CHICKASAWS, a tribe of North American Indians of Muskhogean stock, now settled in the western part of Oklahoma. Their former range was northern Mississippi and portions of Tennessee. According to their own tradition and the evidence of philology, they are closely connected with the Creeks and Choctaws; and they believe that they emigrated with these tribes from the west, crossed the Mississippi, and settled in the district that now forms the north-east part of the state of that name. Here they were visited by De Soto in 1540. From the first they were hostile to the French colonists. With the English, on the other hand, their relations were more satisfactory. In 1786 they made a treaty with the United States; and in 1793 they assisted the whites in their operations against the Creeks. In the early years of the 19th century part of their territory was ceded for certain annuities, and a portion of the tribe migrated to Arkansas; and in 1832-1834, the remainder, amounting to about 3600, surrendered to the United States the 6,442,400 acres of which they were still possessed, and entered into a treaty with the Choctaws for incorporation with that tribe. In 1855, however, they effected a separation of this union, with which they had soon grown dissatisfied, and by payment to the Choctaws of $150,000 obtained a complete right to their present territory. In the Civil War they joined the Confederates and suffered in consequence; but their rights were restored by the treaty of 1865. In 1866 they surrendered 7,000,000 acres; and in 1873 they adopted their former slaves. They had an independent government consisting of a governor, a senate, and a house of representatives; but tribal government virtually ceased in 1906. The Chickasaws of pure or mixed blood numbered 4826 in 1900, and with the fully admitted “citizens,” i.e. the freed slaves and adopted whites, the whole nation amounted to some 10,000.
See Handbook of American Indians (Washington, 1907).
CHICKASHA, a city and the county-seat of Grady county, Oklahoma, U.S.A., near the Washita river, about 45 m. S.S.W. of Oklahoma city. Pop. (1900) 3209; (1907) 7862, including 1643 negroes; (1910) 10,320. Chickasha is served by the St Louis & San Francisco, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Oklahoma Central railways. It is the trade centre of a very fertile section of the Washita Valley, whose principal products are Indian corn, cotton, fruits and vegetables and live-stock. The city has various manufactures, including flour, cotton-seed oil, lumber, furniture and farm implements. Chickasha was founded in 1892 and was chartered as a city in 1899.
CHICKEN-POX (Syn. varicella, a Low Latin diminutive of variola), a specific contagious disease characterized by an eruption of vesicles in the skin. The disease usually occurs in epidemics, and is one of childhood, the patients being generally between two and six years old. The incubation period is from ten to fifteen days; there are practically no prodromal symptoms, the only indication being a slight amount of fever for some twenty-four hours, after which the eruption makes its appearance. A number of raised red papules appear on the trunk, either on the back or chest; in from twelve to twenty-four hours these develop into tense vesicles filled with a clear fluid, which in another thirty-six hours or so becomes opalescent. During the fourth day these vesicles dry and shrivel up, and the scabs fall off, leaving as a rule no scar. Fresh spots appear during the first three days, so that at the end of that time they can be seen in all stages of growth and decay. The eruption is most marked on the chest, but it also occurs on the face and limbs, and on the mucous membrane of the mouth and palate. The temperature begins to fall after the appearance of the rash, but a certain slight amount may persist after the disappearance of all symptoms. It rarely rises above 102 F. The disease runs a very favourable course in the majority of cases, and after effects are rare. One attack does not confer immunity, and in numerous cases one individual has had three attacks. The diet should be light, and the patient should be prevented from scratching the spots, which would lead to ulceration and scarring. After the first few days there is no necessity to confine the patient to bed. In the large majority of cases, it is easy to distinguish the disease from smallpox, but in certain patients it is very difficult. The chief points in the differential diagnosis are as follows. (1) In chicken-pox the rash is distributed chiefly on the trunk, and less on the limbs. (2) Some of the vesicles are oval, whereas in smallpox they are always hemispherical. They are also more superficial, and have not at the outset the hard shotty feeling of the more virulent disease. (3) The vesicles attain their full growth within twelve to twenty-four hours. (4) The pustules are usually monocular. (5) There is no prodromal period.
CHICLANA, or Chiclana de la Frontera, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Cadiz, 12 m. by rail S.E. of Cadiz. Pop. (1900) 10,868. Chiclana occupies a fertile valley, watered by the river Lirio, and sheltered, on the north and south, by low hills covered with vines and plantations. It faces the gulf of Cadiz, 3 m. W., and, from its mild climate and pleasant surroundings, is the favourite summer residence of the richer Cadiz merchants; its hot mineral springs also attract many visitors. In the neighbourhood are the Roman ruins of Chiclana la Vieja, the town of Medina Sidonia (q.v.), and, about 5 m. S., the battlefield of Barrosa, where the British under Sir Thomas Graham (Lord Lynedoch) defeated the French under Marshal Victor, on the 5th of March 1811.
CHICOPEE, a city of Hampden county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., situated on the E. side of the Connecticut river, at the mouth of the Chicopee river, immediately N. of Springfield. Pop. (1890) 14,050; (1900) 19,167, of whom 8139 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 25,401. Chicopee is served by the Boston & Maine railway. The city, which has an area of about 25 sq. m., contains five villages. Chicopee Center, Chicopee Falls, Willimansett, Fairview and Aldenville. Chicopee Falls lies on both sides of the Chicopee river, which falls some 70 ft. in less than 3 m. and furnishes valuable power for manufactories. The most important products are cotton goods (two large factories having, together, about 200,000 spindles), fire-arms (especially the Stevens rifles), tools, rubber and elastic goods, sporting goods, swords, automobiles and agricultural implements. Here, too, is a bronze statuary foundry, in which some of the finest monuments, bronze doors, &c., in the country have been cast, including the doors of the Capitol at Washington. The bronze casting industry here was founded by Nathan Peabody Ames (1803-1847), who was first a sword-maker and in 1836 began the manufacture of cannon and church bells. The total value of the city’s factory product in 1905 was $7,715,653, an increase of 43.2% in five years. There is a public library. The municipality owns and operates the water-works system and the electric lighting plant. Chicopee was settled about 1638, was set off from Springfield as an independent township in 1848, and was chartered as a city in 1890. Chicopee Falls was the home of Edward Bellamy. The name of the city is an Indian word meaning “cedar-tree” or “birch-bark place.”