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Texas Cherokees, 1820 - 1839, with A document for Litigation, 1921, submitted by George W. FieldsTexas Cherokees, 1820 – 1839, with A document for Litigation, 1921, submitted by George W. Fields, Lawyer, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Jeff Bowen. Paperback, 2018, Illustrations (27), Index, 128 pp. Even though the Trail of
Tears was approximately seventeen years away, the Eastern Cherokee were feeling
the pressure of white settlers and an American government wanting them out of
their way in the east. A large following
of Cherokee led by Chief Richard Fields and Chief Bowles migrated to Texas in
1819 after a short stopover in Arkansas. The Cherokee eventually established a settlement near
present-day Nacogdoches, Texas. The
Cherokee first petitioned the Spanish government for permanent residence and
then following their war for independence the newly minted Mexican government. Similarly
they’d eventually make the same request with the independent Republic of Texas
and then again with the State of Texas. Even though following the same agreement in good faith
with each separate entity not one of them followed through with their
promises. This also included the Treaty
of February 23, 1836, negotiated with then Texas president Sam Houston and
still the Cherokee were driven off their Texas land in 1839. The
Texas Cherokee, who had suffered overwhelming losses, fled to the Oklahoma
Territory, only to fall victim once again to a white government underhandedly
negotiating real estate deals while dishonoring prior agreements with the
Native Peoples. The trials of these early Cherokee wishing to just find
peace and a home for their people in East Texas are described in a legal
document filed with the Supreme Court on their descendant’s behalf by attorney
George W. Fields, Jr., in 1921. The
author of this legal document for the defense, to be decided upon by the
highest court in the land, was also the grandson of Texas Cherokee tribal
co-leader Chief Richard Fields. Fields legal attempt to win compensation for the Texas
Cherokee after being forced out of Texas would go unpublished for over 80
years. For all those years, this, “Document for Litigation”, sat collecting
dust as just a matter of record in the legal system. The complete contents of Fields' account of the Texas
Cherokee history from 1820-1839 was brought to light and transcribed for
publication, complete with affidavits and illustrations, by Mr. Jeff Bowen. In addition to quoting sources, documenting the
agreements or understandings between the Texas Cherokee and succeeding governments
in question, this compilation includes a number of newspaper articles published
in connection with the suit. Containing illustrations of Chief Bowles and other
personalities involved in this history.
In addition, you can also find the Fields' Cherokee genealogy through
actual documentation connecting the Lawyer and the Chief who loved his people. There is also a full name index with all the persons
mentioned both white and Cherokee which reads like a forgotten saga of a people
just looking for a place to call home. J-B1421 |