The Removal Treaty that most affected the Choctaws was that of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. Throughout 1832 and 1833 a majority of the Choctaws moved to their lands west of the Mississippi.1 The emigrants of 1832 had settled on the fertile timbered bottom lands. By 1833 they had produced an abundance of corn and were building homes and farms. In June of 1833 most of their progress was washed away in a torrential and devastating flood. They lost their homes, crops, and cattle.2 Many died in the flood or through diseases caused by the climate. These problems were exacerbated by the fact that the Choctaws had settled in dense communities along the river banks. Thus disease spread quickly and so many were stricken that they could not tend to their crops and many starved3. Even those who were healthy and able to tend to their crops were hampered by the Federal Government's lack of follow through in shipping the implements for farming, spinning, weaving, etc. as agreed upon in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Among these articles were hoes, looms, spinning wheels, grindstones, saws, bellows, blacksmithing tools, rifles, and some cooking utensils.4 Protests to Washington were sent by the various Choctaw government officials. However, not all the items requested by the men leading the Choctaw Nation were all altruistic. Among the items requested were many pieces of strouds, domestics, plaids, calicoes, and even 1 fine frock laced5 with gold at $40.00 and 1 pair pantaloons at $8.006 Although many necessities were not shipped in time to help the emigrants, if they were shipped at all, in July of 1832 the following items for the various Choctaw Headmen were shipped to Fort Smith from Philadelphia: "Ninety-nine suits of clothes, consisting of ninety-nine of each of the following articles: hats, linen-shirts, stocks, frock-coats, vests7, overalls, laced-boots, belts, cockades, and plumes."8 Correspondence indicates that even as late as 1837 all the looms and spinning wheels had not been as yet procured as specified in The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.9 While in 1837 some of the treaty stipulated articles were trying to be collected by William Armstrong, the Choctaw Chiefs - Thomas Laflore, Net-u-cha-chee, and Joseph Kincaide - decided that they wanted their annuities in legal tender not in goods. "We have considerd upon the proposition made by the Secretary of War, through you, to furnish us goods for our annuities, purchased at the lowest prices in the Eastern Cities. "We are now settled and cultivating the soil, and raising stock, and our wants are numerous, and like those of the Citizens of the United States, we require all the kinds of goods and groceries that are used by the citizens of Arkansas, and prefer our annuities in money to enable us to purchase these things which are too numerous and various for the Department to buy in the Eastern cities and bring us, besides receiving our Annuities in goods would break up our traders who are settled amongst us to furnish not only goods, but a market for our skins, peltries, stock &c., and whatever we may have offered for market. "Under these circumstances we consider that it would be improper for us to receive anything but money for our annuity."10 In a report written in September of 1836, a teacher from the Okla Falaya district stated that "....the number of women that Spins and weaves [were] eighteen.11 The number that Can & would if they had the wheels & looms [would be] 100."12 As early as 1824, Charles Bird King painted Pushmataha. He is depicted as wearing a high collared white shirt with a ruffled front, black stock, red vest, and a blue frock coat with large gold epaulets and gold buttons.13 At the same time, internal strife that had been in evidence before the removal was continued. Petty rivalries and jealousies continued to split the Nation especially in the early election.14 Upon arrival in the west, the Choctaws split up their land into definite districts: Okla Falaya or Red River (changed to Apukshunnubbee) located in the southeast, Moshulatubbee in the north, and Pushmataha to the west of the Kiamichi mountains.15 The first chiefs were Nitakechi who arrived with his people and settled in the Pushmataha district; Mushulatubbee arrived with his people from the Lower Towns; and George W. Harkins replaced Greenwood LeFlore when the latter decided to remain in Mississippi.16 In speaking about the eighteen forties, historian, Angie Debo, wrote that the full bloods ran the government in the Indian Territory instead of the mixed bloods who had held the important positions prior to removal.17 "The mixed blood ascendency that had been so apparent in Choctaw councils just before the removal had declined; and the government was carried on by the full bloods, or by men like the third generation of Folsoms who had forgotten that they had one white ancestor. The mixed bloods often served as school trustees or in some other appointive position but it was very difficult for them to secure an elective office."18 Major-General Ethan Allen Hitchcock would probably not have agreed with Debo. He wrote in his journal of February, 1842: "I must say a good deal about the half-breeds. [They are] The true civilizers after all. It is mostly these who are in power and wealth among the Cherokees & also among the Choctaws and Chickasaws."19 Henry C. Benson, a missionary, described his life with the Choctaws in the mid eighteen forties. He stated in reference to Nathaniel Folsom that the only reason he was a district chief was that there were "no other full-blooded Indians in the district who were educated, and half-breeds were not in favor with the masses. Though shrewd and intelligent, they were regarded with suspicion. The unadulterated Choctaw blood was thought to be the purest and best; and hence full-bloods were considered the most true, patriotic, and reliable."20 Benson, also commented on the status of Peter Pitchlynn at that period of time. ".....He was a broken-down politician, at least he was so regarded by the sovereigns; he was too much of a white man to be intrusted with power; they could not vote for a man who had a fair complexion and blue eyes."21 Benson summed up his belief when he stated that: "Having noticed the men of position and influence, it will be remarked that while the chiefs were all illiterate and full-blooded Indians, the United States Interpreter and the trustees of the schools were all educated half-breeds."22 Benson's statement sheds light on the preceding one by Hitchcock and ameliorates the apparent contradiction. However, it needs to be remembered that accounts and perspectives varied greatly among the writers of that time frame. Historically, some comments would prove to be more perceptive and accurate than others.. According to the majority of accounts, the Choctaw were an industrious people. While being agricultural, some of their members, like Captain David Folsom, established trading centers among their own people as well as traded with the more western tribes.23 As early as 1836, a minimum of one school and church was established in each district.24 However, not long after, many more school were erected. While some closed after a few years, many remained open. Some of the Protestant schools were (either located at and/or named): Beth-a-bara (1832-1837), Clear Creek (1833-1837), Bethel (1834-?), Bok Tukle (1834-?), Wheelock Seminary (1832-after 1894), Pine Ridge or Chuahla Female Seminary (1836-1867?), Stockbridge or Iyanvbbi Mission for Girls (1836-1867), Goodwater or Koonsha Female Seminary (1835-1855), Norwalk Male Seminary (1841-?), Spencer Academy for Boys (1844-1896), Fort Coffee Academy for Boys (1844-1872 when it became New Hope until 1896 or 1897), Nun-na-wa-ya (1844-?), Armstrong Academy (1845-at least until1872), Goodland Orphanage (1849-onward), Atoka Academy (1887-onward).25 Since all the teachers had to write annual reports which included not only the progress of their students but also a description of the land and socio-economic situation of the occupants, much can be learned about the Choctaws at that period. It must be borne in mind, however, that the reports were from the White instructors to The Superintendent of Indian Affairs. In the Okla Falaya district, the reports issued in September of 1836 stated: "The chase is almost given up by the people of this district and Agriculture in its various branches is substituted. Corn, Cotton, oats, & Rice, with the garden Vegetables are raised in large quantities. "There was apparatus purchased last spring for Making Salt, which has not been put in operations yet. There are two Smith Shops owned by individual Choctaws. "Some of them do very good wood work, Such as Stockings ploughs &c. "Numbers of them have Five Stocks of Horses Cattle, Sheep & Hogs."26 "The inhabitants of this district, and also those on the east side, of Mountain Fork are employed in agriculture.27 There are none who follow the chase for a livelihood, but all to a greater or less extent cultivate fields. Many raise corn & potatoes to sell, for which they find ready market among the new settlers in the State or emigrants who pass through this country to Texas. There is one Choctaw who makes looms, tables, wheels, &c., one shoemaker, two Blacksmiths, & one merchant, besides several who can work as a Carpenter. "As a general thing, all the females can card, spin, knit, & sew. There are weavers enough to make their yarn into cloth after it is spun."28 "The abilities of the children are in every respect equal to those of white children who reside in civilized land."29 Some of the reports addressed themselves to the type of clothing worn: "The men are getting to wear pantaloons, the women to dress like the Whites, and in general the people of the Oaklafaliah [Okla Falaya] district are on the rapid advance of Civilization."30 In 1838 an extremely severe drought took place31 and small pox was brought into the Choctaw Nation by emigrating Chickasaws.32 Even though these two occurrences are not blamed for the poor school reports that year, it is very probable they were an influence. In the Summer of 1838, H. G. Rind wrote to Captain William Armstrong: "In compliance with my duties I transmit to you a report of the School under my care.33 I am truly sorry that I cannot present you such a report, of the improvement of the people and Children, as I had fondly hoped from the pleasing prospects which they presented upon my arrival in the district. Everything then appeared on the forward march. The fields, the stock and everything looked prosperous; and the people appeared extremely anxious to improve; but Sir, there has a sad change taken place. The people appear to have lost all energy. Their fields are but poorly attended; their stocks of hogs have died, and very little care is now taken about anything; drinking is carried on to great excess. The little property that they have (unless some very energetic means are used) will soon be destroyed or sold for whiskey. Much has already been disposed of in that way. There is but a poor supply of corn raising this season. I believe no cotton will be raised this year. The salt works are not in operation this season. "I do not write these things for all for there are many Christians and intelligent full bloods and half breeds that look at the threatening destruction of their tribe with pain and anxiety."34 Other reports concurred with that of H. G. Rind. Many blamed it on the increased use of whiskey.35 "The free use of ardent spirits is a great hindrance to their improvement. I think I may safely affirm that three times the quantity has been consumed the past year [1838] than at any subsequent period since I have been in the nation. It is carrying disease & death in its train."36 The use of whiskey was definitely against the tenets of the Choctaw government.37 Many communities had temperance societies encouraged by the missionaries38 who were popular with most of the Choctaw society. The Choctaw's attitude was reflected by the fact that in 1884, when Henry C. Benson was living among the Choctaws, he saw very few intoxicated people.39 An exception was at the gathering for the annuity payments as reported by Reverend Goode who was an associate of Benson. "These payments present a motley assemblage. Some thousands of Indians are scattered over a tract of nearly or quite a mile square around the pay-house, where the principal crowd are assembled. Here are cabins, tents, booths, stores, shanties, wagons, carts, camp-fires; ponies, mules, oxen, and dogs; men, women, and children; white, red, black, and mixed, to every conceivable variety of style, from the tasty American fop to the wild costume of the savage; buying, selling, swapping, shooting, strutting, sauntering, talking, laughing, fiddling, eating, drinking, smoking, sleeping, seeing, and being seen--all huddled together in one promiscuous and undistinguished mass."40 Without analyzing the socio-economic conditions of the various towns nor the degree to which they were affected by the drought and by various diseases, especially small pox, not all of the towns were equally affected and some still produced well. "The people are quite industrious. There are but few who will not raise corn enough for their own consumption, and a number will raise to sell."41 At Sugar Loaf, in the Moshulatubbee District, Thomas McKinney reported that: "The Choctaws in our section of the country have raised a plenty of corn and have good stocks42. A few families weave and spin. Others are deposed to drink Whiskey whenever it can be brought into the Nation. This is a great evil to our people. And if it were not for Laws and the Light Horse of the nation, large quantities would be introduced."43 It would seem that the dress of the people should reflect, to some degree, their economic condition. Even though, historically, wealthy people who become impoverished often continue to try to keep up their mode of dress, the expense of the fabrics and conditions of the material usually decrease. It is interesting to note that, according to a report from Lukfata and Bok Tuklo, part of the original Okla Falayla District, while there was a still a lack of industry on the part of many, "the people generally are [were] better clothed than they were [had been] two years ago."44 Since this report was not a part of a larger report, one can only speculate on this possible dichotomy. Because the report was written by a White man, "better clothed" probably means more like that of the White man. However, according to a report by Superintendent Armstrong, one reason he cited for lack of school attendance in the winter was that "many of them [the children] were too thinly clad to attend."45 Once again, this assumption could be based strictly on the White man's standards. Prior references have been made to the Choctaw Academy which was started by Colonel Johnson in Kentucky in 1825. It was a boarding school for Indian male youth. White children from the vicinity, also, attended. The Indian enrollment was in the hundreds.46 Colonel Johnson required that money be authorized by the Choctaw Nation to pay for all aspects of the pupil's education, food, clothing, etc.47 While specific attire was not mandated, general requirements were specified. The suggested clothing consisted of: "a Frock or Rifle Coat of domestic cloth at $12.00 together with a coat of coloured domestic at $4.00.... two pairs of woolen pantaloons at $8.00; two of cotton at $5.00; four cotton shirts at one dollar each; four pairs of shoes or moccasins at one dollar a pair; four handkerchiefs (neck) for $1.50; one black leather stock for fifty cents; two pair woolen stockings fifty cents; one hat for dress $2.50; and a cap for common wear $.50."48 The term "Rifle coat" is not one that is commonly used and hard to ascertain with any certainty. Not only was it too expensive for a hunting shirt, but a hunting shirt would not fit into the category of desired apparel for wear at a boy's Academy. It is most probable that the "rifle coat" referred to a rifle-green frock. In many of the female schools, domestic sciences were emphasized. There are a number of accounts describing the garments that the girls made not only for themselves but for the boys in the neighboring schools. These schools were usually boarding schools. During the 1845-1846 school year, the girls at the Iyanvbi Female Seminary made 68 dresses, 20 pairs of pantaloons, 13 comfortables, and two quilts.49 In 1839, when she was fourteen, Elizabeth Jacobs Quinton emigrated with her family from east of The Mississippi. When she was over one hundred, she recalled to Grant Foreman her early life in Indian Territory. She attended school at New Hope Mission. Quinton remembered: "The little girls wore their hair cut short, and the larger ones had braids hanging down their backs with a bow on the end."50 In the 1880's McGee Woods stated that the Indian girls wore their hair braided and tied with ribbons or rolled in knots on the back of their heads and held in place with combs made from horns.51 Mrs. Allie Lane recalled her attendance at New Hope. She probably attended in the mid to late 1880's. "One year our uniforms were made of striped outing52. Every day uniforms were what were called cotton checks. One year they were made with a yoke and band and the next year without a yoke and were called infant waists. These had gathered skirts, and we wore brogan shoes. The tongue was sewed in on one side and eyelets punched for laces. We wore black cotton stockings. "Once when we got in a new shipment of material, I guess I thought I was "kinda" smart; my class of twenty five girls was washing class that week and we were down at the spring, washing; I didn't know the superintendent was around and I said `Oh, girls did you all know the new material was in? I wonder what the styles are going to be this year, infant waists or yokes and bands.' The superintendent said `Oh, Allie, fifteen years from now you won't be nearly as smart as you are now.' That was the best whipping I ever got at school."53 While at New Hope, Quinton remembered making clothes for the boys at their school at Fort Coffee. The school was named Fort Coffee Academy and was for boys aged 10-2154 years. The pupils were "for the most part full bloods, selected from various parts of the Nation."55 "We had to make pants and coats - had to make all the shirts for them. We learned to spin and run the loom - make cloth."56 W. H. Goode described the clothing situation at Fort Coffee Academy in 1844. "A few from the abler families came with a tolerable supply of clothing; but, for the most part, they were destitute, and came depending on our supply. The dress was uniform, consisting, in Winter, of gray jeans roundabout57 and pants, seal-skin cap, brogan shoes, socks, handkerchiefs, etc., and, in Summer, of blue calico hunting-shirt, palmleaf hat, and other articles to correspond. All the clothing was numbered, and on saturday evening was distributed, clean and in good repair. Some were remarkably neat and tidy in their persons, while others were slovenly and careless-.... The new dress produced quite a change of appearance."58 Henry C. Benson, also, described the garb of the young men who attended the Fort Coffee Academy in 1844. "In a few days we received thirty pupils into the school to be clothed, fed, and taught. In addition to these we had consented to teach all the day scholars who should choose to come, boarding at home and being clothed by their friends. There were only a few who availed themselves of this privilege. "The lads came dressed in the prevailing fashions, having generally shirts, pants, and calico hunting shirts; a few had shoes or moccasins, but the majority came with the feet bare. No more than two or three wore hats; the balance were either entirely bareheaded or had a cotton handkerchief twisted around the head, making a sort of turban. According to Indian taste they all had long hair, and a few of them wore it braided."59 One of the little boys, aged eight, "arrived in drilling pants, check shirt, and calico hunting-shirt, but destitute of hat and shoes."60 Even he was clothed in a new suit of clothing. Drilling pants could have two meanings since that usage cannot be found specifically by the authors within a logical contextual framework. Drill was a heavy twill material. Drilling pants were pants worn by soldiers for parade ground drill. Verbally the authors were informed that they would have been made out of white cotton duck material in the 1840's. "Our first work after their arrival was to wash and clothe them; we had entire suits prepared in advance for them. The coats and pants were of Kentucky jeans; good stout shoes, seal-skin caps, white shirts of stout cloth, and cotton handkerchiefs completed the outfit. We had a tub of water for ablutions; then Mr. P., armed with stout shears, soon reduced their hair to our notions of taste and comfort."61 J. Norman Leard who was 1/16 Choctaw, first went to school in Ft. Smith, then was sent to Spencer Academy. "The Choctaw government allowed $100.00 per year for the support of each pupil at the Academies, but I'm sure it did not cost that much, because we raised so much to eat and had so little to wear. Hickory shirts, brogan shoes, cloth hats, and cotton pants."62 At the girl's schools, the girls did not only learn domestic skills, but they learnt the English language, reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, natural philosophy, English Grammar, and Sacred music.63 Schooling for the women of the Nation was considered to be very important, especially by the missionaries. As N. Sayre Harris, Secretary and Special Agent of the Protestant Episcopal Church stated: "But educate the squaw, and you form the sisters, the wife, the mother, who will change as if by magic their homes."64 In 1842 the Choctaw Council passed the "Act Respecting Public Schools." The Choctaws appropriated $18,000 of the annuity money received from the Chickasaws for their purchase of Choctaw land and other funds totalling $30,000 annually to support education and the concept of the boarding school. This act was sponsored and backed primarily by the mixed-blood Choctaws.65 Catlin # 6 Another Choctaw painted by Catlin was Mó-sho-la-túb-bee, (He who puts out and kills). He was dressed in the same type of shirt as was Pitchlynn. In this picture, it can be seen that the shirt opens down the front. His hunting jacket is trimmed in a similar manner as Pitchlynn's, but the coat is a light blue/gray and the trim is yellow. The cuffs of the sleeves are folded back and trimmed with a short fringe. The front facings of the coat are red. He wears the coat partially closed by a belt which is probably of the finger woven variety. His hair extended a little below his ears but was very short in front and stood on end. He, also, wore red, black, and white feathers bunched together at the back of his skull. Catlin, in some of his other renditions, pictured Mó-sho-la-túb-bee wearing a large peace medallion and other necklaces. He had a small looped earring in his ear and carried a feathered fan. 67 Kút-tee-o-túb-bee (How did he kill?) was dressed in different garb than the two men previously described. While his white shirt appears to be of the same style as the others just described, his outer garment is more of a tunic than a jacket or coat since it does not appear to have a frontal opening. The tunic's neckline is V-shaped with a laid-back shawl collar. This collar is edged in red and is a darker blue-gray than is the rest of the tunic. In the painting, his hair hangs down to his shoulder on the sides and back while the front is cut across his forehead in bangs. On his head he is shown wearing a turban of red, blue, and white. Around his neck is a small necklace possibly of strung beads.68 Catlin # 7 "In every ball play of these people, it is a rule of the play, that no man shall wear moccasins on his feet, or any other dress than his breech-cloth around his waist, with a beautiful bead belt, and a `tail' made of white horsehair or quills, and a `mane' on the neck, of horsehair dyed of various colours."69 Catlin # 8 By the early eighteen forties, the Choctaws had started many schools and appropriated a large part of their annuity to further education. It is important that one keeps in mind the position of the various authors who traveled throughout the Indian Territory. Most of them were in the Indian Territory for a specific purpose and their accounts have to be colored by their particular mission. Hitchcock related in his diary of February 1842 that: "There is a great deal of humbug in the reports of the government Agents about the `astonishing progress' although tis certain that they are very far removed from the primitive life."70 Of course, it needs to be remembered that Hitchcock's mission was to investigate fraud and mismanagement of the delivery of supplies to the Indians. Since his reports showed that both were rampant, it is obvious that he might be critical of some of the "glowing" reports produced by the government agents. An article in the New York Tribune of February 26, 1842 described a part of the Choctaw Nation settled west of the Mississippi. The article was originally carried in The Natchitoches Herald.71 "Choctaw planters on Red River will make over 1000 bales; they have 7 cotton gins with prospect of increase. On Boggy Col. David Folsom `has an excellent Salt works which supplies even Texas planters with a large quantity of salt.' 8 or 10 blacksmith shops. `Comfortable frame and log dwellings; the matrons sewing, spinning, and weaving, and around them large plantations, yielding corn, oats, pumpkins, potatoes, and a great variety of vegetables. There have been lately erected several splendid mansions, entirely with native mechanics, and they are now filled and adorned with all fashionable furniture.' They will send down the river 1000 bales this year and twice as many next."72 Many of the reports from travelers are replete with statistics. One must wonder if these people went from home to home counting equipment. The exact figures are not critical. It is what they imply that is important. Basically what the narratives tell are that the Choctaw were producing their own cotton. They were not dependent on obtaining it elsewhere. Harris described a visit to a Choctaw family: "Here we determined to rest the night in one of Mr. T's log cabins. He was an educated Choctaw: had been at the Foreign Missions School, Cornwall Ct.; could speak English very well, and swore almost as fluently as a white man: had a well cultivated farm, and many comforts around him; raised corn and sufficient cotton for family use: had a loom under his piazza in operation; his partner seemed very industrious: all dressed in American costume."73 At another stop he visited with a widow and her family. The daughters were "dressed in white cotton of their own manufacture."74 Some contemporary eye witness accounts of the Choctaws state or infer that an educated Choctaw might have dressed one way in "public" and another way at "home". An example of this can be found in an account by Charles Dickens of his meeting with Colonel Peter Pitchlynn on a boat between Cincinnati and Louisville in 1842. ".....There chanced to be on board this boat, in addition to the usual dreary crowd of passengers, one Pitchlynn, a chief of the Choctaw tribe of Indians, who sent in his card to me, with whom I had the pleasure of a long conversation. He was dressed in our ordinary ever-day costume, which hung about his figure loosely, and with indifferent grace. On my telling him that I regretted not to see him in his own attire, he threw up his right arm, for a moment, as though he were brandishing some heavy weapon, and answered, as he let it fall again, that his race were losing many things besides their dress; and would soon be seen upon the earth no more, but he wore it at home, he added proudly."75 The Choctaws described by Harris were all living at their own homes and not uniquely dressed. Thus, was Dickens ascribing statements about dress to Pitchlynn that the latter did not make, or was it simply a matter of individual taste? Another account of homes along the red River was given by John D. Lang and Samuel Taylor, jun. who started travelling in Indian Territory in 1842. "Many of the Indians near red River are said to live well; they keep slaves and raise cotton for their own consumption and for market. They also raise corn, wheat, potatoes and other vegetables, and keep large stocks of neat cattle, horses, and swine; and a few of them have sheep, and make some cotton and woollen goods for their slaves and for themselves. They have in general comfortable log houses, and live like the new settlers in the west."76 Henry C. Benson described the dress and demeanor of the Choctaw Indians throughout his book. Since for every universal description of their physical stature, an exception can be found, only generalizations as to dress will be made and some specific illustrations will be included. ".....Both males and females usually dressed after the fashion of the whites on the frontiers, excepted that hats and bonnets were utterly ignored. We have seen females dressed in rich silks and in good taste, except that the civilized head-dress was wanting; a rich shawl or handkerchief, or a parasol was used to cover the head; nothing more could be tolerated. "The custom of tattooing and painting was not practiced by any of the tribes on the borders, as they believed themselves to be sufficiently comely and interesting without any resort to art to add to their beauty and their charms. "Jewelry and beads were universally worn by the females, but feathers were not worn in the hair, nor rings in the nose, by any of them. The mothers carried their infants on their backs under their blankets, but not lashed to boards."77 At a camp meeting, Benson described the garb of the women. "During Friday and Saturday the females had been clothed in garments of cotton fabric, grown, picked, carded, and wove by their own hands. Their striped and cross-barred gowns were neat and becoming; but on Sunday morning there was quite a rustling, not of silks but of calicoes. The genuine Merrimac prints were then brought forth from their pine boxes to adorn and beautify the buxom lasses--the blooming misses and the belles of the border. After an unusual time had been devoted to the duties of the toilet, as the young ladies came out in flaunting colors, we heard sundry hints and innuendoes among themselves that certain one of their number were a little vain."78 The Merrimack Manufacturing company was one of the largest cotton mills in New England. The company was chartered in 1822 and produced some extremely fine printed fabrics.79 According to the above commentary, clothes created from these special "store bought" yard goods must have been highly prized. Nathaniel Folsom was a district chief when Benson resided among the Choctaws. He described Nathaniel Folsom: "The Honorable Nat Folsom was our district chief, a full-blooded Indian, uneducated, and able to converse but little in the English language. His residence was in the vicinity of Pheasant Bluffs, thirty miles from our missions. "We met him [he was about 50 years old] first at a camp meeting, which was held in his own neighborhood. He was plainly dressed for one of the rulers of a nation. He wore cloth pants, calico shirt, coarse brogans, linen hunting shirt, and was without a vest or cravat. He wore a bandana handkerchief around his head as a turban, and a red sash around his body. Under his belt he carried his tomohawk, which was an ingenious and novel instrument. Its blade was well polished and sharp; its poll was made to serve as the bowl of a tobacco pipe; there was an aperture through the handle communicating with the poll, to convey the smoke from the pipe to the mouth; and the end of the handle was tapered down to the proper size, and mounted with a silver mouth-piece."80 "The Honorable Peter Folsom was the chief of the Pushmataha district. He was a stout man, in the meridian of life, about five feet and eight inches in height, with a bright complexion for a full-blood Indian. He was a dignified man, evidently regarding himself as a ruler of the people, and not unwilling to receive attention and homage which are due to one who has been promoted by the people to a post of influence and power. Folsom's reputation was good; he was a man of wealth and character, but uneducated. he was the most aristocratic lord I saw in the Choctaw tribe, and the most ostentatious in all respects. He made a visit across the territory to the Agency, bringing his family; he had an elegant barouche in which his family traveled; a black coachman sat out in front and a well-dressed servant sat in the boot, while the lady within had one or two maids to give her attention; the old chief rode in front upon the back of a splendid saddle-horse. Folsom was a friend to the schools and did not fail to use his influence, personal and official, to advance the interests of his people and to promote their prosperity in all things. he was a true and patriotic man."81 In a letter written from Mississippi by George S. Gaines, he described his impression of the situation in Mississippi. This situation was to impact the Choctaws living west of the Mississippi because the Federal Government was trying to influence those remaining in their homeland to migrate. By article 14 of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, Each Choctaw head of family would be permitted to remain with his family in their homeland east of the Mississippi and become a citizen of the United States. "Whilst the emigrated portion of the Tribe has engaged its care and attention, almost exclusively until of late, seven thousand of the least enlightened and most helpless of the nation have been left to the mercy of the pioneer settlers who flocked into the ceded country soon after the ratification of the treaty bringing with them no sympathies for the poor defenseless Indians; and in numerous instances treating them with harshness and great injustice as if they were intruders upon the land which they had sold. "Having lost the guardianship and care of the Government, abandoned by their principal Chiefs, and subject to laws of which they were entirely ignorant they were forced to place themselves under the protection of individuals who by their advice and assistance have gained their confidences and have been made by them their Agents in prosecuting their claims upon the Government. This relation of dependance and protection which has existed between the Indians and their Agents has given the latter great influence over the former in all matters which have an important bearing upon their interests. "There are other influences which may operate to retard the measures of the Government in the emigration of the Indians. There are a number of Planters in this state who find it is their interest to employ this people to pick out their cotton and for other purposes; and there are then less respectable persons who trade with them in Whiskey &c; both of these classes have by their intercourse with them acquired influence to some extent which may possibly be brought to bear to thwart the desires of the Government and the states of Mississippi & Alabama in regard to their emigration."82 Thus, according to Gaines's assessment of the situation, most of the Choctaws east of the Mississippi were in a deplorable state caught between their own desire to remain, the machinations of the White settlers, and the states' and government's desire to remove them. However, as citizens of the United States, no government could legally mandate their removal. Some members who lived west of the Mississippi wrote to their relatives who had remained. George W. Harkins wrote to his uncle, Greenwood LeFlore in June of 1845. "Peace and harmony reigns among the Choctaw people.....The Choctaws are beginning to appreciate and see the importance of having their children educated......There is a place of worship in nearly all the neighborhood schools of this district. While I am now writing I see from my window immense numbers traveling the road to the meeting house 2 miles distant from my house. If you were here, you would take them to be Mississippians from their manner and dress. "The greatest evil that we have to contend with is whiskey - bordering on the Arkansas and Texas line. There are a host of grog shops, and the larger portion of them are kept by your refined civilized brothers from the State of Miss.--they follow Indians like buzzards. "The prospect for crops are very flattering so far - last year in consequence of the great drought we had - very little corn was made and the people has really suffered this summer. We have been afflicted very much this Season with sickness....Times are hard in this country - bad country to make money in - too far from the cotton market."83 In the next few years, a few thousand Choctaw emigrated to Indian Territory.84 Some arrived very poor while others had excess baggage.85 By 1850 there were two newspapers in the Choctaw Nation.86 The male Choctaw Academy (The Fort Coffee Academy) was testing its student's in spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, English grammar, chemistry, algebra, geometry, and Latin grammar. The female counterpart (New Hope) tested its students in all the subjects but chemistry, algebra, geometry, and Latin.87 The eighteen fifties saw both poverty and progress. Buyers bought cattle from the Choctaw to sell in California and severe droughts in 1854 and 1855 caused a shortage of cattle and meat.88 Many of the Choctaws who had emigrated in the fifties returned to Mississippi89, and The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions withdrew from the schools in the Choctaw Nation due to the issue over slavery.90 However, reports from 1856 stated that the farms were prospering and industry was increasing.91 A major event occurred in 1855 when the Choctaws and Chickasaws negotiated a treaty whereby the Chickasaws became an independent entity with their own government. Ameil Weeks Whipple kept a journal during the Pacific Railroad Survey. An entry dated August 2, Tuesday 1853, put him at Scullyville at the Choctaw Agency. "Here met my old friend Mr. McKinney a fine looking, wealthy well behaved Choctaw gentleman. He was educated at College I think in Kentucky...... A spirited conversation took place between Mr. McKinney & the Chief & other Choctaws regarding the road or way necessary for us to take.......... "Their dress was as varied as there are degrees between the Civilized & Barbarians. From the breechcloth the simple shirt, the pants, you saw the gay hunting shirt, the calico frock the high crowned hats with silver bands, beaded moccasins, wampum belts. An there too sat a few of the tribe dressed in their daily attire and listening to their Choctaw Chief men who but for the swarthy complexion of their skin might sit in Broadway unnoticed. With beaver hat, vest of satin & coat & pants of black broad cloth they seemed perfectly at their ease. "There sat before me in a snow white sunbonnet and modest white frock a young lady whose neck and arms so plump and firm attracted much attention."92 Mollhausen who accompanied Lieutenant Whipple on his survey, drew portraits of some of the Choctaws that he encountered. Of special significance are the head gear and the face paint evident in some of his art work. In one entitled Shang-bee and Alatakabee, he depicted the man wearing a stove pipe hat banded with silver bands. His hair is pictured as tiny braids jutting out from his head. This unusual style of hair has not been evident in other paintings or narrations. The woman in the picture appears to wear a turban, encircled with a band of silver serrated on the top edge (as was the man's). A handkerchief is then tied over the turban as if to hold it in place. Once again, this head gear was extremely unusual.93 Other portraits are found in Whipple's Report upon The Indian Tribes. Plates 11 and 12 show two Choctaw men. The notations about the plates state: "Their dress is fanciful, showing a fondness for bright colors and silver ornaments. Pendants of beads or shells are frequently attached to the ears, nose, or neck. The hair is sometimes cropped in front, to reach to the eyebrows; and red or blue paint is generally used to beautify their faces. A favorite style of wearing it is in half circles beneath the eyes. The mustache is not worn, nor is there the appearance of a beard."94 While the narration stated that the Choctaws did not have beards, Whipple in his diary of August 23, 1853 stated: "Some of the Choctaws and Cherokees have quite a heavy beard; it is due to the sprinkling of white blood among them."95 Other aspects of Mollhausen's portrayals are interesting. He showed some of the Choctaw men (plate 11) wearing very wide low turbans. One of the men has a zigzag line painted across his forehead, half moons under his eyes, a dot on the tip of his nose, and some vertical lines on his chin. The other has a nose ring. Both have on white shirts with small, soft collars. One had a handkerchief tied under the collar. Both wear some type of indistinct outer garment. Two other Choctaw men are depicted in plate twelve. Both have on the same type of clothes as did those in plate eleven, but these, also, have on distinct head gear. One of the turbans has a narrow, tight headband across the forehead. Above it the hat extends up and outward, making the whole thing the shape of a trapezoid. The other wears a modified turban with a solitary feather sticking out of the back. The feather is drawn so that it fans out at the tip.96 John Edwards was a missionary in the Choctaw Nation from 1851-1861. The following descriptions are taken from the text of a lecture presented by Reverend John Edwards before the student body at the University of California in 1880.97 In his lecture, and therefore in this manuscript, Reverend John Edwards described various aspects of Choctaw life in the middle of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, he, also, described previous patterns of dress which he did not observe. Some of the material is not accurate. In these instances it will be left out or discussed. "Now a few words in regard to their dress. Many infants have no dresses regularly made. They are wrapped up in rags of quilts and the like. Children frequently run about home in the warm weather, with no other garment than nature gave them; and in winter many have but a single garment. "Some of the more old-fashioned of the men wear leggings made of buckskin, dressed by themselves, drawn close around the legs and body, and fastened together with buckskin strings. But most of them now wear pantaloons. Some still wear buckskin moccasins, made of a single piece cut in proper shape and drawn up and tied over the foot, entirely without ornament. Some go barefoot; but most wear shoes. Belts are almost universal, made frequently of straps and buckles; but many are long sashes, ornamented with beadwork. This, however, is not wrought by themselves. Vests are sometimes worn. Their coat is mostly a hunting shirt, a kind of sack of calico or homemade plaid, with several capes, every edge being adorned with plaits (braids) or fringe. In these the bright colours, pink or red, predominate. "Hats are coming into use extensively; but many cling with great tenacity to a shawl of bright colours, rolled and put around the head in a circle, leaving the top of the head bare. Blankets and quilts are much worn in cold weather. "The hair is often left long; but more frequently, among people of the old style, it is cut close to the head, except a single strip over the front, or in some cases running back over the top of the head, like a crest of a helmet."98 John Swanton added a footnote to this last statement saying that this style of hair dressing was taken from the Chickasaws in the latter part of the eighteenth century and beginning of nineteenth.99 "They are very fond of feathers, and wear them, particularly when anything exciting is going on. It is now, however, a sign of a rowdy to wear them, and Christians avoid them. At school, when a boy puts a feather in his hat, you may begin to look out for him. They paint their faces for ornament, the prevailing colour being red. This too, is a mark of rowdyism. "Many wear beads about their necks, the end of the string being fastened through a polished clamshell. Rings in the ears are very common, and I have seen one or two instances of a ring in the nose. The face of many in former days was ornamented with black inserted under the skin in zigzag lines from the corners of the mouth to the ears and to each side of the throat. This was done by the parents and grandparents, when the child was young. It has passed into disuse. "The main article of dress of the women in old time was simply a skirt, the cloth for which was made of the bark of trees split into threads100 and woven, turkey feathers being very ingeniously interwoven. This I have never seen. Shoes are sometimes worn by them, but mostly they go barefoot, or wear moccasins. Now they universally wear dresses, after the manner of white ladies, and long enough to nearly hide their bare feet and sweep the ground in grand style. In attending camp meetings, they carry a clean dress along, and when they wish to dress up, put it on over the other. "When they put anything on the head, it is generally a handkerchief, tied under the chin. Sun bonnets are coming somewhat into use. Seldom is a bonnet of a higher order seen there. the hair is not generally very neatly dressed. many simply fold it and tie it behind. In this the different degrees of improvement are very manifest. "Many old women have their face tattooed as I described the men, and are elaborately decorated in the same way on the breast and arms. "Smoking is almost universal among the people."101 One of the customs that he described involved dress and adornment in a corollary manner. "After the ceremony is performed, it is common for two to hold a shawl over the head of the bride, into which presents of handkerchiefs, or ribands, or aprons, or cloth are thrown by the groom's friends, which are taken out in turn by the friends of the bride."102 The earliest oral histories from the Indian-Pioneer Papers were not reflective of life much before 1850. However, some of the descriptions could have been reflective of at least one aspect of dress in the Choctaw Nation during the majority of the 19th century. "I have a distinct recollection of my first pair of shoes. The children never got shoes until they were big enough to go outside to work or to school....My first shoes were the brass-toed kind that had soles put on with wooden pegs. Those kind lasted forever. As we outgrew them they were passed on down to the smaller children. "Mama made all of our clothes. Our coats and our pants were of jeans. We bought the cloth at Doakesville trading store. If cloth was a little scarce we had no pockets, and that was a near tragedy. It would be so long before suits. The stuff would hardly wear out and we had to wait until we outgrew our suits before we got new ones, and sometimes our sleeves almost reached our elbows and the breeches would come well above our ankles before they were passed on to someone smaller or were discarded. Then we got another suit of exactly the same cloth, but perhaps with pockets this time. The old jeans was so tough and stiff that a whipping never hurt unless they made the fellow remove his coat. Our shirts were made of `hickory' shirting."103 Mrs. Thomas Inge, a missionary wife and daughter, gave her interpretation of dress in the Choctaw Nation. "A great variety was shown in dress in those days. The mixed bloods dressed as much like the frontier whites as possible and the poorer classes wore homespun clothing except on special occasions at which times both wore gay calicoes. "The Indian women had learned to spin and weave before they were removed to the territory."104 Most of the narratives contain the information that most of the families spun and wove their own cotton. Some of the spun yarn was used for knitting while others was spun to be woven into cloth. Some even spun wool, but that was more an exception than a rule. Cotton was used to make socks and mittens for the winter.105 "We had a spinning wheel that mother used to make threads of cotton that we raised for that purpose....After these socks and mittens were made, mother would dye them."106 The date in the narratives about which the informants were speaking is hard to ascertain. The most that can be accomplished is to assume it could not be before they were young children and to make as certain as possible that the information is contextually correct. The following are a list of narratives that applied to the 1860's since most of the informants were born in the 1850's. "As to the style of dress for full blood Choctaw Indians, shawls, long calico dresses, handkerchiefs, and head dress, all loud solid colors were worn. Jewelry was earrings, beads, and plain gold finger rings."107 In the 1880's it was recalled by one informant that watches were, also, worn.108 One form of button making consisted of covering persimmon seeds. These were used for everyday dress while buttons made of wood or bone were saved for the best clothes.109 "Costume colors for dress, were blue and red and spotted handkerchiefs around the head: there were shawls and long dresses, beads around the neck, earrings in ears and the shoes were made of hides of different kinds. "My mother owned a spinning wheel and loom with which she spun thread and wove cloth. "At the Indian's corn dance, they wore a costume which consisted of a breech clout, a fur or feather head dress, beads or hog tusks on a string around the neck, and on their feet they wore skin moccasins."110 In the last description the "feather headdress" is not described. It could be described in three possible ways. It could have consisted of a few feathers worn toward the back of the skull; it could have been a full Plain's Indians feather headdress; or it could have been a figment of the narrator's memory. Too often, Plain's Indian dress has been confused with that of "The Five Civilized Tribes". Martha Edwards whose father was a Union Army doctor during the Civil War remembered Choctaw dress that she observed as a young child. She remembered this dress from Choctaw Indian affairs. "The Indian woman wore a big plain dress with a shawl on her head and a shawl with her baby in it tied to her back. The women wore lots of beads, bracelets, and rings. Their hair would hang long with red string braided in it."111 The Choctaws were not neutral in the Civil War as were the Cherokees . As early as February 7, 1861 they stated that if dissolution of the Union did occur, they would align themselves with the Southern States. Amid other resolutions, they also reassured their neighboring states of Texas and Arkansas of their friendship.112 However, in April of that same year, the Choctaw delegation of Pitchlynn, Garland, Israel, and Peter Folsom assured the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the Choctaw Nation would remain neutral.113 One reason for this was that the Federal Government's refused to pay the balance of funds it owed the Choctaw Nation.114 Since many of the Choctaws were slaveholders and were also fearful that Texas would not be Protected by the Federal Government, they agreed to ally with the Southerners. Even though many of the fullbloods believed in the Northern cause, they felt pressured to join the Southern side.115 An incident happened in the early part of the war that sheds light on some of the manufactured items that were routinely brought into the Choctaw Nation. A cargo of goods worth $12,000 were to be shipped into the Nation; however, the steamer was captured by rebel troops. Some of the articles contained in the shipment were: "Tens of thousands of yards of stripes, prints, plaids, shirtings, drills, sheeting, jeans, tweeds; many pounds of cotton yarn, shawls, many blankets, shirts,......congress gaiters, cavalry boots, opera boots, thigh boots, thousands of yards of prints..... mohair, thousands of yards of linen, 400 cashmere and other kinds of shawls"116 Prior to1863, the War did not have much of an effect on the Choctaw Nation until the Union forces captured Fort Smith and refugees began to pour into the Choctaw Nation, thus, creating a food shortage.117 With this shortage and "normal" disruptions that occur in war time, the Choctaw Nation suffered serious civil disorder.118 The treaty that the Choctaws negotiated with the Federal Government was more favorable than some negotiated by other tribes. "They conceded only the relinquishment of the Leased District, a possible restitution to loyal Choctaws and traders, the admission of Kansas Indians - a provision that was never carried out - and the loss of their property in slaves. They retained their occupied lands, their invested funds, their tribal autonomy, and should they so desire, the removal of their former slaves."119 The Choctaw people suffered as severely as did others. To compound the problem, many refugees had settled in the Choctaw Nation and were too poor to return home.120 Some of these refugees joined together to form lawless units which ravaged the countryside. Allen Wright, the new Chief, issued a proclamation and instructed some District Chiefs to remove the lawless elements.121 Other lawless entities included cattle thieves, White renegades, and other gangs.122 One of the priorities after the War was to restore the education system. Schools reopened in 1867, and, according to Forbis LeFlore, during the winter of 1869-70, there were 84 neighborhood schools in session.123 Other recollections of dress stem from the period after the Civil War when times were hard. However, it is impossible to know whether these recollections are only from that period or actually from the whole latter part of the 19th century. "The most valuable possession that a woman could have was a red blanket or shawl of good size and a small shawl for the head. Men also wore shawls wrapped around their heads. A large red shawl or blanket sold from ten to fifteen dollars. Calicoes were all red and blue polka dots and some solid red and black. The men most usually wore hunting shirts and pants made of calico and fringed' occasionally you would see one wearing jeans."124 "As a rule the Choctaw dressed very commonly; the women wore long dresses made of gingham or calico. They wore shawls over their shoulders and often had red handkerchiefs tied around their heads. "Some men were likely to dress in louder colors than the women; they wore `cowboy' hats, usually white and nearly always put colorful ribbons or feathers in them. Some of them wore a sort of shirt of calico, made like a coat, with a big ruffled cape at the neck. Their trousers were made of blue broadcloth; sometimes of dressed deerskin. Some wore moccasins, some cowboy style boots; often an Indian would come to church wearing spurs with little bells on them."125 Thomas Hunter, whose father was a full-blood Choctaw was born in 1869. "We didn't have much money, didn't need much, we had just everything to eat, and just enough to buy a few clothes was all we needed. I remember when lots of fullbloods, Choctaw Indian men, wore only one garment, and that was along shirt. I recall an old man, so infirm that he leaned on a staff, wearing only a long shirt, came to our house one morning. "Then there was William McKinney, a graduate from Roanoke College, Roanoke Virginia, who had had a course in theology at Yale, and who came to Spencer academy to talk to us, and made a splendid talk. He looked every inch the polished gentleman. Dresses immaculately in snow white shirt, collar and black tie. Fine long prince Albert coat, with a handkerchief in the breast pocket, shoes polished, up-to-date hair cut, just perfectly turned out. I saw him a few years later. He had on common ill-fitting clothes, he was wearing a wide cartridge belt, long hair and looked to be what he was a fullblood Choctaw Indian."126 "We wore hickory shirts, ducking pants, and the women wore calico dresses, if it suited us to do so, and home knit stockings."127 "We made all our own clothes. My sister would spin the thread and weave the cloth. Our tribe was more civilized in the way of dressing than most of the other tribes. We were always fully dressed and took more pride in the things we wore. Our dyes were made from different colored leaves. Our tribe didn't wear the blankets."128 The narrations of that day, referred to the Plain's Indians as "Blanket Indians." "My mother had a spinning wheel and a weaver. We raised a little cotton to be used in making cloth. Then she would make shirts, breeches, and dresses which she sold to other Indians."129 "We had no spinning wheel nor a weaver. There was a women that lived near us that had one, and she made cloth and sold it to the other Indians when they wanted it. Mother used to get her to make dresses for us. We had about two dresses a piece that we had to save in order to get to wear them to meetings. During the summer we did not need to wear dresses like we did in the winter. The country was wild and in the wilderness and no one to come around so we did not have to wear our best dresses. The boys had a couple of breeches to wear but in the summer they wore bright britch-clout and by doing this they saved their breeches to wear for Sunday to meeting. We had shoes, too, but we did not wear them while we were at home. We went barefoot there and the only time we wore our shoes was when we went to meeting. When we came back we would pull them off and go barefooted."130 The above two quotation are not unusual as they refer to creating products to sell to other Indians. Some of the Indians sewed or knitted garments to sell to other Indians. "My grandfather wore his hair down to his shoulders as did most of our tribe. Our clothes were no different only we made them ourselves, and I used to spin and make the thread and weave the cloth."131 "My grandmother had a spinning wheel and a loom; she would spin the cotton into threads and then she would put this into the loom and make cloth. I have worked at it myself. She would wait until night to run the spinning-wheel and loom so I had to stay up and turn the wheel by hand and when she got the threads made into cloth, she would then get out in the woods and dig up some roots of different kinds and boil them down and then set the dye out and let it cool before she would use it. She used some bark roots and some other things that I don't remember now, and she would make the cloth blue, red, black, and white. The cloth would look good too when she got through with it. She then would sell the cloth she made; she would make us some socks and mittens for the winter."132 It is interesting to note that most spinning wheels did not require two people to operate them even when they did not have a foot treadle. The following description was told by Martha Fling whose father was one eighth Choctaw and a Physician. This description shows the socio-economic status of the informants. It, also, is a lot more indicative of White people of that class than of Indians. Most Indians did not ride side saddle while White females of an elevated socio-economic status always did. It was a mark of breeding. "We girls always rode a side saddle with a long black calico skirt and mother always made deep pockets in our riding skirts for us to carry our pistols in."133 Another informant who was of Irish and Choctaw descent and born in 1870 also remembered riding a horse using a side saddle. "We had some little small horses just to ride. side saddle. and riding skirt black. Styles of clothing we wore the large hoppie skirt. The hoppie was made out of some wire like the little fine wire we use at the door. and put the large skirt over the hoppis. The waist was made tight which we called a busie. fast in front. The other kind of dresses was a big old loose dress with just a yoke called a mother hubbard. Shoes old course shoes [sic.] with brass in the toes when ever we wore them we did not wear them very often."134 Her remembrance of the dress called the "Mother Hubbard" is accurate for the time period. But her description of a hooped skirt if the word "hoppie" meant hooped is questionable. Was the hooped skirt still worn by some in the 1880's or had she seen pictures of hooped skirts in books? Also was "busie" a bustle? If so, the skirt would not have been a hooped skirt. In addition, riding attire never involved a hooped skirt of any type. In addition, this informant went on to describe men's attire that is also questionable and makes all her information questionable. "In the summer time the men just wore some kind of girdle from their waist on down fasten between their legs, and the band around their head with feathers all around it."135 Another problem with information such as the above is that contextually and historically part of it can definitely be corroborated while part of it appears to be fictitious. An informant who was one half Choctaw and born in 1869 at Scullyville remembered: "Clothing was scant. The boys and young men never wore any thing but long shirts and went barefooted. When grown they would put on pants and shirts made from jeans on a loom. The men's hats were usually of coon or skunk hides, their shoes were moccasins made of hides. These moccasins were sewn together with thread well waxed and hog bristles were used to place the thread through the holes, which were made with awl. The awls in many instances were home made. Sometimes cowhides were tanned and shoes made of them. "I have many times helped to make an ash solution or lye, have placed it on the hide and covered it with dirt, and after a few days have removed the dirt and the hair would slip from the hide when pulled over the bark of a log. The men would then tan the hide with bark. From these hides shoes were made, including the soles. The soles were put on with wooden pegs. the wooden pegs were whittled out by hand at odd times. I remember that I had at one time more than a thousand of these pegs on hand. "The girls and women never wore underwear, nor hats. The women wore long dresses, either bought at the store or made at home. We usually wore moccasins and on them we made fancy designs with beads bought at fort Smith. Most of the times we went barefooted and only wore moccasins when we went to church or visiting. We always wore blankets and never wore cloaks."136 It was not until 1883 that the issue of the status of the Freedmen was finalized. On May 21, 1883, a law was enacted that adopted the Freedmen into the Choctaw Nation.137 The oral histories given in the Indian-Pioneer Papers vary widely in their descriptions of dress. It seems logical that they were culled from many different socio-economic strata experienced by the informants when they were young. The dichotomy between the wealthy and the poor was obvious. The wealthy owned elaborate homes and large acreages worked by White and Black tenant farmers.138 One of the conditions in the Treaty of 1866 was that railroads were to be built across the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. The Choctaws, according to Debo, encouraged this construction.139 However, they probably did not realize the negative elements that would enter their nation - whiskey peddlers, criminals, gamblers, etc. The railroad also aided the coal mining companies and the Nation granted franchises to build spurs to these fields.140 The railroads directly and indirectly brought industry into the Choctaw Nation. Choctaw citizens started sawmills, lumbering and mining companies, prairie hay, etc.141 According to Debo, the Choctaws were not a town oriented people. The towns were basically formed by the White population that lived in the Choctaw Nation. With the advent of the mines, more towns sprung up.142 "We lived near Fillmore till I was grown. My father farmed and raised corn, cotton, and vegetables. We had sheep too, and my mother spun cotton and wool thread and knitted our socks and stockings. The thread was dyed many different colors. The dye was made at home from plants and bushes known to the Indians. "Our dresses were made very long and our pretty stockings could not be seen so we girls would get out of sight of the grown people and fasten our dresses up so our stockings would show and then we would parade and pay for hours. "Our mother did the sewing by hand but she was very painstaking and what she made was very beautiful. She selected beautiful colors for our dresses and we loved them." "Our shoes were made at home by my father. He made the pegs to tack the soles with from wood and the thread was made from the sinew of the deer."143 L. A. Moore came to Red Oak in 1885. His brother who had married a Choctaw had a store. "We had Indians for customers and I learned to speak their language. They often laughed at my accent and pronunciation. They bought many vests. They thought they were not well dressed unless they had on a bright colored, beaded vest. The Indian women carried their money tied in handkerchiefs."144 The styles of dress from the eighteen eighties to the beginning of the nineteenth century did not change much among a lot of the Indian population. Those who were wealthier most probably kept current with fashions. However, from the narratives and other accounts, this represented a small segment of the population - smaller than among the Cherokee, for example. "Our clothes were hand-made. Mother wove the cloth on an old fashioned loom, spun her own thread and made our clothes. Each night before going to bed my brother and I would pick a shoe full of cottonseeds out of the cotton which we had raised. We used plaited rag strings in wooden bowls of tallow for lights. We wore only moccasins on our feet, and they were made of buckskin. We tanned this buckskin ourselves by covering it with bark. It was then buried for days. We took it and rubbed it over a board nailed to a tree until the hair came off. Then we would cover it with tallow and bury it again. This would give it a velvety finish. Then it was ready to be made into moccasins. These were usually decorated with beads."145 "Mother had a spinning wheel but did not have a loom.....When she got the socks made and the mittens (wool) she would go out and get some walnut bark and some sumac berries, mix them together and boil them and then she would use it to dye the socks and mittens. It would turn brown; then she would use red oak berries and some copperas mixed together for red dye. She used something else for the white, but I have forgotten what else she did use....When she got them dyed it would be a brown ring around the sock. She would use the bark and when she got through with it, it would have brown rings around the socks and then white. It would be striped around and around the socks."146 The dress for dances differed from ordinary day wear. James W. Johnson, a White man who came to the Indian territory in 1890, described a stomp dance that he witnessed. "I witnessed my first Choctaw stomp dance. They had little bells around their legs and neck. Their hair was braided with ribbon around their head with a bell on it. Some had on a sort of a blue uniform while others had on blankets, breechclouts and some with no clothing whatever. They would form one big circle in the yard and dance. At midnight they would eat tom fuller from cowhorn spoons."147 Costume Plate # 36 "We made all our own moccasins out of very soft leather; we beaded them and all the work was done by hand. "All our clothes were made out of deer hides and for thread after the deer was shot we would rip the legs open and take the sinews out and rip them into threads and after they were dried and seasoned. "148 "Our clothing was made from the skins of animals. The way we washed our clothing was with a battling stick. It was made like a paddle, about two feet long with a hand hold on the small end. With this stick we placed our clothes in water and beat them clean."149 Usually, the method of washing clothes was a method associated with cloth garment rather than with those made from hides. It is dangerous to totally negate a statement because there are exceptions to every rule, especially in the areas of customs and habits. "I have seen old timers, including myself, with nothing on but wrappers wrapped around our waist and a large red handkerchief tied around our head for a hat in summer."150 "The Choctaw Indians in this country during the summer and until late in the fall went barefooted and with little or no clothes from the hips up but when winter set in, they would make shoes or moccasins out of the skins of cattle and wild game for each member of the family. These were made with the hair or fur of the hide turned inside. Much of the clothing was made from the hides of animals"151 The following recollections are presented because they serve as indicators as to where many of the false notions of Indian dress in the nineteenth could have originated. The first narrative was by a White man, Mack Harris, born in 1871. His father farmed on land rented from the Choctaws. It is unlikely that he remembered "lots" of Choctaws wearing breech-clouts in the late 1870's. "When I first can remember things the Indians wore very little clothes. I have seen lots of them in breechclouts. Some wore blankets. Once in awhile you might see one with the same sort of clothes that white men wore. As time went on the Choctaws all got to wearing clothes. The usual costume was a sort of cowboy get-up. They wore boots with high tops; trousers and shirts, big hats. The bigger the hat the better an Indian liked it."152 Another recollection which can be attributed to people in the latter part of the twentieth century having incorrect notions of Indian dress was told by James Lambert, a White man, who came to the Indian Territory in 1889. The latter is fallacious for many reasons. "There was lots of game in the country in those days and many of the Choctaws used the hides of deer and fur bearing animals in the winter time to make their clothes and moccasins to wear."153 A similar recollection is dated from 1899 by a White man who came into the Indian territory that year. "I have seen them in their every-day walk of life in the summer with nothing on but their breech clouts and blankets."154 These "after the fact recollection" often tend to be over-generalized. Once again, while many of the generalizations contain truths, they can also paint false pictures. 7. The more common term for vest was still waistcoat. These waistcoats came in all styles. In all probability in the context of the narratives quoted a vest was a waistcoat (sleeveless, naturally) without a collar. 9. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Group 75, M234, microfilm roll 185. Letter from William Armstrong to Colonel Harris of April 30, 1837. 10. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder 59, p. 690.Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Originally OIA: Choctaw File A259-293 12/ -, 1837. (A293) Armstrong, Wm. 12. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder 59, p. 655. Originally from OIA: Schools (Choctaw) A39 etc. Choctaw Agency. 1836. A55. 26. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, file 59, pp. 659-660.Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Originally from OIA: Schools (Choctaw) Choctaw Agency 1836. A39 etc A51. 28. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder, 59, pp. 652-654.Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Originally from OIa: Schools (Choctaw) A39 etc. Choctaw Agency. 1836. A55. 29. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder 59. p. 656. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Original from OIA: Schools (Choctaw). A39 etc. Choctaw Agency. 1836. A55. 34. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder 59, pp. 714. Letter written by H. G. Rind on July 19th, 1838. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Originally from OIA: School (Western Supt'y) File A402-490. Choctaw Agency, 1838. A-490. 36. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, file 59. p. 725. Written by Ramsey D. Potts, U. S. teacher, Pushmataha District. Originally OIA: School (Western Supt'y) File A402-490. Choctaw Agency. 1838. A-490. 41. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder 59, p. 722. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Originally from OIA: School (Western Supt'y) File A402-490. Choctaw Agency. 1838. A-490. 43. Grant Foreman Collection, box 30, folder 59, p. 740. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. Originally from OIA: School (Western Supt'y) File A402-490. Choctaw Agency. 1838. A-490. 44. Ibid., p. 728. 49. Grant Foreman Collection, Cyrus Byington "Report of the Iyanvbi Female Sem: for 1846". box 21, volume 36, p. 4. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 52. This type of fabric was not listed among any fabrics used at that time period. It is possible that it was a local name because one of the authors remembers his grandmother, who was Cherokee, referring to it as a type of flannel. 56. Grant Foreman Collection "Elizabeth Jacobs Quinton, Choctaw Centenarian". box 11A, folder 6, p. 3. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 63. Grant Foreman Collection, Cyrus Byington "Report of the Iyanvbi Female Sem: for 1846". box 21, volume 36, p. 2. Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 65. Justin D. Murphy, Chronicles of Oklahoma "Wheelock Female Seminary 1842-1861", volume LXlX, number one, Spring 1991, pp. 50-51. 66. Joan Carpenter Troccoli, First Artist of the West, p. 124. The details were noted by the author when the paintings were exhibited at The Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 71. All punctuation is from the typescript of the article from the Wisconsin Historical Society, Kentucky mss. 29cc.155. as found in the Foreman Collection. 75. Grant Foreman Collection, box 37, folder 78, p. 257. From American Notes by Charles Dickens, New York, John W. Lovell and Co., 1883. p. 741, chapter Xll. 76. Lang and Taylor, Report of a Visit to Some of the Tribes of Indians Located West of the Mississippi River, p. 31. 82. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Group 75, M234, microfilm roll 185. Letter from George S. Gaines September 22, 1844. 85. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Group 75, M234, microfilm roll 185, letter to William Marcy from H. N. Barstow[?], October 8th, 1845 and from microfilm roll 186 a letter to major William Armstrong from I. B. Luce[?] of June 1846. 87. Grant Foreman Collection, box 31, folder 60. "Fort Coffee Academy, July 30th, 1848". Thomas Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa, OK. 92. Ameil Weeks Whipple, Journal of Ameil Weeks Whipple 1849-1853 Pacific Railroad Survey, Gila River Survey, and Mexican Border Survey. Manuscript 82.19. 95. Ameil Weeks Whipple, Journal of Ameil Weeks Whipple 1849-1853 Pacific Railroad Survey, Gila River Survey, and Mexican Border Survey. Manuscript 82.19. 97. .John Edwards, Chronicles of Oklahoma, volume X, p.392. Introduction by John R. Swanton, "The Choctaw Indians in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century." 99.Ibid., fn.p. 409. 100. It was not actually split into threads. He is speaking of the inner bark of the Mulberry tree which was pounded and formed into fine thread. 101. John Edwards, Chronicles of Oklahoma, volume X, pp. 408-410 , "The Choctaw Indians in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century." 104. Mrs. Thomas Inge, Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 85, p.469. Other information can be found on pp. 158-160 and volume 30, p. 371. 107. George, W. Cox, non-Indian, came to Indian Territory in 1862. Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 2, p. 290. 110. Edmond Flint, Probably not Indian, born in Atoka in 1853. Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 3, pp. 527-528. 124. William T. Culbertson. Moved from Texas to Sulphur Springs in 1868. Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 2, p. 355. 125. Mary Cole, a free slave born in 1858 and reporting on dress in the Scullyville area circa 1870. Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 20. p. 204. 129. Winnie Benjamin, Fullblood Choctaw, born in Snow, OK, 1872, Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 14, p. 336. 130. Nancy Wiashintubee, full blood Choctaw, born in Ludlow OK in 1872, Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 36, pp. 241-242. 143. Ella Fillmore Carter, Choctaw, born 1879 in Fillmore, OK, Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 19, pp. 202-205. 146. Lizzie E. Wood, born 1884, 3/4 Choctaw near Talihina, Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 67, p. 476. 149. Mrs. Judy King Potts born 1861, part Choctaws/Chickasaw, Indian-Pioneer Papers, volume 40, p. 329. |