Pushmataha



Pushmataha (1764 - 24 December 1824), the "Indian General", was a chief of the Native American tribe of the Choctaws, regarded by historians as the "greatest of all Choctaw chiefs". Pushmataha was highly regarded among both Native Americans, Europeans and white Americans for his skill and cunning in both war and diplomacy. Rejecting the offers of alliance and reconquest proffered by Tecumseh, Pushmataha led the Choctaws to fight on the side of the United States in the War of 1812. He negotiated several treaties with the United States. In 1824, he traveled to Washington to petition the Federal Government against further cessions of Choctaw land; he there met with John C. Calhoun and Lafayette, and his portrait was painted by Charles Bird King. He died shortly thereafter and was buried with full military honors in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C..

Name
The exact meaning of Pushmataha's name is unknown, though all agree that it contains the connotations of ending. Many possible etymologies have been suggested:
 * Apushamatahahubi: "a messenger of death; literally one whose rifle, tomahawk, or bow is alike fatal in war or hunting."
 * Apushim-alhtaha, "the sapling is ready, or finished, for him."
 * Pushmataha, "the warrior's seat is finished."
 * Pushmataha, "He has won all the honors of his race."
 * Apushimataha, "No more in the bag."

In addition, some sources report that he was given the early warrior-name of Eagle.

Early life as a warrior
Pushmataha's early life is poorly documented. His parents are unknown, possibly killed in a raid by a neighboring tribe. Pushmataha never spoke of his ancestors; as a result, a colorful legend of his origin was told: "A little cloud was once seen in the northern sky. It came before a rushing wind, and covered the Choctaw country with darkness.  Out of it few an angry fire.  It struck a large oak, and scattered its limbs and its trunk all along the ground, and from that spot sprung forth a warrior fully armed for war." However, most historians agree that he was born in a more normal manner near the future site of Macon, Mississippi in 1764.

There is an oral history record claiming he participated in a war against the Creeks at an early age, but this is discredited as the relevant Choctaw-Creek wars are reliably dated to end in 1777 when Pushmataha was only 13. Better attested is his participation in wars with the Osage and Caddo tribes between 1784 and 1789, and further conflicts into the first decade of the 1800s, in which his reputation as a warrior was cemented. These conflicts were due to the depletion of the traditional deer-hunting grounds of the Choctaw around their holy site of Nanih Waiya (due to increased population and the fur trade with Europe), and the subsequent raiding of other lands for deer. Pushmataha's raids carried him into the territories that would become Arkansas and Oklahama; his firsthand experience would prove invaluable for later negotiations for those same lands.

Chief for the Six Towns district
Around 1800, Pushmataha's renown as a military and spiritual leader allowed him to overcome uncertainties in parentage to become a mingo (chief) of the Choctaws, first for the Oklahannali or Six Towns district (one of three in the Choctaw tribe). His sharp logic, humorous wit, and lyrical, eloquent speaking style quickly earned him renown in councils. Pushmataha rapidly took a central position in diplomacy, first meeting with American envoys at Fort Confederation in 1802. Pushmataha negotiated the Treaty of Mount Dexter with the United States on 16 November1805 , and met Thomas Jefferson during his term as President.

War of 1812
Early in 1811, Tecumseh came to garner support for his British-backed attempt to recover lands from the United States settlers. As chief for the Six Towns district, Pushmataha strongly resisted such a plan, pointing out that the Choctaw and their neighbors the Chickasaw had always lived in peace with 'white' Americans, had learned valuable skills and technologies, and had received honest treatment and fair trade. The joint Choctaw-Chickasaw council then voted against alliance with Tecumseh. On Tecumseh's departure, Pushmataha accused him of tyranny over his own Shawnee tribe and other tribes, and warned him that he would fight against those who fought the United States.

With the outbreak of war, Pushmataha led the Choctaws in alliance with America, arguing in favor of opposing the Creek alliance with Britain after the massacre at Fort Mims. He arrived at St. Stephens, Alabama in mid-1813 with an offer of alliance and recruitment. He was escorted to Mobile to speak with General Flournoy, then commanding the district. Flournoy initially declined Pushmataha's offer, offending the chief. However, Flournoy's staff quickly convinced him to reverse his decision, and a courier with a message accepting the offer of alliance caught up with Pushmataha at St. Stephens.

Returning to Choctaw territory, Pushmataha raised a company of 500 Choctaw warriors with a rousing speech, and was commissioned (as either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Brigadier General) in the United States Army at St. Stephens. After observing that the officers and their wives would promenade along the Alabama River, Pushmataha summoned his own wife to St. Stephens and also took part in this custom, helping to elevate women's status in his tribe.

Under General Claiborne, whom they joined in mid-November, Pushmataha and 150 Choctaw warriors took part in an attack on Creek forces at Kantachi, or Econochaca, Alabama, on 23 December 1813. With this victory, Choctaws began to volunteer in greater numbers from the other two districts of the tribe. By February 1814, a larger band of Choctaws under Pushmataha had joined General Andrew Jackson's force for the sweeping of the Creek territories near Pensacola. Many of these departed after the final defeat of the Creek at Horseshoe Bend. By the Battle of New Orleans, only a few Choctaws remained with the army; however, they were the only Native American tribe represented in the battle. Some sources say Pushmataha was among them, while others disagree.

Pushmataha was regarded as a strict war leader, marshaling his warriors with dispicline. His title "The Indian General" was bestowed by U.S. Army officers impressed with these leadership skills.

Head Chief of the Choctaw
On his return from the wars, Pushmataha was elected paramount chief of the Choctaw nation. A cultural conservative, Pushamataha resisted the approaches of Protestant missionaries who arrived in Choctaw territory in 1818. However, he was in favor of learning new technologies and useful practices from the Americans, including cotton gins, agricultural practices, and military disciplines. He devoted much of his military pension to the funding of a Choctaw school system, and endeavoured to have his five children educated as well as possible.

Pushmataha negotiated two more cession-treaties with the United States. While the treaty of 24 October 1816 was counted of little loss, composed mainly hunted-out grounds, the Treaty of Doak's Stand (signed 18 October 1820) was highly contentious. American settlement was now encroaching on core lands of the Choctaws, and while equivalent-sized plots of land in the future states of Arkansas and Oklahoma were offered, Pushmataha was aware of their lessened fertility and the presence of squatters already settling in the territory. "He displayed much diplomacy and showed a business capacity equal to that of Gen. Jackson, against whom he was pitted, in driving a sharp bargain." Reportedly, in a tense exchange with Andrew Jackson, they exchanged frank views:

Gen. Jackson put on all his dignity and thus addressed the chief:

"I wish you to understand that I am Andrew Jackson, and, by the Eternal, you shall sign that treaty as I have prepared it."

The mighty Choctaw Chief was not disconcerted by this haughty address, and springing suddenly to his feet, and imitating the manner of his opponent, replied,

"I know very well who you are, but I wish you to understand that I am Pushmataha, head chief of the Choctaws; and, by the Eternal, I will not sign that treaty."

Pushmataha only signed after securing guarantees from the general in the text of the treaty that squatters would be evicted from reserved lands.

Journey to Washington
In 1824, Pushmataha became further concerned at the encroaching settlement patterns and the unwillingness of local authorities to respect Indian land title. He resolved to take his case directly to the Federal government in Washington, D.C.. Leading a delegation of other regional chiefs, they sought either explusion of white settlers from deeded lands in Arkansas, or compensation in land and cash for such lands.

Pushmataha met with President James Monroe, and gave a speech to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun reminding him of the now-longstanding alliances between the United States and the Choctaws. Pushmataha sat for a portrait by Charles Bird King in his Army uniform; it hung in the Smithsonian Institution until 1865. While the original was destroyed by a fire in that year, numerous prints were made that have become the most famous likeness of Pushmataha. While in Washington, the chief also met with the Marquis de Lafayette, who was also visiting Washington, D.C. for the last time, and hailed him as a fellow aged warrior who, though foreign, rose to high renown in the American cause.

Death and burial
In December 1824, Pushmataha acquired a viral respiratory infection then known as the croup. He became rapidly ill, and was visited by a hurriedly summoned Andrew Jackson. On his deathbed, Pushmataha reflected that the national capital was a good place to die. He requested full military honors for his funeral, and gave specific instructions as to his effects. His last recorded words were these:

"'I am about to die, but you will return to our country. As you go along the paths, you will see the flowers, and hear the birds sing; but Pushmataha will see and hear them no more.  When you reach home they will ask you, 'Where is Pushmataha?'  And you will say to them, 'He is no more.'  They will hear your words as they do the fall of the great oak in the stillness of the midnight woods.'"

Pushmataha died on 24 December 1824. As requested, he was buried will full military honors as a Brigadier General of the U.S. Army, in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., the only Native American chief ever interred there. His epitaph reads: ''Pushmataha, a Choctaw chief, lies here. This monument to his memory is erected by his brother chiefs who were associated with him in a delegation from their nation in the year 1824 to the general government of the United States.''

The National Intelligencer wrote on 28 December 1824 about the death: At Tennison's Hotel, on Friday last, the 24th instant, Pooshamataha, a Chief of the Chocataw Nation of Indians, distinguished for his bold elocution and his attachment to the United States. At the commencement of the late war on our Southern border, he took an early and decided stand in favor of the weak and isolated settlements on Tombigby, and he continued to fight with and for them whilst they had an enemy in the field. His bones will rest a distance from his home, but in the bosom of the people he delighted to love. May a good hunting ground await his generous spirit in another and a better world. Military honors were paid to his remains by the Marine Corps of the United States, and by several uniformed companies of the militia.

On Pushmataha's death, Nittakechi, "Day-prolonger", succeeded him as chief of the Oklahannali Choctaw.

Pushmataha in other contexts

 * In memory of Pushmataha, the Choctaw lands in Oklahoma include a Pushmataha County.
 * The Boy Scouts of America named the council containing the area of Nanih Waiya the Pushmataha Area Council, and the story of Pushmataha is related to all Scouts at the local summer camp.