The Pitchlynn Choctaw family, although represented by one of the smallest name lists in this study, has a long and noted history in the literature of the Old Southwest and Indian Territory (see Chart 18). The eldest Pitchlynn, Isaac, was still alive in 1804 although in ill health. His son, John Pitchlynn, Jr., is recorded …
[92]Another ubiquitous family, the Nails (see Chart 17), was intermarried into several full-blood and mixed-blood families. Cushman, while visiting the gravesites of some noted Choctaws in Indian Territory, discussed the Nail family: “Close by that of Colonel David Folsom’s was the grave of Joel H. Nail, a brother-in-law to Colonel Key to Chart Probable = …
When prominent mixed-blood families began to emerge from the Choctaw people in the early 1800s they usually did so where one or both parents were mixed bloods themselves. A case in point is the Leflore family. According to Cushman, the brothers Michael and Louis were living in[90] Choctaw country as early as the late eighteenth …
One of the few reports which identify the Frazier family as being of mixed blood is a little known article appearing in the Revista de Indias by Frank Defina.
One of the earliest and most colorful of the mixed-blood lines is the Juzan family (see Charts 14 and 15). The noted Choctaw historian Muriel Wright discussed the history and genealogy of the family in a little-known, private letter to a Juzan descendent in 1931, writing: “A young Frenchman by the name of De Juzan, …
[80]The Jones family represents one of the longest lists of this study with sixty-one family members being listed in records (see Chart 13). Despite the probable duplication of Key to Chart Probable = P, Countryman = C, Yes = Y, Trader = T, Married = md, Mixed Blood = mb Chart 13[81a] [82]names there are …
[177]The articles of removal of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek were set into motion immediately. By 1831 and 1832 when Removal was in full force mixed bloods still maintained their positions of trust and authority within the tribe. During Removal the percentage of mixed-blood captains — the headmen and leaders of the organized emigrant …
[138]Throughout the Jeffersonian period and later, the white countrymen and mixed bloods expanded their influence over the full-blood tribal members. One aspect of this can be seen by analyzing the ratio of full-blood to mixed-blood Choctaw signers of treaties with the United States. CHART 19 Breakdown of Choctaw treaty Signers Year Treaty Full Bloods Mixed …
[102]By the beginning of the nineteenth century at least two major changes had altered the political environment affecting the Choctaw Indians. Within the Choctaw tribe several countrymen were beginning to exert influence in tribal decisions. Although not yet accepted as equals to the chiefs, white men such as Nathaniel Folsom and John Pitchlynn were respected …
There exists several thousand names from government claims records and commission hearings, as well as genealogical evidence, which indicate a broad occurrence of mixed bloods in the Choctaw tribe. This study lists the names and families of the known mixed bloods and examines their role in tribal history, especially regarding land treaties during the Jeffersonian …
The extant records concerning the traders and other countrymen are uneven in their coverage of mixed-blood families. Although only the better-known families were chronicled in the works of early regional historians and authors commenting on the Indian tribes, the existence of scores of surnames within these records indicates that mixed-blood families were widespread in the …
Sample of Mixed Blood Ubiquity: Representative Family Histories Read More »
After the discovery of the new world, trade quickly became the most important interaction between the American natives and the colonists. For the Indians it was an extension and continuation of their inter-tribal practices. Reuben Gold Thwaites, an early nineteenth-century student of the American frontier, stated that “the love of trade was strong among the …
Despite their early encounters with Hernando DeSoto, whose ruthless exploitation of the Native Americans was unabashedly cruel, the Southeastern Indians greeted white men with peaceful cooperation. Later European arrivals found that their success in the Gulf wilderness depended largely upon peace with the native inhabitants, or at least peace with one of the larger tribes. …
One of the most controversial areas of American history is that of Indian/white relations and the federal policies, which led to Indian Removal. In the early and middle nineteenth century the United States government embarked upon a program of wholesale government-sponsored emigration of tribes residing within the various states and territories. Later called the “Trail …
Choctaw Mixed Blood and the Advent of Removal: This dissertation by Samuel James Wells lists the names and families of the known mixed bloods and examines their role in tribal history, especially regarding land treaties during the Jeffersonian years preceding Removal. This dissertation includes a database of over three thousand names of known and probable mixed bloods drawn from a wide range of sources and therefore has genealogical as well as historical value.
