158 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [ErH.ANN.l9 



own couiitrv, whereas if he rejected the oti'er the whol(> force of the 

 seven thousand troops which had now completed the work of gather- 

 ing up and deporting the rest of the tribe would be set loose upon his 

 own suiall })and until the last refugee had been eitlier taken or 

 killed. 



U'tsalii turned the proposition in his mind long and seriously. His 

 heart was bitter, for his wife and little son had starved to death on the 

 mountain side, but he thought of the thousands who were already on 

 their long jnarch into exile and then he looked round upon his little 

 band of followers. If only they might stay, even though a few must 

 be sacriticed, it was better than that all should die — for the}' had sworn 

 never to leave their country. He consented and Thomas returned to 

 report to General Scott. 



Now occurred a remarkable incident which shows the character of 

 Thomas and the masterly influence which he already had over the 

 Indians, although as yet he was hardly more than thirty years old. It 

 M'as known that Charley and his party were in hiding in a cave of the 

 Great Smokies, at the head of Deep creek, but it was not thought 

 likely that he could be taken without bloodshed and a further delay 

 which might prejudice the whole undertaking. Thomas determined to 

 go to him and try to persuade him to come in and surrender. Declin- 

 ing Scott's offer of an escort, he went alone to the cave, and, getting 

 between the Indians and their guns as they were sitting around the 

 tire near the entrance, he walked up to Charley and announced his 

 message. The old man listened in silence and then said simply, "I 

 will come in. I don't want to be hunted down ))v ni}' own people." 

 They came in voluntarily and were shot, as has been already narrated, 

 one only, a mere boy, being spared on account of his youth. This 

 boy, now an old man, is still living, Wasitii'na, better known to the 

 whites as Wa.shington.' 



A respite having thus Ihh'w ol)tained for the fugitives, Thomas next 

 went to Washington to endeavtu' to make some arrangement for their 

 permanent settlement. Under the treaty of New Echota, in 1835, the 

 Cheiok^'e wei'e entitled, besides the lump sum of tive million dollars 

 for the lands ceded, to an additional compensation for the impi'ove- 

 ments which they were forced to abandon and for spoliations liy white 

 citizens, together with a per capita allowance to cover the cf)st of 

 removal and subsistence for one year in the new country. The twelfth 

 article had also provided that such Indians as chose to remain in the 

 East and become citizens there might do so under certam conditions, 



1 Charley's story as here given is from the author's personal information, derived chiefly from con- 

 versations with Colonel Thomas and with WasitiVna and other old Indians. An ornate bnt some- 

 what inaccurate account is given also in Lanman's Letters from the Alleghany Mountains, written on 

 the griiund ten years after the events described. The leading lacts are noted in General Scott'sofflcial 

 dispatches. 



