The American Civil War Changes the Choctaw Nation (1861-1865)

 The American Civil War took more American lives than any other war in history.  It so divided the people of the United States that in some families’, brother fought against brother.  In Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, the four years that the United States was embroiled in Civil War were chaotic times for the Native Americans. 

Because of the number of slaveholders among its leadership, the Choctaw people were the most strongly committed of the Indian Territory's nations to the Southern cause.  Soon after the war started, the Choctaw Nation signed a treaty with the Confederate government in 1861.  Ultimately, this, along with the white western migration, would lead to the collapse of the Choctaw Nation.

On February 7, 1861, the Choctaw nation announced its loyalty to the Confederacy.  An agreement among the Choctaw Leaders was reached at their tribal council in Doaksville:

“That we view with deep regret and great solicitude the present unhappy political disagreement between the Northern and Southern states of the American Union, tending to a permanent dissolution of the Union and the disturbance of the various important relations existing with that government by treaty stipulations and international laws, and portending much injury to the Choctaw government and people.  …

“That in the event a permanent dissolution of the American Union takes place, our many relations with the general government must cease, and we shall be left to follow the natural affections, education, institutions and interests of our people, which indissolubly bind us in every way to the destiny of our neighbors and brethren of the Southern states.”

This event marked the true beginning of the Civil War in the Indian Territory. 

Doaksville, Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

While the Union and Confederate forces clashed in the east, the Choctaw, along with the Chickasaw, clashed with the Union supporting Creeks and Cherokees.  This formed a kind of civil war within a civil war.

This was due in part to the Confederate forces capture of Fort Smith.  The capture of Fort Smith led to the union withdraws from Indian Territory.  After the Native Americans were settled in Indian Territory, the U.S. Government created several forts in order to help keep the peace between the tribes.  After the war started, and after the capture of Fort Smith, the forts in Indian Territory were abandoned in order to supply more troops to the main battlegrounds. 

The Choctaw’s also sympathized more strongly with southern sentiment than the Cherokees.  Prior to the Civil War, The Choctaws led an agricultural existence, relying on slaves to do the hard labor.  This way of life was being threatened, and they had no choice other than to side with the Confederates.

The Choctaw soldiers were poorly clothed, poorly fed, unpaid, and arms and ammunition was scarce.  They were untrained and undisciplined.  Under these conditions, the Choctaw people quickly became demoralized throughout the war.  Because of this, many soldiers, along with civilians not involved with the war, took refuge in a camp on top of Winding Stair Mountain.

During the Civil War, Indian Territory was plunged into chaos.  Even though the devastation was not as significant as it was further east, many homes and lives were still ruined by the effects of war. 

One of the most significant impacts on the Choctaw economy was that of cattle theft.  Prior to the Civil War, great numbers of cattle were herded from Texas, across Oklahoma, and into Kansas or Missouri.  Known as the Great Cattle Drives, this was a significant source of income for many who were located along the cattle trails, as well as those Choctaws who raised livestock in the area. 

During the Civil War, well-organized bands of thieves stealing cattle and horses practically stripped the county of livestock under pretext of army use.  During this time, a yoke of oxen was worth $50.00, cows $10, and horses were worth $20 each.  Cattle thieves would steal the cattle and then drive them to the border of Kansas.  Once in Kansas, the livestock would be sold with fake bills of sale.  They were also taken to Texas to be sold.  This continued until the close of the war when the Indian chiefs took drastic steps to stop this.

On June 19, 1865, Peter Pitchlyn, who was the Choctaw Chief, surrendered the last of the Choctaw Troops who were stationed at Doaksville.  On April 28, 1866, a peace treaty was signed in Washington.  Once the war was over, the Choctaws were slow in returning to their lands.

The Confederacy's fall meant that the Five Tribes were forced to negotiate new treaties with the U.S. government.  As defeated nations, they were forced to cede territory and to comply with the United States' demands for expanded railroad rights-of-way across Indian lands.  The federal government also forced them to sell their western lands. It was during the negotiations of these treaties that Choctaw chief Allen Wright suggested the name "Oklahoma" for the western territory that the tribe was forced to relinquish for the settlement of western tribes.

Captain Reynolds and his wife, 1870s, shortly after relocating to Indian Territory following the American Civil War

The result of the Civil War was to undermine tribal governments. The conflict opened Indian Territory to exploitation by railroads and non-Indian ranchers, coal miners, and commercial entrepreneurs. It set up the Dawes Commission to register Indian families and parcel out individual plots of land.  In 1889, the Oklahoma Territory was opened to white settlement. 

Although the Choctaw Nation had tried to regulate the activities of non-Indians by imposing fees and licenses, and in the 1870s to regulate marriage between tribal citizens and non-Indians, the nation was quickly overwhelmed by noncitizens.  They had suffered thefts, violent crimes and murders at the hands of whites and other tribal members.  In the decades that followed, the Choctaw Nation essentially became a non-entity as more whites settled on land formerly owned by the tribe.