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Monday, August 15, 2011

Cherokee, Indian Territory Arkansas


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Boone County

Region:
 Northwest
County Seat:
 Harrison
Established:
 April 9, 1869
Parent Counties:
 Carroll, Marion
Population:
 36,903 (2010 Census)
Area:
 591.2 square miles (2000 Census)


Historical Population as per the U.S. Census:
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
-
-
-
-
-
-
7,032
12,146
15,816
16,396
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
14,318
16,098
14,937
15,860
16,260
16,116
19,073
26,067
28,297
33,948
2010









36,903










Population Characteristics as per the 2010 U.S. Census:
White
35,624
96.5%
African American
72
0.2%
American Indian
263
0.7%
Asian
156
0.4%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
21
0.1%
Some Other Race
120
0.3%
Two or More Races
647
1.8%
Hispanic Origin (may be of any race)
674
1.8%
Population Density
62.4 people per square mile
Median Household Income (2009)
$37,007
Per Capita Income (2005–2009)
$20,182
Percent of Population below Poverty Line (2009)
16.3%

Located in the Ozark Mountain highlands, Boone County has endured struggles from its creation. Political, racial, and union conflicts have drawn national attention, often overshadowing the contributions of the county’s residents and businesses
Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood Although they had no communities in the area, the Osage had claims to what would become Boone County until an 1808 treaty, and they often hunted there. Part of Boone County was in a Cherokee reservation which existed from 1818 to 1828. Most of the Cherokee lived further south in the reservation, away from the Osage presence to the north.

During this time, many name and boundary changes occurred. Becoming part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase, the area was part of Missouri Territory in 1812 when Louisiana was admitted as a state. When Arkansas became a territory, the area was part of Lawrence and Izard counties before Carroll County was established in 1833. The land that became Boone County had a small strip in Marion County and a much larger portion in Carroll County. The Arkansas legislature created Boone County from Carroll in 1869 and added the Marion County portion in 1875.
Native Americans, forced into Indian Territory along the Trail of Tears, crossed the land when it was part of Carroll County. A post office was established in 1836 at Crooked Creek, the town that would become Harrison. Some Arkansas residents gathered their wagons at Beller’s Stand, near Caravan Springs south of present-day Harrison, to head toward California where they intended to buy land and build new lives. However, their journey came to an abrupt end when, on September 11, 1857, a mob of Mormons ambushed the caravan at Mountain Meadows, Utah, and killed most of the people. The event is known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Civil War through ReconstructionThe Civil War hit the border region hard. The region, originally against secession, eventually joined the rest of the state in secession. Families divided: some fought for the Union, some for the Confederacy. Bushwhackers and jayhawkers (both often referred to as bushwhackers in this area) were a problem. Confederates gathered to plan and execute raids into Missouri. The Union destroyed Dubuque and its niter works, and the town never recovered. On Crooked Creek, Union forces destroyed a powder mill. Many people fled to Missouri, and the area’s population decreased.
After the war, residents petitioned the legislature to divide Carroll County. The legislature created Boone County on April 9, 1869. Land was taken from Marion County on the east and Carroll County on the west. Boone County’s northern boundary was designated part of the state line separating Arkansas from Missouri. Although no documentation supports it, the most widely quoted belief is that the county was named for frontiersman Daniel Boone. But some say the name is a misspelling of boon, because it was thought that the creation of a county would be a boon to residents.
Lines drawn between residents during the Civil War often resurfaced in the new county. When the county seat was selected, it was not in the established town of Bellefonte but in the new town of Harrison, where Confederate beliefs were not as strong. Towns developed. Lead Hill grew up near the site of what had been Dubuque. Smelters were built to process lead from the area. With the popularity of the healing waters in Eureka Springs in Carroll County, Boone County’s Elixir Springs was promoted.
Post Reconstruction through the Gilded AgeThe post-Reconstruction era began with the resurgence of conflict between the former Confederates and the Republicans that controlled Boone County. The ex-Confederates attempted to move the county seat from Republican-controlled Harrison to Bellefonte. After a countywide vote, it remained at Harrison.
Lead and zinc mines began to appear. Fruit crops consisted of peaches, pears, plums, and the popular “Boone County apples.” Cotton was a big cash crop until declining prices cut production in half.
Early Twentieth CenturyThe 1900s brought change with the arrival of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad. The railroads provided easier access to the county. Towns developed along the tracks, and existing towns grew. Alpena Pass requested a post office in 1901. Farmers grew more crops to sell because they had access to a larger number of buyers. Lumber became a big part of the economy as lumber mills and woodworking facilities appeared along the tracks. The production of cream started a new economic endeavor. When the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railroad set its tracks into Bergman, Boone County experienced an influx of people. By 1912, the Missouri and North Arkansas line had moved its headquarters to Harrison.
The African-American population, which had shown limited growth in each census since 1870, decreased from 142 in 1900 to seven in 1910. The sudden change was attributed to race riots that occurred in Harrison, which were thought to have been caused by the arrival of workers constructing the new rail line. Also, the quick conviction of a young black man for the assault of an elderly white woman brought a rapid decline in the black population of the county. Soon, establishments providing higher wages for black workers closed. By the time the convicted man was hanged, most black citizens had fled the county. No black residents were listed on the 1940 census.
World War I led to an increase in mining. Lead and zinc were needed for the war effort. Railroads allowed shipping from the region. The mining of zinc in Northern Arkansas, which included Boone County, tripled, peaking by 1917. The increase in production and the arrival of miners contributed to the county’s economy. Boone County men answered the call to fight in Europe. As in the rest of the nation, Liberty Bond rallies were held. Women knitted socks and sweaters to be sent to servicemen.
The county garnered national attention on February 18, 1921, when Henry Starr and accomplices tried to rob the Peoples National Bank in Harrison. Starr was shot by former bank president W. J. Myers and died four days later from the wound. Later that month, a strike of the Missouri and North Arkansas line occurred when workers protested reduced wages. Anger toward strike breakers resulted in threats and assaults. Trains were derailed, bridges were destroyed, and union officials were ordered out of town. Forced into receivership, the line was sold, and it reopened with lower wages. The strike continued, ending in 1923, when a mob hanged Ed Gregor on a railroad bridge and other strikers left town. More positive national attention appeared when Earl Rowland, pioneer aviator from Valley Springs, won an air race, the Ford Reliability Tour, in 1925.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Harrison was home to district headquarters for the Arkansas Highway Commission. Canning factories processed locally grown vegetables. Tourism increased as visitors hiked the Hemmed-in Hollow trail and toured Diamond Cave in neighboring Newton County. A levee was built to contain Crooked Creek, which occasionally overflowed. Bridges and roads were built, and some roads were widened. But the hard times forced many families to seek jobs outside the county.
World War II through the Faubus EraBoone County resident Jack Williams posthumously received the Medal of Honor for courageous action at Iwo Jima during World War II. Progress followed World War II as a natural gas line was brought into Harrison and an airport was built. Duncan Parking Meter Company (today Duncan Parking Technology) moved to Boone County in 1947. They continue to produce parking meters that are used across North America. The voter-approved hospital was completed in 1950, the same year a garment factory located in the county. A food-processing plant followed. Livestock and lumber were the primary economic producers. Chalkboard maker Claridge Products and Equipment, Inc., moved to Boone County in 1955. Pace Industries, a die-casting facility, incorporated in its present location in Boone County in 1970.
A dam on the White River was completed in 1951, resulting in Bull Shoals reservoir and the relocation of Lead Hill and two highways. Diamond City grew at the edge of Bull Shoals Lake. After years of problems, strikes, and changes in ownership and names, the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad closed.
County residents took an active part in political life. John Paul Hammerschmidt was elected Third District congressman in 1967. He served twenty-four years. J. Frank Holt served as state attorney general in 1961. After his resignation, Jack Holt Jr. completed the term; he became chief justice of Arkansas in 1985.
Modern EraWith a continually increasing population came educational and economic benefits. Voters approved the creation of North Arkansas Community College, now North Arkansas College. Tyson Foods constructed a feed mill in Bergman to handle the increase in poultry production and provide for more growers. The building of a regional distribution center for the U.S. Postal Service created more jobs. Dogpatch USA, an amusement park in Newton County, helped Boone County’s tourism industry. The Buffalo River headquarters is located in Harrison and draws many tourists to the area each year.
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), based in Harrison, drew national attention to Boone County in the late 1980s and 1990s. Conflicts began when Thom Robb was elected grand wizard. Stories of the purchase of land for a headquarters at Zinc, national meetings, and the request to adopt a one-mile section of U.S. 65 kept the county in the news. Although the KKK participated in the Adopt-A-Highway program from August 1993 to July 1997, it has ceased participation.
The economy still is driven by agriculture and wood products, as well as service and manufacturing. The top three employers are FedEx Freight, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, and Pace Industries, an aluminum-die-casting company. In 2004, it ranked sixth in the state in beef cattle. The area draws many retirees. Tourism continues to play a role in the economy; travelers venture into Boone County as they head north on U.S. 65 to Branson, Missouri, or take a leisurely drive along Arkansas Scenic 7.
For additional information:Boone County Historian. Harrison, AR: Boone County Historical and Railroad Society (2003–).
Boone County Historical and Railroad Society. History of Boone County. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Co., 1998.
Blevins, Brooks. Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarkers and Their Image. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
Hanley, Ray, and Diane Hanley. The Postcard History Series: Carroll and Boone County, Arkansas. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 1999.
Rea, Ralph R. Boone County and Its People. Van Buren, AR: Press-Argus, 1955.
C. J. Miller
Springdale, Arkansas
Related Butler Center Lesson Plans: Naming our Counties (Grades 2-8)
Last Updated 8/9/2011
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Cherokee

The Europeans named the Cherokee as one of the Five Civilized Tribes. (The other four were the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.) Nonetheless, by the 1780s, the traditional homeland of the Cherokee in the Southern Appalachians had been reduced to lands in eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and western North Carolina. Some Cherokee began moving to the west into what would become Arkansas. This was the start of a continuing relationship between the Cherokee and Arkansas that extends to this day.
Migration during the Settlement and Early Statehood EraCherokee migrated from their homeland to what became Arkansas from the 1780s to the 1820s. Their home territory in Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and western North and South Carolina had been threatened by the expansion of Euro-American settlement, and the Cherokee had lost numerous military and judicial battles with the newcomers. Cherokee had been exploring west of the Mississippi, and as many as a thousand reacted to the setbacks in their home territory by moving west into Spanish Louisiana out of the reach of the English colonies. The first Cherokee focus in Arkansas was the St. Francis River drainage and Crowley’s Ridge, with place names such as Doublehead Bluff in Cross County (named after a leader) and Big and Little Telico Creeks in St. Francis County (named after a major town in the homeland) bearing their imprint. Crow Creek in Cross County was probably not named after the bird but rather after the Crowtown Cherokee settlement. The Crowtown settlement was itself named after another homeland town. Early migrants who led parties of Cherokee families to eastern Arkansas included Connetoo (also known as John Hill), Unacata (also known as White Man Killer), William “Red-Headed Will” Webber, George Duvall, and Moses Price (also known as Wohsi).
The New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811–1812 disrupted these settlements. In June of 1812, Cherokee prophet Skawuaw (also known as the Swan) in a speech at Crowtown warned of further destruction for the Cherokee unless they gave up Anglo-American ways. In response to the quakes and this prophecy, many Cherokee abandoned eastern Arkansas and moved into the Arkansas River Valley west of what is now Little Rock (Pulaski County). This area of mountains and river valleys was similar to the foothills of the Appalachians that had been their homeland. There, unfortunately, they clashed with the Osage, who claimed the area as hunting grounds, and with American settlers moving across the Mississippi River. (Fort Smith in Sebastian County was later established to keep peace between the Cherokee and Osage.) Nonetheless, many groups of families came, along with parties that continued to drift west from the homeland. Major figures included Black Fox, Dutch, Spring Frog, Toluntuskee, and Takatoka. Some also eventually moved to the Red River area, including groups under Du-wa-li (also known as the Bowl) and later under Dutch.
Back in the homeland, increasing federal and state pressure on the remaining Cherokee led to the Turkeytown Treaty of July 8, 1817, in which land in the east was exchanged for land in northwest Arkansas, north of the Arkansas River and south of the White River. The goal of the Arkansas Cherokee was to protect their holdings and thereby create a new homeland in northwest Arkansas, although many of the Eastern Cherokee saw the treaty as a betrayal. The goal of the U.S. government was that all Cherokee would give up their native land and move to Arkansas. As many as 4000 may have done this, becoming known as the Western Cherokee. Emigrants included parties of families led by the principal chief John Jolly (brother to Tolluntuskee), Dick Justice (also known as Dek-keh the Just), the Glass, Walter “Wat” Webber, John Rogers, Tom Graves, John and David Brown, and, in 1829, Sequoyah (also known as George Gist or Guest), inventor of the Cherokee syllabary. The remaining 35,000 or so Cherokee stayed in the homeland.
Because the Cherokee owned the territory together in fee simple—that is, they were given the land as a group instead of in individual parcels—rather than it being managed for them by the U.S. government, the Arkansas land was not considered a reservation. The Western Cherokee established scattered family farmsteads and farms complete with cattle and some even with African-American slaves. The dispersed families were organized in traditional “towns,” spread out along tributaries on the north side of the Arkansas River, places such as Galla Creek, Illinois Bayou, Piney Creek, Spadra Creek, Horsehead Creek, and Mulberry River (from Pope County to Franklin County respectively), as well as Dutch Creek and Spring Creek south of the river (in Yell County). Others settled in the hills and valleys farther into the Ozarks.
Cherokee LifeThe Arkansas towns were held together by ties brought west from the homeland, principally kinship ties traced through females. Their centers included a council house and a stickball court. The Western Cherokee were moving toward a centralized government, with a governing council and a principal chief—this was John Jolly after 1818. Some Western Cherokee, such as Tolluntuskee, invited Protestant missionaries who founded Dwight Mission in 1820 near what is now Russellville (Pope County) so that Cherokee children could learn Anglo-American ways. Ironically, the mission was in a location firmly under the control of Takatoka, who opposed its goals.
The Cherokee built mills, cleared land for farming and pasture, and generally improved their holdings, becoming the first real agricultural and entrepreneurial pioneers in northwest Arkansas. In what would become Pope County, for example, Sequoyah established a salt works on the north fork of the Illinois Bayou, and the Glass did the same on Hackers Creek.
The British naturalist Thomas Nuttall described the Arkansas Cherokee well in 1819 on his travels up the Arkansas River: “Both banks of the river, as we proceeded, were lined with the houses and farms of the Cherokees, and though their dress was a mixture of indigenous and European taste, yet in their houses, which are decently furnished, and in the farms, which were well fenced and stocked with cattle… argue a propitius [sic] progress in their population. Their superior industry, either as hunters or farmers, proves the value of property among them.” Nuttall’s description of leader John Jolly is particularly telling. Nuttall met Jolly and his wife at Walter Webber’s store at the mouth of Illinois Bayou on April 9, 1819. Reported Nuttall, “I should scarcely have distinguished him from an American, except by his language. He was very plain, prudent, and unassuming in his dress and manners; a Franklin amongst his countrymen, and affectionately called the beloved father.” Jolly and his thousands of Cherokee neighbors were frontiers people, but they also strove to maintain their identity as Native Americans.
Indian Removal and the Civil War EraPressure on the Western Cherokee by the federal government and the new Arkansas Territory eventually led to the Treaty of Washington on May 6, 1828, which ceded the Arkansas lands to the United States. Most of the Western Cherokee moved to Indian Territory in northeast Oklahoma, leaving houses, farms, orchards, and mills to be occupied by the Anglo-Americans who came to the area. These Western Cherokee became known as the Old Settlers when they were officially reunited with the main group of Cherokee following Indian Removal a few years later.
As many as 30,000 Cherokee passed through Arkansas on their way to Indian Territory in Oklahoma by land or water or a combination of the two between 1834 and 1839 as part of Indian Removal. The Trail of Tears left hundreds of dead buried in shallow graves and weakened others so that they died at the end of the journey. Some Arkansans noted the groups with sorrow, and at least one, Dr. J. C. Roberts, died while tending Cherokee cholera victims at Cadron (Faulkner County). However, Indian Removal also offered many Arkansans a chance to sell food to support the Indians and their animals en route, as well as a chance to profit from providing passage on steamboats on the rivers, wagons when the rivers were too low, and ferries across the many streams for those traveling over land.
The Cherokee Nation persisted in Indian Territory on the western border of Arkansas but not altogether peacefully. For example, factional conflicts among the Cherokee that arose during the final dissolution of the homeland in the 1830s led to civil war that lasted until 1846, though war effectively broke out again as part of the U.S. Civil War, with Cherokee fighting in both Union and Confederate forces in Indian Territory and sometimes in Arkansas. This violence led to disruptions, lawlessness, and refugees moving back and forth across the border, with some remaining in Arkansas. In more peaceful times, Indian Territory provided a market for agricultural produce and manufactured goods, allowing profit to be made by Anglo-American farmers, traders, and shippers. In hard times, Cherokee families sometimes moved into Arkansas looking for work.
Modern-day Perceptions of the CherokeeThe concept of Cherokee is a powerful popular perception in Arkansas as a result of two centuries of Cherokee presence in the state or in neighboring Oklahoma. Because of familiarity with this one group, for example, the importance of historical native peoples of Arkansas such as the Quapaw and the Caddo is often minimized, and the 10,000 years of prehistoric Indian life and resulting artifacts are sometimes erroneously thought to be products of the Cherokee. Many Arkansans trace their Indian heritage to a Cherokee grandmother or great-grandmother who was a “princess,” a claim that may or may not be true (there was no such position as princess until powwows began in the mid-twentieth century) but certainly stems from the time when Cherokee women held great influence. Some individuals and groups proclaim Cherokee ancestry but are not officially recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Only three groups are official: the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The adaptations made by the Cherokee to American society, the mobility of Cherokee individuals and small groups throughout the centuries, the resistance of many to government intrusion, and the prejudice that dominated the Anglo-American view of Native Americans until the last couple of decades all introduced ambiguities into the question of who might or might not be Indian. But when people in Arkansas celebrate their Indian heritage (even though they might dress in Plains Indian styles), they generally associate themselves with the Cherokee.
For additional information:Cherokee Archival Project. http://www.rootsweb.com/~cherokee/ (accessed June 6, 2005).
Cherokee Heritage Center. http://www.cherokeeheritage.org/ (accessed June 6, 2005).
Cherokee Nation. http://www.cherokee.org/ (accessed June 6, 2005).
Davis, Hester A. “The Cherokee in Arkansas: An Invisible Archeological Resource.” In Visions and Revisions: Ethnohistoric Perspectives on Southern Cultures, edited by George Sabo III and William Schneider. Southern Anthropological Society Proceedings 20. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987.
Dickens, Roy S. “The Origins and Development of Cherokee Culture.” In The Cherokee Nation, edited by Duane H. King. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1979.
Everett, Diana. The Texas Cherokees: A People between Two Fires, 1819–1840. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Foreman, Grant. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974.
Harmon, Michael Anthony. Eighteenth Century Lower Cherokee Adaptation and Use of Material Culture. Volumes in Historical Archaeology. Columbia: The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1986.
Key, Joseph Patrick. “Indians and Ecological Conflict in Territorial Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 59 (Summer 2000): 127–146.
Lankford, George. “The Cherokee Sojourn in North Arkansas.” Independence County Chronicle 18 (January 1977): 2–18.
Myers, Robert A. “Cherokee Pioneers in Arkansas: The St. Francis Years, 1785-1813.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 56 (Summer 1997): 127–157. Stewart-Abernathy, Leslie C. “Some Archeological Perspectives on the Arkansas Cherokee.” Arkansas Archeologist 37 (1996): 39–54.
Turrentine, G. R. “Dwight Mission.” Arkansas Valley Historical Papers 25 (April 1962): 1–11.
Vance, David L. Early History of Pope County. Mabelvale, AR: Foreman Payne Publishers, 1970.
Washburn, Cephas. Reminiscences of the Indians. Conway, AR: Oldbuck Press, 1993.
Leslie Stewart-Abernathy
Arkansas Archeological Survey, Russellville
Related Butler Center Lesson Plans: Is that how it happened? (3-4); Museum of Gray Sky (Grades 5-8)
Last Updated 8/11/2011
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