http://standwatie915.scv.org/
Born at Oothcaloga in the Cherokee Nation, Georgia (near present day
Rome, Georgia) on December 12, 1806, Stand Watie's Cherokee name was
De-ga-ta-ga, or "he stands." He also was known as Isaac S. Watie. He
attended Moravian Mission School at Springplace Georgia, and served
as a clerk of the Cherokee Supreme Court and Speaker of the Cherokee
National Council prior to removal.
As a member of the Ridge-Watie-Boundinot faction of the Cherokee
Nation, Watie supported removal to the Cherokee Nation, West, and
signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, in defiance of Principal
Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokees. Watie moved to the
Cherokee Nation, West (present-day Oklahoma), in 1837 and settled at
Honey Creek. Following the murders of his uncle Major Ridge, cousin
John Ridge, and brother Elias Boundinot (Buck Watie) in 1839, and his
brother Thomas Watie in 1845, Stand Watie assumed the leadership of
the Ridge-Watie-Boundinot faction and was involved in a long-running
blood feud with the followers of John Ross. He also was a leader of
the Knights of the Golden Circle, which bitterly opposed
abolitionism.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Watie quickly joined the Southern
cause. He was commissioned a colonel on July 12, 1861, and raised a
regiment of Cherokees for service with the Confederate army. Later,
when Chief John Ross signed an alliance with the South, Watie's men
were organized as the Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles. After Ross
fled Indian Territory, Watie was elected principal chief of the
Confederate Cherokees in August 1862.
A portion of Watie's command saw action at Oak Hills (August 10,
1861) in a battle that assured the South's hold on Indian Territory
and made Watie a Confederate military hero. Afterward, Watie helped
drive the pro-Northern Indians out of Indian Territory, and following
the Battle of Chustenahlah (December 26, 1861) he commanded the
pursuit of hte fleeing Federals, led by Opothleyahola, and drove them
into exile in Kansas. Although Watie's men were exempt from service
outside Indian Territory, he led his troops into Arkansas in the
spring of 1861 to stem a Federal invasion of the region. Joining with
Maj. GEn. Earl Van Dorn's command, Watie took part in the bAttle of
Elkhorn Tavern (March 5-6, 1861). On the first day of fighting, the
Southern Cherokees, which were on the left flank of the Confederate
line, captured a battery of Union artillery before being forced to
abandon it. Following the Federal victory, Watie's command screened
the southern withdrawal.
Watie, or troops in his command, participated in eighteen battles and
major skirmishes with Federal troop during the Civil War, including
Cowskin Prairie (April 1862), Old Fort Wayne (October 1862), Webber's
Falls (April 1863), Fort Gibson (May 1863), Cabin Creek (July 1863),
and Gunter's Prairie (August 1864). In addition, his men were engaged
in a multitude of smaller skirmishes and meeting engagements in
Indian Territory and neighboring states. Because of his wide-ranging
raids behind Union lines, Watie tied down thousands of Federal troops
that were badly needed in the East.
Watie's two greatest victories were the capture of the federal steam
boat J.R. Williams on June 15, 1864, and the seizure of $1.5 million
worth of supplies in a federal wagon supply train a the Second battle
of Cabin Creek on September 19, 1864. Watie was promoted to brigadier
general on May 6, 1864, and given command of the first Indian
Brigade. He was the only Indian to achieve the rank of general in the
Civil War. Watie surrendered on June 23, 1865, the last Confederate
general to lay down his arms.
After the war, Watie served as a member of the Southern Cherokee
delegation during the negotiation of the Cherokee Reconstruction
Treaty of 1866. He then abandoned public life and returned to his old
home along Honey Creek. He died on September 9, 1871.
Commander
R. Stan Chambers
Adjutant
James Tolbert
Lt. Commander
W.S. "Buddy" Autry
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
CHEROKEE BRAVES FLAG
http://scvcamp15.com/diversity_native_cherokee_braves.html
The Cherokee Braves Battle Flag was presented to the Cherokees as a
confederate battle flag by a representative of the
Confederacy, "Albert Pike", at the signing of the treaty that brought
the Cherokee into the Confederacy on the 7th of October 1861.
The original flag was Stars and Bars with eleven white stars in a
circle in the blue field, representing the states in the Confederacy.
The Cherokee modified the flag to create one for battle of their own.
In the field of the white bar they added the words Cherokee Braves
and in the center of the circle of white stars in the blue field they
placed five red stars, representing the five civilized tribes, all in
the confederacy, with the larger red star in the center representing
the Cherokees.
The Confederate Indian troops, under the command of General Stand
Watie carried the flag as their banner, also used by the men as their
national flag. The Confederate Cherokee government was set up in the
Canadian District, in the southern part of the Cherokee Nation.
The dream of having a separate, independent and sovereign Cherokee
government was never realized. General Stand Watie was the only
Cherokee Native American to attain the rank of general in any
military and was the last one to surrender at the end of the war.
General Stand Waite and the Cherokee Braves
General Stand Watie was born in the Oothcaloga Valley south of
present-day Calhoun, Ga. in 1806. His birth name was Tak-er-taw-ker
meaning "Stands Firm" and later Degadoga for "He Stands On Two
Feet". Baptized as Isaac he later combined a portion of his Cherokee
name with his father's name Oo-wat-ie to form Stand Watie in English.
Little is known of his early years in Georgia, he may have been
educated in Georgia mission schools that were set up to Englishise
the Cherokees. He was the brother of Buck Oowatie who later took the
name of Elias Boudinot and became a newspaper editor, and the nephew
of the prominent Cherokee Chief Major Ridge.
The Oowatie and Ridge families were two of the more prominent
slave owning aristocrat families of the Cherokees owning most of the
estimated 1600 owned by Cherokees. Those in the lower classes, poorer
than the Ridge and Oowatie factions tended to be less pro slavery and
were more traditionalist and less likely to favor a move west from
Georgia and the western Carolinas.
By 1820 one third of the tribe moved west of the Mississippi
River. Those who remained began to split into factions. Those who
favored fighting removal to the west rallied behind John Ross, a
Scottish Cherokee from Tennessee. Ross had only one eighth Cherokee
but considered them to be his people over his white counterparts and
was extremely popular having support of the majority.
On the opposing side was the Oowatie Ridge faction who believed
that the lower classes of the tribe would never make it in the white
mans world, believing that in years to come they would be decimated
even lower to drunkenness and poverty and that moving west was in the
tribes best interest.
In 1827 John Ross was elected to lead and represented them in
their first centralized government to help them deal with the white
world around them. By 1832 the rivalry between those of the Ross
faction and the Oowatie Ridge factions began to grow, and in the next
few years worsened. In 1835 it came to a head when the the Ridge
faction supported a treaty with Washington that would give the
Cherokees 5 million dollars in return for their removal west of the
Mississippi. The Ross side refused to sign hoping to hold out for at
least 20 million. It was clear that no treaty would be made at that
time since the majority of Cherokees sided with the Ross faction.
Then in December 1835 the Ridge Oowatie faction managed to sign
the Treaty at New Echota Georgia receiving $15 million dollars and
800,000 acres of land in Oklahoma for the Cherokees. They believed
they had secured the best terms possible in the best interest of the
tribe while the Ross followers considered it an act of treason
against them.
The Trail of Tears followed in 1838 with Federal and State
militias enforcing the removal. In 1839 the bitter animosity between
the two tribes remained in Oklahoma. A hundred or so Cherokees from
anti treaty faction met in secret and decided on death for the the
Ridge and Watie men. On June 22, 1839 John Ridge was dragged from his
home in Indian Territory and was stabbed to death. His father Major
Ridge was ambushed and killed in Washington County Arkansas. Elias
Boudinot the brother of Stand Watie was attacked at his home and axed
to death. Stand Watie also marked for death was forewarned and
escaped.
John Ross denounced the murders but did nothing in aiding the
capture of the killers. He was accused of hiding them in his home by
the now Watie faction while Ross denied involvement in the murders.
President Andrew Jackson wrote to Stand Watie now the leader of the
former Ridge Oowatie faction and denounced Ross. On March 7, 1862
Stand Watie was part of Earl Van Dorn's 16,000 man army in the area
of Fayetteville Arkansas attempting to encircle the right flanks of
Major General Curtis's 12,000 troops. Curtis was on the defensive
entrenched at Pea Ridge about thirty miles northeast of Fayetteville.
After two days of fighting Van Dorn was unable to penetrate and ended
up withdrawing. Stand Watie had distiquished himself by leading his
command in capturing a Union artillery battery and by committing a
skillful rear guard action stopping a disaster.
It was here during this action that Stand Watie was noticed by his
superiors for his bravery and exceptional military abilities, which
got him considered for a higher command in the Confederate Army. The
First Cherokee Mounted Rifles was formed on August 31, 1862 with
Colonel Stand Watie commanding, with Lieutenant Colonel Calvin Parks
second in command. This unit along with others adopted the Cherokee
Braves flag as their regimental colours. After Pea Ridge many of the
Cherokees left the war, but Stand Watie and his Cherokee Braves
remained for the duration of the war scouring the region using
guerilla warfare, cutting Union supply lines and disrupting Federal
operations throughout the Indian Territory.
He was feared by his loyal Cherokee counterparts for the next three
years. On May 10, 1864 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier
General, the only Native American to reach the rank of General.
Along with this first, he was also the last Confederate General
officer to formally cease hostilities two months after Appomattox and
Bentonville. His formal agreement to end hostilities was issued on
June 25, 1865 and like Col. Mosby of Virginia he never officially
surrendered. Watie had displayed unfailing devotion and bravery
during his service to the Confederacy. He died on September 9, 1871
and was laid to rest at Polson Cemetery in Delaware County, Oklahoma.
In 1995 the US postal Service issued a set of 20 commemorative stamps
showing 16 individuals and 4 battles of the Civil War. General Stand
Watie was one of those honored along with others such as Jefferson
Davis, Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston.
The Cherokee Braves Battle Flag was presented to the Cherokees as a
confederate battle flag by a representative of the
Confederacy, "Albert Pike", at the signing of the treaty that brought
the Cherokee into the Confederacy on the 7th of October 1861.
The original flag was Stars and Bars with eleven white stars in a
circle in the blue field, representing the states in the Confederacy.
The Cherokee modified the flag to create one for battle of their own.
In the field of the white bar they added the words Cherokee Braves
and in the center of the circle of white stars in the blue field they
placed five red stars, representing the five civilized tribes, all in
the confederacy, with the larger red star in the center representing
the Cherokees.
The Confederate Indian troops, under the command of General Stand
Watie carried the flag as their banner, also used by the men as their
national flag. The Confederate Cherokee government was set up in the
Canadian District, in the southern part of the Cherokee Nation.
The dream of having a separate, independent and sovereign Cherokee
government was never realized. General Stand Watie was the only
Cherokee Native American to attain the rank of general in any
military and was the last one to surrender at the end of the war.
General Stand Waite and the Cherokee Braves
General Stand Watie was born in the Oothcaloga Valley south of
present-day Calhoun, Ga. in 1806. His birth name was Tak-er-taw-ker
meaning "Stands Firm" and later Degadoga for "He Stands On Two
Feet". Baptized as Isaac he later combined a portion of his Cherokee
name with his father's name Oo-wat-ie to form Stand Watie in English.
Little is known of his early years in Georgia, he may have been
educated in Georgia mission schools that were set up to Englishise
the Cherokees. He was the brother of Buck Oowatie who later took the
name of Elias Boudinot and became a newspaper editor, and the nephew
of the prominent Cherokee Chief Major Ridge.
The Oowatie and Ridge families were two of the more prominent
slave owning aristocrat families of the Cherokees owning most of the
estimated 1600 owned by Cherokees. Those in the lower classes, poorer
than the Ridge and Oowatie factions tended to be less pro slavery and
were more traditionalist and less likely to favor a move west from
Georgia and the western Carolinas.
By 1820 one third of the tribe moved west of the Mississippi
River. Those who remained began to split into factions. Those who
favored fighting removal to the west rallied behind John Ross, a
Scottish Cherokee from Tennessee. Ross had only one eighth Cherokee
but considered them to be his people over his white counterparts and
was extremely popular having support of the majority.
On the opposing side was the Oowatie Ridge faction who believed
that the lower classes of the tribe would never make it in the white
mans world, believing that in years to come they would be decimated
even lower to drunkenness and poverty and that moving west was in the
tribes best interest.
In 1827 John Ross was elected to lead and represented them in
their first centralized government to help them deal with the white
world around them. By 1832 the rivalry between those of the Ross
faction and the Oowatie Ridge factions began to grow, and in the next
few years worsened. In 1835 it came to a head when the the Ridge
faction supported a treaty with Washington that would give the
Cherokees 5 million dollars in return for their removal west of the
Mississippi. The Ross side refused to sign hoping to hold out for at
least 20 million. It was clear that no treaty would be made at that
time since the majority of Cherokees sided with the Ross faction.
Then in December 1835 the Ridge Oowatie faction managed to sign
the Treaty at New Echota Georgia receiving $15 million dollars and
800,000 acres of land in Oklahoma for the Cherokees. They believed
they had secured the best terms possible in the best interest of the
tribe while the Ross followers considered it an act of treason
against them.
The Trail of Tears followed in 1838 with Federal and State
militias enforcing the removal. In 1839 the bitter animosity between
the two tribes remained in Oklahoma. A hundred or so Cherokees from
anti treaty faction met in secret and decided on death for the the
Ridge and Watie men. On June 22, 1839 John Ridge was dragged from his
home in Indian Territory and was stabbed to death. His father Major
Ridge was ambushed and killed in Washington County Arkansas. Elias
Boudinot the brother of Stand Watie was attacked at his home and axed
to death. Stand Watie also marked for death was forewarned and
escaped.
John Ross denounced the murders but did nothing in aiding the
capture of the killers. He was accused of hiding them in his home by
the now Watie faction while Ross denied involvement in the murders.
President Andrew Jackson wrote to Stand Watie now the leader of the
former Ridge Oowatie faction and denounced Ross. On March 7, 1862
Stand Watie was part of Earl Van Dorn's 16,000 man army in the area
of Fayetteville Arkansas attempting to encircle the right flanks of
Major General Curtis's 12,000 troops. Curtis was on the defensive
entrenched at Pea Ridge about thirty miles northeast of Fayetteville.
After two days of fighting Van Dorn was unable to penetrate and ended
up withdrawing. Stand Watie had distiquished himself by leading his
command in capturing a Union artillery battery and by committing a
skillful rear guard action stopping a disaster.
It was here during this action that Stand Watie was noticed by his
superiors for his bravery and exceptional military abilities, which
got him considered for a higher command in the Confederate Army. The
First Cherokee Mounted Rifles was formed on August 31, 1862 with
Colonel Stand Watie commanding, with Lieutenant Colonel Calvin Parks
second in command. This unit along with others adopted the Cherokee
Braves flag as their regimental colours. After Pea Ridge many of the
Cherokees left the war, but Stand Watie and his Cherokee Braves
remained for the duration of the war scouring the region using
guerilla warfare, cutting Union supply lines and disrupting Federal
operations throughout the Indian Territory.
He was feared by his loyal Cherokee counterparts for the next three
years. On May 10, 1864 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier
General, the only Native American to reach the rank of General.
Along with this first, he was also the last Confederate General
officer to formally cease hostilities two months after Appomattox and
Bentonville. His formal agreement to end hostilities was issued on
June 25, 1865 and like Col. Mosby of Virginia he never officially
surrendered. Watie had displayed unfailing devotion and bravery
during his service to the Confederacy. He died on September 9, 1871
and was laid to rest at Polson Cemetery in Delaware County, Oklahoma.
In 1995 the US postal Service issued a set of 20 commemorative stamps
showing 16 individuals and 4 battles of the Civil War. General Stand
Watie was one of those honored along with others such as Jefferson
Davis, Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston.
1969: ENIGMATIC OKLAHOMA
http://www.ufoinfo.com/roundup/v10/rnd1023.shtml
Last week's story about the search for lost Confederate gold in
Cement, Oklahoma (population 500), a small town on Highway 277
southwest of Oklahoma City, has called attention to some of the
stranger tales about the Sooner State.
On the outskirts of Cement is a stony hill called Buzzard's Roost. At
the summit is an outcrop of bedrock that resembles an anvil.
Professional treasure hunters Bud Hardcastle and Charlie Holman
believe "that enterprising disciples of Dixie stashed millions of
dollars in gold and silver--now probably worth billions-- in
locations across North America, to help finance a second Civil War."
The gold is supposed to have been buried there by the Knights of the
Golden Circle (KGC), a very real secret society that flourished in
the USA between 1850 and 1870. Many Knights were also prominent
members of Masonic lodges throughout the South.
"If Buzzard's Roost is a Masonic site, it should be fairly easy to
find the buried gold," UFO Roundup editor Joseph Trainor
commented. "Just face east at sunrise. Pick out a point 33 degrees to
the south of the spot where the sun appeared at the horizon. Walk
either 33 feet (10 meters) or 33 yards (30 meters) downhill from 'The
Anvil' and start digging."
Another potential burial site for KGC gold is the ruins of old Fort
Towson, 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Valliant, Okla. (population
771) on U.S. Route 70 in that corner of southeastern Oklahoma known
as "Little Dixie."
"The fort was established in 1824 to protect the Choctaws--who were
induced by the federal government to emigrate from their Mississippi
homes--both from the raiding western Plains Indians and the outlaws
that made their headquarters along the north bank of the Red River."
"The post was abandoned in 1829, then re-established when enforced
removal of the Choctaws began in 1831. Abandoned once again in 1854,
it was used as a Choctaw Indian agency until the outbreak of the
(American) Civil War, when it was taken over by the Confederates."
In 1864, at the height of the Golden Circle intrigues, Confederate
general S.B. Maxey took command of Fort Towson. Maxey was a Knight,
as was his patron in Richmond, Isham G. Harris.
Indeed, Fort Towson was the last bastion of the southern Confederacy.
Here Confederate general Stand Watie surrendered in June of 1865, two
months after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox courthouse in
Virginia.
(Editor's Note: Watie was an Ani-Yupuya or a Cherokee Indian.)
However, stranger items than Confederate gold have been unearthed in
the suburbs of Oklahoma City.
"On June 27, 1969, workmen leveling a rock shelf at 122nd Street on
the Broadway Extension between Edmond (population 68,315) and
Oklahoma City uncovered a rock formation that caused a great deal of
controversy among investigating authorities."
"To the layman, the site looked like an inlaid mosaic floor. It
apparently looked very much like someone's floor to some of the
experts, as well."
"'I am sure this was man-made because the stones are placed in
perfect sets of parallel lines which intersect to form a diamond
shape, all pointing to the east,' said Durwood Pate, an Oklahoma City
geologist who studied the site. 'We found post holes which measure a
perfect two rods from the other two. The top of the stone is very
smooth, and if you lift one of them, you will find it is very jagged,
which indicates wear on the surface. Everything is too well-placed to
be a natural formation.'"
"Dr. Robert Bell, an archaeologist from the University of Oklahoma,
expressed his opinion that the find was a natural formation. Dr. Bell
said that he could see no evidence of any mortaring substance. But
Pate, on the other hand, was able to distinguish some kind of mud
between each stone."
"Delbert Smith, a geologist, president of the Oklahoma Seismograph
Company, said the formation, which was discovered about three feet
(0.9 meters) beneath the surface, appeared to cover several thousand
square feet."
"The Tulsa World quoted Smith as saying: 'There is no question about
it. It has been laid there, but I have no idea by whom.'"
A mosaic floor covering "several thousand square feet." Obviously, it
was the remains of some prehistoric palace. Did an ancient city once
stand on the site of what is now Edmond, Okla.? And who could have
built it? Travelers from prehistoric Lemuria? Settlers from the lost
continent of Atlantis? Or maybe a wandering tribe from the weird
Lamanite civilization mentioned in The Book of Mormon.
Thirty-six years after its discovery, there are still no definite
answers about the "mosaic floor" found in Edmond, Okla.
Was it buried gold, prehistoric cities or the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln that triggered Oklahoma City's most baffling
homicide? Charles Fort, the "Father of Ufology" mentions it in his
book Wild Talents: "I put this item with others upon freaks of
collectors. In Oklahoma City, July 1907, somebody collected ears.
Bodies of three men--ears cut off."
But, when it comes to sheer weirdness, not too many communities in
the Sooner State can compete with the city of Enid (population
47,045).
Located on Highways 60, 64 and 412 approximately 98 miles (157
kilometers) north-northwest of Oklahoma City, "Enid has grown over
the years from a tent city which sprang out of the prairie dust on
the day of the Cherokee Outlet opening--September 16, 1893--to a
typically prosperous, substantial, self-contained municipality."
Yet, early Enid was a Mecca for people associated with the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the USA's sixteenth president, on
Good Friday, April 14, 1865.
According to researcher Jim Brandon, "What might there have been in
this small city to attract not one, not two, but three persons
involved in what pioneer conspiratologist Otto Eisenschiml has
called 'the strange death of Abraham Lincoln.'"
"Local (Enid) history records that a chap who killed himself with
strychnine--or at least ended up poisoned to death--at the local
hotel on January 13, 1903, had identified himself as none other than
John Wilkes Booth."
This mysterious figure "had been living around Enid for quite some
time, using a number of aliases. At the time of his death, he was
known as David E. George and posed as a house painter, although no
one seems to have taken that role any more seriously than he did."
Booth/George "always seemed to have plenty of money and spent most of
his time in taverns. When well-oiled with drink, he often delivered
lengthy Shakespearean recitations, which amazed those who heard them
as being far superior to ordinary barroom blague."
"He had confided to a number of persons that he, Booth, had escaped
from a burning tobacco barn at Port Royal, Virginia, where he was
cornered after the Lincoln assassination, leaving another man to be
shot in his place."
"A last request, found among (David E.) George's effects, was that
actor Edwin Booth of New York City (the assassin's older brother--
J.T.) be notified of his death. This was done by telegram, but there
was no reply."
"A man who certainly should have been able to shed some light on the
(real) identity of 'George' was also residing in Enid at the time.
This was Boston Corbett, the Army sergeant who had rushed up and shot
into the burning barn in a sort of instant preplay of the" Lee Harvey
Oswald/Jack Ruby "exchange of 1963. Corbett, who seems to have
escaped from an insane asylum (in Kansas-- J.T.) somewhere along his
checkered trail, was working in Enid as a drug salesman. He may even
have carried strychnine in his samples kit. But if he was in town at
the time of George's death, he never came forward."
"Eight months after the death" of David E. George, "a newspaper in
Rockport, Indiana reported that the former manager for the Laura
Keene Theatrical Company, who had opened the window for Booth to
escape Ford's Theatre" in Washington, D.C. "after shooting Lincoln,
had retired and was living, where else but at Enid, Oklahoma. He too
kept silent."
Enid "successfully avoided having the name of Skeleton thrust upon it
(from its proximity to the head of Skeleton Creek) and owes its real
name to a literature- loving Rock Island railroad official. Fond of
Tennyson's Idylls of the King, he felt that Geraint's wife ought to
be honored by having a city named for her."
In a bizarre twist of fate, as a schoolboy, John Wilkes Booth played
the role of "Enid" in an amateur production of Idylls of the King at
the Milton College for Boys in Cockeysville, Maryland.
So, if you find yourself in Oklahoma this summer, don't go speeding
on through. Stay awhile, drive around, explore a bit--this Midwestern
state has a plentitude of mysteries to share. (See the books
Mysteries of Time and Space by Brad Steiger, Dell Publishing Co.,
Inc., New York, N.Y., 1973, pages 53 and 54; The Complete Books of
Charles Fort, Dover Publications Inc., New York, N.Y., 1974, page
871; Oklahoma: A Guide to the Sooner State, University of Oklahoma
Press, Norman, Okla., revised edition July 1957, pages 148, 149, 245,
374, 375, 417 and 426; Weird America by Jim Brandon, E.P. Dutton, New
York, N.Y., 1978, pages 186 and 187; Why Was Lincoln Murdered? by
Otto Eisenschiml, Little, Brown Co., Boston, Mass., 1937; and
Murdering Mr. Lincoln by Charles Higham, New Millenium Press, Beverly
Hills, Cal., 2004, pages 104, 105 and 106. See also the Enid, Okla.
Morning News for February 4, 1976, "The Odyssey of John Wilkes
Booth," page 1; the Edmond, Okla. Booster for July 3, 1969; and the
Tulsa, Okla. World for June 29, 1969.)
Last week's story about the search for lost Confederate gold in
Cement, Oklahoma (population 500), a small town on Highway 277
southwest of Oklahoma City, has called attention to some of the
stranger tales about the Sooner State.
On the outskirts of Cement is a stony hill called Buzzard's Roost. At
the summit is an outcrop of bedrock that resembles an anvil.
Professional treasure hunters Bud Hardcastle and Charlie Holman
believe "that enterprising disciples of Dixie stashed millions of
dollars in gold and silver--now probably worth billions-- in
locations across North America, to help finance a second Civil War."
The gold is supposed to have been buried there by the Knights of the
Golden Circle (KGC), a very real secret society that flourished in
the USA between 1850 and 1870. Many Knights were also prominent
members of Masonic lodges throughout the South.
"If Buzzard's Roost is a Masonic site, it should be fairly easy to
find the buried gold," UFO Roundup editor Joseph Trainor
commented. "Just face east at sunrise. Pick out a point 33 degrees to
the south of the spot where the sun appeared at the horizon. Walk
either 33 feet (10 meters) or 33 yards (30 meters) downhill from 'The
Anvil' and start digging."
Another potential burial site for KGC gold is the ruins of old Fort
Towson, 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Valliant, Okla. (population
771) on U.S. Route 70 in that corner of southeastern Oklahoma known
as "Little Dixie."
"The fort was established in 1824 to protect the Choctaws--who were
induced by the federal government to emigrate from their Mississippi
homes--both from the raiding western Plains Indians and the outlaws
that made their headquarters along the north bank of the Red River."
"The post was abandoned in 1829, then re-established when enforced
removal of the Choctaws began in 1831. Abandoned once again in 1854,
it was used as a Choctaw Indian agency until the outbreak of the
(American) Civil War, when it was taken over by the Confederates."
In 1864, at the height of the Golden Circle intrigues, Confederate
general S.B. Maxey took command of Fort Towson. Maxey was a Knight,
as was his patron in Richmond, Isham G. Harris.
Indeed, Fort Towson was the last bastion of the southern Confederacy.
Here Confederate general Stand Watie surrendered in June of 1865, two
months after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox courthouse in
Virginia.
(Editor's Note: Watie was an Ani-Yupuya or a Cherokee Indian.)
However, stranger items than Confederate gold have been unearthed in
the suburbs of Oklahoma City.
"On June 27, 1969, workmen leveling a rock shelf at 122nd Street on
the Broadway Extension between Edmond (population 68,315) and
Oklahoma City uncovered a rock formation that caused a great deal of
controversy among investigating authorities."
"To the layman, the site looked like an inlaid mosaic floor. It
apparently looked very much like someone's floor to some of the
experts, as well."
"'I am sure this was man-made because the stones are placed in
perfect sets of parallel lines which intersect to form a diamond
shape, all pointing to the east,' said Durwood Pate, an Oklahoma City
geologist who studied the site. 'We found post holes which measure a
perfect two rods from the other two. The top of the stone is very
smooth, and if you lift one of them, you will find it is very jagged,
which indicates wear on the surface. Everything is too well-placed to
be a natural formation.'"
"Dr. Robert Bell, an archaeologist from the University of Oklahoma,
expressed his opinion that the find was a natural formation. Dr. Bell
said that he could see no evidence of any mortaring substance. But
Pate, on the other hand, was able to distinguish some kind of mud
between each stone."
"Delbert Smith, a geologist, president of the Oklahoma Seismograph
Company, said the formation, which was discovered about three feet
(0.9 meters) beneath the surface, appeared to cover several thousand
square feet."
"The Tulsa World quoted Smith as saying: 'There is no question about
it. It has been laid there, but I have no idea by whom.'"
A mosaic floor covering "several thousand square feet." Obviously, it
was the remains of some prehistoric palace. Did an ancient city once
stand on the site of what is now Edmond, Okla.? And who could have
built it? Travelers from prehistoric Lemuria? Settlers from the lost
continent of Atlantis? Or maybe a wandering tribe from the weird
Lamanite civilization mentioned in The Book of Mormon.
Thirty-six years after its discovery, there are still no definite
answers about the "mosaic floor" found in Edmond, Okla.
Was it buried gold, prehistoric cities or the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln that triggered Oklahoma City's most baffling
homicide? Charles Fort, the "Father of Ufology" mentions it in his
book Wild Talents: "I put this item with others upon freaks of
collectors. In Oklahoma City, July 1907, somebody collected ears.
Bodies of three men--ears cut off."
But, when it comes to sheer weirdness, not too many communities in
the Sooner State can compete with the city of Enid (population
47,045).
Located on Highways 60, 64 and 412 approximately 98 miles (157
kilometers) north-northwest of Oklahoma City, "Enid has grown over
the years from a tent city which sprang out of the prairie dust on
the day of the Cherokee Outlet opening--September 16, 1893--to a
typically prosperous, substantial, self-contained municipality."
Yet, early Enid was a Mecca for people associated with the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the USA's sixteenth president, on
Good Friday, April 14, 1865.
According to researcher Jim Brandon, "What might there have been in
this small city to attract not one, not two, but three persons
involved in what pioneer conspiratologist Otto Eisenschiml has
called 'the strange death of Abraham Lincoln.'"
"Local (Enid) history records that a chap who killed himself with
strychnine--or at least ended up poisoned to death--at the local
hotel on January 13, 1903, had identified himself as none other than
John Wilkes Booth."
This mysterious figure "had been living around Enid for quite some
time, using a number of aliases. At the time of his death, he was
known as David E. George and posed as a house painter, although no
one seems to have taken that role any more seriously than he did."
Booth/George "always seemed to have plenty of money and spent most of
his time in taverns. When well-oiled with drink, he often delivered
lengthy Shakespearean recitations, which amazed those who heard them
as being far superior to ordinary barroom blague."
"He had confided to a number of persons that he, Booth, had escaped
from a burning tobacco barn at Port Royal, Virginia, where he was
cornered after the Lincoln assassination, leaving another man to be
shot in his place."
"A last request, found among (David E.) George's effects, was that
actor Edwin Booth of New York City (the assassin's older brother--
J.T.) be notified of his death. This was done by telegram, but there
was no reply."
"A man who certainly should have been able to shed some light on the
(real) identity of 'George' was also residing in Enid at the time.
This was Boston Corbett, the Army sergeant who had rushed up and shot
into the burning barn in a sort of instant preplay of the" Lee Harvey
Oswald/Jack Ruby "exchange of 1963. Corbett, who seems to have
escaped from an insane asylum (in Kansas-- J.T.) somewhere along his
checkered trail, was working in Enid as a drug salesman. He may even
have carried strychnine in his samples kit. But if he was in town at
the time of George's death, he never came forward."
"Eight months after the death" of David E. George, "a newspaper in
Rockport, Indiana reported that the former manager for the Laura
Keene Theatrical Company, who had opened the window for Booth to
escape Ford's Theatre" in Washington, D.C. "after shooting Lincoln,
had retired and was living, where else but at Enid, Oklahoma. He too
kept silent."
Enid "successfully avoided having the name of Skeleton thrust upon it
(from its proximity to the head of Skeleton Creek) and owes its real
name to a literature- loving Rock Island railroad official. Fond of
Tennyson's Idylls of the King, he felt that Geraint's wife ought to
be honored by having a city named for her."
In a bizarre twist of fate, as a schoolboy, John Wilkes Booth played
the role of "Enid" in an amateur production of Idylls of the King at
the Milton College for Boys in Cockeysville, Maryland.
So, if you find yourself in Oklahoma this summer, don't go speeding
on through. Stay awhile, drive around, explore a bit--this Midwestern
state has a plentitude of mysteries to share. (See the books
Mysteries of Time and Space by Brad Steiger, Dell Publishing Co.,
Inc., New York, N.Y., 1973, pages 53 and 54; The Complete Books of
Charles Fort, Dover Publications Inc., New York, N.Y., 1974, page
871; Oklahoma: A Guide to the Sooner State, University of Oklahoma
Press, Norman, Okla., revised edition July 1957, pages 148, 149, 245,
374, 375, 417 and 426; Weird America by Jim Brandon, E.P. Dutton, New
York, N.Y., 1978, pages 186 and 187; Why Was Lincoln Murdered? by
Otto Eisenschiml, Little, Brown Co., Boston, Mass., 1937; and
Murdering Mr. Lincoln by Charles Higham, New Millenium Press, Beverly
Hills, Cal., 2004, pages 104, 105 and 106. See also the Enid, Okla.
Morning News for February 4, 1976, "The Odyssey of John Wilkes
Booth," page 1; the Edmond, Okla. Booster for July 3, 1969; and the
Tulsa, Okla. World for June 29, 1969.)
Monday, January 17, 2011
THE DARKERSIDE
Alternet desperate to paint Loughner as a conspiracy theorist
http://ptaka.blogspot.com/2011/01/alternet-desperate-to-paint-loughner-as.html
Excerpt: "The writers at Alternet.org are desperate to paint Jared Lee Loughner the shooter in the Tucson massacre as a right wing kook because he took conspiracies seriously. Conspiracies are not unusual in the history of politics from the Roman Senate’s assassination of Caesar to Lincoln’s assassination by one member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, John Wilkes Booth."
http://ptaka.blogspot.com/2011/01/alternet-desperate-to-paint-loughner-as.html
Excerpt: "The writers at Alternet.org are desperate to paint Jared Lee Loughner the shooter in the Tucson massacre as a right wing kook because he took conspiracies seriously. Conspiracies are not unusual in the history of politics from the Roman Senate’s assassination of Caesar to Lincoln’s assassination by one member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, John Wilkes Booth."
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Facebook and the Knights of the Golden Circle
There are at least three pages dedicated to the Knights of the Golden Circle on Facebook.
You can see them at the links below.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Knights-of-the-Golden-Circle/174569504549
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Knights-of-the-Golden-Circle/114781451872519
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Knights-of-the-golden-circle/115635235117711
Friday, January 14, 2011
A Rosicrucian Connection to the Knights of the Golden Circle?
Since we have made a brief mention of the Rosicrucians and for those newest members to this forum I would like to present this excerpt from Chapter 12 of "Jesse James Was One of His Names" The entire chapter can be found in the archives at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knights_of_the_Golden_Circle/message/54
"Some of the craftiest, finest brains in the South directed activities of The Knights of the Golden Circle. The group was heavy on ritual, which was borrowed from the Masonic Lodge and later The Knights of Pythias. A couple were members of the Rosicrucians.
The 13-man Inner Sanctum which ran the Golden Circle in the years immediately following the Civil War elected Colonel Elbert DeWitt Travis, alias William Clarke Quantrill and Charley Hart, as its chief. He served until his death in the middle 1890s. Secretary of the Inner Sanctum was "Uncle George" Payne, while Jesse James was elected treasurer and comptroller in 1867 when former Emperor Maximilian donated $12.5 million to the group. The other ten members were General Nathan B. Forrest, John Patterson (Jefferson Davis), Bud Dalton, Professor B. E. Bedeczek, Lewis Dalton. George Baxter, Captain John James, Coleman Younger, General J. O. Shelby and Jack (Brae) Miller. As members of the Inner Sanctum died or became too old to serve, they were replaced up to 1916"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knights_of_the_Golden_Circle/message/54
"Some of the craftiest, finest brains in the South directed activities of The Knights of the Golden Circle. The group was heavy on ritual, which was borrowed from the Masonic Lodge and later The Knights of Pythias. A couple were members of the Rosicrucians.
The 13-man Inner Sanctum which ran the Golden Circle in the years immediately following the Civil War elected Colonel Elbert DeWitt Travis, alias William Clarke Quantrill and Charley Hart, as its chief. He served until his death in the middle 1890s. Secretary of the Inner Sanctum was "Uncle George" Payne, while Jesse James was elected treasurer and comptroller in 1867 when former Emperor Maximilian donated $12.5 million to the group. The other ten members were General Nathan B. Forrest, John Patterson (Jefferson Davis), Bud Dalton, Professor B. E. Bedeczek, Lewis Dalton. George Baxter, Captain John James, Coleman Younger, General J. O. Shelby and Jack (Brae) Miller. As members of the Inner Sanctum died or became too old to serve, they were replaced up to 1916"
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tennessee jumps the shark
"...there was a suggestion during a recent episode of Brad Meltzer's Decoded (aired on December 30, 2010) dealing with missing Confederate gold. They suggested that the tea party movement could very well be descendants of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a shadowy group that is rumored to be guarding the missing gold. You can download the episode from iTunes and watch."
Kentucky Democrat
http://kydem.blogspot.com/2011/01/tennessee-jumps-shark.html
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