t 
For Forest and Stream. 
Tishomingo. 
A CCORDING to promise I will attempt, to give you a 
brief sketch of that portion of our State embraced in 
I the cession of lands by the Chickasaw Indians to the United 
I States, and which may he stated to be, in general terms, 
I all of North Mississippi. The Chickasaw country, how- 
I ever, originally embraced far more territory than that lying 
I in North Mississippi. The Chickasaws were once a power- 
I ful and warlike tribe, and claimed iu their most prosperous 
I period to exercise absolute dominion over all the country 
I now embraced in Southwest Kentucky; that portion south 
I of Paducah and lying between the Tennessee River on the 
I enst, the Ohio River on the north, and the Mississippi 
I River on the west; all West Tennessee and all of North 
| Mississippi as far south as the country of the Choctaws. 
These two tribes— the Chickasaws and Choctaws— claimed 
I to have had a common origin. They immigrated from the 
I East at an early day— probably from the northern part of 
f South Carolina— to this country. The Chickasaws were a 
noble race of men, and probably developed as many of the 
virtues of savage life as any of the Indian tribes that in- 
habited this coutiueut. They were high spirited, brave, 
hardy, well-developed physically, manly, and prided them- 
selves on their fidelity to their engagements. They were 
always allies of the English-speaking people, and it wns 
I their boast that they never shed the blood of the white 
I man in battle, meaning by the term white man the Eug- 
I lish, in contradistinction to the French and Spanish, with 
I whom they waged bloody and unrelenting war. The liis- 
■ tory of the adventurous expedition of De Soto, and of the 
I efforts made by Iberville, Bienville, and other French com 
■ manders to extend the dominion of France over them, gives 
I abundant evidence of these facts. The Creek Indians were 
I their hereditary enemies, and if the truth of their tribal 
I traditions is to be credited, their conflicts were many, 
■ bloody, wild, and romantic in the highest degree. Oue iu- 
I cident only of their waifare will be mentioned here. The 
■ Chickasaws had 1 nig entertained the idea of a removal 
■ west of the Mississippi River. Many causes operated with 
I them to produce this desire. One of these causes was a 
■ jealousy that hud grown up between them and their kin- 
3 dred tribe — the Choctaws. How this jealousy came about 
■ 1 am not fully informed, but it was sufficiently strong to 
■ prompt tlujra to action. For the purpose of selecting and 
■ acquiring a country— hunting grounds— either by discovery 
B or by conquest, sufficiently large and advantageous for 
I the tribe to emigrate to, they fitted out and sent west a 
■ large and well-equipped party, composed of their best, 
I braves and wisest chiefs. This party or expedition was ab- 
I sent many months. 
■ • The Creeks, who had learned of the absence of the 
■ Chickasaw warriors, thought it a favorable time to gratify 
I their revenge, and for this purpose, and the further pur- 
■ pose of exterminating the women and children and crush- 
I ing the power of their euemics, sent against the defense- 
I less Chickasaws a numerous war party. The Chickasaws 
I had left a few of their best men at home. Among them 
was Levi Colbert, quite a young man then, a half breed, 
I and one of the powerful family of that name. Levi Col- 
I bert, ever active, vigilant, and careful of the interests of 
I his people, by some means got information of the approach 
I of this formidable invasion. By incredible activity, effort, 
I and intrepidity he assembled what few braves were at 
I home, and with these and the old men and boys of the 
I tribe prepared as best he could to defend his country. True 
I to the tactics of Indiau warfare, and by a masterly display 
I of address and cunning, he led the invading Creeks— who 
were confident of an easy victory — into an ambuscade in 
the swamp of a small stream that meanders through what 
is now Lee county, Mississippi. He gave the enemy battle, 
and gained a complete, decisive, nnd bloody victory, and 
so nearly were the Creek warriors exterminated that the 
name "Yah-Nubbee,” meaning all killed, whs given to the 
stream on the banks of which the battle was fought. As 
may be supposed, the Chickasaws were very proud of this 
achievement. Levi Colbert was the recognized hero of the 
battle. And when the party which had been sent West re- 
turned home and were fully informed of the magnitude of 
the battle, and the splendid fruits of the victory, a council 
of the nation was called, and it was determined to make 
Colbert a chief, young as he was, with the highest honors 
of the tribe. It was a custom among them when a war- 
rior was to be inducted into the honors and order of the 
chiefs for the warrior to be made a chief to bo seated flat 
on the ground. Around him in the first circle the oldest 
and most honored chiefs were seated. Next to them the 
next oldest, and so on in order until all the braves present 
were seated. When the king, prophet, or chief medicine 
man, whoever was the offleiator in the ceremonies of the 
occasion, came within the first circle of chiefs the first 
words he uttered were applied to the new chief as his name, 
designation or title ever afterward. On this occasion the 
young men of the tribe, who bad taken great pride in the 
ceremonies, constructed a rude seat or bench, which they 
covered with laurel boughs, on which they seated Colbert. 
This fact had not been communicated to the offleiator, and 
he was first apprised of the circumstance when he passed 
within the circle of the chiefs and bis eyes rested on Col- 
bert seated as above described, when he exclaimed, “Ittu 
Wamba, Mingo," or the laureled brave sealed on a bench. 
‘Ttlawaniba” was adopted by Colbert as his title as chief, 
aud he was ever afterward known in his nation as Iita- 
wamba. And this name in honor of him has been perpet- 
uated by the Legislature as the name of one of the counties 
in North Mississippi. But however attractive and fasci- 
nating it is to think of and about the traditions and history 
of the Chickasaws, now reduced to a mere handful in the 
Indian Territory, it concerns us most, and is far more im- 
portant for us, to give our attention to the splendid domain 
they have ceded to our Government. Perhaps I hazard 
nothing in saying that a more genial, more healthy, more 
fertile, more productive country, and one better adapted to 
every branch of agriculture, of the same dimensions, is not 
contained within the limits of this broad Union. Extend- 
ing across five degrees of latitude, being bounded on the 
cast by the Tombigbee River and the Alabama line until it 
strikes the Tennessee River; thence by that river to its 
mouth; ou the north by the Ohio River; on the west by 
that great “inland sea," the Mississippi River; on the south 
by the thirty-third degree north latitude. It embraces every 
variety of the best, soil known in any country. It has many 
brond bottoms of the richest alluvial. Its hill country is 
clothed with forests of the most useful timber in great va- 
riety and rich profusion. Game and fish abound, the cli- 
mate is of the most salubrious character, and less liable to 
extremes of heat and cold, wet, aud dry than almost any 
other; it is indeed a Heaven-favored land. But iny atten- 
tion is directed more particularly to our own section — 
Northeast Mississippi— aud I can truthfully say that it ie 
difficult to find one possessing more advantages in any por- 
tion of the Union. A.ud I have frequently heard it said 
that the portion of it embraced in what was the western 
third of old TishomiDgo county was the best farming coun- 
try in the South, considered iu all its variety and aspects. 
This now forms the larger portion of Alcorn and Prentiss 
counties. The lands are mostly all good, and most of them 
splendid, while every variety of cereals richly reward the 
labor of the industrious and skillful husbandman. It would 
be difficult to say what kind of crop it produces best. Cot- 
ton, corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, and potatoes of 
every kind are raised in great abundance. Clover and the 
different varieties of grass, when proper attention has been 
given them, flourish luxuriantly. Fruits of all sorts do 
well. Nearly every variety of grapes, the apple, the peach, 
the pear, and the plum thrives luxuriantly, and rewards 
the care of the horticulturist with abundant yields. The 
raspberry, the blackberry, and the strawberry grow in 
great profusion, and are unsurpassed in size and luscious- 
ness. 
In healthfulness it vies with any portion of the United 
States — East, West, North, or South. This is conclusively 
proven by the Census Reports for the years 1850, 1860, aud 
1870. Our Summers are never very hot, the mercury sel- 
dom reaching 100°. The Winters are never very cold. It 
rarely happens that the weather is cold enough to keep a 
laboring man indoors all day. We have no rainy season 
and no protracted droughts. In our portion of the coun- 
try we have never had an epidemic of cholera or of yel- 
low fever. People sicken and die with us as they do every- 
where; but with ordinary care men and women aro as 
healthy and live as long here as in any other country. 
Those in the Northern States who wish to escape tho 
rigors of the Northern Winters can here find a genial cli- 
mate, one free from malaria and the debilitating effects of 
a too Southern residence; to the farming class of the North- 
ern States and of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wulcs, 
France, and Germany it occurs to me that this section pre- 
sents unsurpassed attractions and advantages. At this time 
lands are very cheap, much cheaper than they have been ifl 
any time since the country was opened to imputation after 
the Indians removed west of the Mississippi rtiVor. The 
close of the late civil war found 4ie country wasted and 
prostrate. Many of the farms' were utterly ruined— the 
buildings aucl fences burned, the owuers scattered, and 
many of them dead; and, although the country has greatly 
improved and built up^ipcc that time, yet many good farms 
are still vacant aud uncultivated. In addition to this, 
owing to the change in the circumstances of the people, it 
has been found by experience that a man really needs much 
less land than was formerly considered desirable or neccs 
sary for him to have. Planting in our immediate locality 
is not carried on so extensively ns in former times. The 
people now desire to sell part of their lands, and are will- 
ing to do so on very reasonable terms. Lund is now cheap 
— cheaper than it will perhaps ever bo again in this part of 
the State. The interest and attention of the solid and 
good men of the North is being directed to the South with 
the view of making investment and permanent residence 
here. 
The friendly and kindly feeling recently awakened be- 
tween the different sections will be productive of good re- 
sults, no doubt, and immigration started thitherward will 
bo quickened and accelerated ns Northern men will find 
here such homes as they have long desired to obtain. The 
endless and thirsty plains of the West have proven delu- 
sive to their hopes. The grasshopper raids of those regions 
and the rigors of tho Winters of the North are inclining 
tho people to look Southward, and Southward soon they 
will come, not only from the Northern States but from Eu- 
rope. The few Northern men who come to the South with 
the bona fide intention to become identified with us in per- 
son and in fortune have made a success of their venture 
socially and materially, and they will induce their friends 
and relatives to come, and soon we will have many of their 
best men with us. Aud why not? The lands are produc- 
tive, the climate genial, the country healthy, and the la- 
borer’s toil amply remunerated. The crops never fail. 
In addition to the advantages above enumerated there 
are others of great importance to be considered. The 
markets at all points are open to us ; the railroad connec- 
tions and lines of travel under good management, running 
in all directions, afford a choice of markets at each 
point of the compass within the limits of the government. 
Not only so, but we may go directly to Europe with our 
commodities and obtain what merchandise we desire direct 
from the old countries. The system of rnilways is admira- 
bly devised for the convenience and development of the 
country, and we have very great facilities for travel and 
the transportation of freight as it is now arranged nnd con- 
nected. But as the country prospers and develops, accord- 
ing to its capacities of commerce, agriculture, aud manu- 
factures, the lines of railway will be extended, railroad 
centres will be multiplied, and every demand of transpor- 
tation will be supplied. A disposition to embark into man- 
ufacturing is beginning to manifest itself. Enterprises of 
this sort are already appearing, aud the first effort of this 
important interest that develops into a success will be but 
the harbinger of other establishments, until there will be 
large investments in this branch of industry made in dif- 
ferent parts of the country. When we glance at all these 
interests in connection with the attractions of soil, climate, 
productions, and salubrity belonging to this splendid do- 
