Collections in the Native Americans Category

Clark Wright Papers

Clark Wright was a well-known Unionist in southwest Missouri. A native of Highland County, Ohio, he married Sarah Hixson on February 25, 1847 in Lewisburg. They settled in Polk County, Missouri in 1858. Wright saw combat in Missouri and Arkansas before being transferred to Mississippi with the 6th Missouri Cavalry in 1863. His letters describe the experiences of a prominent cavalry officer in the first half of the war.

John S. Gray Papers

John S. Gray enlisted in the 1st Light Artillery (Kansas) on July 24, 1861. In March 1863, Gray wrote a friend in Springfield, Missouri, describing conditions in the area. Gray observed that the threat of guerrilla attacks had diminished greatly. Although a number of Native American soldiers were deserting the Confederate cause and joining the Federals, Gray complained they were of little use to the Union cause. Gray also described how 87 Confederate prisoners escaped from Springfield and headed back to Confederate lines. Finally, Gray expressed hope that General James G. Blunt would soon be transferred to Missouri.

Peter Wellington Alexander Papers

The Peter Wellington Alexander papers contain a significant collection of documents from Thomas C. Hindman’s military service from 1862-1863. Hindman assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi District on May 31, 1862, and his papers cover actions in southern Missouri, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory; including battles at Newtonia, Missouri and Cane Hill and Prairie Grove, Arkansas. The collection consists of military orders, telegrams, correspondence, military reports and other documents.

Captain Maxwell Phillips Order Book

Captain Maxwell Phillips served in the Third Regiment Indian Home Guards, part of the Kansas Infantry during the Civil War. He was commissioned on May 28, 1863. Phillips recorded in great detail the official procedures and events that took place at Fort Gibson. Phillips described obstacles the regiment faced; such as desertion, cattle rustling, and improper processing of paperwork. The letters contained in this collection reveal the close ties between the Federal officers and the Native Americans that they lived and served with. Phillips stressed the importance of the Native Americans to the Union’s cause and how invaluable they were as allies for the servicemen stationed in the Kansas Territory.

Chester White Papers

Chester L. White enlisted in the 2nd Ohio Cavalry on October 10, 1861. This letter, dated June 14, 1862, describes and engagement with Stand Waite and the First Cherokee Mounted Rifles in Indian Territory. The 2nd Ohio Cavalry was organized in Cleveland Ohio, but was sent to the Missouri-Kansas border for duty. The regiment participated in numerous military engagements in the Trans-Mississippi including, capture of Fort Gibson, occupation of Newtonia, and skirmishes at Carthage, Cow Hill, Cow Skin Prairie.

Act to Define the Status of Freedmen and their Descendants – ca. 1881

The Act to Define the Status of Freedmen and their Descendants sought to establish the rights and privileges of African Americans within the Cherokee Nation. The document defined freedmen as those who resided in the Cherokee Nation at the commencement of the American Civil War, those who were at that time slaves of any Cherokee or other citizen, those who were liberated by voluntary act or by law, and those who had not return to the Cherokee country within the time specified within the Treaty of 1866. These men became adopted citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and were granted the corresponding rights and privileges as adopted citizens. The Act was written after 1880, and a proposed date of 1881 has been established, but it has not been possible to define an exact date.

Quarter Master Records- Deposition of Edward Bates

Edward Bates testified regarding the destruction of 1,000 tons of hay under the control of A.W. Robb, Quarter Master of the 3rd Indian Home Guards. Bates testified that Robb left the hay stacks unguarded for several months in the fall of 1864, allowing African American and Native American refugees to steal the property. Furthermore, Bates reported that Robb left the hay stacks uncovered and they became ruined by the weather. Robb was removed from his position on March 1, 1865 and the United States Army inventoried the property in his office. The inventory team, which included Bates, found only 50 tons of hay remained and all of it was unfit for use.

Young-Corman Family Papers

The Young-Corman Family Papers are the culmination of the marriage of James B. Young and Alice Corman. Young served in the 9th Kansas Cavalry with Isaac and Edward Corman, Alice’s brothers. The three men wrote Alice and the rest of their families throughout the Civil War. Young and the Corman brothers saw little military combat, but heavily patrolled the western frontier. Their letters reveal the political atmosphere of the time and difficulties faced by citizens who remained on the Kansas-Missouri border.

Union Records of Scouts and Spies

Both the Union and Confederacy employed the use of scouts and spies throughout the Civil War to gather war intelligence. Many spies were civilians who were able to immerse themselves within enemy encampments and gather valuable information; such as, the location and movement of enemy regiments and their strength in numbers. This collection focuses on Union intelligence efforts during the war, and the employment of women, African American and Native American spies.

United States Colored Troops 79th Infantry Order Book

The 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry was one of the earliest African-American regiments organized during the Civil War. This regimental order book documents correspondences, general orders and special orders between 1863 and 1864. During this period the 1st Kansas Colored was stationed in southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, western Arkansas, and Indian Territory, Oklahoma.

In October 1862, Soldiers from the regiment engaged Rebel troops at the Battle of Island Mound in Bates County, MO. This skirmish earned them the distinction of the first African-American troops from a northern state to see action as soldiers. The 1st Kansas Colored became seasoned veterans by the end of the war, participating in several battles and engagements. On December 13, 1864, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry was re-designated as the 79th U.S. Colored Troops.

George Falconer & Albert Ellithorpe Diary

This extraordinary diary contains entries written by both Union and Confederate soldiers. It originally belonged to George Falconer, enrolled in Col J. J. Clarkson’s Confederate Cavalry. During the Battle of Locust Grove, 3 July 1862, Falconer was taken prisoner, and Maj. Albert Ellithorpe, Indian Home Guards, 1st Kansas Infantry, captured the diary. Most of the entries are written by Ellithorpe, who described engagements with Confederate soldiers, Kansas politicians and bushwhackers. Ellithorpe participated in several battles including Locust Grove, Cane Hill, Prairie Grove and a smaller engagement with Thomas Livingston’s bushwhackers.

A Confederate Girlhood

A Confederate Girlhood, the memoir of Louisa Cheairs McKenny Sheppard, reflects upon the life of a young lady raised in the Ozarks during the Civil War. While her reminiscence is decidedly sentimental, it is a compelling representation of wartime and economic struggles and refugee life. Louisa was twelve when the War began, and she recalled the impacted it had on Springfield. Her family eventually fled Missouri for her uncle’s plantation in Mississippi. Over time the family moved to Arkansas, and did not return to Springfield until after the War. A Confederate Girlhood is a recollection of Louisa’s youthful adventures and a tribute to her beloved grandmother.

Clinton Owen Bates Memoir

“Old Age,” written by Clinton Owen Bates in 1949, reflects on the life of a young boy growing up in Arkansas during the Civil War, and his career as a teacher. Bates was born in 1857, and grew up on a farm in Fayetteville. The Bates family had split loyalty among the North and South, and even as a young child, Bates remembered the tension that the War brought into their home. Bates recalled the bloody conflict along the border of Missouri and Kansas, encounters with runaway slaves, and various Trans-Mississippi Theater battles. After the War, Bates began his career as a teacher. He taught at the Cherokee Headquarters on the Tahlequah Indian Reservation and later held a position in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Hunter-Hagler Collection

The Hunter-Hagler collection provides rare documentation on how women endured the War in the Ozarks. The letters are written by Elizabeth Hunter and her daughters, Priscilla A. Hunter and Charlotte Elizabeth (Hunter) Hagler. The Hunters write Margaret Hunter Newberry, who married and left the family farm. The letters describe how the Hunter family survived harsh winters, sold goods at the market, and provide graphic details of murder, theft and destruction caused by bushwhackers in Jasper and Lawrence Counties. Perpetual violence caused the Hunter family to leave their beloved homestead, and flee to Illinois in late 1864. Elizabeth wrote her daughter affectionately and often, and through these letters Elizabeth relates the brutal conditions in which the family endured.

Joseph Trego Letter

Joseph H. Trego, a Lieutenant in the 5th Kansas Cavalry, wrote his brother Thomas Trego about his experiences around Kansas City in early October 1861. The 5th Kansas Cavalry was organized on July 12, 1861, and many of its companies were stationed along the Kansas and Missouri border. Trego made several remarks about the poor leadership and judgment of Samuel D. Sturgis, and at one point humorously called him “Prince Sturges.” Trego provided accounts of Union forces raiding civilians in Missouri, and of a Confederate spy who destroyed an ordinance wagon in their camp. Trego informs his brother that he might be marching south again to protect southern Kansas from invading Missouri and Cherokee soldiers. This single letter exemplifies many of the hardship that faced civilians in Missouri and Kansas during the Civil War.

The Lyman Gibson Bennett Collection

Lyman Gibson Bennett enlisted in the 36th Illinois Infantry in 1861. Prior to the War he trained as a surveyor and civil engineer, working for the railroad. The military utilized Bennett’s skills as a cartographer, and assigned him to survey battlefields, road systems, and fortifications. Bennett’s diaries document his daily duties as both a soldier and an engineer for the military. His regiment participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, which he describes in vivid detail. Bennett was discharged from the military in August 1864.

In 1865, Bennett joined the engineering department of General Samuel R. Curtis as a civilian. He mapped the 1864 battlefields of Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition. Bennett was then assigned to survey fortifications in Nebraska and Colorado, and eventually served as an engineering officer on the Powder River Expedition of 1865. Bennett’s diaries provide colorful insight to his perception of the Ozarks and its inhabitants.

John W. Fisher Diary

John W. Fisher’s diary documents his duties in the Missouri State Guard from mid October, 1861, through the first week of January, 1862. Fisher was born in Virginia, and lived in Westport, Missouri prior to the War. Fisher served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Missouri State Guard. The diary cites Fisher’s movement through Missouri and Indian Territory. Fisher survived the war, ending his days in a Confederate Veterans home in Harrisonburg, Missouri, in 1910.

The Enrolled Missouri Militia, 4th Military District, Order Book

On August 17, 1861 Missouri Governor Hamilton R. Gamble ordered a proclamation establishing the Missouri State Militia for defense of the State against guerrilla activity. Gamble soon realized the need for additional troops, and on July 22, 1862 he issued General Order Number 29 organizing the Enrolled Missouri Militia (EMM). General Colley B. Holland assumed command of the 4th Military district, consisting of the counties in southwest Missouri, on October 30, 1862. Based in Springfield, Missouri, roughly 2,500 men reported for duty, operating under the jurisdiction of the State of Missouri. Holland’s documented all activities related to his command in the enrolled Missouri Militia order book for the 4th Military District in Southwest Missouri, from November 1862 through May 1863. His reports cover the Battles of Springfield and Hartville and also include details about depredation in Southwest Missouri and the extensive guerrilla activity that took place in the region.