Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/427

 CHICK ASA WS 419 when in the spring he wished to force them to supply men to carry his baggage, they fired their town and attacked him, causing great loss. When the French settled Louisiana the Chickasaws had already been visited by tra- ders from the English colonies, and thus came into the struggle of the rival nations. They had at one time, it is said, 10,000 warriors, but in 1720 numbered only 450, in four large contiguous settlements, Yaneka and Chookka Pharaah (Long House) being the most impor- tant. They were divided into five clans or families, Minko, Showa, Coishto, Oushpelme, Minne, and Huscona, and recognized a king or mico as head of the nation. They began hostilities against the French in 1722, killing a sergeant and his wife near the Yazoo post. In 1732 they cut to pieces a war party of the Iroquois who invaded their territory, but in 1746 were cooperating with that confederacy against the French. By advice of English tra- ders they urged the Natchez to cut off the French, and after the overthrow of that na- tion gave a refuge to the remnant Avho escaped from the vengeance of the French. They then took up arms openly, cut off all trade on the Mississippi river, and joined the desperate Nat- chez in their raids. They killed the chief of the Tonicas by treachery, and besieged Denys at Fort Nachitoches, but were repulsed there with loss. This led to a war, and in 1736 the French attempted to crush them by a simul- taneous attack from the south under Bieuville and from Illinois under D'Artaguette. The former retired ; the latter took several of the Chickasaw towns, but was defeated and taken at Amalahta with Vincennes, Pere Senat, and others, all of whom were put to death. In 1739 a very formidable expedition ascended the Mississippi under Bienville and De Noail- les, but they halted near Chickasaw Bluff, and after some skirmishes made a hollow peace with the Chickasaw envoys in August, 1740, though hostilities were kept up in a desultory way for the next ten years. The Chickasaws entered into friendly relations with Gen. Ogle- thorpe, and seem to have maintained them. In 1765 their head men and warriors, with those of the Choctaws, met Gov. George John- stone of West Florida in a general congress at Mobile, and established a regular tariff of trade ; but troubles were soon caused by grasp- ing traders who had settled among the Chicka- saws. After the revolution the United States made a treaty at Hopewell in 1786 with Pio Mico and other chiefs, fixing their territory at the Ohio on the north, and running down into what is now Mississippi. They were then esti- mated at from 800 to 1,200 warriors, but as their territory was remote from settlements there had been no encroachments or collisions. When the Creeks drove them to war in 1793, they joined the whites in operations against the Creeks, remaining constantly friendly to the settlers, although surrounded by hostile tribes. In 1805, 1816, and 1818 Chenubbe Mico and other chiefs ceded all their lands north of Mis- sissippi for certain specified annual payments ; the Colberts, influential men of the tribe, aware of the value of the lands, securing better terms than usual. The scarcity of game and the narrowing of their hunting grounds had led some of the tribe to emigrate to the Ar- kansas about the beginning of the present cen- tury. In 1822 those remaining in Mississippi comprised 3,625 souls in eight towns, advanc- ing in civilization, owning slaves, and selling cattle and hogs to the whites. When the United States adopted the plan of removing all Indians west of the Mississippi, the Chicka- saws, by the treaties of Pontotoc Creek, Oct. 20, 1832, and Washington, May 24, 1834, ceded to the United States all their remaining lands in Mississippi, amounting to 6,442,400 acres, for which they received $3,646,000. They had determined to settle on lands already assign- ed to the Choctaws, who speak the same lan- guage. By a convention, Jan. 17, 1837, they paid the Choctaws $530,000 for a district on the Red west and south of the Washita, to be held by them as a tribe and in common, and inalienable except with the consent of the Choctaws. They were also to abandon their government by a king and form part. of the Choctaw nation, governed under its constitu- tion, with equal representation. During the emigration smallpox broke out, carrying off 500 or 600 of the tribe. They did not all set- tle on their new tract, but scattered through the Choctaw country as they found lands to suit them, some wealthy men like Col. Colbert taking up large tracts for cotton, and employ- ing numerous slaves in its culture. As a body they did not advance as rapidly as the Choc- taws, their large annuity ($60,000 among about 4,200) encouraging idleness. They were har- assed by some neighboring tribes, and had no schools till an academy was opened in 1851. Their political condition also caused discon- tent, as, instead of equal representation as they expected, they were allowed only in propor- tion to population, and were a powerless mi- nority. They appealed to the President of the United States, and on paying $150,000 to the Choctaws obtained by treaty of June 22, 1855, a political separation from them and a com- plete title to the Chickasaw district. Here they organized a new government of their own, and have since been recognized as a distinct tribe. Their progress after this was rapid, but the civil war was a severe blow to them. Like the Choctaws, the Chickasaws first joined the south, led by their agents ; and though there were no military operations in their district or contest in the tribe, they lost nearly one fourth of their population, much stock, and of course their slaves. By the treaty of Fort Smith, September, 1865, the Chickasaws with other tribes, held to have forfeited all their rights by rebellion, were restored on certain conditions and new treaties made. By another treaty, April 28, 1866, the