I am ... deeply interested in their welfare, acquainted with the feelings of the people, well informed as to the men and measures which have detached these nations from their allegiance to the U. S.
Chief among the traitors were not only the Superintendent of that District, and the Agents under him appointed by the late Administration but others claiming to have received commissions as Indian Agents “since the 4th of March last” from the U. S. Gov’t.
On the 21st of Aug. last I was in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, at a convention of the Cherokee people called by their Chief Jno. Ross....—Robertson to President Lincoln, dated Winneconne, Wisconsin, December 12, 1861 [General Files, Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862, R1658].
Concerning the responsibility attaching to government agents for Indian defection, E. C. Boudinot and W. P. Adair wrote, January 19, 1866, to Cooley,
The Southern Indians have repeatedly repudiated the idea that they were induced by the machinations of any persons to ally themselves with the rebellion, but accept the full responsibility of their acts without such excuse.
The passage above quoted [meaning one from Coffin’s report of September 24, 1863—“They resisted the insidious influences which were brought to bear upon them by Rector, Pike, Cooper, Crawford and other rebel emissaries for a long time.”] however does great injustice to all the parties named, particularly to Genl Cooper, who had no earthly connection with the Cherokees until several months after. Mr. John Ross made the treaty with the so-called Confederate States.—General Files, Cherokee, 1859-1865, B60.
[437] “Ross was overborne. It is said that his wife was more staunch than her husband and held out till the last. When an attempt was made to raise a Confederate flag over the Indian council house, her opposition was so spirited that it prevented the completion of the design.”—Howard, My life and experiences among our hostile Indians, 100.
[438] For the entire address of John Ross, see Official Record, first ser., vol. iii, 673-675.
[439] Official Record, first ser., vol. iii, 675-676. A slightly incorrect copy of these same resolutions is to be found in vol. xiii, 499-500.
[440] John Ross and others to McCulloch, August 24, 1861 [Official Records, first ser., vol. iii, 673].