330 



PUSKITA PUSUNE 



[b. a. e. 



the result of a single-handed onslaught 

 ontheenemy'srear. This incident gained 

 for him the name "Eagle" and won for 

 him a chieftaincy ; later he became mingo 

 of the Oklahannali or Six Towns dis- 

 trict of the Choctaw, and exercised much 

 influence in promoting friendly relations 

 with the whites. Although generally vic- 

 torious, Pushmataha's war party on one 

 occasion was attacked by a number of 

 Cherokee and defeated. He is said to 

 have moved into the present Texas, then 

 Spanish territory, where he lived several 

 years, adding to his reputation for prow- 

 ess, on one occasion going aloneat night to 

 a Tonaqua (Tawakoni?) village, killing 

 seven men with his own hand, and setting 

 fire to several houses. During the next 

 two years he made three more expeditions 

 against the same people, adding eight 

 scalps to his trophies. When Tecumseh 

 visited the Choctaw in 1811 to persuade 

 them to join in an uprising against the 

 Americans, Pushmataha strongly opposed 

 the movement, and it was largely through 

 his influence that the Shawnee chief's 

 mission among this tribe failed. During 

 the War of 1812 most of the Choctaw be- 

 came friendly to the United States through 

 the opposition of Pushmataha and John 

 Pitchlynn to a neutral course, Pushmataha 

 being alleged to have said, on the last day 

 of a ten days' council: "The Creeks were 

 once our friends. They have joined the 

 English and we must now follow different 

 trails. When our fathers took the hand 

 of Washington, they told him the Choctaw 

 would always be friends of "his nation, 

 and Pushmataha can not be false to their 

 promises. I am now ready to fight against 

 both the English and the Creeks." He 

 was at the head of 500 warriors during 

 the war, engaging in 24 fights and serving 

 under Jackson's eye in the Pensacola 

 campaign. In 1813, with about 150 Choc- 

 taw warriors, he joined Gen. Claiborne 

 and distinguished himself in the attack 

 and defeat of the Creeks under Weather- 

 ford at Kantchati, or Holy Ground, on 

 Alabama r., Ala. While aiding the United 

 States troops he was so rigid in his disci- 

 pline that he soon succeeded in convert- 

 ing his wild warriors into efficient soldiers, 

 while for his energy in fighting the Creeks 

 and Seminole hebecame popularly known 

 to the whites as "The Indian Gieneral." 

 Pushmataha signed the treaties of Nov. 16, 

 1805; Oct. 24, 1816; and Oct. 18, 1820. 

 In negotiating the last treaty, at Doak's 

 Stand, "he displayed much diplomacy 

 and showed a business capacity equal to 

 that of Gen. Jackson, against whom he 

 was pitted, in driving a sharp bargain." 

 In 1824 he went to Washington to nego- 

 tiate another treaty in Ijehalf of his tribe. 

 Following a brief visit to Lafayette, then 

 at the capital, Pushmataha became ill and 



died within 24 hours. In accordance 

 with his request he was buried with mili- 

 tary honors, a procession of 2,000 persons, 

 military and civilian, accompanied by 

 President Jackson, following his remains 

 to Congressional Cemetery. A shaft bear- 

 ing the following inscriptions was erected 

 over his grave: "Pushmataha a Choctaw 

 chief lies here. This monument to his 

 memory is erected by his brother chiefs 

 who were associated with him in a dele- 

 gation from their nation, in the year 1824, 

 to the General Government of the United 

 States." " Push-ma-taha was a warrior 

 of great distinction — He was wise in coun- 

 cil — eloquent in an extraordinary degree, 

 and on all occasions, and under all cir- 

 cumstances, the white man's friend." 

 "He died in Washington, on the 24th of 

 December, 1824, of the croup, in the 60th 

 year of his age." General Jackson fre- 

 quently expressed the opinion that Push- 

 mataha was the greatest and the bravest 

 Indian he had ever known, and John 

 Randolph of Roanoke, in pronouncing a 

 eulogy on him in the Senate, uttered the 

 words regarding his wisdom, his elo- 

 quence, and his friendship for the whites 

 that afterward were inscribed on his 

 monument. There is good reason to be- 

 lieve, however, that much of Pushma- 

 taha's reputation for eloquence was due 

 in no small part to his interpreters. He 

 was deeply interested in the education of 

 his people, and it is said devoted |2,000 

 of his annuity for fifteen years toward the 

 support of the Choctaw school system. 

 As mingoof theOklahannali, Pushmataha 

 was succeeded by Nittakechi, "Day-pro- 

 longer." Several portraits of Pushma- 

 taha are extant, including one in the 

 Redwood Library at Newport, R. I., one 

 in possession of Gov. McCurtin at Kinta, 

 Okla. (which was formerly in the Choc- 

 taw capitol), and another in a Washing- 

 ton restaurant. The first portrait, painted 

 by C. B. King at Washmgton in 1824, 

 shortly before Pushmataha's death, was 

 burned in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. 

 Consult Lanman, Recollections of Curious 

 Characters, 1881; McKenney and Hall, 

 Indian Tribes, 1854; Halbert in Ti-ans. 

 Ala. Hist. Soc, ii, 107-119, 1898, and 

 authorities therein cited; Lincecum in 

 Pub. Miss. Hist. Soc, ix, 115, 1906. 



Puskita. See Busk. 



Pusune (Pu-su^-ne). A former Nishi- 

 nam settlement near Barnard slough, be- 

 tween American and Sacramento rs., Cal. 

 The name, in the form Pujunan (q. v. ), 

 was adopted by Powell for the family 

 designation of the Maidu. (r. b. d. ) 

 Foosoonas. — Powers in Overland Mo., xii, 22,1874. 

 Pujuni.— Hale, Ethnog.andPhiloL, 631, 1846. Pun- 

 juni.— Powell in Cont. N. A. Ethnol., ill, 587, 1877 

 (misprint). Pushune. — Sutter (1847) quoted by 

 Bancroft, Nat. Races, i, 4.50, 1874. Pu-su'-na.— 

 Powers in Cont. N. A. Ethnol., ni, 315, 1877. 

 Pu-8u'-ne.— R. B. Dixon, inf'n, 1905. Piizhune. — 



