FIVE FORKS 



2193 



FJORD 



tend the regular public schools of Oklahoma; 

 and as a good deal of the Indian land is not 

 taxed, Congress appropriates a large sum each 

 year for school purposes. 



In time, as their education progresses still 

 further and they show themselves able to 

 assume full responsibility, the government will 

 withdraw its protection entirely, and the Five 

 Civilized Tribes will then become like any 

 other unit of the great body of American cit- 

 izens. See INDIANS, AMERICAN; OKLAHOMA; 

 also the individual tribes referred to. E.s.c. 



FIVE FORKS, BATTLE OF, an important bat- 

 tle of the War of Secession by which the net 

 was drawn round the Confederate army and the 

 close of the war hastened. This battle was 

 fought in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, April 1, 

 1865. Lee had sent forces under Early to the 

 Shenandoah Valley, hoping to draw Grant 

 away; but Grant, in the meantime, sent Sheri- 

 dan to oppose Early, who had been defeated 

 in several preceding battles in the Shenandoah. 

 Sheridan then destroyed the ' crops and the 

 railroads of the entire valley, and it was later 

 said that "if a crow wished to fly the valley's 

 length he must carry his provisions with him." 

 Lee's army was destitute, and he tried to join 

 Johnston, whose forces had been scattered by 

 Sherman, but the Union lines were too strong 

 and Grant cut off his retreat. On the first of 

 April Sheridan routed Lee's army at Five 

 Forks and took 5,000 prisoners. Lee then 

 withdrew his soldiers from Richmond and 

 Petersburg, and a week later met Grant at 

 Appomattox to arrange terms of surrender. 



FIVE NATIONS , a confederacy of Iroquoian 

 tribes which formed one of the most remark- 

 able primitive governments ever known. It 

 was organized in what is now the western part 

 of New York state about the year 1570 by 

 a chief of the Mohawk called Hiawatha, and 

 included the chief's tribe and the Cayuga, 

 Oneida, Onondaga and Seneca. In 1722 the 

 Tuscarora were added, and thenceforth the 

 confederacy was known as the Six Nations. 



The organization was originally a defensive 

 alliance against neighboring tribes. It had no 

 executive, but was governed by a general 

 council of the chiefs and sub-chiefs of each 

 tribe and did not interfere with local gov- 

 ernment. It appointed two war chiefs. So 

 effective was the cooperation of the five tribes 

 that although outnumbered by neighboring 

 enemies they advanced their borders and made 

 their influence felt as far as the Mississippi 

 River. But for the arrival of white men their 

 138 



sway might have been extended over the 

 whole of the east, and they might have laid 

 the foundation of a true Indian civilization 

 by diminishing warfare. 



Cartier, in 1534-1535, was the first white man 

 to be seen by these Indians, and seventy years 

 later Champlain aided the Algonquins against 

 them. As a result, they allied themselves with 

 the English against the French. In the Revo- 

 lutionary War most of the tribes fought for 

 the English, though the league was officially 

 neutral. Afterward some of them were given 

 homes in Canada. Of those remaining in the 

 United States, the Oneida are in Wisconsin 

 and New York and a few of the Seneca are in 

 Oklahoma; the rest are on reservations in New 

 York. See INDIANS, AMERICAN. E.S.C. 



FIVES, so-called in Europe, but known as 

 handball in America, is a game played by two 

 or four persons on a level court enclosed by 

 walls on three sides. A light rubber ball, about 

 half the size of a tennis ball, is used. One 

 player strikes the ball with his hand against 

 the front wall of the court. It must then be 

 returned in the same manner by the opponent 

 after it bounces. The ball is kept in motion 

 back and fourth between wall and court until 

 one side fails to return it. Each failure to 

 return the ball gives one point to the oppo- 

 nents. Fifteen points make a game. Fives is 

 popular in England, especially at the two great 

 schools of Eton and Rugby. See HANDBALL. 



FIXED STARS, those heavenly bodies dis- 

 tinguished from planets by remaining appar- 

 ently stationary, that is, maintaining their rela- 

 tive positions with regard to other stars. In 

 truth, they are by no means stationary, but are 

 flying through space with greater velocity than 

 a rifle bullet; the vast distances between the 

 stars and the earth prevent our eyes from dis- 

 tinguishing the movement. The so-called fixed 

 stars include all the heavenly bodies except the 

 planets, their satellites, comets and asteroids. 

 See ASTRONOMY, for rate of speed of stars and 

 distances from the earth. 



It is much more difficult to calculate the 

 directions and motions of these "fixed stars" 

 than those of the planets, but astronomers by 

 means of their delicate instruments and their 

 complicated mathematics have made progress. 

 For instance, the trend of those conspicuous 

 stars which constitute the Great Dipper has 

 been ascertained, and star maps have been 

 made to show what that constellation will look 

 like 100,000 years from now. 



FJORD. See FIORD. 



