Creek Indians in Indian Territory after Removal. The Creek Indians started to initially remove west around the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century. In February of 1827, the first Creeks arrived at Fort Gibson and settled on land at the junction of the Arkansas and Verdigris rivers.1 These were, by and large, the followers of the slain William McIntosh and were affiliated with the Lower Creeks.2 However, that land was validly claimed by the Cherokees as well.3 This region was desirable because it was near Fort Gibson which allowed some protection from the "hostile and wild" tribes like the Osage. Life for the new emigrants was not easy. The Federal Government failed to provide them with the items specified by the treaty of 1826. These were: "Money, rifles, guns and ammunition, blankets, kettles, beaver traps, and butcher knives."4 In order to survive, these items were a necessity. This situation lasted for many years and the poorer Creeks were forced to pledge some of their annuity money to traders in order to procure goods.5 While there were some wealthy Creeks who lived and dressed the same as Whites of a similar economic mean, the majority were very poor.6 In 1834 George Catlin received permission to accompany a regiment of the United States dragoons during their summer campaign. While in the area, he sketched many of the different nations. Since most of his work was copied either by himself or others, color values changed as well as did other details of dress. This is very unfortunate. In his portrayal of Sam Perryman, for example, he drew his outer garment as being of a solid color, while other plates show it to be printed and of a much darker hue. His earrings also vary from plate to plate. Thus, his portraits must be taken as an aggregate description of dress. The pictures referenced were watercolors from the Gilcrease Museum Collection Exhibit. Catlin # 5 They are all wearing what in the later part of the nineteenth century became known as "traditional" Indian dress, ie., those garments that were predominantly worn by mixed-bloods in the early nineteenth century. Catlin only described verbally two of the men he painted, but this description along with his portraits reflect his opinions about the basic dress of Creek men in 1834. It is hard to know whether Catlin only met the prominent Creeks or whether he also travelled to some of the more remote settlements. "These two men are brothers, and are fair specimens of the tribe, who are mostly clad in calicoes, and other cloths of civilized manufacture; tasselled and fringed off by themselves in the most fantastic way, and sometimes with much true and picturesque taste. They use a vast quantity of beads, and other trinkets, to hang upon their necks, and ornament their moccasins and beautiful belts." All of these men wore some kind of head gear in the form of a turban, a few feathers, or a combination of the two. Within each category, the styles varied. The turbans were worn wrapped around the head with the ends loose; wrapped so they formed a high crown; or wrapped so that long ends extended to the shoulders. Some of these turbans were ornamented with four or more feathers protruding from the back of the crown. One of them was encircled by a silver band. When the feathers were worn alone, they were, also, grouped at the back of the crown. All of the turbans were of a calico type print and involved red and white. Catlin painted most of the feathers black with a red tip. Even as late as 1856, the Creeks used Eagle feathers to ornament their hair and wear in headdresses.7 None of the men he painted had hair that extended more than two inches below their ears. None of the portraits are full length so that only their upper garments are visible. These are all varieties of the hunting shirt. These hunting shirts are not painted as if they were bold and of many colors. They are all depicted as being a tint of grey - either bluish grey or greenish grey. Tel-maz-há-za was depicted as wearing a robe-like garment with a shirt underneath that buttoned in the opposite direction as the closure of the robe. The front of this "robe" had a border or red material edged with a one to two inch band of gathered white material. This edging seemed to extend to the waist of the garment. Around Tel-maz-há-za's neck are many strands of beads and a peace medal. Sam Perryman is portrayed wearing a similar outer garment. It is drawn closed. Around his neck is a knotted scarf. He has large round disk earrings with circular designs in them that hang below his neck. Across his chest are straps of leather. Ben Perryman's outer garment is plain in the front with a ruffled red tipped yoke-type appendage down the back. Unfortunately, Catlin only painted a three quarter frontal view. Across his right shoulder is a wide bandolier strap that ends in a pouch. It is white, with red and green designs. One distinguishing aspect of Wat-ál-le-go's dress is that he wears a long scarf that is tied around his neck but under his shirt collar and extends almost to his waist. Politically, as with the Cherokees, there was internal strife. In the Creek Nation, it took the form of factions: those who considered themselves to be the followers of the deceased, McIntosh, and those who did not. In December of 1836, ten thousand Creeks arrived at Fort Gibson. Some (McIntosh followers) settled with the early arrivals, but the majority of them who were members of the Upper Creeks settled near the Canadian River in the area near Eufala, Oklahoma. These were under the leadership of Opothleyahola. Reverend John Flemings described a party of Creek arrivals: "A party of Creeks, Fifteen Hundred in number, arrived here a few days ago. They are not so civilized as those already here. They are yet in all their nudeness of nature. The men dress pretty well after their fashion, but the women and children appear naked."8 John Alexander, an officer of the Foreign Mission Society described the residence of a mixed-breed Creek by the name of Sell who lived near the Verdigris: "This man is a half Breed [who] has a tolerable logg house, lives well, has plenty of all kinds of stock & poultry & has raised this year 15 to 20 hundred bushels of corn. He has 8 slaves."9 Alexander also described some of the opinions held by the Creeks living in this vicinity. He stated that the Creeks will not allow their slaves to hold religious meetings nor to learn how to read.10 He, personally, held the opinion that "education is [was] the great cause of superiority of the Cherokees & of the Choctaws."11 Another "man of the cloth" attested to the fact that even in Indian Territory, the Creeks distinguish themselves as belonging to either the Upper or Lower Creeks. He stated that: "The Upper Creeks retain their attachment to ancient usages, and consequently, do not advance so rapidly in improvement.....The Creeks, though less advanced in many respects, have more personal industry than any of the surrounding tribes. They are frequently found, upon steamboats and elsewhere, laboring for wages; a rare occurrence for a Cherokee, and still more so for a Choctaw. They have some excellent soil, and are fast becoming an agricultural people. They raise corn in such quantities as considerably to reduce the price. They have of late taken to the cultivation of rice, which succeeds well upon the lowlands, and bids fair to become a staple article of export.......The Creeks hold some slaves, though not so many as the Choctaws, Chickasaws, or Cherokees."12 "Education with them is invariably regarded as leading to civilization, morals, and Christianity. Hence they are received or rejected together."13 While the former writers discussed their impressions of the Lower Creeks near the Verdigris River, General Hitchcock described some of his impressions of the upper Creeks near the Canadian River in his journal writings of January and February 1842 at Main Canadian - nine miles from North Fork. "I find the Creeks here a different cut people from those on the Arkansas and very different from the Cherokees. The Creeks over on the Arkansas with Roly McIntosh for their Principal Chief, who is indeed the acknowledged Principal Chief of the Creek nation, embrace most of those Creeks who emigrated under the first treaties with the U. S. They appear to be more advanced in intelligence, - seem less wild, not to say ferocious than these here- These Indians are quite primitive in their appearance and I am told by white men that some of the towns this way are so hostile to the whites and so much exasperated by cheats put upon them in Georgia & Alabama, that they will not wear pantaloons -why they make a difference & wear Coats & vests, I do not see. "Apothle Yoholo is a principle man over here, I find, though I understand he has resigned as Chief. He is a tall well made Indian over 45 - perhaps 50 years of age. Had on a blue frock coat of good cloth, but wore deer-skin leggings. Several of the Chiefs today were dressed in cloth coats or overcoats & skin leggings - some had turbans and - nearly all had moccasins instead of shoes - Some common Indians had blankets worn in the usual Indian style."14 "There seem to be a number of Creeks in this part of the nation. We passed by a number of houses in a four miles ride this morning. One was a fine double house with a broad piazza -of course built of logs. Most of the houses are small and are covered instead of chinked with earth which is of a red color quite bright which gives a [?] gay appearance as seen through the woods a little distance off."15 "Yesterday I took down in writing a talk from Opothleyohola, principally with a few words from Jim Boy. "About a dozen have signed the paper, approving the Talk. There were some 40 or 50 Indians in & about the room - nearly all dressed in Indian costume. I mean with but very few indications of a disposition to wear clothing from White ingenuity. "Some of these people as I am informed & believe, will not wear a white man's dress, such is their bitterness of feelings on account of the [?] inflicted upon them. Most of those I saw had on a turban - a shirt of calico bound with a braid belt, buck-skin leggings & moccasins - then some had on overcoats, but the most had on a blanket over them. They were not painted. the Creeks are dispensing with that old custom except on special occasions."16 "Etcho [a Creek] says they are badly off here about blacksmiths - there is none up here & when they go down where there is one they can scarcely ever have anything done - Says that the tools and everything sent for the nation was given out to the first parties that came to the country & that those who came with him got nothing - they would be glad to have some frows-augers-saws-drawing knives- planes-cross saws."17 "Mr. Edwards denounces the contractors in the severest language but is unwilling to make a statement about them......Says the chiefs & half-breeds were provided for to prevent their making a disturbance, but the ignorant common Indian & the women -widows & ignorant helpless & dependant were left to starve or beg their way as they could - to dig for roots &c. - that for 18 months or 2 years scarce any children were seen in the Nation i.e. infants - that the suffering & broken health of the women reduced the women passed conception."18 "The Creek women pass all their hair back from the forehead & either braid it or secure it with a comb. Some Seminole women are here. Their hair is parted from ear to ear over the head. The hair passing about 2 inches from the brow. All the hair back of the line is bunched behind, but that in front is combed forward and cut a little above the eyebrows so as to cover the principal part of the forehead. Indian women are fond of greasing their hair & traders find considerable demand they tell me for powatum sceubed [?]"19 "Some of the Indians, I see, are appearing ornamented or decorated with feathers in their turbans & in the belt which secures their frock."20 The refusal to wear pantaloons, mentioned in the above narrative, might possibly be a throwback to the wearing habits and beliefs of the early to mid-eighteenth century whereby shirts were worn with breech clout and leggings but never pantaloons. The economic situation in the Creek Nation was diverse in the late eighteen thirties and early forties. The Lower Creeks lived and dressed more like the "White man." Indian Agent Logan described their wearing apparel and condition in his report of 1845. "The people [Lower Creeks] are settled promiscuously throughout the country, many of their farms and residence, would do credit to the States.21 Ornaments, silver plates, ear rings beads and paint, are grown into disuse, and seldom or never seen except at their festivals, or Ball plays. the dress of the White is becoming common, with the exception of the Hunting shirt, which is generally of gay and printed calico, and may be conceived, quite picturesque. It is tenaciously adhered to and is common to all Indians. Hats, Vests Pantaloons and shoes - may almost be said to be the common habiliments of the Males, and dresses of the richest materials, of silks. Muslins made too in accordance with the latest fashion, are often to be seen upon the persons of the female classes-- Gold, & Silver Watches, rich and costly articles of Jewelry, viz. Chains, rings, brooches &c. are also used by the rich. The English language tho' not generally spoken is understood by many, and a strong desire is manifested by the community at large to throw off all their old superstitious ways and customs and to adopt the ways of the Whites. On the other hand however it can be said that the number of the indigent and needy is much greater here in this part of the Nation"22 Logan, also, described the condition of the Upper Creeks. "From their peculiar location they have less intercourse with the Whites and consequently do not exhibit so much improvement.23 There [sic] dress too is more of the aboriginal form. They are forbidden to adopt that of the Whites, under penalty of lashes. They are however generally speaking more enterprising and industrious. They grow cotton and practice the domestic arts of spinning & weaving to a greater extent, than the others. Cases of extreme poverty are more rarely to be met with. The Chiefs are more generous and their policy more liberal than those of the Lower Towns [Creeks]. In addition to the two Blacksmith Shops furnished them by Treaty stipulations, they have a public shop, which is supported out of there [their] portion of the Annuity. They have devoted a large portion of it to the erection of a Water Mill, and the support of a Millwright. They have also a Wheelwright but he is paid by the Govt. They have not so much the wealthy of the Lower Town Chiefs, generally speaking."24 They raised surpluses of corn which they sold at the Fort Gibson Garrison until in 1838 it was disallowed by the Federal Government. This was a blow to the Nation for the sale of corn had given the farmers the ability to purchase other needed goods.25 By 1842, the Creek Agent, Logan, reported that the Upper Creeks had surpassed the Lower Creeks in their husbandry, farming, and household manufacturing, ie., production of cloth, etc.26 The Creeks were more suspicious of the White man and had disallowed missionary to live among them in 1836.27 However, by 1841, they had allowed some missionary work within the nation especially in the area of education. While they lagged behind the Cherokee and Choctaw, by 1841 a few missionary schools had been established.28 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Armstrong, summed up his assessment of the Creeks in relation to the other "civilized" tribes in the Indian Territory. "The Creeks differ materially from the other large tribes in many respects.....They have not mixed so much with the whites; adhere more rigorously to the customs of their ancestors; have no written laws; and are governed entirely by their chiefs - the people having nothing to do with the making or executing of the laws."29 The Chiefs set the policies of the Nation. Logan, in his report of 1845 attributed to the Chiefs the opposition to religious or educational reform among the people. He stated that the Chiefs were afraid this reform would lessen their authority and replace the old rites and ceremonies. In addition, they were afraid that the people would lose their awe of them and, thus, they would lose their power.30 By 1849, Railford, the Indian agent, claimed that within the Creek Nation there were eight hundred chiefs, all of whom received a salary from the common fund thus limiting the moneys left for the rest of the Creeks.31 In a continuation of Logan's Report of 1845, he stated that the Creek Common people were starting to want religion and education to be available in their Nation.32 During this time period, seven Creek boys were sent to Col. Johnson's Academy in Kentucky.33 In addition, other schools were erected in the Creek Nation including Kowetah Mission in 1848; Muskogee Mission School in 1848; Asbury Mission in 1850; and Tullehassee Mission which was a Manual Labor Boarding School in 1850, also.34 The incongruity between White people's beliefs regarding the Indians can be exemplified by the following two incidents. In 1846 the corn crop was so abundant that the Creeks exported 100,000 bushels, a large portion of which was sent to Ireland.35 In Logan's report of the previous year, he cited that the articles sent by the Federal Government were out of keeping to the lifestyle of the Creeks. Instead of shipping "such quantities of Strouding, Small blankets, Squaw Axes, Pipes Beads, &c &c -- I would recommend, they should for the future consist in part of the following, to wit viz large size White & Col[ored] Blankets, Bleached & unbleached Domestics Blue and afst [?], Calicos, gay and fancy colors, Col[ored] Domestics, Striped & Plaid Do, Checks, Bed Tick, a small quantity ready made clothing, consist[ing] of Pants and vests, of the cheapest description for winter wear, Men's & women's, coarse shoes -&c -Tin ware, Brass Kettles, Pins Needles &c &c -- Coarse Pant stuff woolen & cotton, and a small quantity of strouding, &c."36 S. W. Woodhouse in his journal of 1849 described some encounters that he had with Creek Indians. In these encounters, he described the dress of the Creek men and women. On August 11th, 1849, he encountered a party of Creeks crossing the river. The men removed their shirts and revealed that they had on nothing but a breech clout.37 It cannot be determined exactly what the women wore. He stated that "One of the young women.....after slipping off her frock (which was very dirty) waded in the water occasionally eyeing us she then got alongside of the canoe and getting her scirt over one shoulder she gave it a toss into the canoe."38 In another encounter with Indians from the Creek Confederacy, the Hitchiti, who lived in the town of Chehauha [Chiahi], Woodhouse described them as being "real Indians" probably because "most of the men go about in their shirt tails and britch clout."39 In contrast to these Indians, Woodhouse also met people like Perryman. "We found him seated in a rocking chair on the piaza.40 He was a tall man about 6 feet high, very dark, with a long straight nose, black mustache...he was dressed in a blue and White cotton hunting shirt with a blue and red fringe with a turban on his head. His pants were black & white cassimere with straps and bare footed."41 The straps probably referred to the strap on some types of pants that went under the instep of the foot. If they referred to braces, also known as suspenders, they should not have been visible due to the hunting shirt. In a Commissioner of Indian Affairs Report, Railford, the Indian agent in 1849 reported that the women were spinning and weaving goods equal in quality to that produced in the States.42 Even though the school system in the Creek Nation was slow in starting, by 1858 there were fourteen schools, with seven in the Arkansas district and seven in the Canadian district.43 By 1859 J. S. Murrow, from Micco, Creek Nation, wrote that: "The natives are fast changing their old manners and customs. There are not half so many buckskin leggings, shawls, and moccasins worn now as there were five years ago. Their houses are better and their farms larger and cleaner; they raise stock in abundance and take great delight in it. The Indian women are excellent cooks, but unfortunately are not always as clean as they might be."44 The heading on his letter "Micco" meaning "chief" does not represent any specific town name. In all probability it might have referred to an area settled by the Lower Creeks. This, however, is only a surmise in light of the contextual information of the letter. In 1860, Morrow wrote another article about the condition of the Creeks. This was written from Little River in the Creek Nation which was an area settled by the Upper Town Creeks. While, at first glance, the information seems contradictory, in all probability, both statements were true and reflected location and/or specific economic conditions. "The Indians live in rude log cabins daubed with clay, varying in size from twelve feet to perhaps twenty-five by twenty. They have some furniture, but not much; two or three chairs, a table, some tableware, a little corner cupboard, and a rough bedstead and poor bed constitute the chief furniture of an Indian cabin. They live well enough, but many of them live hard. Bread, meat, and coffee is their chief diet. Sof-ky is made by pounding corn......."45 "The more enlightened dress like white people. Others dress old style, viz: with buckskin leggings and plain buckskin moccasins, a shirt which hangs loose and over it a cloak or gown generally made of calico, a large shawl or handkerchief tied around their heads leaving the top bare, completes the dress of the men. The women rarely wear shoes or even mocassins, but wear a dress made similar to the whites and a handkerchief over the head tied under the chin. Red is the popular color. They are very fond of jewelry and wear it whenever they can in abundance."46 The above statement was one of the more concise and clear statements written down concerning "traditional" Creek Indian dress. However, Morrow seemed to have a problem deciding on the type of abodes in which the Creek lived. In February of the same year, he wrote: "Some of the Indians live in good frame houses built at considerable expense due to the distance it is necessary to haul the lumber. But because lumber is scarce most of them build of logs daubed with mud, which makes them nearly air tight. Many of the houses are supplied with neat and comfortable furniture, in fact, all have some furniture."47 The only reason these different versions are included is so that the reader will understand that material is not being omitted just because it might seem contradictory. Instead, it is necessary to see how it fits into the full picture. It appears that this last description ties them together and explains the first two seemingly contradictory one. Augustus Ward Loomis taught at Koweta in 1852. He recorded his impressions that year in a book, Scenes in the Indian Country. Loomis seemed to try to portray the Indians as he found them. He described the varying dress of the Creek Indians and their socio/economic position as he analyzed it. He recalled a scene that transpired in Van Buren, Arkansas. "Here you might see half a dozen of swarthy faced young men, with the long, black hair floating over their broad shoulders, issue from a grocery, unhitch their apparently sleeping nags, spring upon their backs, and with a wild screech fly up the road whooping and yelling till their noises die away in the distance. "We go about the shops. Here is a spruce young fellow purchasing a hunting shirt of gay coloured calico with red or yellow fringe, and a beaded sash with long tassels: there an ambitious lad getting brass ornaments and flaming streamers for his bridle; others too poor to buy, yet examining the gaudy horse comparisons which are hung about in tempting style......Indian women are chattering over shawls, and cotton handkerchiefs; and gaudy calicoes; and buying wooden pails, tin cups, and coffee pots."48 The following descriptions, also, show the variety of people that Loomis encountered in his sojourn among the Creeks. "Here, for example, was a man [ a mixed blood Creek] very gentlemanly in his appearance every way., in dress and in manners; a man of education and intelligence. He has often been to Washington on business for his nation.....( There is considerable Scotch blood running in his veins, they say.) His early education was attended to, his father having employed for him and for his brother, a private tutor; and thus he did for him, and for the Creek nation through him, an invaluable service. "We have given an example of one class; let us now bring forward one of another kind, that tall, broad shouldered, heavy limbed Indian; he is all Indian. In summer his dress is a shirt-a shirt, and nothing more; except a hat sometimes. In winter he adds the buck-skin leggins, fitting tight-as tight as the skin; with buck-skin moccasins, and a hunting shirt of some sort; and, when it is very cold, a red blanket, which serves both for hood and shawl. "He owns a little cabin, and one pony. He cannot talk English, and wouldn't learn it if he could." 49 Cobray Hill, a Negro born in 1840, recalled that the Creek men wore their hair long except in the front which was sheared enough to keep it out of their eyes.50 Loomis seemed to like to create juxtapositions. "Select the least cultivated specimen of the Creek nation, and put him beside one of those bands of savages that now and then come on begging excursions amongst their brethren. The Creeks would be at no loss to find their man...... He has clothing more nearly approximating to what the whites wear than they......"51 It is impossible to completely understand the social stratification system among the "Five Civilized Tribes" in the middle of the nineteenth century. It appears to be a combination of parental blood lines, full versus mixed (of any percentage), educated versus non-educated (mostly in economic terms), and city versus rural. G. W. Grayson in his autobiography gave three examples of dress that clearly described the above premiss. Grayson was a mixed blood whose mother was three quarters white and whose father was one half white. Both were completely uneducated. G. W. Grayson was born in 1843. When he was a small boy, probably under six years of age, his uncle, Thomas would: "....deck my head out in a turban made out of an old cotton handkerchief; bind old pieces of cloths and rags about my legs in imitation of the dressed and smoked buckskin leggings so universally worn by the full blood Creeks of that day; tie a little bundle on my back in imitation of the little supply of bedding and subsistence the old Indian hunters all carried on their backs when going to the woods on a hunting expedition of several days; provide me with a rod of wood for a gun, causing me to appear for all the world like an old fashioned Indian hunter in miniature....."52 The above description might help to explain the dichotomy of dress between the full bloods and the mixed bloods. The next example describes the dress of the rural non-cosmopolitan to that of the more sophisticated dweller. Circa 1859, when Grayson first attended Arkansas College at Fayetteville, he went to purchase some ready made clothes: "Having attended this school perhaps two months or more, I went to the general merchandise establishment of Messrs. Stirman and Dixon where I laid out for myself a suit of ready made clothing which I selected as I now recall with reference entirely to its adaptability to resistance of wear and tear, rather than its appeal to the requirements of the esthetic. Time passed on, however, and I became more civilized and more careful of my apparel and personal appearance, and thereafter had my clothing cut and sewed by the city tailor, and in the prevailing style."53 When the college was closed due to the incipiency of the Civil War, Grayson returned home. "After living at home for a few days, however, my joy gave way to a very distressing loneliness and dissatisfaction...[T]his sudden change from a life in a fairly good business town where many well dressed people were to be seen at all times intermingling with each other in trade or otherwise, to my humble cabin home in the quiet forests where only an occasional dusty and tired traveler was seen to pass along the road, was anything but agreeable to my now changed tastes and way of seeing things."54 Many recollections by people who inhabited the Indian Territory exemplified the dichotomies presented by Grayson, Loomis, and others. However, it must be remembered that some of these memories occurred ninety years after the fact and could have been compilations of information acquired over a period of many years. In addition, some fantasy could have been unconsciously added. The information about the dress of the Creek Indians that was collected in the Indian-Pioneer Papers in 1937 does not always correspond to the information garnered from the current period narratives. The following account is interesting because it appears to be extremely fallacious. While it coincides with information perpetuated in the latter part of the twentieth century, it does not agree with any of the information gathered from people who had lived during the referred to period of time or shortly after. However, it must be remembered that there are always exceptions to the majority of anything, in this instance facts. It is possible that Lizzie Wynn, who presented the information, did dress as she described and did base her information on true tales reported by her Uncle Willie Benson. Lizzie Wynn, a full blood Creek, was born in 1849 many years after the Creeks removed to Indian Territory. Her account recalled the narrative of "Uncle Willie Benson" who used to tell her stories about the Muskogee Indians under "Opuithli Yahola" and their "Trail of Tears". "The government furnished some dresses already made but they gave them some calico that was in yardage. They didn't know how to sew or else didn't have anything to sew with. A strip was torn off and the selvage was put at the top of the top and bottom of the skirt. The two torn edges were tied together at first, then they learned to sew these edges together. Another piece had a hole made for the head to go through and the sides were tied together. There were no sleeves at all. Now I know that they wore these dresses for I've worn them myself and can say that they were the coldest that a person can wear. "We went barefooted in summer and winter and were used to it. if we were cold everyone else was cold too so we didn't pay any attention to it. We had moccasins that could be worn in dry weather but they were no good in rainy weather. We had to go barefooted until dry weather for every step we took in the mud came off."55 J. W. Stephens, who was part Negro and Creek, was born in 1853. He transmitted the tale told to him by his grandparents. While this story corresponds more with eye witness accounts than did the narrative of Lizzie Wynn, it, also, does not agree with the accounts of early Creek dress in the Indian Territory. However, it is possible that the two accounts referred to a small number of very poor inhabitants of the Creek Nation. However, it has been stated by others that game was scarce and thus the truth about the concept of utilizing hides for all wearing apparel seems a little uncertain. "My grandfather told me, he made the trip barefoot and often left bloody footprints in the snow. He carried a little bundle of clothing and an old flint lock rifle. After the contingent with which he traveled arrived at Fort Gibson, the sutler at the Fort issued them a flint and steel to start fires, a big eyed hoe, an axe and a few other little articles and then moved them in between the Arkansas and Verdigris Rivers to do the best they could for themselves. "......Their clothing was practically nothing during the warm months but they wrapped up in buffalo and deer skins during the winter months. "They tanned their hides with red oak bark and used the ashes to remove the hair from the skin or pelt. If it was a cow or deer hide, the leather was used to make moccasins, leggings and coats for the men. The women and sometimes the men would take blankets, traded for at the trading post or from peddlers, double a string or either a squirrel hide or a deer tendon in the center of the blanket and draw it up around the neck and let it hang down over the body, and with the blanket they wore leggings to their knees."56 The following recollection of life in the Indian Territory, while appearing to follow more closely the reports of people who wrote about events and life styles during the period, still seems to impart unusual knowledge. The first two paragraphs of the narration of Sarah Odom, while not stated by Odom, can only refer to the Plains Indians and not to those of the "Five Civilized tribes." "The skins, cloth, arrows, and all articles, that were used by the Indians were either dyed or painted. "The Indians painted their faces, bodies, weapons, and even their horses in many instances. These paints were nothing more than dyes, except on their faces they also used soft black stones and clays as well as soft slate to make a blue black"57 The rest of her narrative seemed to combine the dress of the Creek Indians and that of the Plains Indians, especially the reference to women wearing leggings instead of stockings. "Many times Mother would give me about twenty pounds of cotton at night as we sat around the fireplace and I had to pick out the seeds that night before I went to bed. There were no cotton gins in those days. The cotton was spun into thread with a spinning wheel. After the thread was spun and dyed in one of the bark solutions, it was then put on shuttles and run thru the loom and made into cloth. Later some sheep were raised and the wool was used in the place of cotton. "The women always wore long dresses, wrapped themselves in shawls and wore moccasins and just around home went barefoot. Stockings were unknown58 but Creek women wore leggings made of skins in place of stockings. No hats were worn by the Creek women. "The men wore caps made of coon skins, skunk hides and some caps made of bear skins. The shirts and trousers were all homespun, that is made on looms. Some Creek men wore moccasins and some made shoes out of hides which they tanned. The soles of these shoes were put on with wooden pegs. My father used to make me whittle out these pegs for him when we lived at North Fork before the Civil War. The shoes were sewed with squirrel skins and later with thread waxed with beeswax."59 Immediately proceeding the advent of the Civil War, the Creek Nation had started to modify its government and become more cohesive. Some interesting resolutions that indicated their interest in being "socially correct" were ones adopted at the September 20th, 1861 meeting. The 2nd resolution mandated that "Each member shall be required to take their seats with their hats or shawls off their heads during the session." The third resolution required that "All members shall be required to rise upon their feet and address the President on any case." The 6th resolution was similar to the 2nd. It stated that "No person or persons shall be allowed to enter the house with their hats or shawls on."60 However, the Civil War was to disrupt the progress that had been made.61 The Creeks also held meetings with the Plains Indians and according to Angie Debo in The Road to Disappearance, became leaders in councils held by the Five Civilized Tribes.62 In 1859 the Asbury Compact was signed. This compact was a clarification of the Intertribal law code of 1843.63 As had happened with the Cherokee Indians, the Creek Indians were also faced with internal strife as a direct result of the War. This nation, too, was split between those who fought for the Confederacy and those for the Union. As has been seen before, the full bloods, basically, sided with the Union, and the mixed bloods sided with the Confederacy.64 On February 17, 1861, an intertribal meeting was convened. Those at the meeting agreed to adopt a policy of neutrality at the persuasion of John Ross.65 However, as with the Cherokees, this position was eventually changed in favor of the Confederacy for similar reasons. Not all the Creeks endorsed this change -Oktarharsars Harjo, also known as Sands, and Opathle Yahola were two who identified with those Creeks loyal to the Union. These Creeks also voted Sands as the Principal Chief; thus negating any contracts drawn up with the Confederacy.66 Starting with the advent of the war, many families fled the Creek Nation with or without their possessions. A large number of these went South into the Choctaw or Chickasaw Nation67 while over 7,600 refugees including 3,168 Creeks sought refuge in the vicinity of the Upper Verdigris River.68 According to Debo, there was more extensive demoralization among those Indians who had fled north than among those who had fled south and continued to be somewhat unified.69 Debo claims that had not the North been so lax in protecting the Indians, according to former treaty obligations, the Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles would have sided with the Union.70 The Federal officials in Washington used the fact that important factions had sided with the South to abrogate all treaties and declare all the Indians in a state of rebellion.71 This principal would become extremely important at the termination of the War and give the Federal Government power to deal with the Indians any way they saw fit without supposedly negating any of the treaties. The Confederate Indian brigades were not well provided for by the Confederate army. In his autobiography Grayson wrote: "Our soldiers were poorly clad and most of the time my company presented a motley appearance. The Confederacy being hard run had very little in the way of clothing to issue to the men of this part of the country, and we were never very presentable. So when we caught a prisoner from the other side, we generally stripped him clean of such of his wearing apparel as we desired, they being always better than our own, and placed upon him instead such of our own duds as he could wear. Our government had issued to our men certain wool hats which appeared to be manufactured of the plain sheep's wool without any coloring, while the hatter seemed not to have seriously concerned himself about the symmetry and poise of any individual hat. They were all apparently on one block and driven together on long stacks, and when one came near a stack of them he could distinctly discern the odor of the raw material. It smelled very like getting inside a pen where a drove of sheep is confined. Now these hats, while not comely of shape and general appearance, had further disadvantage of losing after a short service even the little shape and semblance of figure that had been given them by the manufacturers. The entire brim would invariably flop down, leaving little other signs of its former self than a dirty cotton string, while the crown, without any apparent provocation, would push sharply up in the centre, converting the whole into the exact figure of a cone. These hats being a dull whitish color were very susceptible to the effects of dust and dirt, and naturally had a dingy appearance at best, which became execrable after a month's wear. "One such hat that had well nigh served its time and collected its full share of dust and discoloration was owned and worn by McAnally. Being a young man of decidedly Indian taste in matters of dress and ornamentation, [he]72 embellished it in true aboriginal style with one of the plumes of the wing of the falcon, commonly known in the country as the chicken hawk, the shaft of which had been carefully pared away and rendered so thin, pliant and limber that the least air disturbance gave to it a vibratory or rather tremulous motion highly responsive to the Indian's idea of esthetics. This feather he had securely fastened in the apex of this hat where it had for considerable time done service doubtless to the admiration of his comrades in war."73 According to other sources, clothing other than caps was issued by the Confederates to at least the 1st Creek Regiment.74 Among these items were pants, shirts, drawers, jackets, and shoes. At the close of the war, the Federal Government formed another treaty with the Indians, known as the Treaty of 1866. Some of the provisions included a redrawing of territorial boundaries through secessions of land to the United States with the allocation of some of the land to go to ex-slaves and western Indians.75 Once again, the War destroyed the homes and fields in the Creek Nation as it had those in the Cherokee Nation. "So long had the country been abandoned that wolves had become quite numerous, as well as absolutely wild dogs that had generated from those left behind by the families who had been forced to leave the country and go further South."76 Clothes and other goods were collected by various missionary organizations. John C. Lowrie in New York wrote to Reverend W. S. Worcester. "I have understood that there is great destitution among the Creeks--including the colored people--and especially as to their clothing, their country having been swept bare of everything during the rebellion, and not yet having recovered from the great losses then sustained."77 Immediately after the war, according to Grayson's recollections, those Creeks who had sided with the North and, in addition, were mostly full bloods felt that they should be in charge of the government while the Southern sympathizers felt they, being mostly mixed bloods, were smarter and more capable of running a government.78 This gulf between the full bloods (the Conservative party) and the mixed bloods (the progressive party) was huge. The full bloods elected Sands as their chief and the mixed bloods elected Checote. In 1877 it was agreed that only one chief would serve a united peoples. Checote was elected, but the full bloods did not understand the politics of the new order in government that the united Creeks were trying to establish. The conservatives continued to follow the former governmental organization.79 This factionalism continued for the next few years with the conservatives trying to overthrow the progressives and return to the old form of government. To complicate the issue, the Freedmen (freed Black slaves) by 1869 had formed into three towns - North Fork, Arkansas, and Canadian. These towns could participate in the government and vote. These Freedmen allied themselves with the full-bloods. Finally, however, the Progressive's candidate, Checote, was elected principal Chief and a tempered peace reigned for a short period of time.80 Many financial problems as well as outside problems plagued the Creek Nation well into the decade of the seventies. These problems were similar to those faced by the Cherokees, namely, congressional territorial bills, cattle drives, railroad expansion, White immigration, the fear that they would be forced to become United States citizens, etc. Checote expressed the reasons for that fear in 1874. "If our people should become citizens of the United States, they would not be able to move at all. The Muscogee people have very few men than can be called business men, or who are capable of doing what would be required of them as such citizens. Being uneducated and coming in contact with white men at every turn, they would be unable to cope with them, and instead of having advanced in civilization, they would become more degraded than ever."81 According to the recollections gathered from the former inhabitants of the Creek Nation who had been born in the eighteen sixties and seventies, the clothing and ornamentation of the Creeks varied greatly from face paint worn at a ball game to women who wore corsets. Reverend Samuel Checote who was half Creek and half white was born in 1866. He recalled in 1937 the dress worn by Creeks in the latter part of the nineteenth century. "These costumes were worn by the Creeks some forty or fifty years ago. Mr. Checote saw these costumes as he himself wore some. "The turban or head dress was used, if of beaver skin, it was a flat circle around the head. A polished silver band holding it in place. Some used shawls or a handkerchief wrapped around the head. Some wore feathers in their turban most all of the time. "The coats were made of deer skin. `Micco Hutke,' to use the buckskin for a coat, cut thongs of buckskin hanging around the flap of his coat collar and sleeves. The trousers and breeches were made of the same, the deer skin. They were made close fitting, leggings around their legs from the waist down to their moccasins in a tight fit. The belt was made of buckskin and around the waist some wore beaded belts. In this or attached to this belt, a hunting knife was carried, also made of buckskin. It was the custom to have a bag and powder horn, where they carry their ammunition, which was also made of buckskin with a strap of buckskin about the width of a belt goes over one shoulder and around the neck, it hangs on the side and a little horn to measure the powder with, on a buckskin string hanging on the ammunition, powder horn or bags were beaded and cut thongs hanging all around. This made it look very pretty. "The moccasins were buckskin. They were soft but lasted long time."82 Willie Harjo remembered how Creek men looked from 1870-1890. "I can remember the Muskogee-Creek Indian men and how they appeared during the time from 1870 to 1890 during their everyday life. Sometimes they were fearful looking in trying to take up the white custom of dress. Their hair was long an shaggy and instead of using a comb they would just wet their hair and run their hands through it and throw it back over their heads. They wore the large brimmed hats with the uncreased crown and a large handkerchief tied around their necks, and sometimes the men even wore earrings through their pierced ears. Boots were worn which had long eared flaps by which means the boots were pulled onto the feet. "Some of the men, to set off some special occasion, often wore a shell like ornament call the "Ok-fa". This had a ribbon or string run through it and was to be tied around the neck and worn as a locket is worn."83 During emancipation proclamation celebrations from 1870-1900, Aaron Grayson, a Freedman from Hitchiti town, remembered how the Indian men dressed: "The Indian men who rode horses wore what seemed to be fancy costumes but they were the clothes that were being worn in everyday life. There was a coat which was made of fancy printed calico. These coats were not only worn during celebrations but all the time. They were highly and fancy trimmed by very bright and vari-colored material, and had a large cape, collared and heavily trimmed. The sleeves just above the elbow length were further ornamented with colored ribbons which hung in steamers [streamers].The trouser legs were both gathered above the knees with ribbons and tied into a bow. If a ribbon was not used, the trouser leg was stiffly starched."84 This was not the only reference to the use of ribbons. It is recorded that both men and women decorated their clothes with colored ribbons. There was no mention of this in the recollections of the Cherokees interviewed. The lack of reference to ribbons does not necessarily mean that ribbons were not used. Since in this instance common dress as well as unique dress was described, it is a good indication that ribbons were not frequently used. Once again, the descritption is from a recollection. The statement: "The trouser legs were both gathered above the knees....."84 does not make any sense if he actually meant 'trousers'. Fannie Fulsom was a Euchee who was born circa 1864. "She says that the Euchee Indian used to make all their own clothes in the early times. Indian women made their dresses long. They used 8 yards of goods to make a dress. They also made the men's shirts, they would pleat the shirts in front with lots of small pleats and put some ribbons on the pleats to make the shirt look good. The ribbons were for trimming for the shirts. They made their skirts long, reaching to their ankles. They were gathered at the waist-line in order to make the skirt big enough. They trimmed the skirts around the bottom with lots of ribbons to make them look good. This is how the old Euchee women made their clothes. They also made "leggings" for the men. They made the "leggins" out of broad cloth trimming them with ribbons. These leggins were made like a pants leg, one leggin for each leg. The ribbons on the leggins was fancy and sewed down outside the leg, and the men wore those leggins at the green corn dance. The Euchees do not use them any more but they know how to fix them yet. Fannie Fulsom says the Osages still wear the leggins."85 The time element in this description is impossible to identify. However, the use of ribbons is significant enough to include. It can be loosely assumed that the period of time was in the early to mid nineteenth century. There is some reference to buying material at stores instead of making it even among the full bloods. George Clinton who was a full blood Euchee remembered that: "The women made all their own clothing, getting the material at the store."86 While some wove all their own fabrics, others purchased some for special occasions at retail outfits. A full blood Creek woman born in 1874 recalled: "My mother had a spinning wheel which she used to weave cloth to make my dresses87. I would just have two dresses at a time. I wore those kind of dresses until I was about fifteen or sixteen years of age. the first time my mother bought me a dress in a store at Old Wetumka in Thomas Scales' store."88 It is interesting to observe that even in these recollections by people who were alive in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, that some recall extremely contradictory items of dress and adornment. In retrospect, one cannot know precisely whose narrative is more accurate. These differing narratives could all be correct since times and locations are different in each. Also, it is possible that in retrospect remembering items of dress from fifty or sixty years ago could have been confusing. The items in question in the following narratives are: 1) face paint, 2) feathered headdresses, 3) hair styles, and 4) blankets. In addition, none of these recollections were made by Indians except for the following one made by George McIntosh who was born in 1870 and was part Creek, Catawba, and Negro. "I have lived in the Creek Nation all my life and know little of other Indians, but with them I lived and loved to live. "They made their face paints from different barks of different trees boiled down with flour or meal added to make them a paste. Poke berries were used to paint their cheeks red. Soft rocks were used to pencil marks on their faces. The Creeks never wore feather headgear, it was the wild Indians that did that. The Creeks liked bright colored clothes and blankets and very fond of beads and earrings. A full-blood Creek woman always carried her baby on her back instead of in her arms like we do today. They could take their blankets and wrap it around them so the baby could be comfortably carried."89 The next three reports are basically the ones in question. Of the three, the first was written by a White man who did not come into the Indian Territory until 1888 and the third was written by a White woman who entered the Indian Territory in 1889. It is possible that they could not differentiate between Creeks and the so called "Blanket Indians"90 - those who were "wild", or it is also possible, and that is the reason these narratives are included, that by that time some of the "paraphernalia" associated with the Plains Indians had been adopted by the Creeks. "They were Creek Indians and had a reservation at Eufala. I have been to many of their camp meetings. They wore blankets around their shoulders, their hair braided in two braids and tied at the ends with bright colored strings. They wore bright colored beads and large earrings."91 "The Creeks who were in the majority at the meeting wore shirts, pants, long-legged, high-heeled boots, and big wide hats, usually white. And almost all the Indians, no matter of what tribe, wore some sort of red handkerchiefs around their necks."92 "The Creeks were there waiting [for the ball game to begin]. They wore only a breech clout. Their chests and faces were painted in bright colors. Some of the others wore trousers. Others high up or chiefs had full regalia, head bonnets and everything."93 Costume Plate # 35 Island Smith who was born in what became Taft, Oklahoma in 1877, described the dress of the Creek Indians - of both men, women, and children. "The children's dress when I was a boy consisted of a shirt or dress, which came to the knees. In the case of a boy, a belt was generally worn about the waist. Children until later years went barefooted, summer and winter, except the few that wore moccasins. "Women wore bonnets, corsets, and long dresses. Some wore moccasins and others shoes called dog troughs. "Creek men and freedmen wore usually homemade shirts and pants obtained from the stores. Some coonskin caps with the tails left on and others the large felt hats, which were worn more universally later. Their footwear was either moccasins or boots."95 A number of the people interviewed in 1937 described the wearing apparel of the children. Most of the descriptions span a period from 1873 to 1893. The style of dress for young children did not vary much. Harry Proctor was born in 1868 and remembered his dress as a boy and a young man. "We Indian boys never wore pants until we were 18 years old. We wore homemade shirts: these shirts were long, they came down to the knees. We hardly ever wore shoes. Sometimes we got a pair of brogen shoes, thick and heavy. They would last us from two to three years. We never used shoe strings; the shoes had snaps on top and a brass toe. they cost $1.25 per pair. "We never wore a hat. In winter time we tied up our heads with a piece of cloth or shawl and in the summer time we never bothered about our heads."96 In 1873 or in 1874, Champney drew some of the children at the Asbury Manual Labor School. In his sketch the children were pictured barefooted. The girls were wearing dresses covered by a pinafore or were wearing a simple dress with long sleeves that was belted at the waist. One girl in the sketch had her head covered by a shawl and what looked like a blanket wrapped around her. The boys wore pants and short jackets.97 Anna Patterson Shortall taught in Pole Cat near Slick in 1892. "The ages of the pupils ranged from six to twenty-two years. The boys as well as the girls had long hair and all had buggers. Something had to be done about it and that without delay as I too had long hair and those little animals were no respecter of persons. Tiger Jack held the boys while I cut their hair...In warm weather the boys up to the age of 11 or 12 years old, came to school clad in long shirts minus trousers and underwear. When the boys put on a clean shirt they didn't take the trouble to remove the dirty ones and by spring time they had on several."98 Susan Proctor in the early nineteen nineties attended what was known at different periods of time, according to her recollection, as the Eufala High School, Government School for Girls, and the Eufala Boarding School which was for girls and boys. "There were no overalls for the boys but they wore waist trousers which were usually home made for it seemed that there were no ready made ones. "The girls' dresses were trimmed with much ruffling and a wide belt. The waist part of the dresses were sometimes usually tight, the skirts long, high topped shoes and cotton stockings. Then every girl would wear all the stringed beads she could get hold of around the necks her hair was never cut but it was usually worn in either one or two plaits in the back and tied with a colorful ribbon. The ribbons were sometimes tied around the head and fashioned into a large bow at the top of the head or on the side of the head. Some of the older girls who wore their hair "done up" use to put burnt cotton under their hair to make the popular "puffs" as they were called then. Not many of the children ever were dressed in silks either."99 Edward King and J. Wells Champney, also described other members of the Creek Nation. Both the author and the illustrator had visited Indian Territory in the mid-eighteen seventies. Champney drew a picture of a Creek man. In the sketch, this man wore pants, shoes, and a coat that reached to his knees. His hair extended to his ears. He wore a low-brimmed straw hat on his head and was wrapped in a blanket.100 An Indian Stock Drover was also sketched by Champney. He wore mocassins that came to his ankles and opened at the ankle in front. He wore long pants, a hip length jacket, a blousy white shirt with a stand up collar, and a scarf tied around his neck. On his head, he wore a straw hat with a turned down brim. He, also, carried a whip in his hand.101 As late as the beginning of the twentieth century, a full blood Creek, Cussetah, remembered that: "As a boy I wore moccasins and a shirt. I have seen Creek Indians wearing coonhide caps and blankets over other clothing in winter."102 W. O. Tuggle traveled in the Indian Territory in 1879. He kept a diary of information that he garnered. He made many note about the life styles of the inhabitants of the Indian Territory, especially about those people who lived in the Creek Nation. According to him the average farm size varied from 10 to 40 acres. Some farms were as large as 200 acres.103 Many were well stocked with hayricks, fenced in areas, poultry, cattle, fat dogs, etc.104 Leisure activities included Croquet. "After adjournment [from a council meeting] in the afternoon groups of Indians would gather around the three stores, while others would play croquet for hours, the prominent officials frequently indulging in the innocent pastime with all the zeal & hilarity of children."105 The internal problems were tearing the Creek Nation apart. In 1881 a Creek by the name of Sunthlarpe was appointed to take over a judgeship. He tried to bring a court case for incest against Isparhecher, a leader of the conservative faction. The conservative faction held councils to plan their action against the governing party. Violence erupted in what became known as the Green Peach War.106 The elections of 1883 actually were not settled until 1884 when Joseph M. Perryman became chief.107 His administration, according to Debo, was "the brightest period in the post-war history of the Creeks."108 The chief had his sympathies with the wealthy mixed-blood ranchers and entrepreneurs who operated trading houses, ranches with large herds of cattle, and spreads that produced cotton and corn.109 By 1886 there were five boarding schools including one for the Black children, twenty-two Creek neighborhood schools, and six neighborhood schools for Black children.110 While earlier in the century the Creeks had not allowed the missionaries to remain in their nation, by the latter part of the century, a large number of Creeks had adopted Christianity111 and many of the leading Creek men were preachers, as well.112 Frequent camp meetings were held in the Indian Territory. W. O. Tuggle described such a meeting: "The camp meeting was held under the auspices of the Presbyterian Missionaries although all denominations were invited (& some?)113 participated in the duties, hospitalities and pleasures of the occasion. The fare was excellent in quality and bountiful in quantity. At [Pleasant] Porter's table fifty persons usually ate. Biscuit and beef, chickens, coffee & cakes, pumpkins, pies and figs, offered in a variety of ways satisfied the appetite of the heartiest guest. The tables were set under a grass arbor, and neat crockery on white table cloths presented a tempting scene after the cooking stoves had performed the function. Such coffee! Equal to French drip, and not confined to any one tribe, but every Indian seems to know the art of making good coffee."114 The adoption of Christianity did not mean that all the Indians gave up all of their celebrations and earlier beliefs. While W. O. Tuggle was in the Indian Territory in 1879, he witnessed a Green Corn Ceremony and a ball play. He, also witnessed the festivities that happened at the Muscogee Fair. "At a given signal a cavalcade of civilized and wild Indians escorted Secretary Schurz [Secretary of the Interior for the Federal government] into the Fair Ground. It was a ra(re) sight, not only as a strange spectacle, but (as an) omen of future possibilities. The (sight was) picturesque. A brass band led the procession. The Secretary was seated in a carriage with a committee composed of leading men from the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles. Then came the wild Indians in holiday costume, heads shaved to the scalp-lock, faces painted in yellow and red, white beads and bear-claw necklaces lent a charm to the festal array."115 Two other descriptions of the fair lead credence to the hypothesis that the "Civilized" Indians borrowed customs from the "wild Indians," ergo the Osage, Pawnee, Comanche, etc. that they added, by the end of the nineteenth century, to some of their celebrations. "It is needless to remark that the civilized Indians as a rule dress like citizens in the States & at public gatherings their appearance will compare favorably with that of similar crowds in the States."116 "Beaded trinkets in profusion were xhibited by the wild tribes. Mocassins, leggins, necklaces, belts, bow & quiver cases, buckskin suits, tapestry woven by Navajos & other tribes, mink & otter skins, tanned entire, & made into tobacco pouches, greeted the eye of the spectator on every side. One curious Indian doll from the Nez Perces was xhibited. It was made in imitation of an Indian woman, with a papoose strapped to a board & slung over the head."117 In some of the narratives contained in the Indian-Pioneer Papers, some Creek dances as well as the dress of the Creek participants at these festivals was not in keeping with historic information. It is possible to speculate that this information and material was borrowed, once again, from the cultures of the "wild" Indians. Mrs. Beatrice Hainey, a White woman, moved into Holdenville in 1909 at age eleven. She described a stomp dance that she remembered. "The Indians wore dresses or costumes of black or some dark color. All had short skirts or shawls wrapped around them. Their legs would be wrapped in buckskin or cloth, and above their knees they had strands of shells or metallic pieces of tin, copper, or silver and these strands would hang down over the knees and jingle when they moved about. From strings on their shoulders they would have tin cups and from these cups they would drink the beverages from a large pot."118 The prevalence of the "wild Indians" exhibiting their wares and coming together at councils, fairs, etc. could also account for the description of feather headdresses being worn by the Creek Indians. Thus, the "Civilized" Indians, even in the nineteenth century, apparently borrowed costumes from the Plains or "Blanket" Indians and incorporated them in their ceremonies. Or possibly the recollections were of dances done by the "wild Indians". 7. Alice Robertson Collection, letter # 36, series 2, box 23, folder 40. Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. 8. Alice Robertson Collection, series 1, Box 1, folder 10, Letter from John Fleming to his mother on September 6, 1836.Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. 9. Grant Foreman Collection, "The Diary of Mr. Alexander," box 24, folder 40, diary p. 7, collection page 144, Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 14. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Diaries, Volume 26, January 1842, pp.6-8. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK 17. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Diaries, volume 27, February, 1842, pp. 4-5 Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 22. Grant Foreman Collection, "1845 Report of Indian Agent Logan", box 38, folder 81, pp. 180-181 of Foreman Collection. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 23. Obviously a biased point of view. In addition, their attitudes toward Whites lessened their desire to communicate with them. 24. Grant Foreman Collection, "1845 Report of Indian Agent Logan", box 38, folder 81,p. 182 of Foreman Collection. Thomas Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK. 27. Alice Robinson Collection, "History of Tullahassee...", p.1, W-Mis-13, series 1, box 4, folder 11. Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. 30. Grant Foreman Collection, "1845 Report of Indian Agent Logan", box 38, folder 81, pp. 178-179 of Foreman Collection. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 32. Grant Foreman Collection, "1845 Report of Indian Agent Logan", box 38, folder 81, p. 178 of Foreman Collection. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 34. Grant Foreman Collection, "Protestant Church Schools Among the Five Civilized Tribes," Box 11, folder 11. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 36. Grant Foreman Collection, "1845 Report of Indian Agent Logan", box 38, folder 81, p. 194 of Foreman Collection. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 37. S. W. Woodhouse, ed. by John Tomer & Michael J. Brodhead, A Naturalist in Indian Territory, p. 128. 44. Grant Foreman Collection, letter from J. S. Murrow to Bro. Lyon "For the Baptist Messenger", Micco, Creek Nation, west of Arkansas, October 15, 1859, box 43, folder 94. 45. Grant Foreman Collection, Box 11A, folder 4. Letter from J. S. Morrow to Bro. Warren, January 1, 1860, p.4 of the letter, Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 74. Indians (N. A. Creeks). Rare Books and Manuscripts division. New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, & Tilden Foundations. 77. Alice Robertson Letters, letter 270, box 23, folder 266-270. Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. 81. Alice Robertson Collection, series ll, Letter 419, Box 24. Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. 100. Edward King, The Southern States of North America, p. 199. |