Friday Reprise: Pushmataha of the Choctaw, c1760-1824

The above is just one suggestion for the etymology of Pushmataha (c 1760-1824), called the greatest of all Choctaw chiefs.  Other etymologies indicate "one whose weapon is alike fatal in war or hunting", "the sapling is ready, finished for him", or "the warrior's seat is finished".  Each carries a connotation of finality, which is appropriate given the fact that this Native American leader won the admiration of both his people and the Americans for his skills in war and diplomacy.  When he undertook a project, it was done, finished to his satisfaction. 

There are numerous legends surrounding this warrior and they start with his birth.  His parents died young, possibly killed by a raid in from a neighboring tribe.  For this reason, later tradition held that Pushmataha came to be in the midst of the storm, when a lightening bolt struck a tree and up sprang a full-grown warrior.  More likely, he was born near present-day Macon, Mississippi and went through a regular childhood, learning the skills needed to become the leader he would one day be.  He went on his first war party against the Creek at age 13, which was young even in those days.  He also participated in campaigns against the Caddo and Osage tribes west of the Mississippi, between 1784-89.  Choctaw population and the resultant need for more hunting range had increased by the first decade of the nineteenth century.  So, too, had White expansion, something he was opposed to.  He spent much of that decade keeping squatters off Choctaw land.  His raids extended into Arkansas and Oklahoma, and his knowledge of those areas would prove valuable to his people and, later to the United States government. 

By 1800, Pushmataha was made Mingo or chief of the Six Towns District, one of three political divisions of the tribe.  His territory was based primarily in Mississippi.  He was known for his keen mind, his wit, and his eloquence in speaking.  He first met with United States envoys in 1802, and negotiated the Treaty of Mount Dexter in 1805, meeting with PresidentThomas Jefferson.  During the War of 1812, he also met with Tecumseh, but rejected the Shawnee leader's plan to rise against the Americans.  Pushmataha pointed out that the Choctaws and Chickasaws had lived in peace with European settlers, learning valuable technologies from them.  He warned Tecumseh that he would fight anyone who fought the United States.  With the outbreak of the War of 1812, Pushmataha allied the Choctaw with the United States, and urged the Creeks against an alliance with Great Britain.  He also offered to raise a troop of warriors to fight for the United States.  The General in charge of the district initially rebuffed that offer, but realized in time that his decision was unwise and graciously accepted.  Pushmataha led his men in several battles, ultimately being placed under Andrew Jackson's command, where he participated in the Battle of New Orleans and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.  American military leaders came to appreciate his skill in leading his men.  He was known as a strict leader who kept his warriors under control.

On his return from the War of 1812, Pushmataha was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation.  While he appreciated the White man's technological inventions, he was not keen on the missionaries who infiltrated Choctaw land and tried to prevent their work.  He introduced the cotton gin to Choctaw territory.  He also promoted education and had his five children educated.  He negotiated other treaties with the United States, including the Treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820.  This was a controversial land cession because the territory involved were core lands of the Choctaw people.  Pushmataha stood his ground to his old commander Jackson, who offered him equivalent lands in Oklahoma and Arkansas.  Pushmataha knew that those lands were less fertile and that squatters had already infiltrated those territories.  Matters came to a head during the talks.  According to the stories told, which I still need to verify, Jackson became angry and stood up, snapping, "Sir, I'll have you to understand that I'm Andrew Jackson and, by the Eternal, you'll sign that treaty!"  Pushmataha also stood and retorted, "I'll have you know that I'm Pushmataha, and by the Eternal, I shall not sign this treaty!"  Pushmataha signed only after the United States offered assurance that they would evict squatters from the lands.

In 1824, Pushmataha was growing more concerned

about squatters entering Choctaw land and the United States government's violation of it's promises to uphold Native land rights.  He took his case to Washington, D.C.  There, he met with President James Monroe and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun.  He told Calhoun, "I can say and tell the truth that no Choctaw ever drew his bow against the United States.  My nation has given of their country until it is very small.  We are in trouble."  While in Washington waiting for a response from the government, Pushmataha sat for his portrait in his army uniform.  The portraitist was Charles Bird King and the portrait hung in the Smithsonian until it was destroyed by fire and replaced with a replica.  In 1824, he developed a viral lung infection, known as croup at the time and became seriously ill.  In a rare show of respect, Andrew Jackson visited him on his deathbed.  To his fellow Choctaw who had traveled with him, Pushmataha reportedly said, " 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."

He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.  Just six years later, his people would have need of his leadership as they signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830) and began the long trek that would be known as the Trail of Tears (1831).