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Opothleyaholo and the Loyal Muskogee: Their Flight to Kansas in the Civil War

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A few years ago, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating the Native American leader and rebel brigadier, Stand Watie. Watie became a minor hero in the Confederacy when he succeeded in driving the loyal native population out of what was then the "Indian Territory" into southern Kansas, bringing the Indian Territory safely, if temporarily, under Confederate control.

The primary victims of his campaign were the Creeks, or as they prefer to be called, the Muskogee, led by their elder, Opothleyaholo. Although we all know the Civil war as an event that brought brother against brother, I, for one, have never thought of it as an event that also divided Native Americans. Here, in this relatively slim volume, the author Lela McBride corrects that idea, and tells the story from the point of view of some of the native people who chose to stay with the Union.

Suffering came with a vengeance to the Muskogee in the late months of 1861, when they were forced on a second "trail of tears," northward across the plains from the Indian Territory that would later become Oklahoma into the relatively loyal area of Kansas. But their loyalty was hardly well rewarded. Driven from their homes in winter by the Cherokee, they were seen as unwelcome interlopers by the Kansans who had settled the area they fled to, and they were further stripped of staples and dignity by the Indian agents charged with their support. The author has done a very thorough job of researching her story. She provides the reader with a wealth of background information, while relating this overlooked Civil War story. Here you can read the full story of the proud Muskogee, and of yet another instance of Native Americans who supported our government and its cause, and who received scant reward in return.