over to Major Ridge’s
for the purpose of transacting s6ine
business in the store kept at that
place, and when the business was
concluded, we paid Major Ridge 4
, young m.ed* women’
and children that I take them by the
h< nd and hold it fast, that I am their jpot, and directed the ferryman to
and well-' hurry ever with the boat. When we
visit. A short time after vve had
seated ourselves before the fire, and
entered into a conversation with the
Major, I heard a loiid voice “is John
Ross here" looking round, I saw a
taRgaynt person at the door to the
passage, and replied--to him that ‘i
was the person who bore that name;
he requested me to walk out, and I
walked out into the Piazza; he en
quired if I knew of any person cross
ing my ferry in the course of the
past night; 1 usswered him in the neg
ative. He then stated that a horse
was stolen from him that night, which
he had tracked within a few hundred
yards of my ferry landing and there
lost the sign—but he bad just now em
ployed a Cherokee, through Mr.
Lavender at the store, to go with him
for the purpose of tracking-tbe horse
up, and should the Cherokee be suc
cessful be had agreed to pay him ten
dollars reward. He further remark
ed, he was a stranger in (his country,
that hr* had lately .removed from
North Carolina,' within a few days
past had stopped in the neighborhood
of Mr. Hemphill’s, that his name was
Harris, \fter this I walked into the
house and he returned to the store—
a few minutes thereafter, my brother
and myself mounted our horses and
rode off for home. Whilst waiting in
tbo fork of thd two rivers for the
boat, the above mentioned Harris and
a Cherokee man named Onebity rode
up H.herc again asked if I was,“John
Ross" I replied that was my name,
and after ri-ony other reina"ks by
this man. the boat landed—I then di
rected Harris and Onehutly to enter
the boat and cross.first, as they were
going over bn the south bank of the
Coosa. Harris gave me his hand & said
I hope we shall be better, acquaint
ed after this." When the boat was
going over, the ferryman told Harris
that one of my sons, on, his return
from Mr. Coodey’s had seen a man in
the woods'beyond the knob of the hill
adjacent to thd ferry, who had a shot
pouch on,'and p horse tied to a tree
near him, and that this man had en
quired of him if he knew of any
person crossing the riv r that day—
upon this information, Harris declared
at once, it must have been the man
who stole his horse—and before the
boat got over, Gonebulty espied a
man upon the lop of the pinnacle of
the hill, and at the same <imo point
ing. at him, remarked, there he it
now—The man immediately disap
peared beyond the bill—as the - boat
nded my brother spoke to Oonebut-
„ and directed him to aid Harris in
apprehending the feitow. They mount
ed their horses iafnd rode willi speed
around tho hill on the south side.—
My brother the# proposed that we
should also cress the river-|o give
them assistance, f agreed on the
the other man proved to be the one
who was discovered on the top of the
hill—be was a chubbed, grim looking
fellow', with a pair of large reddish
mustaches which curled at the corn
er! of his mouth, and several bf his
foreteeth out, his eyes, mouth, and
the general features of his counten
ance, all uninteresting. He was tid
ing an old saddle cloth, with a bark
rope around the neck of the horse, and
had shot pouch on which was cover
ed by an old plaid cloak. The rifle
gun which he carried, was by this
time handed over to Oonehutty. I
asked Harris ijLlhat was bis horse, &
L was upon him. He re-
the rogue that
plied, yes. My brother than auggest-
to have the rogue tied, Harris objec
ted aud said, it was not necessary,
that he could take care Of him; 1
3d over and upon" my tug-
e galloped aroui d the hill
rib aide, and soon found our»
ie good health*
*°’ * TH:' JEFFEftSOt?.
-
Wry B--.U
had crossed
gestion ive'
on. the port
selves on the top of the hill, when 1
discovered at a short distance a group
of thjree nun with their horses, 1 ob
served to mv brother that they had
appreliendcd the fellow. As we
Were advancing jupoo them, they
mounted up,6n thefr' horses, "and rode
off* In coming up- with them, we
recognised Hams and, Oonehutty,
ape
&c.—I then enquired who the rogue
was, Harris replied never do you
care, I will secure him—I demanded
of the fellow his name and place ol
residence, he said that his name was
Looney, that he lived m Rbea Coun
ty and state of Tennessee, about six
teen miles from the town of Washing
ton. After this my brother and I,
concluded to return home—but we
$lid not proceed far, wlien be remark
ed that lie felt an inclination to go
and pay Mr. Win. S. Coodey a visit,
as he would set out (lie next morning
for Washingto City and himself for
his place of residence—I replied that
I would accompany him to Mr. Coo
dey’s, as the distance did not exeeed
one mile, and tve wheeled aboqt and
saw' the party whom we had left, yet
in sight—We rode briskly and over
took them, Oonehutty was ridin» in
advance with the rifle guu on °his
shoulder; Harris aud, Looney in the
reqr opposite to each other, & appa
rently much engaged in seciel concvr-
8ationl remarked to Harris that we had
concluded logo over to Mr. Coodey’s,
and that we w ould accompany them
that far—-I then began to interrogate
Looney more closely;—Harris stop
ped Oonehutty ond fell in the r rear—
which circumstance i did not at the
time notice, and at that moment w-u,
got into the road, about a half mile
Iroin my ferry landing,—Aud Looney
remarked, “Harris I am new going to
tell the whole truth about this busi
ness." Said I, the truth alone, was
what I desired to know—said he, I
have not stolen this horse. How came
you to be riding thehoise when Har
ris claims him? He is foolish, the
horse is not his:—Whose horse is he?
my own-—do you know Harris? No
—-at this moment my brother then
told me to tuke care, that Harris
was going to shoot ine.-I looked round
and saw Harris diismuunted, at the
same time heard him say, “Ross I
have been for a long time wanting to
kill ytoij and 1 11 be d d if I don’t
now do it." as he presented the gun,
I wheeled my horse aud gallop'd off;
looking back I saw my brother setting
on bis horse at the same place, Hau ls
then got behind a tree to shoo' him—>
be then also rode off, and we return
ed home, late in the evening. 1 now
began to feel much concerned for
OoiiebiiUy, but still hoping from the
scenes which bad occurred before
his eyes, that be would be enabled to
suspect the perfidious plot and leave
(hem also. On the next morning Mr.
Cotoiey came over and informed me
that'a Cherokee woman came to his
bouse- very earlj that morning, who
stated that one of the Philpots and
another wbheman had reported that
two whitemen came to Philpot’s
house at dark of the last evening,
and that one of them was very
bloody, who stated that he had.
received a wound from a Cherokee
man.—My anxiety for the fato of
Oenehutty, who, as well as my broth
er myself, was altogether unarmed,
became increased. Mr. Coody being
saro-i
now on his journhy to Washington Ci
ty and myselt in readiness to accom
pany the delegation as fer as Gains-
ville Ga —1 determined oh going by
Major Ridges for the purpose of re
lating to the Major the transaction and
giving some directions in regard to
'apertaining the fate of Oone .utty.
When upon an iving at the store, I
recognized, among a number of hors
es at the rack, toe one which was
rudeiby Oonehutty the evening before,
and on entering, the store bouse, I
had the gratification to find him seat
ed on the Counter, though not ivitli-
out a severe bruise on his cheek: I
requested him to relate the particu
lars of what transpired after I had
left them, which he did as follows:--
“when you rode off, Harris got be
hind a 1 roe to shoot your brother, I
caught hold of the gun, and wheri
your brother rode off, Harris theii
profes cd to be friendly w ith me,
mounted his porey and requested that
we should proceed With li e prisoner
—he kept the gun in his own hands,
aud we travelled about half a mile
and on a small ridge nearly opposite
to Mr. Coodcy’s residence, Harris
suddenly dismounted, caught bold of
the reins of my bridle and presented-
the gun at my breast, I as quickly
took hold of the guu and leaped freni
uiy horse; and alter wrestling f 0 .- the
guu, Harris took a larg knife, 8 ucl(
as are usually termed “french dirk,"*
out ol his pocket, 1 instantly grasped
his hand, opened his fisi and the knife
fe.l to the ground,— ! took it up and
placed it in my pocket, not being dis
posed to hurt Harris, but to prevent
him from injuring me.—Harris now
seized a stone and struck me on the
wrist, to force my hold of the
loose, aud the second blow he
gun
gave
me was on the cheek which I felt
very severely--believing now that
my life was tiuh-rgertd and being ir-
littifed by the blow which 1 had thus
received, I took the knife out of my
pocket with one hand and opened it
with my teeth and at that moment
wrested the guu fr om the assassin, and
as he turned fr om me to run, I stalled
him between the shouldcis, ho ion
off a short distance and ha!t< d, I then
presented the gun at him, but rvilh
no intention of shooting, and lie ran off
—Looney in the mean time w as m: tun
ed on his horse a few yards distant—
I also presented the gun at him end
he likewiso galloped off—I thru
cought my own I10.se and rode off
home, with (be ^un and knife with
which Harris had attempted to take
my life; It has since been ascertained 1
that Harris bad particularly enquir
ed of my ferryman if I was at home
—aud when he was told that I n'ar
gone up to the stor#, he Crossed the'
river and proceeded there, and uppif
his arrival, immediately CnqiiirciF
where I was,—being informed that
I was in Major Ridges house, w hen ho
came there ns before stated—also that 1
Looney is the brother-in-law of Janies^
Philpot. aud that he had accompanied*
Harris from Philpots Lunse fo the’
place whfere he was stationed on the
bill—that the poney, on whjch Harris 1
rode, belonged to said Philpot. Up-'
on jleubeii Philpot representing the'
rifle gun for the property of Saul Rat-
ley and that.it had been left in' hir
care, take# without his knowledge'
and in his absence froth home, and
that be would be held responsible for
it, Oonehutty surrendered'it up to'
him, saying that he had no claim to it,,
further than wresting it from the baud
of »n assassin who had attempted iff
rob him and take bis life with R."
From the circumstances connected with
the facts attending the atrocious conduct
of the two wretches wbo are the subjects
of this narrative, there can he no doubt
that a premeditated plot oi
murder had been laid, and that
pal Chief was selected as a v
the design of these mercenary
having failed, the toutff" 1 *™*
by their rapacity was to
1