-72 Expedition to the 



been frequent, and have rendered the numerous class of the 

 poor among the Cherokees, troublesome neighbours — both to 

 the wealthy of their own nation, and to those of the white 

 settlers in their vicinity, who have any thing to lose. But 

 wealth seldom finds itself destitute of the means of protec- 

 tion. Three bands of regulators, or troops of light horse as 

 they are sometimes called, are maintained among the Che- 

 rokees, consistmg each, of ten men well armed and mount- 

 ed, and invested with an almost unlimited authority.* 



A few days previous to our arrival at Point Pleasant, a 

 young man had been apprehended by one of these bands of 

 regulators, on suspicion of horse theft. On examination, 

 the supposed delinquent proved stubborn and refractory, 

 whereupon, the captain ordered the infliction of fifty lashes, 

 and this not seeming to produce the desired effect, an addi- 

 tional fifty was commenced, when the culprit confessed him- 

 self guilty, and disclosed the whole transaction in which he 

 had been concerned. 



We were called upon for advice in the case of the Osage 

 prisoners, a young woman and three children labouring un- 

 der an attack of intermitting fever. The young woman we 

 found sitting upon the floor in a little cabin near the trading 

 house, and crying bitterly, not more as we were informed, 

 on account of ill health, than of her reluctance to return to 

 the Osages. She had been long among the Cherokees whose 

 customs she had adopted, and among whom she had formed 

 attachments. 



Tikatok's village, which we passed on the 25th, is situa- 



* I\lr. John Rog^ers a very reputable and civilized Cherokee, told me 

 that one of tlie regulators happening^ lo have a relation, who had been re- 

 peatedly guilty of theft, and finding him incorrigible, he destroyed his 

 eye-sight witli a penknife, saying " As long as you can see you will steal, 

 I will therefore prevent your thefts by the destruction of your sight." 

 NuttalTs Travels into the Arkansa Territory, page 135., to which work 

 the reader is referred for an interesting sketch of the history, and of the 

 present condition of the (Jherukees. We are unwilling to dwell longer on 

 a subject which has been so frequently discussed. 



