The Exiles of Florida Part 28

The Exiles were now all located on the Cherokee lands, west of the State of Arkansas. They had been removed from Florida at great expense of blood and treasure; but they were yet free, and the object of the Administration had not been attained. Conscious of the designs of the Creeks, the Seminoles and Exiles refused to trust themselves within Creek jurisdiction. They were tenants at will of the Cherokees, whose hospitality had furnished them with temporary homes until the Government should fulfill its treaty stipulations, in furnishing them a territory to their separate use.

Abraham was, perhaps, the most influential man among the Exiles. He had been a witness and interpreter in making the treaty of Payne's Landing, and had dictated the important provision in the supplemental treaty; he had exerted his influence in favor of emigration; to him, therefore, his people looked with more confidence than to any other individual. In all his intercourse with our officers, he had been a.s.sured of the intention to fulfill those treaties; and when he found the Government hesitating on that point, he became indignant, and so did others of his band. But he could only express his indignation to the Agent appointed to superintend their affairs and supply their wants. These complaints were made known to the Indian Bureau, at Washington; but they were unheeded, and the Exiles and their friends lived on in the vain hope that the Administration would at some day redeem the pledged faith of the nation, and a.s.sign them a territory for their separate use, where they could live independent of the Creeks, as they had done for nearly a century past.

Nor is it easy for men at this day to appreciate that feeling which so stubbornly sought their enslavement; we can only account for this unyielding purpose, from the long-established practice of so wielding the power and influence of the nation as best to promote the interests of slavery. It is certain, that it would have cost the United States no more to set off to the Exiles and Seminole Indians a separate territory, on which they could live free and independent, than it would to constrain them to settle on the Creek lands, and subject them to Creek laws, and Creek despotism, and Creek servitude.

General Jackson, in 1816, had ordered Blount's Fort to be destroyed and the negroes returned to those who owned them. To effect this latter object, in 1822, he proposed to compel the Seminole Indians to return and reunite with the Creeks. If at any time there were other reasons for the frauds committed upon the Exiles and Indians--for the violations of the pledged faith of the nation--it is hoped that some of the officers who acted a prominent part in those scenes of treachery and turpitude, or their biographers, will yet inform the public of their existence.

Settled, as the Seminoles and Exiles now were on the Cherokee lands, all parties concerned were necessarily dissatisfied. The Creeks were disappointed, and greatly dissatisfied at not having the Exiles in their power, and charged our Government with bad faith in not delivering that extraordinary people into their hands. The Cherokees had a.s.sured the Seminoles and Exiles that our Government would deal honorably with them, and would faithfully carry out the treaty of Payne's Landing, with the proviso contained in the supplemental treaty; and they were now greatly dissatisfied at the refusal of the Executive to observe this solemn stipulation; while the Seminoles and Exiles were indignant at the deception, fraud and perfidy practiced upon them.

Complaints against the Government now became general among all these tribes. All had been deceived; all had been wronged; and all became loud in their denunciations of the Government. This feeling became more intense as time pa.s.sed away. It was in vain that our Indian agents and military officers at the West endeavored to quiet this state of general discontent. The newspapers of that day gave intimations of difficulties among the Indians at the West; they stated, in general terms, the danger of hostilities, but omitted all allusion to the cause of this disquietude.

The Executive appeared to be paralyzed with the difficulties now thrown in his way. He urged upon the Indian agents and military officers to use all possible efforts to suppress these feelings of hostility, which now appeared ready to burst forth upon the first occasion; coolly insisting that, at some future day, the Seminoles and Exiles would consent to remove on to the Creek territory.

At length the danger of hostilities became so imminent, that the Executive deemed it necessary to enter upon further negotiation in order to effect the long cherished purpose of subjecting the Exiles to Creek jurisdiction and consequent slavery. To effect this object it was necessary to select suitable instruments. Four Indian Agents, holding their offices by the Executive favor, were appointed to hold a Council with their discontented tribes, and if possible to negotiate a new treaty with them. It is somewhat singular that no statesman, no person favorably known to the public, or possessing public confidence, was selected for so important a service.

[Sidenote: 1845.]

Of course any treaty formed under such circ.u.mstances and by such agents would conform to the Executive will. The treaty bears date on the twenty-fifth of January; and we insert the preamble and those articles which have particular relation to the subject matter of which we are speaking. They are as follows:

"Articles of a Treaty made by Wm. Armstrong, P. M. Butler, James Segan and Thomas S. Judge, Commissioners in behalf of the United States, of the first part; the Creek Tribe of Indians of the second part, and the Seminole Indians of the third part:"

"WHEREAS, It was stipulated in the fourth article of the Creek Treaty of 1833, that the Seminoles should thence forward be considered a const.i.tuent part of the Creek nation, and that a permanent and comfortable home should be secured for them on the lands set apart in said treaty as the country of the Creeks; and whereas, many of the Seminoles have settled and are now living in the Creek Country, while others, const.i.tuting a large portion of the tribe, have refused to make their homes in any part thereof, a.s.signing, as a reason, that _they are unwilling to submit to Creek laws and Government, and that they are apprehensive of being deprived by the Creek authorities of their property_; and whereas, repeated complaints have been made to the United States Government, that those of the Seminoles who refuse to go into the Creek Country have, without authority or right, settled upon lands secured to other tribes, and that they have committed numerous and extensive depredations upon the property of those upon whose lands they have intruded:"

"Now, therefore, in order to reconcile all difficulties respecting location and jurisdiction; to settle all disputed questions which have arisen, or may hereafter arise, in regard to rights of property; and, especially, to preserve the peace of the frontier, seriously endangered by the restless and warlike spirit of the intruding Seminoles, the parties to this treaty have agreed to the following stipulations:"

"ARTICLE 1. The Creeks agree that the Seminoles shall be ent.i.tled to settle in a body, or separately, as they please, in any part of the Creek Country; that they shall make their own town regulations, subject, however, to the general control of the Creek Council in which they shall be represented; and, in short, that no distinction shall be made between the two tribes in any respect, except in the management of their pecuniary affairs; in which neither shall interfere with the _other_."

"ART 2. The Seminoles agree that those of their tribe who have not done so before the ratification of this treaty, shall immediately thereafter remove to, and permanently settle in, the Creek Country."

"ART. 3. It is mutually agreed by the Creeks and Seminoles that all contested cases between the two tribes, concerning the right of property growing out of sales or transactions that may have occurred previous to the ratification of this treaty, shall be subject to the decision of the President of the United States."

The leading feature of this treaty, is a studied effort to make no allusion to the Exiles, or to recognize their existence in any way.

General Jessup, in the articles of capitulation, had expressly stipulated for the protection of the persons and property of the "allies" of the Seminoles; but for half a century efforts had been made to exclude them from the page of our national history, and never was that policy more strikingly ill.u.s.trated than in this treaty.

As heretofore stated, the Seminoles were said to own some forty slaves; but the Author has been unable to find any hint or intimation that any one of those slaves was claimed by the Creeks: yet efforts were made to falsify the truth of history by representing the four or five hundred Exiles now living with the Seminoles to be slaves to their friends and "_allies_."

The next extraordinary feature of the treaty, is the recital of the _Creek_ treaty as binding upon the Seminoles, when they had been no party to it, nor even had knowledge of its existence.

But the third article is that on which both Exiles and Seminoles appear to have relied. Thinking the President would do justice; feeling themselves subject to the power of the Executive, and pressed on all sides to accede to terms of pacification, they signed the treaty as the best alternative that lay before them.

In accordance with the past policy of the Administration, this treaty was withheld from publication. It was of course submitted to the Senate in secret session for approval. It was then amended, and still kept from the public for nearly two years after its negotiation.

NOTE.--At the session of Congress, 1845-6, a bill containing, among many other things, an appropriation to carry out this treaty, was reported by the committee on Ways and Means, of the House of Representatives. The treaty itself yet lay concealed in the office of the Secretary of the Senate, where it had been ratified in secret session, and not a member of the House of Representatives had seen it, unless it was the Chairman of the committee of Ways and Means, or other confidential friends of the Executive, to whom it was given for personal examination.

The bill was printed, and the Author seeing this provision, determined to know something of the treaty, before voting money to carry it into effect. For this purpose, he called on one of the Senators from Ohio (Hon. Thomas Corwin), to get a copy of the treaty. Mr. Corwin went with him to the office of the Secretary of the Senate, and after much inquiry, and pa.s.sing from one clerk to another, a copy was obtained.

When the bill came up for discussion, inquiry was made as to the treaty, its character and object. No member appeared to have any knowledge of it, save the Chairman of the committee of Ways and Means, (Mr. McKay of North Carolina). The Author of this work endeavored to give the House some idea of its origin, and, in the course of his remarks, referred to the manner in which the State of Georgia had been implicated in the persecution of the Exiles. This reference to the State of Georgia awakened the ire of Mr. Black, a Representative from that State, who advanced toward the Author with uplifted cane, as if to inflict personal chastis.e.m.e.nt, and quite a _scene_ followed, which at the time created some sensation in the country.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE REUNION AND FINAL EXODUS.

Difficulties in effecting a reunion of Tribes--Its objects--Exiles and Seminoles move on to Creek Lands--They settle in separate Villages--Creeks demand Exiles as Slaves--Exiles arm themselves--They flee to Fort Gibson--Demand protection of the United States--General Arbuckle protects them--Reports facts to Department--Administration embarra.s.sed--Call on General Jessup for facts--He writes General Arbuckle--Reports facts to the President--President hesitates--Refers question to Attorney General--Extraordinary opinion of that Officer--Manner in which Mr.

Mason was placed in office--Exiles return to their Village--Slaveholders dissatisfied--Slave-dealer among the Creeks--His offer--They capture near one hundred Exiles--They are delivered to the Slave-dealer--Habeas Corpus in Arkansas--Decision of Judge--Exiles hurried to New Orleans and sold as Slaves--Events of 1850--Exiles depart for Mexico--Are pursued by Creeks--Battle--The Exiles continue their journey--They settle near Santa Rosa--The fate which different portions of the Exiles met--Incidents which occurred after their settlement in Mexico--Conclusion.

[Sidenote: 1846.]

The Creeks and Seminoles had been separated for nearly a century. They had most of that time lived under separate governments. Each Tribe had been controlled by their own laws; and each had been independent of the other. They had often been at war with each other; and the most deadly feuds had been engendered and still subsisted among them. To unite them with the Creeks, and blot the name of "Seminole" from the page of their future history, in order to involve the Exiles in slavery, had long been a cherished object with the administration of our Government. It was now fondly hoped, that that object would be accomplished without further difficulty.

But at no period had the Seminole Indians regarded the Exiles with greater favor than they did when removing on to the territory a.s.signed to the Creeks. Although many of them had intermarried with the Seminoles, and half-breeds were now common among the Indians; yet most of the descendants of the pioneers who fled from South Carolina and Georgia maintained their ident.i.ty of character, living by themselves, and maintaining the purity of the African race. They yet cherished this love of their own kindred and color; and when they removed on to the Creek lands, they settled in separate villages: and the Seminole Indians appeared generally to coincide with the Exiles in the propriety of each maintaining their distinctive character.

During the summer and autumn both Indians and Exiles became residents within Creek jurisdiction; and the Executive seemed to regard the trust held under the a.s.signment made at Indian Spring, twenty-four years previously, as now fulfilled. Regarding the Creeks as holding the equitable or beneficial interest in the bodies of the Exiles, under the a.s.signment from their owners to the United States, and they being now brought under Creek jurisdiction, subject to Creek laws, the Executive felt that his obligations were discharged, and the whole matter left with the Creeks.

This opinion appears also to have been entertained by the Creek Indians; for no sooner had the Exiles and Seminoles located themselves within Creek jurisdiction, than the Exiles were claimed as the legitimate slaves of the Creeks. To these demands the Exiles and Seminoles replied, that the President, under the treaty of 1845, was bound to hear and determine all questions arising between them. The demands were, therefore, certified to the proper department for decision. But this setting in judgment upon the heaven-endowed right of man to his liberty, seemed to involve more personal and moral responsibility than was desirable for the Executive to a.s.sume, and the claims remained undecided.

The Creeks became impatient at delay; they were a slaveholding people, as well as their more civilized but more infidel brethren, of the slave States. The Exiles, living in their own villages in the enjoyment of perfect freedom, had already excited discontent among the slaves of the Creek and Choctaw Tribes, and those of Arkansas. The Creeks appeared to feel that it had been far better for them to have kept the Exiles in Florida, than to bring them to the Western Country to live in freedom.

Yet their claims under the treaty of 1845, thus far, appeared to have been disregarded by the President; they had been unable to obtain a decision on them; and they now threatened violence for the purpose of enslaving the Exiles, unless their demands were peacefully conceded.

The Exiles, yet confident that the Government would fulfill its stipulations to protect them and their property, repaired in a body to Fort Gibson, and demanded protection of General Arbuckle, the officer in command. He had no doubt of the obligation of the United States to lend them protection, according to the express language of the articles of capitulation entered into with General Jessup, in March, 1837. He, therefore, directed the whole body of Exiles to encamp and remain upon the lands reserved by the United States, near the fort, and under their exclusive jurisdiction, a.s.suring them that no Creek would dare set foot upon that reservation with intentions of violence towards any person.

Accordingly the Exiles, who yet remained free, now encamped around Fort Gibson, and were supported by rations dealt out from the public stores.

Soon as he could ascertain all the facts, General Arbuckle made report to the War Department relative to their situation, and the claims which they made to protection under the articles of capitulation, together with the rights which the Creeks set up to reenslave them.

This state of circ.u.mstances appears to have been unexpected by the Executive. Indeed, he appears from the commencement to have under-rated the difficulties which beset the enslavement of a people who were determined upon the enjoyment of freedom; he seems to have expected the negroes, when once placed within Creek jurisdiction, would have yielded without further effort. But he was now placed in a position which constrained him either to repudiate the pledged faith of the nation, or to protect the Exiles in their _persons and property_, according to the solemn covenants which General Jessup had entered into with them.

Yet the President was disposed to make farther efforts to avoid the responsibility of deciding the question before him. General Jessup had entered into the articles of capitulation, and the President appeared to think he was competent to give construction to them; he therefore referred the subject to that officer, stating the circ.u.mstances, and demanding of him the substance of _his undertaking_ in regard to the articles of capitulation with the Exiles.

General Jessup appears to have now felt a desire to do justice to that friendless and persecuted people. Without waiting to answer the President, he at once wrote General Arbuckle, saying, "The case of the Seminole negroes is now before the President. By my proclamation and the convention made with them, when they separated from the Indians and surrendered, _they are free_. The question is, whether they shall be separated from the Seminoles and removed to another country; or be allowed to occupy, as they did in Florida, separate villages in the Seminole Country, west of Arkansas? The latter is what _I promised them_. I hope, General, you will prevent any interference with them at Fort Gibson, until the President determines whether they shall remain in the Seminole Country, or be allowed to remove to some other."

General Arbuckle, faithful to the honor of his Government, continued to protect the Exiles. He fed them from the public stores, not doubting that the Executive would redeem the pledge of the nation given by General Jessup, its authorized agent. But the President (Mr. Polk) himself a slaveholder, with his prejudices and sympathies in favor of the inst.i.tution, did not understand the articles of capitulation according to the construction put upon them by General Jessup; he appears, therefore, to have called on the General for a more explicit report of facts. In reply to this call, he reported, saying, "At a meeting with the three Indian chiefs, and the negro chiefs, Auguste and Carollo, I stipulated to recommend to the President to grant the Indians a small tract of country in the south-eastern part of the Peninsula; but it was distinctly understood that the negroes were to be separated from them at once, and sent West, whether the Indians were permitted to remain in Florida or not. With the negroes, it was stipulated that they should be sent West, as a part of the Seminole nation, and be _settled in a separate village, under the_ PROTECTION OF THE UNITED STATES." In another letter, addressed to the Secretary of War, he says: "A very _small portion_ of the Seminole negroes who went to the West, were brought in and surrendered by their owners, under the capitulation of Fort Dade. Over these negroes the Indians have all the rights of masters; but all the other negroes, making more than _nine-tenths of the whole number_, either separated from the Indians and surrendered to me, or were captured by the troops under my command. I, as commander of the army, and in the capacity of representative of my country, _solemnly pledged the national faith that they should not be separated, nor any of them sold to white men or others_, but be allowed to settle and remain in separate villages, UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE UNITED STATES."

But even with these explicit statements before him, the President appears to have been unable to form an opinion; and he referred the matter to the Attorney General, Hon. John Y. Mason, of Virginia, who had been bred a slaveholder, and fully sympathized with the slave power. He, having examined the whole subject, delivered a very elaborate opinion, embracing seven doc.u.mentary pages;[132] but concluding with the opinion, that although the Exiles were ent.i.tled to their freedom, the Executive _could not interfere in any manner to protect them_, as stipulated by General Jessup, but must leave them to retire to their Towns in the Indian Territory, where _they had a right to remain_.

[Sidenote: 1848.]

We should be unfaithful to our pledged purpose, were we to omit certain important facts connected with this opinion of the Attorney General.

Nathan Clifford, of Maine, was appointed Attorney General of the United States in 1846, soon after the report of General Arbuckle concerning the situation of the Exiles reached Washington. The subject was before the President more than two years. This delay we cannot account for, unless it were to save Mr. Clifford (being a Northern man) from the responsibility of deciding this question, involving important interests of the slaveholding portion of our Union. In 1848 Mr. Clifford was appointed Minister to Mexico, and Hon. Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut, was appointed Attorney General. But he, too, was from a free State, and it would throw upon him great responsibility were he constrained to act upon this subject. Were he to decide in favor of the Exiles, it might ruin his popularity at the South; and if against them, it would have an equally fatal effect at the North.

Under these circ.u.mstances, recourse was had to an expedient. Before Mr.

Toucey entered upon the discharge of his official duties, Mr. Mason, himself a slaveholder, was appointed to discharge the duties _ad interim_. He entered the office, wrote out the opinion referred to, and then resigned the office and emoluments to Mr. Toucey; having decided no other question, nor discharged any other duty, than this exercise of official influence for the enslavement of the Exiles.

The President affirmed the principles decided by the Attorney General, and the Exiles were informed that they _had the right to remain in their villages, free from all interference, or interruption from the Creeks_.

They had no other lands, no other country, no other homes. Many of their families were connected by marriage with the Seminoles. They and the Seminole Indians had, through several generations, been acquainted with each other; they had stood beside each other on many a battle field.

Seminoles and Exiles had fallen beside each other, and were buried in the same grave; they had often sat in council together, and the Exiles were unwilling to separate from their friends. Wild Cat and Abraham and Louis, and many leading men and warriors of the Exiles and Seminoles, having deliberated upon the subject, united in the opinion, that the Exiles should return to their villages and reside upon the lands to which they were ent.i.tled.