Pushmataha link wikipedia
"Pushmattaha rose to power.
He was a self-made man, of obscure family, who first became famous as a
successful hunter. It was then the custom of the Choctaws to go in
squads or in parties, to the hunting grounds on the Ouachitta, Red river
and Arkansas, where they often came in collision with the hunters of
other tribes. In these expeditions Pushmattaha acquired great renown,
bringing home with him more scalps than any other warrior. In a foray
against the Creeks he was eminently successful, and thus he rose to the
highest place in his district, in spite of his poverty. He was a man of
imposing presence, with a sonorous voice and a graceful gesture. He was a
proud plebian, who boasted no patrician ancestry. When asked about his
parentage by an agent of the United States, he" haughtily answered,
"Pushmattaha has no father and no mother. The lightning struck a big oak
tree and Pushmattaha leaped out of it a warrior just as he now stands."
How he joined Gen. Claiborne in his campaign against the Creeks, in
1813, and with what vigor and fidelity he served, has been referred to
in the preceding pages, and is detailed in the Life of Ger.. Dale. While
on this service, the chief, for some rudeness, struck a soldier with
his sword. The General pointed out to him the impropriety of the act,
and inquired his reasons for such violence. He explained the indignity
and said: "Being only a private I struck him with the flat of my sword,
but had it been you. General, I should have used the edge."
"The chief, like many other great men, had a
weakness for liquor, and indulged too frequently. On one occasion he saw
a soldier tied to a post. Inquiring the cause he was told that the man
had appeared in the ranks intoxicated. "Is that all ?" said Pushmattaha,
and he immediately untied the prisoner, remarking very coolly, "many
great warriors get drunk."
"He had two wives, and his
defense of polygamy was about the best that has been made. Every woman
is entitled to a husband. Nomadic tribes, like the Choctaws, are subject
to frequent wars, and lose many of their males, and the females
predominate. Therefore, if men are only allowed one wife many women
would go without husbands, and their proscriptive right would be
annulled.
"In 1824, with a delegation
of his people he visited Washington. LaFayette was then the guest of
the Republic. The Choctaws waited upon him, and Pushmattaha delivered an
address rarely surpassed in pathos and grandeur. The venerable
Frenchman, and all who heard it, were deeply impressed."
"This was his last speech. The voice of his father
was then calling him to the spirit land. His parting words to LaFayette
were: "We heard of you in our distant villages. We longed to see you. We
have come. We have taken you by the hand. For the last time we look on
the face of the great warrior whose fathers were the friends of our
fathers. We go. 'Tis the last time we shall meet. We shall both soon be
in the land of shadows."
"In a few days he was
seized with pneumonia which speedily ran its course. When he felt that
his end was near, he had himself arrayed in his uniform of an American
general, with his ornaments and his war paint. Gen. Jackson called
frequently to see him,- and asked his last wishes.
"When I am dead, fire the big guns over me," were the last words of Pushmattaha.
He was buried, with military honors, in the Congressional graveyard, where his tomb may yet be seen.
- Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, vol. 1; John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne
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