Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The Cane Hill College Bell by Conrow R. Miller
The whole community was brought to an abrupt realization recently, that they might have to get along without the bell. It was discovered by Bryan Reed that the bell was missing from its accustomed place in the belfry where it has hung for years. Nobody knew exactly when it was taken, of course. A news sort was put in the Fayetteville daily paper that evening the county sheriff had a call saying that the bell would be found in the parking lot at the University Stadium. This proved to be true and a truck was dispatched for it at once. It is again hanging where it has been for so long.
In the early days of the college, Uncle Rankin Pyeatte, one of the board of trustees, was notified by a friend of his who was the captain of a river boat, the Grapeshot, that his boat had sunk at Van Buren and that he would give the bell to the college if they would salvage it.
No time was wasted. Mr. Pyeatte immediately took an ox team of four and a wagon, along with axes to clear a way over the mountains, and off they went to Van Buren. It was necessary to hire drivers to remove the bell from the craft and it was loaded on the wagon to make its slow trip back over the mountains to the young college.
A derrick-like belfry was erected and the bell hung. Shortly it was ringing out the hours of the school and the countryside. It was said that the sound carried as far over the hills as Cove Creek on some days. It became a part of the lives of all in the community.
When most of Cane Hill was burned after the battle of Prairie Grove, the old belfry was put to the torch and the crashed to the ground cracking so badly as a result, that it was no longer usable. As soon as the war was over, the college assisted by local contributions, sent the bell back to the Cincinnati, Ohio, foundry where it was originally cast, for re-casting.
Although the college burned again, the bell was intact and was moved to the new location of the brick structure that still stands. After some years in an open belfry the school decided it needed a better housing, and a new enclosed bell tower was erected. This has somewhat shortened the distance it can be heard, though it still is heard all over Cane Hill.
The old college chapel was the sanctuary for the local Presbyterian USA group and the bell served as a summons to Sunday School and church to toll mournfully for funerals and joyful for weddings. A custom that goes into the dim recesses of history is that of ringing out the old year and the new. It is also run on July 4th.
Many people go to look at the bell and to give it a short ring or two. Perhaps somebody will see fit to erect a more ornamental bell tower with adequate protection to prevent the entrance of vandals.
*Taken from the October 1966 issue Vol. XVI, No. 4 of the Washington County Historical Society's publication of FLASHBACK
Mark Bean of Washington County
Mark Bean was born in Bean's Station, TN, and came to Arkansas in 1820. He married Hettie Stuart in Batesville, AR and came to Franklin County. He served several terms in the Arkansas territorial legislature. He came to Washington County (Rhea's Mills) in 1834 and shortly thereafter moved to Cane Hill. His wife having died while they were living in Franklin County, he married Nancy J. Parks, the daughter of Robert W. Parks. Mark Bean died February 1862 and is buried at Parks' Corner, where the Cane Hill road turns off from US Highway 62.
Mark Bean's son, Richard H. Bean, was born 1837, served in the Arkansas State troops and in 1863 joined a Missouri regiment in Shelby's Brigade, CSA. After the war he built a steam saw and grist mill at Cane Hill, which he operated until 1879. Richard H. Bean married Mary L. Lacy, daughter of T.H. Lacy, in May 1866.
Legend credits Mark Bean with the construction of an early mill at the Bean's Spring between Cane Hill and Lincoln. This is strictly legend. Bean had been operating salt works in the Indian Territory at an early date (probably before 1826). When the Cherokee Treaty of 1828 compelled him to give up the salt business-- for which the Federal government reimbursed him handsomely -- he moved to Cane Hill -- actually three miles north of present-day Cane Hill.
Legend credits Mark Bean with the construction of an early mill at the Bean's Spring between Cane Hill and Lincoln. This is strictly legend. Bean had been operating salt works in the Indian Territory at an early date (probably before 1826). When the Cherokee Treaty of 1828 compelled him to give up the salt business-- for which the Federal government reimbursed him handsomely -- he moved to Cane Hill -- actually three miles north of present-day Cane Hill.
Below are letters written by Mark Bean and his son, "Dick", to Mr. D. C. Williams, a prominent Van Buren merchant, in regards to the turbulent times on the horizon.
Before the meeting of the Secession Convention in March of 1861, the sentiment in Washington County was pro-Union. Washington county was the most populated county in the State, and therefore sent four delegates to the Convention; T.M. Gunter, David Walker, John P.A. Parks and J. H. Stirman. At the first session of the Convention the delegates voted against secession, hoping to refer the momentous decision to a vote of the people. But events happened too rapidly and the election was never held. When the Convention reconvened in May of that same year, the Secession ordinance was passed by a vote of 65 to 5. When an effort was made to make the vote unanimous, the Washington County delegates changed their vote, Walker and Gunter being the last to change over. Both later attained the rank of Colonel in the Confederate army. Only Isaac Murphy, former school teacher in Fayetteville and Mt. Comfort, refused to change his vote.
Letter #1 From Mark Bean to D. C. Williams
Dear Friend Cane Hill Ark Jan 30th 1861
I have rec'd your letter, also one from our good friend Judge Walker and also your letter to him embracing the same subjects, and which I as fully endorse as any man in Ark. Walker spent the night with me last week. He was extremely anxious for me to run for the Convention. I told him that nothing would give me more pleasure than to stand by him when the South , with Billy Cummins at the head, contend that the basis of representation should not be upon the free white male inhabitants only, but two thirds of their negroes should be represented. I told him that it was impossible for me to run, owing to my feeble state of health. Last Saturday we nominated J. B. Russell for the Convention and recommended Walker unanimously, and Doctor Dean. Also Stirman. All eyes are turned to Judge Walker here. There is a mass meeting in Fayetteville next Saturday to nominate conventioneers. We passed a resolution or platform for our candidates, that our candidates must be strong Union men. Walker will have nothing to do with the convention in Fayetteville. The wire workers I think or Secessionists will be defeated. I hope so at least. I have and still will urge the importance as you suggest (of referring) the decision back to the people and have every candidate pledge to this effect. I hope that Gen. Thomason will run for one man in Crawford. What have we to gain in a division of our glorious Union? I see no compromising spirit by any of our members in Congress. Are they reflecting the will of Arkansas or are they sympathizing with poor South Carolina, which I cannot do. I would be glad to hear from you at any time.
Truly your friend, MARK BEAN
Letter #2 from Richard (Dick) Bean to D. C. Williams
Mr. D. C. Williams Boonsboro Washington Co. Ark FEB 21st, 1861
Dear Friend,
Mr. Saml Mitchell has a box of chattels at your house perhaps, which he wishes you to send up by the first opportunity. They were shipped from Little Rock some two or three weeks since. I will pay you for the charges on the box when I come down.
I have had your sugar tree dug some two or three days. I have failed to get any conveyance yet. Most of the wagons are hauling apples and are unwilling to take them on act. of the injury to the apples. I have the roots of them buried so there is no danger of them being injured.
The vote of the county was more than three to one. Stirman rec'd nineteen hundred votes, Walker seventeen hundred and seventy seven. Gunter seventeen hundred and eighty. Deane, Neal and Billingsley only rec'd some three hundred.
I will probably be in Van Buren Saturday night week. I think Miss Mary wants to see Mr. Brown. She will come in Mr. Wilson's carriage.
All well. My regards to your family.
Very truly, DICK BEAN
*Taken from Vol. XI, No. 2 May, 1961 publication of FLASHBACK
Driving Tour of the Battle of Cane Hill
This weekend I was honored to be present at the dedication of three interpretive markers exploring the Battle of Cane Hill. These markers are on the grounds of the Cane Hill College.
Pictured below is Alan Thompson, the museum registrar at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park. He is in works with the Arkansas Historic Trails Commission to put together a driving tour of the battle that took place November 1862. In a future post I will be to attempting to embellish the hand out they provided with some pictures I took along the way to possibly put together a brochure to submit to them.
In the mean time.... enjoy these pictures I took at the event:
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| Senator Jon Woods firing the cannon. |
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| Bobby Braly, Executive Director of Historic Cane Hill |
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Reenactors with the 11th Missouri Infantry, Kansas 6th Calvary and the 1st Arkansas Light Artillery  |
Friday, November 8, 2013
Secret Society of Pin Indians Disappear Into History After Civil War by Velda Brotherton
The Civil War was to have a great impact on everyone who lived in Arkansas, and that included members of the Civilized Cherokee tribe. While Chief Ross forbade his people to take part in border warfare or to organize a band of guerrillas to help protect Arkansas, Elias Boudinot, a resident of Arkansas, encouraged Ross’s nemesis, Stand Watie, to fight for the Confederates. And so was formed a secret society of Cherokee known as Knights of the Golden Circle, finally changed to The Southern Rights party.
Another organization, made up of full bloods who called themselves Keetoowahs began to operate in the Indian Nation on the side of the Union. They were reorganized in 1859 by Evan Jones and his son John, and were claimed to be designed to perpetuate tribal traditions. It was common knowledge in the Nations that they really had been reorganized to fight slavery. This group of Cherokee became known as Pins Indians because of the insignia of crossed pins they wore on their hunting shirts and coats.
Asked to leave the Nations, the Pins reverted to their ancestors way of fighting. Though supposedly aligned with the United States against the Confederate States of America, they consistently raided their arch enemies the Knights of the Golden Circle, using guerrilla warfare at every opportunity.
It was only natural that settlers in the area just across the border in Northwest Arkansas should become unwitting targets of these hit and miss raids by this unruly band of warriors. In fact, according to records, Jones, said to be a white man with his own agenda, trained the Pins in a school in Cincinnati near Cane Hill, Arkansas.
After much political ado, Cherokee Stand Watie was made a General in the Confederate Army. When he and his men attempted to raise the Confederate flag in the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah, about 150 Pins led by Chief Doublehead stopped him.
In the book, The Cherokees, by Grace Steele Woodward, the final mention of the Pins Indians is made when the factions, split by the Civil War reunited in the Indian Nation in 1867.
In the book Mankiller by Chief Wilma Mankiller and Michael Wallis, the Pins are referred to as an ultra secret society. They used secret signs to identify themselves to other members. Touching their hats in salutation would be followed by “Who are you?”, with the proper response being, “I am Keetoowah’s son.” Among the Cherokees it was also known that those who had split from the tribe and fought for the Union forces wore strips of split corn husks in their hair before they went into battle.
Chief Ross never wished to align himself with the Confederate cause and slavery, though many Cherokees did indeed own slaves. So when the Union troops entered Indian Territory in 1862 he welcomed them and left under their protective custody.
Ever a rival of Chief Ross, Stand Watie saw his chance when Ross left the Indian Nations, and declared himself the new principal chief of the Cherokees. Many members of the tribe did not back Watie, and the war within a war spilled into Arkansas to affect those already under constant attack by gangs of bushwhackers.
Pin Indians attacked, burned and killed southern sympathizers on both sides of the border. Those living in Washington County became unwilling victims in this battle between the two factions of Cherokees as well as the two factions of men fighting in the Civil War. Many of the Cherokees caught up in this guerilla warfare fled into neutral lands in Kansas. Hundreds of Indian refugees, being cared for rather poorly in Kansas by the Federal Government, died during the first year of the war.
While down in the Indian Nations and Arkansas, the two factions continued to wage a bitter war. In 1864 Stand Watie was promoted to Brigadier General in the confederacy, the highest rank to be achieved by any Native American. The confederate troops led by General Stand Watie continued to fight long after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his confederate army at Appamattox, Virginia April 9, 1865. It would be late June before Watie’s army finally laid down their arms. In all, 7,000 Cherokees lost their lives in that war. Their homes, libraries, businesses and livestock suffered devastating losses.
White settlers living along the borderland of Northwest Arkansas suffered great losses as well. The white man’s law held no power in the Indian Nation and on the Arkansas side Indians were free from tribal jurisdiction. Outlaw gangs frequenting the area could step across the border from either direction and be free from punishment for their crimes committed on the other side.
According to Conrad Russell, a native of Cane Hill and a historian who wrote many articles about the Civil War from stories he heard at his grandfather’s knee, Jones was white and his name probably wasn’t Jones at all. It was known that he hated slavery in any form and didn’t care how it might be stomped out. He taught the young men to kill, rob and otherwise destroy slave owners. Soon they didn’t much care who they raided. Russell said that soon no man, woman or child was safe from raids by the Pin Indians. The group of outlaw Indians held no loyalties to either side. It was known that they raided both Confederate and Northern sympathizers alike.
Isaac Buchanan, a prosperous farmer living near Cane Hill became a victim of the Pins. One day three of them arrived at his farm and asked for food. Buchanan led them to his cellar where he gave them some apples. When he followed them from the cellar and turned to close the door, they shot and killed him. Buchanan’s three sons had already been cut down by bushwhackers and this deed left his womenfolk defenseless. Finally tiring of the killing, a band of Confederates and local citizens in the beleaguered area gathered weapons and ammunition and set up a series of clever ambushes. Spotting a large band of Pins headed for Cane Hill, they lay in wait south of the settlement along the road they were known to travel.
A group of about 60 Pins rode through and the first contingent closed up any retreat, driving the band into the second and third group who waited in hiding. By the time the renegades made the border, there were few left. It is said they never returned to pull another raid on the citizens around Cane Hill. Thus, according to Arkansas legend, ended the reign of the Pins and they disappeared for good into Indian Territory. Cherokee writings make no more mention of the secret Pins Indians after 1867.
Stories always differ, depending on which side the storyteller is on, but the story of the Pins has been recorded in most Cherokee histories, but few whites. Conrad Russell admits the stories he heard from his grandfather are only hearsay, as is most of our folk lore. However, the written history of the Pins by Cherokee sources are more than hearsay. The mystery of who is entirely correct will probably always remain just that. A mystery.
Velda Brotherton is currently working on a history of Springdale, Arkansas, which will be published by Arcadia Publishers in their Making of America Series.
Copyright © 2001 Velda Brotherton originally published in The White River Valley News, Elkins, Arkansas
Another organization, made up of full bloods who called themselves Keetoowahs began to operate in the Indian Nation on the side of the Union. They were reorganized in 1859 by Evan Jones and his son John, and were claimed to be designed to perpetuate tribal traditions. It was common knowledge in the Nations that they really had been reorganized to fight slavery. This group of Cherokee became known as Pins Indians because of the insignia of crossed pins they wore on their hunting shirts and coats.
Asked to leave the Nations, the Pins reverted to their ancestors way of fighting. Though supposedly aligned with the United States against the Confederate States of America, they consistently raided their arch enemies the Knights of the Golden Circle, using guerrilla warfare at every opportunity.
It was only natural that settlers in the area just across the border in Northwest Arkansas should become unwitting targets of these hit and miss raids by this unruly band of warriors. In fact, according to records, Jones, said to be a white man with his own agenda, trained the Pins in a school in Cincinnati near Cane Hill, Arkansas.
After much political ado, Cherokee Stand Watie was made a General in the Confederate Army. When he and his men attempted to raise the Confederate flag in the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah, about 150 Pins led by Chief Doublehead stopped him.
In the book, The Cherokees, by Grace Steele Woodward, the final mention of the Pins Indians is made when the factions, split by the Civil War reunited in the Indian Nation in 1867.
In the book Mankiller by Chief Wilma Mankiller and Michael Wallis, the Pins are referred to as an ultra secret society. They used secret signs to identify themselves to other members. Touching their hats in salutation would be followed by “Who are you?”, with the proper response being, “I am Keetoowah’s son.” Among the Cherokees it was also known that those who had split from the tribe and fought for the Union forces wore strips of split corn husks in their hair before they went into battle.
Chief Ross never wished to align himself with the Confederate cause and slavery, though many Cherokees did indeed own slaves. So when the Union troops entered Indian Territory in 1862 he welcomed them and left under their protective custody.
Ever a rival of Chief Ross, Stand Watie saw his chance when Ross left the Indian Nations, and declared himself the new principal chief of the Cherokees. Many members of the tribe did not back Watie, and the war within a war spilled into Arkansas to affect those already under constant attack by gangs of bushwhackers.
Pin Indians attacked, burned and killed southern sympathizers on both sides of the border. Those living in Washington County became unwilling victims in this battle between the two factions of Cherokees as well as the two factions of men fighting in the Civil War. Many of the Cherokees caught up in this guerilla warfare fled into neutral lands in Kansas. Hundreds of Indian refugees, being cared for rather poorly in Kansas by the Federal Government, died during the first year of the war.
While down in the Indian Nations and Arkansas, the two factions continued to wage a bitter war. In 1864 Stand Watie was promoted to Brigadier General in the confederacy, the highest rank to be achieved by any Native American. The confederate troops led by General Stand Watie continued to fight long after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his confederate army at Appamattox, Virginia April 9, 1865. It would be late June before Watie’s army finally laid down their arms. In all, 7,000 Cherokees lost their lives in that war. Their homes, libraries, businesses and livestock suffered devastating losses.
White settlers living along the borderland of Northwest Arkansas suffered great losses as well. The white man’s law held no power in the Indian Nation and on the Arkansas side Indians were free from tribal jurisdiction. Outlaw gangs frequenting the area could step across the border from either direction and be free from punishment for their crimes committed on the other side.
According to Conrad Russell, a native of Cane Hill and a historian who wrote many articles about the Civil War from stories he heard at his grandfather’s knee, Jones was white and his name probably wasn’t Jones at all. It was known that he hated slavery in any form and didn’t care how it might be stomped out. He taught the young men to kill, rob and otherwise destroy slave owners. Soon they didn’t much care who they raided. Russell said that soon no man, woman or child was safe from raids by the Pin Indians. The group of outlaw Indians held no loyalties to either side. It was known that they raided both Confederate and Northern sympathizers alike.
Isaac Buchanan, a prosperous farmer living near Cane Hill became a victim of the Pins. One day three of them arrived at his farm and asked for food. Buchanan led them to his cellar where he gave them some apples. When he followed them from the cellar and turned to close the door, they shot and killed him. Buchanan’s three sons had already been cut down by bushwhackers and this deed left his womenfolk defenseless. Finally tiring of the killing, a band of Confederates and local citizens in the beleaguered area gathered weapons and ammunition and set up a series of clever ambushes. Spotting a large band of Pins headed for Cane Hill, they lay in wait south of the settlement along the road they were known to travel.
A group of about 60 Pins rode through and the first contingent closed up any retreat, driving the band into the second and third group who waited in hiding. By the time the renegades made the border, there were few left. It is said they never returned to pull another raid on the citizens around Cane Hill. Thus, according to Arkansas legend, ended the reign of the Pins and they disappeared for good into Indian Territory. Cherokee writings make no more mention of the secret Pins Indians after 1867.
Stories always differ, depending on which side the storyteller is on, but the story of the Pins has been recorded in most Cherokee histories, but few whites. Conrad Russell admits the stories he heard from his grandfather are only hearsay, as is most of our folk lore. However, the written history of the Pins by Cherokee sources are more than hearsay. The mystery of who is entirely correct will probably always remain just that. A mystery.
Velda Brotherton is currently working on a history of Springdale, Arkansas, which will be published by Arcadia Publishers in their Making of America Series.
Copyright © 2001 Velda Brotherton originally published in The White River Valley News, Elkins, Arkansas
Pin Indians
The Civil War was a cruel sword dividing both the white and Indian nations. Stand Watie and his Indian Regiment stood staunchly for the South throughout. Indian Chief John Ross and his followers fought with the Federals but he defected to the South at one time.
A third faction, the Pin Indians, were Northern Sympathizers. The harassed citizens of the boarder area of Northwest Arkansas and Indian Territory divided their invective between "Stand Waitie's men" and the Pins, according to their sympathies.
During this period the sound of hoof beats on the rocky roads could mean the cavalry of either the Federals or Confederates -- or a private band of Pin Indians on a raid. Either one sent the residents scurrying to hide food and valuables, sometimes to take them to the woods and hide there with them until the danger was past.
History gives scant mention of these mysterious raiders. Information is gleaned mostly from Civil War records, Oklahoma Chronicles and handed-down stories from the ancestry of the present residents of the area in which they operated.
Their history is so closely woven with the Keetoowahs some have mistaken them for the same society but their is a distinction. Many Keetoowahs were Pins but not all Pins were Keetoowahs, and one historian says, "I have known of some who claimed to be Pins who were no more Pins than I am."
Many Keetoowahs enlisted in the Union Home Guard Brigade at Ft. Gibson, serving under white officers. Civil War records list Indians as serving in the Battle of Prairie Grove, involving Cane Hill, and in other area battles, in great numbers. Some of them took their squaws and children along. Some Pins were employed as scouts of the army and others ran in private bands, devoted to their own desires.
The Keetoowah Society, composed of full-blood Cherokees, was organized in 1859 in the Cherokee nation (Indian Territory), with purpose of developing higher individualism and to preserve tribal history.
They met at night in the woods (later they were called Night Hawk Keetoowahs) and had secret rituals and signs by which they could identify each other in the dark or beyond speaking distance. Their badge of identification was two crossed pins, worn on the front of their hunting shirts.
Rev. Evan Jones, Baptist missionary, who brought a party of Cherokees from Georgia in the removal of the Indians, and his son, John, were active in this organization. Jones is thought to have organized it on the basis of an old society (Keetoowahs) originating in the South. But during the war he put emphasis on creating abolitionists.
A corroboration of this is found in a wartime newspaper called "Buck & Ball" after the ammunition used by the Union troops -- three buckshot and a 72-caliber ball. The advance of the Union army in the Battle of Prairie Grove arrived at Cane Hill and found a small printing press in a log cabin. Maj. Preston B. Plumb employed some newspapermen in his company to set up the type and one issue of the paper -- 1,500 copies -- was run off, then the troops moved on.
*A footnote by the author of the paper states that the press belonged to the Jones Mission, a few miles west of Cincinnati, Arkansas.
When the war broke out, these missionaries went north, leaving their press to the Cane Hill merchants as security for their debts. As the type was about equal in English and Cherokee characters, it is probable that this was the press used by the missionaries in Indian Territory for several years. Sequoyah is alleged to have worked at this press and to have been a Pin. (Editors' note: Other area historians contend that Sequoyah was never in Northwest Arkansas.)
Relative to the Pins, the note states the Jones Mission trained the Indians to be abolitionists and when one was converted he was given a badge of identification -- two crossed pins.
The Baptist Mission church with its inscription "Old Baptist Mission Church Moved From Georgia Over The Trail of Tears in 1835", near Westville, Okla., is still in use, its logs covered with siding. It stands "a few miles west of Cincinnati", the old border town where many Pins bought their supplies, including "firewater" and ammunition. It is claimed to be the Jones Mission referred to in the annals of the Civil War, the organization of which was moved from Georgia.
Irregardless [sic] of the original principles of the society the name "Pin" became synonymous with violence throughout the Civil War period. Like the white bushwhackers, in the name of the army, private bands roved the country, pillaging, burning and murdering indiscriminately, whether their victims were Southerners or not.
The women, children and old men left at home lived in terror of a knock on the door at night or a glimpse of an Indian (or white) lurking in the woods, watching the house. When given what they wanted, they often murdered the occupants and burned the house, anyway
These depredations continued for some time after the war.
The Keetoowah Society is still in existence today, although split into factions, each with its own chief and head man. The largest and possibly the oldest is the Red Bird Smith that owns the seal of the original society and the sacred wampum belt related to the history of the tribe. In the breaking up of the Cherokee government and the allotment of tribal land, they became active politically, opposed to the closing of the government.
The term "Pin" was applied only to the full-blood Cherokee guerrilla bands in the Civil War and since has faded into obscurity.
Justice demands the admission that not all the deeds laid to them were theirs. Many times white bushwhackers painted their faces and masqueraded as Indians to do their own.
*Reprinted from Arkansas Democrat Magazine, January 4, 1970
**Taken from the Washington County Historical Society's November 1983 issue Volume 33 Number 4 publication of FLASHBACK
A third faction, the Pin Indians, were Northern Sympathizers. The harassed citizens of the boarder area of Northwest Arkansas and Indian Territory divided their invective between "Stand Waitie's men" and the Pins, according to their sympathies.
During this period the sound of hoof beats on the rocky roads could mean the cavalry of either the Federals or Confederates -- or a private band of Pin Indians on a raid. Either one sent the residents scurrying to hide food and valuables, sometimes to take them to the woods and hide there with them until the danger was past.
History gives scant mention of these mysterious raiders. Information is gleaned mostly from Civil War records, Oklahoma Chronicles and handed-down stories from the ancestry of the present residents of the area in which they operated.
Their history is so closely woven with the Keetoowahs some have mistaken them for the same society but their is a distinction. Many Keetoowahs were Pins but not all Pins were Keetoowahs, and one historian says, "I have known of some who claimed to be Pins who were no more Pins than I am."
Many Keetoowahs enlisted in the Union Home Guard Brigade at Ft. Gibson, serving under white officers. Civil War records list Indians as serving in the Battle of Prairie Grove, involving Cane Hill, and in other area battles, in great numbers. Some of them took their squaws and children along. Some Pins were employed as scouts of the army and others ran in private bands, devoted to their own desires.
The Keetoowah Society, composed of full-blood Cherokees, was organized in 1859 in the Cherokee nation (Indian Territory), with purpose of developing higher individualism and to preserve tribal history.
They met at night in the woods (later they were called Night Hawk Keetoowahs) and had secret rituals and signs by which they could identify each other in the dark or beyond speaking distance. Their badge of identification was two crossed pins, worn on the front of their hunting shirts.
Rev. Evan Jones, Baptist missionary, who brought a party of Cherokees from Georgia in the removal of the Indians, and his son, John, were active in this organization. Jones is thought to have organized it on the basis of an old society (Keetoowahs) originating in the South. But during the war he put emphasis on creating abolitionists.
A corroboration of this is found in a wartime newspaper called "Buck & Ball" after the ammunition used by the Union troops -- three buckshot and a 72-caliber ball. The advance of the Union army in the Battle of Prairie Grove arrived at Cane Hill and found a small printing press in a log cabin. Maj. Preston B. Plumb employed some newspapermen in his company to set up the type and one issue of the paper -- 1,500 copies -- was run off, then the troops moved on.
*A footnote by the author of the paper states that the press belonged to the Jones Mission, a few miles west of Cincinnati, Arkansas.
When the war broke out, these missionaries went north, leaving their press to the Cane Hill merchants as security for their debts. As the type was about equal in English and Cherokee characters, it is probable that this was the press used by the missionaries in Indian Territory for several years. Sequoyah is alleged to have worked at this press and to have been a Pin. (Editors' note: Other area historians contend that Sequoyah was never in Northwest Arkansas.)
Relative to the Pins, the note states the Jones Mission trained the Indians to be abolitionists and when one was converted he was given a badge of identification -- two crossed pins.
The Baptist Mission church with its inscription "Old Baptist Mission Church Moved From Georgia Over The Trail of Tears in 1835", near Westville, Okla., is still in use, its logs covered with siding. It stands "a few miles west of Cincinnati", the old border town where many Pins bought their supplies, including "firewater" and ammunition. It is claimed to be the Jones Mission referred to in the annals of the Civil War, the organization of which was moved from Georgia.
Irregardless [sic] of the original principles of the society the name "Pin" became synonymous with violence throughout the Civil War period. Like the white bushwhackers, in the name of the army, private bands roved the country, pillaging, burning and murdering indiscriminately, whether their victims were Southerners or not.
The women, children and old men left at home lived in terror of a knock on the door at night or a glimpse of an Indian (or white) lurking in the woods, watching the house. When given what they wanted, they often murdered the occupants and burned the house, anyway
These depredations continued for some time after the war.
The Keetoowah Society is still in existence today, although split into factions, each with its own chief and head man. The largest and possibly the oldest is the Red Bird Smith that owns the seal of the original society and the sacred wampum belt related to the history of the tribe. In the breaking up of the Cherokee government and the allotment of tribal land, they became active politically, opposed to the closing of the government.
The term "Pin" was applied only to the full-blood Cherokee guerrilla bands in the Civil War and since has faded into obscurity.
Justice demands the admission that not all the deeds laid to them were theirs. Many times white bushwhackers painted their faces and masqueraded as Indians to do their own.
*Reprinted from Arkansas Democrat Magazine, January 4, 1970
**Taken from the Washington County Historical Society's November 1983 issue Volume 33 Number 4 publication of FLASHBACK
The Story of Clyde by Conrad Russel
About 1840 a log school house was built at the lower end of the hill, near where Clyde is now. A well-known minister and educator, Rev. Samuel Newton, taught there for a number of years. The school was called Elm Grove School.
The village that grew up near the school was at first called "Newton" for the Reverend Newton. From Newton it became "New Town."
The first store was a general merchandise store built in 1834 and operated by James B. Russell. During the Civil War, General Blunt and his officers called the village "Russelville" and "Newburg." After the war, the name "New Town" was back in use.
There were two other stores in New Town: Andrew Reed operated a store, and Mrs. Bess Burns and Mrs. Dana Yoe operated a store and millinery shop.
In 1850, a school for girls was opened in a frame building believed to have been located where Highway 45 passes behind the old store building still standing in Clyde. A well-known educator, Professor Thomas G. McCollough, was at the head of this school. Soon students were coming from adjoining counties and from Indian Territory. Because it was in Cane Hill Township, the school was called "Cane Hill Female Seminary." ore building was then necessary. On December 10, 1852, the school was chartered by an act of the legislature. In 1856 a new two-story building was erected, and a library and music department were added.
To this frontier school Miss Mary Beller, who had just graduated in music in New York City, brought her Chickering grand piano and took charge of the music department in the Seminary.
A post office was established, February 10, 1887, with W. C. Russell as postmaster. Subsequent postmasters were: James R. Reed, May 26, 1890; Dana L. Yoe, May 7, 1894; Andrew B Reed, March 31, 1899; Wm. J. David, Feb. 9, 1904; Bessie Burns, Mar. 17, 1906; L. H. Yates, Aug. 11, 1910; Robert Stephens, Aug. 12, 1911; W. W. Yates, Aug. 11, 1913; and Stanley W. Yates, Nov. 7, 1924. The post office was called, "Clyde", for Clyde Irwin who lived across the road.
Some of the earliest settlers in New Town were Carter, Braly, Yates, Palmer, Carroll, Parker, Irwin, Rodgers, Trewhitt, Reed, Braly, Houston, Cox, and David. There are probably others whose names I do not know.
During the war, New Town was burned by federal soldiers and bushwackers. When the people heard that their homes, stores, and schools were to be burned, they carried out, and secreted, as much food, clothing and bedding as possible. A cave nearby was the main hiding place.
Mrs. Malinda Yates was just a young woman at the time and remembered ( and recorded) mush of the story of hardship and hunger after the burning. This and other effects of the Civil War years will be the subject for a future story.
Mrs. Yates was educated in the Female Seminary, and she taught there for a time. When times were better, and schools were in operation again Mrs. Yates was employed to teach in a building erected after the war. This building stood near the site of the old feed mill and garage, still standing west of the highway ( this article was written in 1976). Her contract required her to teach six hours per day and five days per week, at a salary of $10 per month. She was instructed to keep order in the school, without showing any partiality with the children, and not to be ill and crabbed with same. Her arithmetic text book had been hand written by Mr. Rutherford in 1811. Mrs. Benton has this book now.
Miss Malinda Russell, the daughter of George and Mary Wallis Russell, was married to James Yates in 1855. Mr. Yates was a veteran of the Mexican War, a pioneer settler, and ancestor of the Yates family of Clyde, Ark. Sometime near the turn of the century Mrs. Malinda Yates bought the Russell store. Her son, L.H. Yates, operated the store for a number of years. He also operated a cannery in the village.
In 1874, 18 members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Cane Hill, who lived in the New Town area, withdrew and organized a Cumberland Presbyterian Church there. Church and school used the same building. The Rev. Nathan Hanks, J.A. Knox and Sam Benton Reed were ministers who worked there. Also some of the ministers at Cane Hill served the Clyde church.
Clyde today is a quiet community of modern homes. The water supply comes from Braly Spring, which flows from the foot of a small hill a few hundred yards southwest of the town. It is now owned by Adron and Marie Yates Benton. In early days, this spring was the community refrigerator. A log springhouse built over the spring, with a basin through the center through which cold spring water flowed, was where families kept milk, butter, and other food.
Along the spring branch, which flowed to a hollow walnut log watering trough, was a thick growth of willow trees and brush. In this growth, the boys of the community would hide and watch Frank and Jesse James water their horses when they came to visit their sister, Mrs. Barbara Palmer. According to Mrs. Yates' records, the Palmers were good neighbors and friends.
The community centers around a white frame church, which was probably built between 1910 and 1918 to replace the old building. Mr. William Trewhitt have the lot on which the church was built. Mr. W. W. Yates was in charge of construction. some of the ladies of the church planted, cultivated, and harvested a tomato crop, and Mr. Trewhitt furnished the land and hauled the tomatoes to the village cannery. The canned tomatoes were sold and the money given to the building fund.
According to available information, the land on which Clyde stands was owned by Mr. W. G. Parker. Mr. Parker was a blacksmith and operated a shop in Clyde for many years. When he was old, his son, W. J. Parker (called Billy by his many friends), took over the shop and carried on for many more years. He was the last blacksmith in the area.
Many things which once were necessary to life in the country are gone, and soon there will be no one who remembers.
(My thanks to Mrs. Adron Benton, W. L. and J.B. Trewhitt for their help in getting information for this story. CR)
*This article is from Volume 26, Number 3 of the Washington County Historical Society's publication FLASHBACK , August 1976
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