ANTHROP. PAP. rpBEE WAHNENAUHI MANUSCRIPT — KILPATRICK 199 



Afterward, a pension, to be paid out of the Public Treasury, was 

 settled on him for life, to be continued to his wife after his death. [^"J 



George Lowrey spent his time very differently from Sequoyah, 

 being generally engaged in more active Public Life. 



However, they continued to be firm friends, and Lowrey was one 

 of the first to recognize the great advantages which would come to 

 his people by the use of the native Alphabet, and used his influence 

 to have them learn it, speaking unthusiastically of it on all occasions. 



He embraced every opportunity of learning the Customs of Civiliza- 

 tion. 



Being a very fluent speaker, he often talked to his people about 

 these things; urging them to forsake their careless, disorderly life, 

 and try to improve their condition, by learning from and imitating 

 the whites who had settled near them, many of whom were wealthy 

 and refined people, to whom Lowrey was a steadfast friend, it was 

 his earnest endeavor continually to improve his own mind, and his 

 outward circumstance, always, by precept and example, trjring to 

 induce others to do the same. 



It was customary with the Cherokees to name a person for, either 

 some fancied resemblance, for something said or done, or some 

 trait of Character: On account of Lowrey's peculiar Characteristics, 

 his friends sometimes called him "Ah-gee-hli," which words means 

 "Rising" or "Aspiring." [^^] and the name seemed so appropriately 

 chosen, that from this time, in Cherokee, he was spoken of as "Dtsah- 

 tsi Ah-gee-hh," "Dtsah-tsi," meaning George. [''^] 



In early manhood, George Lowrey distinguished himself by im- 

 portant services rendered, both to his own people and to the United 

 States. 



He was employed, at one time, by General Washington, to convey 

 to the French in Canada, a secret message of great importance, p^] 



Most of the way lay through an unbroken Wilderness, inhabited 

 only by hostile Tribes. 



As the greatest caution and skill were necessary; to ensure the 

 success of the undertaking, he made the journey on foot, accom- 

 panied only by Billy, a colored slave; one other Indian began the 

 journey with him, but on account of the hard-ships to be encountered, 

 his resolution failed, and he returned. 



•" Reliable infonnation upon Sequoyah is, considering his historical importance, astonishingly meager, 

 and some of these sidelights are of value. There exists among the John Howard Payne Papers in the 

 Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Okla., a one-page fragment of a manuscript 

 in syllabary on Sequoyah by Major Lowrey. 



«• Mooney (1900, p. 507) suggests that Major Lowrey's name may be a contraction of the Cherokee for 

 "Rising-fawn," and takes issue with "Dog," another interpretation. In modern Cherokee, at least, the 

 word agi:hli means 'pain' or 'anguish'; gi:hU means 'dog.' 



" Tstt.isd) is the universally accepted Cherokee form of George. 



83 We can discover no documentation for this. 



