Revolt in the Cherokee Nation

Revolts they fear,
Not the slave masters who reigned in the Antebellum South
But a new oppressor,
The Five Civilized Tribes, forced themselves from their own homelands

The Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws
Creeks, Seminoles, and brethren of mixed blood
They are the offspring of white settlers intermarrying into the tribes
And they are the chief slaveholders

The Mixed-bloods depend on their Black brethren
For unpaid labor in the parched fields
Full blood Indians rely on them also
As English interpreters and translators

Indian slaveholders, some callous and pitiless
Treat their chattel with inhumanity
The English hire them to seek runaway slaves
A lucrative enterprise they enjoy

Indian slaveholders, some kind and generous
Refuse to return runaway slaves they capture
They welcome them as family into their tribes
A shared bond they both benefit from

The Seminoles are of a different breed, however
Never engaging in chattel slavery
They take in fugitive slaves as their own property
The runaways seeking solace amongst them

Fear surfaces amongst four of the Civilized Tribes
A fear of revolt, a threat of uprisings prevail
The tribes establish slave codes to squelch insurrections
All but the Seminoles are willing to comply

The Seminoles’ slaves are allowed to roam freely
Carrying weapons, owning livestock and horses
Possessing land and property like freed men
Posing great threats to the security of the Cherokees

The slaves plan their escape as early morning dawns
Before the Cherokees rise and know their fate
They lock in their masters and overseers
While they repose in slumbered ignorance

They burglarize Joseph Vann’s provisions store
Taking guns and horses too
Mules, ammunition, and food they plunder
For their secretive passage to freedom

Men, women, and children make away
And rendezvous at the appointed meeting place
Journeying toward Mexico to seek refuge
In a free country where slavery is prohibited

The freedom seekers take flight
Through the Creek Nation they travel
Other enslaved brethren join suit
Undiscovered until daylight appears

Their escape, when discovered
Prompt their Cherokee masters to take pursuit
Following the escapees into the Creek Nation
The Cherokee and Creek join forces for faster detection

Continuing on into the Choctaw Nation, a battle ensues
The fugitive runaways prepare for combat against their pursuers
Both sides suffering loss and casualties
For two days no victor is proclaimed

Unprepared for the resistance from the runaways
The Cherokees and Creeks seek reinforcements
They retreat, leaving the fugitives to continue on
Toward the Red River, their immediate destination

Carrying eight runaways from the Choctaw Nation
Two patty rollers meet with a deadly fate
The Cherokee and Creek fugitives set free the procured eight
Who join with them en route to Mexico

The Cherokee National Council
Establish a militia to hunt the runaways
Led by John Drew, they accost the fugitives
Short of the Red River

The fugitive slaves offer no resistance
Starving, cold, and disillusioned they are
Five arrested for murder, and all but two captured
They are returned to their Cherokee slave owners