The Cherokee Nation, largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, is a people of Iroquoian lineage

"Little John" served as a Lieutenant in the Creek War, fighting with many famous Americans including Sam Houston. When future president and Cherokee oppressor Andrew Jackson called the Battle of Horseshoe Bend "one of the great victories of the American frontier," losing 50 men while killing 500 Creek men, women, and children, John Ross penned the words.

Ross was invaluable to Moravians who established a mission on the Federal Highway near present-day Brainerd, Tennessee. Serving as translator for the missionaries, just as he had for Return J. Miegs, Indian agent for the Cherokee, Ross acted as liaison between the missionaries, Miegs, and the tribal council. He proposed selling land to the Moravians for the school, a radical idea in a society that did not understand the concept.

Ross was viewed as astute and likable, and frequently visited Washington. After the death of James Vann, Ross joined Charles Hicks, with whom he worked, and Major Ridge as a member of the Cherokee Triumvirate. During the trip to negotiate the Treaty of 1819 in Washington, D. C. he became recognized for his efforts.

Ross, one of the richest men in North Georgia before 1838 had a number of ventures including a 200 acre farm and owned a number of slaves. He would not speak Cherokee in council because he felt his command of the language was weak.

After the death of Charles Hicks, and others in the early 1820's, settlers believed that the Cherokee time was short. Ross and others decided to make legal moves to prevent the forced removal including organizing the Cherokee tribe as a nation, with its own Constitution, patterned after the Constitution of the United States of America. As president of the Constitutional Convention that convened in the summer of 1827 he was the obvious choice for Principal Chief in the first elections in 1828. He held this post until his death in 1866. Ridge, his close friend and ally, would serve the last years in Georgia as "counselor," for lack of a better word to describe the roll.

Over the first 10 years of his rule he fought the white man not weapons but with words. As the encroachment of the settlers grew, he turned to the press to make his case. When the Land Lottery of 1832 divided Cherokee land among the whites he filed suit in the white man's courts and won, only to see the ruling go unenforced. His old friend Major Ridge and the Treaty Party signed away the Cherokee land in 1835. Ross got 16,000 signatures of Cherokees to show the party did not speak for a majority of the tribe, but Andrew Jackson forced the treaty through Congress. He lost his first wife, Quatie, on the "Trail Where They Cried," or as it is more commonly known, the Trail of Tears.

After his forced departure from the State of Georgia, Ross was embroiled in a number of controversies. Internal and external conflict kept him busy for the rest of his life.

Major Ridgea North Georgia Notable Born 1771, Hiwassee, Cherokee NationDied June 22, 1839, White Rock Creek, AR.(disputed)

Cherokee Chief

A man finishes describing his vision to the highest Cherokee council by saying anyone who denies this dream will be struck dead by the Cherokee Mother. Ridge sits silent as a great chatter arises amongst the chiefs. The vision is decidedly anti-settler, possibly provoked by Tecumseh, who issues a call for war shortly before the meeting in May of 1811. Rising to speak after the room had quieted, Ridge's voice fills the hall. "What you have heard is not good. It will lead us to war with the United States, and we shall suffer. It is not a talk from the Great Spirit, and I stand here and call it false. Let the death come upon me. I test their words."

Before he finishes speaking men are upon him, fighting him, trying to stab him with knifes. Cherokees in support of Ridge fight back. As the battle rages, Ridge stands, clothes torn and bloody. The fighting pauses. Louder than before Ridge repeats "I stand here and call it false," adding this time, "I continue to live so these prophets are deceivers." Again fighting breaks out, but this time the elder chiefs stop it.

His words alter the course of the Cherokee Nation. Not for the first time, nor the last, Ridge takes a stand for something in which he believes. It was a trait that would mark him throughout his life as a visionary, and end in his death for the betrayal of his people.

Born Kah-nung-da-tla-geh in 1771, by most people's guess, Man Who Walks on Mountaintop is the son of Oganstota, Dutsi or Tar-chee. His mother, a mixed blood Cherokee, belongs to the Deer Clan. In 1785 the Cherokee leaders sign the Treaty of Hopewell, in which many of the tribe put great faith. By the time Ridge becomes a warrior in 1788, the agreement at Hopewell has been repeatedly broken by both sides and the Chickamauga (Ridge's tribe) are in revolt.

In his first war party, the future member of the Cherokee Triumvirate witnesses the atrocity of war. Cherokee and settlers battle across southeast Tennessee. Near present-day Maryville the Cherokee attack settlers in the field and turn on John Gillespie's station, killing all the men in the stockade. Ridge's leader, John Watts saves the lives of the 28 women and children. They then attack 2 more stations on the Holsten, and head for the Smoky Mountains. John Seiver ambushes the war party. Ridge escapes, wounded, but 145 Cherokee die.

Exposure to this kind of fighting continues for years. By the mid 1790's Ridge, as did many of his fellow Chickamaugan, begin to desire an end to the fighting. "I will hunt deer, not men," he tells his fianc?Susanna. His tribe decimated, two separate events that affect Ridge occur. He moves to Pine Log, in present-day Bartow County, Georgia, and under orders of President Washington, the United States begins to introduce technology to the Cherokee in the form of spinning wheels and cotton combs.

Now married, Ridge is surprised to find when he returns home that Susanna has woven cloth worth more money than all the pelts he captures in six months of hunting. Pleasantly surprised. And the men he begins to associate with in Pine Log are not warriors but farmers. His association with James Vann and Charles Hicks influences Ridge towards ending the fighting with settlers, and Ridge, in turn, influences the Cherokee Nation to ending the constant warring.

By 1795 a change had overcome the warrior. Representing Pine Log in council Ridge proposes a modest change in the ancient vengeance code. This change, which passes, prompts Ridge's rise. He is 25(or so) at the time. By 1800 the tribal council acknowledges the Cherokee Triumvirate of Ridge, Vann and Hicks. They often disagree with the elders and frequently win.

Ridge turns his attention to his family as Vann and Hicks lead the fights in council. Susanna gives birth to a girl, then a boy, John. A third, another boy, dies at birth. Later additions to his family would include Walter or "Watty" and Sarah, who they called Sally. His brother David Watie (or Oowatie) and sister-in-law, living nearby, give birth to Gallegina or "Buck" and Stand. It is during this time that the United States and the State of Georgia legally agree to the removal of "indians" from the state at a later date.

By 1805 Ridge's attention returns to the council, and he, Hicks and Vann are extremely unhappy at what they see. Tribal elders, most notably Doublehead, are getting rich at the expense of the tribe. The Cherokee Triumvirate lead a group in a complex series of events generally referred to as "The Revolt of the Young Chiefs."

Doublehead betrays the Cherokee on many occasions. After the cession of Wofford's tract in 1804, Doublehead begins to rapidly sell the real assets of the tribe under the direction of Indian Agent Return J. Miegs. By 1806 a significant portion of remaining land is sold, with most of the proceeds going to Doublehead and those who aligned with him. Vann and Ridge break with the council. Although almost entirely alone at first, they slowly build support across the nation. Within 2 years a large vocal group support the two rebellious chiefs.

In a bold plan in August, 1807, possibly approved by the tribal council, Ridge, Hicks, and Vann plot the murder Doublehead. Deeply involved, neither the federal government or the Cherokee clan of Doublehead take any action against Ridge. He turns back a settler near Vann's Tavern, and later, in the presence of Meigs, usurps his power on the council. The council quickly begins to nationalize and Ridge is put in charge of the first Cherokee police, the Lighthorse Patrol. At Ridge's insistence the ancient blood vengeance code is abolished.

Just as the Triumvirate reaches it's acme, Hicks quits (or is forced to quit) his job assisting Miegs and Vann is killed. Now Ridge, who desperately seeks to lead his nation, sees his power in council dwindling. It is now that the man who has the vision addressed the council and Ridge rises to call him a liar. This is a dramatic moment in Cherokee History. Once again reinstated for this bold move, the council appoints Ridge to journey to Tecumseh's council with the Creeks and others. After the meeting, Ridge takes Tecumseh aside and explains that if Tecumseh comes to the Cherokee council, Ridge will personally kill him.

With the onset of the Creek War(1813-1814), Ridge raises an army of Cherokee volunteers. Elected a leader of the unit, Andrew Jackson appoints him Major, a title Ridge uses for the rest of his life. It is said that Ridge's canoe is the first to cross the Tallapoosa River as the Cherokee attack from the rear during the Battle of Horseshoe Bend(1814). He leads the Cherokee during the Seminole War(1818) as well and his daughter dies during child-birth.

After the end of the Seminole War Ridge returns home to an elected position as Speaker of the council in the lower house. His wealth expands to rival, but not surpass, that of his late friend James Vann. The Ridge house is completely remodeled and records indicate the vast holdings as including:

1141 peach trees

418 apple trees

280 acres under cultivation

a ferry

a store

30 black slaves

other slaves including Creek captives

During the 1820's the Cherokee Nation is institutionalized, and John Ross wins election as tribal leader, a position that Ridge wanted for most of his adult life. He is happy his close friend and ally John Ross gets elected. After the election Ridge assumes a position that could best be described as "counselor" and for the next 7 years advises Principal Chief Ross on matters before council.

It is during this time that John, his son, decides to marry a white woman. The woman's parents move to prevent the marriage on religious grounds and Ridge confronts the Moravians with a direct question -- "Is there anything in your Bible to prevent such a marriage?" The Moravians assure him that there is not, but they are concerned that the powerful chief does not believe them. Shortly after the women's parents relent and John Ridge and she were married.

Now aging, Ridge sees his son John and Buck Oolwatie(Elias Boudinout) as the future of the tribe. Buck, as editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, eventually espouses removal to Oklahoma as a viable solution to the problem of white encroachment. Ridge is convinced over a period of several years, but John Ross and an overwhelming majority of the Cherokee are against removal.

In December, 1835, Ridge, his son John, Buck Oolwatie (Elias Boudinot), and Stand Watie sign the Treaty of New Echota, which results three years later in The Trail of Tears. Ross promptly gathers 16,000 signatures of Cherokees who oppose removal. Indian-hater Andrew Jackson forces the treaty through Congress by a single vote.

Ridge did not wait to move to Oklahoma. Between 1836 and 1838 he and hundreds of other Cherokee travel to their new home. Along the way he stops to meet his old friend Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage.

Three years later, in clear violation of constitutional law as interpreted by the Supreme Court, the Cherokee are forced to leave for Oklahoma because of Ridge's conviction in his beliefs.

After Major Ridge signs The Treaty of New Echota he says, "I have just signed my death warrant," and indeed he had. Ridge, John and Buck lay dead less than six months afterr the arrival of the Cherokee in the Oklahoma Territory. In an orchestrated plot Ridge is shot while travelling to Arkansas. A few minutes later a group of Cherokee drag his son John from his home and stab 43 times in front of his wife and children. Elias Boudinot is murdered shortly after leaving Samuel Worcester's house.

As brilliant a statesman and politician that Ridge had been, he is forever doomed to a role of betrayer of Cherokee Nation. No other Cherokee has a greater affect on the tribe.

Did Ridge really betray his nation?Major Ridge's house is now the Chieftain's Museum on Georgia's Historic High Country's Chieftain's Trail.

In August, 1997, the editors of Welcome to North Georgia named Ridge as the most influencial person in the makeup of today's North Georgia. Read the article

Sequoyah(a.k.a George Gist)a North Georgia Notable Born: 1776 near Tuskeegee, TennesseeDied: 1843, near Tyler, Texas.

Developed the Cherokee alphabet

Near the town of Tanasee, and not far from the almost mythical town of Chote lies Taskigi(Tuskeegee), home of Sequoyah. In this peaceful valley setting Wut-teh, the daughter of a Cherokee Chief married Nathaniel Gist, a Virginia fur trader. The warrior Sequoyah was born of this union in 1776.

Probably born handicapped, and thus the name Sequoyah (Sikwo-yi is Cherokee for "pig's foot"), Sequoyah fled Tennessee as a youth because of the encroachment of whites. He initially moved to Georgia, where he acquired skills working with silver. While in the state, a man who purchased one of his works suggested that he sign his work, like the white silversmiths had begun to do. Sequoyah considered the idea and since he did not know how to write he visited Charles Hicks, a wealthy farmer in the area who wrote English. Hicks showed Sequoyah how to spell his name, writing the letters on a piece of paper. Sequoyah began to toy with the idea of a Cherokee writing system that year(1809).

He moved to Willstown, Alabama, and enlisted in the Cherokee Regiment, fighting in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, which effectively ended the war against the Creek Redsticks. During the war, he became convinced of the necessity of literacy for his people. He and other Cherokees were unable to write letters home, read military orders, or record events as they occurred.

After the war, he began in earnest to create a writing system. Using a phonetic system, where each sound made in speech was represented by a symbol, he created the "Talking Leaves", 85 letters that make up the Cherokee syllabary (he would later add another symbol, making the total 86). His little girl Ayoka easily learned this method of communication. He demonstrated his syllabary to his cousin, George Lowrey by sending Ayoka outside the house, then asking Lowrey to answer a question. Sequoyah wrote the answer down on a piece of paper, then had Ayoka read the answer to Lowrey. Lowrey encouraged Sequoyah to demonstrate the syllabary in public. A short time later in a Cherokee Court in Chattooga, he read an argument about a boundary line from a sheet of paper. Word spread quickly of Sequoyah's invention. In 1821, 12 years after the original idea, the Cherokee Nation adopted Sequoyah's alphabet as their own. Within months thousands of Cherokee became literate.

The crippled warrior moved west to Arkansas. Mining and selling salt for money he was active in politics. In 1824 the National Council at New Echota struck a silver medal in his honor. Later, publication began on the first Native American newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix in the same town. The painting of Sequoyah was made in 1828 on a trip to Washington to negotiate terms for removal from Arkansas to Oklahoma. Leaving the state in 1829, he had lived in Oklahoma for 10 years when Principal Chief John Ross led North Georgia Cherokee on the "Trail of Tears" to the state.

He died in Mexico (now Texas) in 1843 after possibly visiting family in a band of Chickamauga Cherokee who had moved there earlier.

Perhaps the most eloquent praise paid to Sequoyah was by H.A. Scomp, member of Emory College faculty, when he said "...perhaps the most remarkable man who has ever lived on Georgia soil was neither a politician, nor a soldier, nor an ecclesiastic, nor a scholar, but merely a Cherokee Indian of mixed blood. And strange to say, this Indian acquired permanent fame, neither expecting or seeking it."

Sequoyah links from the North Georgia Resource Center.

Samuel Austin Worcestera North Georgia Notable Born:Peacham,Vermont , January 19, 1798Died:Parkhill, Cherokee Nation West, April 20, 1859

Pastor

Samuel Worcester was the 7th generation of pastors in his family, dating back to when his family lived in England. When Samuel was born his father, the Rev. Leonard Worcester, was a minister in Peacham, Vermont. According to Charles Perry of the Peacham Historical Association, Leonard also worked as a printer in the town during the week.

Young Samuel exhibited an unusual strength in foreign languages. While studying in New England the minister met and befriended Buck Oowatie, a Cherokee Indian who had taken the name Elias Boudinot. Samuel and Elias became close friends. When Worcester joined the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions he requested assignment to a Cherokee village that was in particular need according to Boudinot. Within days of arriving at the community in the vicinity of present-day Brainerd, Tennessee, Worcester was not only preaching, he had taken over duties as blacksmith, carpenter, translator and doctor. His Cherokee name was "The Messenger."

The influence of Boudinot cannot be understated. The two had become close friends over the two years they had known each other. When Sequoyah developed the "Talking Leaves," Boudinot asked Worcester to help in establishing a Cherokee paper. Worcester, a visionary, saw not only a newspaper, but a tool of Cherokee literacy, a means to draw the loose Cherokee community together and a way of establishing and promoting a Cherokee Nation. Using his missionary connection, Worcester secured funds to build a printing office, buy the printing press and ink, and cast the alphabet's characters(since the "talking leaves" were new, no type existed). The first edition of the Cherokee Phoenix rolled off the presses at New Echota in 1828. From this point on, Worcester probably had input in most Cherokee publications until his death.

The westward push of white settlers had begun to dramatically affect the Cherokee. These valiant American Indians, with the help of Worcester and his benefactor, the American Board, formulated a plan to fight the encroachment in court, their last hope. No other civil authority would support the Cherokee right to live on the land they called home for hundreds of years. The board hired former U.S. Attorney General William Wirt to defend George Tassel, a Cherokee convicted of murder in Hall County. A sympathetic Chief Justice John Marshall rejected the suit on technical grounds, but privately instructed Wirt in presenting an acceptable case.

Shortly after the failure of the first trial Georgia Governor George Gilmer and the state legislature officially adopted a policy of forcible Indian removal and began plans for the Land Lottery of 1832. Worcester and 11 other men of the cloth met at New Echota and published a resolution in protest of a law the assembly had passed requiring all whites to get a license to work on Native American land. Worcester reasoned correctly that obeying the law would, in effect, be tantamount to surrendering the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. Gilmer ordered the militia to arrest Worcester and the others who signed the document. Quickly brought to trial and convicted, Worcester and the others held firm to their beliefs. William Wirt again argued the case and in late 1832 the Supreme Court ruled the Cherokee Nation was independent and all dealings with them fell under federal jurisdiction. The ruling was ignored by Gilmer and President Andrew Jackson, who continued to hold the men prisoners.

Wilson Lumpkin assumed the governorship early the next year and faced with the Nullification Crisis in neighboring South Carolina he opted to set Worcester and the others free if they agreed to minor concessions. Having won the Supreme Court decision, Worcester thought that he would be more effective outside prison and left. After his release Worcester realized that the battle had been lost because the settlers refused to abide by the decision of their own courts. He moved to Oklahoma in 1835 to prepare for the coming of the Cherokee. Within three years the Cherokee Nation was forced to follow the "Trail of Tears."

After moving to Oklahoma Worcester continued to preach to the Indians and worked tirelessly to help resolved the differences between the Georgia Cherokees and the "Old Settlers", some of whom had been there since the late 1820's.

From John Worcestor

Most interesting to you perhaps is that when I was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1965, my aunt in a rather solemn family moment gave to me the original diary kept by Samuel during the years he was in prison there in Georgia (Milledgeville, I believe).

We vacationed in Cherokee NC and the Great Smokies Park one of the summers we lived out there, and quite by chance attended the panorama outdoor dramatic presentation that depicted the events preceding the deportation, and to the delight of our family, out on the stage walked the characters of Samuel and Ann Worcester.