Previous to the receipt of your Communication enclosing the proceedings of the Chickasaw Authorities, I had received similar papers from the “Governor of the Chickasaw Nation.”
And I herewith enclose for the information of yourself & people a copy of my reply. I will appoint a Delegation to attend your Council for the purpose therein stated.—Ross to Derrysaw, February 9, 1861 [ibid.].
I have received a communication from the Gov. of the Chickasaw Nation, with a copy of an Act of their Legislature. And I presume a similar communication has been received by you. Deeming it important that much prudence and caution should be exercised by us in regard to the object of the Governor’s communication, I have thought it proper to address him a letter, giving a brief expression of my views on the subject, a copy of which I enclose for your information.—Ross to the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation, February 11, 1861 [ibid.].
[105] See [preceding note].
[106] The Creek Agency was probably chosen because of its convenient situation. It was at the junction of the North Fork and the Canadian and, consequently, in close proximity to three of the reservations and not far distant from the other two.
[107] See Mrs. W. P. Ross, Life and Times of William P. Ross.
[108] American Historical Review, vol. xv, 282.
... On your deliberations it will [be] proper for you to advise discretion, and to guard against any premature movement on our part, which might produce excitement or be liable to misrepresentation. Our duty is very plain. We have only to adhere firmly to our respective Treaties. By them we have placed ourselves under the protection of the United States, and of no other sovereign whatever. We are bound to hold no treaty with any foreign Power, or with any individual State or combination of States nor with Citizens of any State. Nor even with one another without the interposition and participation of the United States....
Should any action of the Council be thought desirable, a resolution might be adopted, to the effect, that we will in all contingencies rest our interests on the pledged faith of the United States, for the fulfilment of their obligations. We ought to entertain no apprehension of any change, that will endanger our interests. The parties holding the responsibilities of the Federal Government will always be bound to us. And no measures we have it in our power to adopt can add anything to the security we now possess. Relying on your intelligence & discretion I will add no more.—Chief Ross’s instructions to the Cherokee Delegation, February 12, 1861 [Indian Office General File; Cherokee 1859-1865, C515].