John Ross, Cherokee Chief [Paperback]

GARY E. MOULTON is the Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of American History at the University of Nebraska and editor of The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.In John Ross, Cherokee Chief, Gary Moulton examines the life of the man who led the Cherokee people during the most trying and tragic period of their long history. Ross was the principal Cherokee negotiator with the encroaching whites during the Georgia gold rush, guided the tribe through the treacherous years of the Civil War, and struggled to preserve unity among his people during their removal westward by the United States government, along the Trail of Tears.

In this thoroughly researched and copiously documented work, Moulton provides a detailed description of the struggle of the Cherokees and Ross, their leader, to convince the United States Government to abide by agreements made earlier in numerous treaties.

Moulton recounts with care the stormy post-removal days in Indian Territory. Considerable attention is also given to Ross’s efforts to keep his tribe from being drawn into the Civil War, his decision to sign a treaty with the Confederacy, his eventual disavowal of the southern alliance, and his escape behind Union lines.

Moulton has produced a thoroughly scholarly, readable, and even-handed biography of a complex and controversial figure in Cherokee and U.S. politics.

Moulton examines the life of the man who led the Cherokee people during the most tragic period of their long history. Ross was the principal Cherokee negotiator with the whites during the Georgia gold rush, the years of the Civil War, and the Indian removal westward by the U.S. government, along the Trail of Tears.