| Key to Oklahoma |
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Indian Loyalties and the Civil WarThe Civil War destroyed the "Golden Years" of the Five Civilized Nations and their allied tribes. In Indian country, the tribes fought a civil war within the Civil War. Some groups in each tribe fought for the Union, but other groups fought for the Confederacy. The Choctaws and Chickasaws, who were located in southeastern Oklahoma, were influenced by Confederate Arkansans and Texans. A majority of their men fought for the Confederacy. The Creeks and Seminoles, located in the center of Indian Territory, split. About half (1675 men) supported the Union and half (1575 men) fought for the Confederacy. The Cherokees in the northeastern area of the territory were influenced by Kansans and were more favorable toward the Union (2200 men) than toward the South (1600 men). At the beginning of the war, the Confederacy intended to control Indian Territory. Southern authorities named Arkansas’s Albert Pike as Indian Commissioner and sent him to negotiate with the tribes. Pike was a trader and explorer. Before the war, he had come into Oklahoma many times to trade with the Native Americans. Thus, he had already established friendly relationships with the Indians. Texas also sent in General Ben McCulloch and a brigade of soldiers to take control of the region. Then, in August of 1861, the Confederacy defeated the Union at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, just south of Springfield, Missouri. Their victory seemed to firm up the South’s hold on Indian Territory. But, one Creek Chief, Opothleyaholo (called Ya-holo for short), insisted that he and his followers (about 10,000 Creeks and Seminoles) were going to remain neutral during the war. Confederates became upset. They saw Ya-holo as an enemy. Confederate forces attacked his camp at the Battle of Round Mountain on the Arkansas River west of today’s Tulsa. The Indians won the battle. Then they moved their camp to the north in the direction of Kansas. A second fight, the Battle of Caving Banks, occurred north of Tulsa. Ya-holo’s men won again, and the Indians moved their camp further north. The Battle of Chustenalah was the third fight. This time, the Indians lost. A slaughter occurred, but 7,000 Indian survivors rode and walked through the winter snow until they found safety in Kansas. Because of the Confederate attacks, Ya-holo went over to the Union side. His Creeks and Seminoles made up two Indian brigades of the federal army. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Union forces retreated out of Indian country because they feared a Confederate attack from Texas or Arkansas. But, in time, the Union forces became stronger. In July of 1862, the federals invaded Indian Territory. The Northern forces won the Battle of Locust Grove (a place near the Grand River, east of Tulsa). It was a great Union victory. The North now controlled Cherokee country, but not for long. The South’s Cherokee General Stand Watie began raiding Union positions. He and his men drove federal forces back.
Reconstruction following the Civil War began during a difficult time in Indian Territory. First, the area was devastated due to the massive destruction during the war. Armies fighting each other destroyed plantations, farms, homes and many entire villages. Plus, each tribe lost about one-fourth of its population during the conflict. Surviving Indian civilians were scattered everywhere. About 19,000 were homeless. Many of them filled up two Union refugee camps. One camp was in southern Kansas and the other one was near Ft. Gibson. Others were in a Confederate refugee camp in North Texas just south of the Red River. The camps were horrible. Too many people were packed together in a small space. Army officers did not give enough supplies to the refugees. Some people starved to death. Epidemic diseases that swept through each camp also killed many people. The Union government dealt harshly with the Five Civilized Tribes. The excuse was that some elements of each tribe had supported the Confederacy. In addition, the federal government needed reservation land onto which to force the plains Indians. Their nomadic days were about to end. American leaders and the chiefs of the Civilized Tribes met at the Fort Smith Council in the fall of 1865. After negotiations failed, another council was held in Washington, D.C. in 1866 where the Reconstruction treaties were signed. The Civilized Tribes lost their claim to western Oklahoma. The tribes had to agree to allow railroads to pass through their territories. They had to accept their ex-slaves as tribal citizens, a requirement that many Indians resisted. Most blacks began farming on their own in various parts of eastern Oklahoma. They founded a number of all-black towns. The year 1866 marked the beginning of the end for Indian Oklahoma. Whites would come to have much more influence, especially in the 1870s, as the railroads came through Oklahoma.
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