Indians In Crawford County, AR
The following articles were transcribed and
donated by Fran Warren
Van Buren Argus
Crawford County, Arkansas
March 2, 1876
How Indians Cure Meat And Dress Skins
When her lord has killed a buffalo, the woman's work begins. She
has to skin it, the meat to secure, and all to pack upon ponies
or mules, and carry to camp, where the meat is cured. This is
done by cutting it into thin sheets and hanging it over poles
in the hot sunshine, where it is soon dried thoroughly; then it
is packed fresh in packages of about one hundred pounds each,
and enclosed in a nice folding sack of thick buffalo skin, prepared
especially for the purpose. This is not dressed down thin after
being fleshed, but well tanned, and of the full thickness of the
skin; the hair side nicely ornamented with paint, for the outside
of the sack. This is cut like a huge envelope, so that the ends
and sides will fold over whatever is put in them, and secured
by strong buckskin rings. By being thick it retains its form and
is very useful for carrying other things beside meat and tallow.
After the meat is taken care of the skin is looked after. Those
taken at this season of the year are mostly dressed for lodges.
They are first staked on a smooth spot on the ground, and water
put on them, when they are ready for fleshing. This consists of
removing the flesh with an instrument made of a straight bar of
iron, about a foot in length, flattened at one end and filed to
an edge. This being grasped in the hand, and a succession of quick
blows given, the work slowly proceeds. The skin is then dried
after which the hair is removed in a dry state, and the skin reduced
to the proper thickness by dressing down the hair side. This is
done with an instrument made by firmly tying a piece of steel,
filed t a beveled edge at one end, and with the corners rounded,
to a large prong of a deer's horn. This is to be trimmed, in connection
with the body of the horn, as to form an elbow, and is used a
little as a carpenter uses his adz. This work is usually done
in the cool of the morning. The brains of the animal, having been
properly taken care of for the purpose, are now soaked and squeezed
by the hand until reduced to paste, and applied to both sides
of the skin, which is afterward worked and rubbed until flexible.
The preparation of robes is from winter skins, and differs from
the foregoing only in being dressed down on the flesh side, so
as to leave the wool and hair upon the robe and is more thoroughly
worked and scoured by means of a sharp gritted stone.
Van Buren Press
Crawford County, Arkansas
January 14, 1879
TO BE SOLD OUT
From the following, which we find in the Cherokee Advocate, it
will be seen that the property of the Little Rock and Fort Smith
Railway, at Cherokee, is to be sold out at auction, it having
been confiscated by the Nation:
Notice - Whereas, the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Company,
have been declared intruders in the Cherokee Nation, and whereas,
the said Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Company, intruders
in the Cherokee Nation, entered within the limits of the Cherokee
Nation; One depot, one cotton platform and one stockyard, whereas
said improvements are confiscated under provisions of Sec. 120,
Article 25, Chapter 12 of New Code.
Therefore, I will offer at public outcry to the highest bidder
for cash, National warrants or registered certificates, the above
mentioned improvements.
The above improvements are situated opposite Fort Smith, Ark.,
on the improvements of old John L VANN claim, now in possession
of Gibbon MORGAN and others. Sale to take place on the 22nd of
January, 1879m at 12 o'clock.
John E. GUNTER, Sheriff, Sequoyah District, C. N.
Van Buren Press
Crawford County, Arkansas
January 21, 1879
NOT STANDING ON THEIR ORDER OF GOING
For two years past our Cherokee neighbors have complained long
and bitterly
that their rights and privileges were being ruthlessly assailed
by the
presence of the depot and railway of the L. R. & F. S. Railway
in their
territory. They had got so troublesome and persistent in their
demands for
the company's removal of their property that arrangements had
been made, and
the work nearly completed to go no further than Van Buren, and
make the
crossing to Fort Smith here. Still not satisfied, the sheriff
f the Nation
embraced in the District opposite Fort Smith, gave notice that
he would on
the 22nd day of January, (tomorrow) sell the depot building and
other
property of the company, as having been confiscated by the Cherokee
Nation.
To avoid litigation or any trouble, on Sunday last, Supt. Hartman
had a
large number of hands employed, and buildings of the company were
taken down
and transferred across the river to Fort Smith, where they will
be
re-erected for the accommodation of their business at that point.
At this
hour, not a visage of the property of the company remains in the
Nation, and
we imagine that when the Sheriff puts in an appearance in the
morning to
"knock off" to the highest bidder, the confiscated railroad
property, there
will be some tall swearing on the Cherokee line.
This move makes Van Buren the terminus of the L. R. & F. S.
Railroad for two
weeks until the iron can be laid on the other side of the river
and other
work completed.
Passengers and mails going East will be brought to Van Buren the
night
before and take the train the next morning. And on the arrival
of the train
at night a "buss" will take mails and passengers to
Fort Smith.
June 7, 1879
Van Buren Press
Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas
SLEEPING BRAVES
A Kindly Act by Living Indians Toward Their Dead
While our own race were paying the tender tributes justly due
to the memory
of our illustrious and gallant dead, the Indian delegation now
in this city,
W P ADAIR, and D H ROSS, of the Cherokees; George W STIDHAM, of
the Creeks,
and P P PITCHLYNN, of the Choctaws, visited the congressional
burring
grounds and decorated the graves of some of their departed friends.
There
are interred in those grounds, the remains of the following named
illustrious Indians, Push-ma-ta-ha, chief of the Choctaws; Capt.
John
ROGERS; chief of the "Old Settler" Cherokees; John LOONEY,
Cherokee chief
and delegate; Wm. S COODY, Buford WEST, Ezekiel STARR, Capt. Thomas
PEGG,
Capt. James McDANIEL and Judge Richard FIELDS, Cherokee delegates,
and
Daniel B. ASBERRY, Creek delegate.
Push-ma-ta-ha was a celebrated war chief of the Choctaws.
He was also a
brigadier general of volunteers, under General JACKSON, in the
Creek War,
and was a great favorite of JACKSON. On his death bed in this
city, Jackson
visited him, and the old chief said: "My friend, we have
been good friends.
You have been kind to my people; we must soon part; I am going
home to my
fathers in the spirit land. My death will be heard by my people
like the
fall of a great tree in the forest. When I am gone let the big
guns be fired
over me." His wish was complied with, and in addition to
the salute fired
over his grave, the tombstone was inscribed: "When I am gone
let the big
guns be fired over me". Capt. John ROGERS was a chief of
the "Old Settler",
a western Cherokee, and was one of the first Cherokees who removed
west of
the Mississippi, and was a friend of President Jackson, and served
under him
during the Creek War. He died in 1846, while the Cherokee treaty
was
pending. John LOONEY, chief of the "Western Cherokees",
was also one of the
first of the Cherokees that removed West, and was celebrated as
a great
warrior, in protecting the Western border from the assaults of
the wild
Indians of the plains and mountains. W S COODY, who died in 1848,
was in
public life of the Cherokee, from his early growth. His father
was a white
man, and his mother a sister of the celebrated Cherokee chief,
John ROSS,
who died in 1856. He was also a brother in law to General D H
RUCKER, who
married his sister in the Indian Country. He was one of the most
eloquent
men of his day, and was gifted with rare conversation powers.
He drafted the
Cherokee constitution, the acts of union of 1839, and most of
the civil and
criminal code of the Nation in existence up to the time of his
death.
Bluford WEST was a delegate of the "Old Settler" Cherokees,
and Ezekiel
STARR, of the "Treaty Party" Cherokees. They were both
intelligent
gentlemen, and their fathers were white men. Capts. Thomas PEGGS
and James
M. DANIEL were full blooded Cherokees, and died in this city,
the former in
1866, and the latter in the year following. Both were captains
in the United
States army, during the late rebellion, and served with marked
distinction.
Judge Richard FIELDS was a delegate, and died here in 1874. He
served under
General JACKSON in the Creek War, and also rendered the United
States
efficient service in the Seminole War. During the late war, he
was in the
Confederate army. General LACKET, of the United States army, was
his son in
law, having married his daughter Amanda in the Indian Country.
Daniel B
ASBERRY was a Creek delegate and died in this city in 1855. He
was a full
blooded Indian of excellent education and was a fine orator. He
was educated
in Kentucky, and was second chief of the Creek Nation when he
died.
[Washington Post].
Van Buren Press
Van Buren, Arkansas (Crawford County)
May 4, 1889
NOTICE
Notice is hereby given to all persons knowing themselves to have
a just claim to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation are most respectfully
requested
to meet the undersigned at Van Buren, Ark., on the 15th day of
May, 1889, at 1 o'clock p.m., for the purpose of organizing a
Citizenship Association, and to discuss the question of citizenship
in the Cherokee Nation. W. J. WATTS.
Secretary of Citizenship Association. May 2, 1889, Muldrow, Indian
Territory.
Van Buren Press
Van Buren, Arkansas Crawford County
July 20, 1889
Will VANN, the young Cherokee Indian, who escaped from the Arkansas
Penitentiary on Wednesday of last week, was captured at his home
Saturday morning by Deputy Jere BARLING. VANN had only been at
home about two hours when the officer came on him. He was sent
to the pen from Fort Smith about fourteen months ago for fifteen
years. He is a notorious horse thief, and also an escaped convict
from the Cherokee pen.
October 25, 1890
DEATH OF A ONCE NOTED INDIAN OUTLAW
Muskogee, I. T. Oct. 19.-The recent death of old Tom STARR, at
his home on
the Canadian River, calls to mind the remarkable life of one of
the most
notorious outlaws the world has ever known. When the Cherokee
Indians were
domiciled in the Nation there arose a bitter feud between what
was known as
the Ridge and Ross Parties over the sale of land east of the Mississippi.
Old Tom's father joined the Ridges and was shot down with and
son and
brother in his own door by members of the Ross faction. This was
the time
from which dates the bloody career of old Tom. About 20 years
since the
Cherokee Council entered into a compact with the outlaw, after
his victims
reached the estimated number of seventy, by which he turned unmolested
to
peaceful pursuits.
He furnished the brains which planned the robbery of old man GRAYSON
of
$32,000, which was successfully executed with the aid of Belle
REED's
cunning. The division of the spoils became a matter of contention
after Jim
REED's tragic death in Texas, when Belle married Sam STARR, Tom's
son. Three
years ago Sam and one WEST, cousins, killed each other in a duel
over a
family feud, and a little later, Belle was assassinated, presumably
by
friends of her husband. Old Tom would speak freely of the Ridge-Ross
war,
but was mute on other crimes charged to him.