At the beginning of the Civil War he was pressured to support the Confederacy, but soon reversed course and supported the Union. Inquiring the cause, she learned it was the fear of a repetition of the previous days experience. In John McDonald's Will he requested that his descendants not be raised as Indians but to be educated as Americans. His grandmother was Anna Shorey, of the Cherokee Bird Clan. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. This page has been accessed 20,103 times. "Our Hearts are Sickened": Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee Born 3 October 1790, Jumo, Alabama; died 1 August 1866 Washington, D.C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ross_%28Cherokee_chief%29. The two sides attempted reconciliation, but by October 1834 still had not come to an agreement. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. He is best remembered as the leader of the Cherokees during the time of great factional debates in the 1830s over the issue of relocating to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Ross found support in Congress from individuals in the National Republican Party, such as Senators Henry Clay, Theodore Frelinghuysen, and Daniel Webster and Representatives Ambrose Spencer and David (Davy) Crockett. Gary E. Moulton, John Ross, Cherokee Chief (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1978). A consultation was held, in which Bloody Fellow, the Cherokee Chief, advised the massacre of the whole party and the confiscation of the goods. This group is a place where descendants of Chief John Ross can connect family links. The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:Gary E. Moulton, Ross, John, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RO031. Corrections? Pg 10 & Pg 20 specifically about John Ross, his wives, life, children, his burial, etc, John Ross, Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation, Read a transcription of John Ross's letter, https://www.nps.gov/hobe/learn/historyculture/upload/cherokee.pdf, https://archive.org/details/historyofcheroke00lcstar/page/n5, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, 27 degrees from Pope Saint John Paul II Wojtyla, 21 degrees from Pope Urban VIII Barberini, 39 degrees from Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti, 29 degrees from Pope Victor II Dollnstein-Hirschberg, 24 degrees from Blessed Pope Innocent XI Odescalchi, 25 degrees from Pope Benedict XIII Orsini, The Papers of Chief John Ross, vol 1, 1807-1839, Norman OK Gary E. Moulton, ed. Two nephews have been murdered by the enemy. "Those who want to, once and for all, put to bed the family lore that you are related to the family from Ross Castle in Kerry Ireland; the original Ross clan chieftain Fearchar Mac-an-T-Saigart of Balnagowan Castle, Scotland; the Antarctic explorers Sir James Clark Ross and Sir John Ross; John Ross, husband of US flag maker, Betsy Ross; or to , 3) Chief John Ross of Cherokee Trail of Tears fame. Creeks. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. In a letter dated February 23, 1827, to Colonel Hugh Montgomery, the Cherokee Agent, Ross wrote that with the death of Hicks, he had assumed responsibility for all public business of the nation. These lived in little towns or villages, a few miles apart for mutual protection, and to preserve the hunting-grounds around them. Wouldn't she acquire his surname if her parentage was acknowledged? The Cherokees were removed but reunited in Indian Territory to become a vital force in the 1840s and 1850s. ISBN 978-0-8203-2367-1. After arrival in Indian Territory, Ross was a signer of the 1839 Act of Union which re-joined the eastern and western Cherokee, and was elected Principal Chief of the unified tribe. John Ross made an unlikely looking Cherokee chief. However, the ruling was un-enforced and he relocated his tribe to Oklahoma in what became known as the "Trail of Tears" in 1838. In January 1827, Pathkiller, the Cherokee's principal chief, and Charles R. Hicks, Ross's mentor, both died. John Ross, who was known in Cherokee as Guwisguwi, (pronounced Cooweescoowee, the Cherokee name for a large heron-like bird), was elected principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1828 and held the position until his death 1866. John Ross (Cherokee chief) - Wikipedia In an unusual meeting in May 1832, Supreme Court Justice John McLean spoke with the Cherokee delegation to offer his views on their situation. Read a transcription of John Ross's letter Our hearts are sickened Have you taken a DNA test? On this occasion, Johns mother had dressed him in his first suit after the style of civilized life made of nankeen. Ross was married twice, first to a Cherokee woman, Quatie, about whom little is known, and with whom he had five children who grew to adulthood, and after her death to a Delaware Quaker woman, Mary Brian Stapler; they had two children. . They had a strong leader in Ross who understood the complexities of the United States government and could use that knowledge to implement national policy. It is also true, that when kindly treated as a ward, instead of an outlaw fit only for common plunder, life and property have been safe in his keep ing. Updates? In this task, Ross did not disappoint the Council. This is a carousel with slides. Any info. They were the parents of two children, Anna and John. John Ross (1790-1866) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Login to find your connection. Mary was Classes were in English and students were mostly bi-cultural like John Ross. Colonel Meigs ordered the horsemen to simply warn the settlers to leave. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? When Chief John Ross was born on 3 October 1790, in Turkey Town, Cherokee, Alabama, United States, his father, Daniel Tanelli Ross, was 30 and his mother, Mary Mollie McDonald, was 19. John Ross, the Cherokee chief lionized for his efforts to fight forced relocation, was also an advocate and practitioner of slavery. As a child, he went to school in Kingston and Maryville, Tennessee. Ross made replies in opposition to the governors construction. Connect to the World Family Tree to find out, Oct 3 1790 - Eastern Band Cherokee, Turkey Town, Alabama, Jane Jennie Coody, Margaret Hicks, Elizabeth Ross, Andrew Tlo-s-ta-ma Ross, Susannah Ross, Lewis Ross, Annie Ross, Maria Mulkey. A public meeting was held in Concert Hall, Philadelphia, in March, 1864, which drew together an immense crowd, and was addressed by Mr. Ross; ex-Governor Pollock; Colonel Downing, a full-blood Cherokee, a Baptist minister, and a brave officer; Captain McDaniel; Dr. Brainard; and others. When the treaty came up for discussion, Governor McMinn explained it as meaning, that those who emigrated west of the Mississippi were to have lands there; and those who remained came under the laws of the State, giving up to the United States there as much soil as was occupied west. Danielwas born on July 14 1760, in Sutherlandshire, Highland, Scotland. He died while conducting tribal business in Washington D.C. Reluctantly, he accepted alliance with the Confederacy but abandoned the Cherokee Nation when the Federals invaded Indian Territory. Kingston was on the great emigrant road from Virginia, Maryland, and other parts, to Nashville, and not far from South West Point, a military post. Thank you for visiting chief john ross family tree page. He also was invaluable to other tribes helping the Moravians establish a mission at Brainerd, Tennessee. John boarded with a merchant named Clark, and also acted as clerk in his store. The State had also two representatives in the delegation, to assert old claims and attain the object. Failed to delete flower. McIntosh, a shrewd Creek chief with a Cherokee wife, who had. The Indians came together, and refused to recognize the treaty; but finally the old Chief Pathkiller signed it. Chief John Ross Descendants By Barbie Eckerd October 12, 2000 at 10:18:28 I am looking for info. John Ross, Chieftan: John McDonald, Indian Trader and a Tory, married a daughter of William Shorey whose wife was a full blood Cherokee of The Bird Clan. Calhoun offered two solutions to the Cherokee delegation: either relinquish title to their lands and remove west, or accept denationalization and become citizens of the United States. On December 20, 1828, Georgia, fearful that the United States would be unable to effect the removal of the Cherokee Nation, enacted a series of oppressive laws which stripped the Cherokee of their rights and were calculated to force the Cherokee to remove. The tribe was divided into clans, and each member of them regarded an associate as a kinsman, and felt bound to extend hospitality to him; and thus provision was always made for the gathering to the anniversary. *Source: Penelope Johnson Allen, "Leaves from the Family Tree: Ross," Chattanooga Times, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Date Unknown, pp. Daniel Ross soon after married Mollie McDonald. He was a gentleman of irreproachable and transparent honesty, and carried with him the entire confidence of all who knew him. He was elected to the thirteen-member body, where each man served two-year terms. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. When the war ended he traveled to Washington D.C. to negotiate a post-war treaty. You may request to transfer up to 250,000 memorials managed by Find a Grave. Col. Meigs then deputed John Ross to go with additional gifts, and see them all delivered to the Cherokees. Most of these elites were of mixed -blood, being descendants of both Cherokee and white colonists. His Indian name was Cooweescoowe. After a few years culture at home, John and Lewis were sent to Kingston, Tennessee, to enjoy the advantages of a popular school there. Chief John Ross (1790-1866) - Find a Grave Memorial He mounted his horse and started; managing his mission as detective so well, that in a few days he returned with the boy on behind, and placed him in the Brainard Mission, where he took the name of John Osage Ross. He was afterward slain by his own people, according to their law declaring that whoever should dispose of lands without the consent of the nation, should die. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. Upon joining Call, Mr. Ross surrendered to him the military command, and returned to Rossville. He is buried in Tahlequah City Cemetery. John was the third, and was born at Turkeytown, on the Coosa River, in Alabama, October 3d, 1790. University of Oklahoma Press, 1985, p. 458-461. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. He did not compel President Jackson to take action that would defend the Cherokee from Georgia's laws. Chief John Ross of the Cherokee Nation - Legends of America He married Elizabeth Quatie Brown in 1813, in Cherokee, Alabama, United States. On May 29, 1834, Ross received word from John H. Eaton, that a new delegation, including Major Ridge, John Ridge, Elias Boudinot, and Ross' younger brother Andrew, collectively called the Ridge Party, had arrived in Washington with the goal of signing a treaty of removal. During the Creek War he served as a Lieutenant in the US Militia Army and fought with Sam Houston at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. William G. McLoughlin, Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985). Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Although never deeply religious, he joined the Methodist Church but continued to own slaves until the Civil War. The result was the appointment of a delegation to Washington, of which Hicks and Ross were members, always the last resort. John Ross - New Georgia Encyclopedia In a series of letters to Ross, Hicks outlined what was known of Cherokee traditions. We are not criticizing politically, or condemning this or any other executive officer, but stating matters of accredited history. Additionally, Ross faced dissent at home from the proremoval Ridge faction, who signed a fraudulent removal treaty with the federal government and sealed the nation's fate. The Cherokee Nation claim was denied on the grounds that the Cherokees were a "domestic dependent sovereignty" and as such did not have the right as a nation state to sue Georgia. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. cemeteries found in Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Born of a Scottish father and a mother who was part Cherokee, the blue-eyed, fair-skinned Tsan-Usdi (Little John) grew up as a Native American, although he was educated at Kingston Academy in Tennessee. His grandfather, John McDonald, was born at Inverness, Scotland, about 1747. John Ross was not born in Tennessee. In 1828, Chief Ross began the first and only elected Chief of Cherokee Nation, serving for 38 years until his death. The interest was deep and abiding, but the difficulty in the way of appeal for redress by the aborigines has ever been, the corruption, or, at best, indifference of Government officials. In 1816, General Jackson was again commissioned to negotiate with the Cherokees, and John Ross was to represent his people. This account has been disabled. Ross protested against a powerless attempt of the kind; and they were reluctantly granted authority to remove those who refused to go, burning cabins and corn. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. As a merchant and plantation owner he was financially successful but never wealthy and suffered repeated losses due to federal government policies and the upheavals of the time. This was understood before his election to the Presidency by politicians who waited upon him. McIntosh in alarm mounted his steed and rode eighty miles, killing two horses, it is said, in a single day. John Ross was a member of the Cherokee Bird Clan. The time arrived; the firing of a cannon opened the council daily for three long weeks, McMinn hoping to wear out the patience of the Cherokees and secure the ratification of the treaty, never as yet formally granted. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Governor McMinn made another appointment for a meeting of the chiefs, and other men of influence, at the Cherokee Agency on Highnassee River. His success in business inspired confidence in his employers, who sent him to Fort Loudon, on the frontier of the State, built by the British Government in 1756, to open and superintend trade among the Cherokees. This reasoning prevailed, and Mr. Ross had the honor of giving to the Cherokee nation the first school, the beginning of a new era in the history of the American aborigines. The Cherokees returned to Turkey town the same night by 10 oclock, having inarched fifty or sixty miles (many on foot) since the early morning. Verify and try again. The application was opposed by some, on the ground of an unwilling ness to introduce any of the customs or habits of the whites. Ross, John | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Leave a message for others who see this profile. Charles Renatus Hicks was born December 23, 1767 in the town of Tomotley near the Hiwassee River, at its confluence with the Tennessee River in present-day eastern Tennessee. Father Daniel Ross. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Ross-chief-of-Cherokee-Nation, PBS LearningMedia - John Ross, A Georgia Biography | Georgia Stories, Oklahoma Historical Society - Biography of John Ross, John Ross - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), John Ross - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Ross served as clerk to Pathkiller and Hicks, where he worked on all financial and political matters of the nation. Ross died on August 1, 1866 in Washington, DC. Described as the Moses of his people, Ross led the Nation through tumultuous years of development, relocation to Oklahoma, and the American Civil War. Husband of Quatie Elizabeth Ross and Mary Brian Ross Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. The delegation had to negotiate the limits of the ceded land and hope to clarify the Cherokee's right to the remaining land. The court later expanded on this position in Worcester v. Georgia, ruling that Georgia could not extend its laws into Cherokee lands. Perhaps as many as one-fourth of the tribe's twenty thousand members died in the crossing that has come to be called the Trail of Tears. University of Georgia Press, 2004. Founder and chief of the Cherokee Nation, John Ross took elements of the United States government to structure the new Cherokee Nation. He spent a good part of the remainder of the war in Washington, D.C., pleading the Cherokees' cause. 0 cemeteries found in Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA. Quatie's parents are not recorded. The council met in the public square. Charles R. Hicks - Wikipedia The ascendancy of Ross represented an acknowledgment by the Cherokee that an educated, English-speaking leadership was of national importance. [1], Privately educated, he began his rise to prominence in 1812. Chief John Ross 1/8 Cherokee. In 1816, the National Council named Ross to his first delegation to Washington. Re: Chief John Ross Descendant - Genealogy.com Ross's first political position came in November 1817 with the formation of the National Council. He was President of the [Cherokee] National Committee, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1827, and was elected Principal Chief if 1828. He was speaker of the Creek Council. After bitter and sometimes bloody factional quarrels, Ross led the tribe in their forced removal from the homelands in the American Southeast to new Cherokee lands in present northeastern Oklahoma, with a capital at Tahlequah. John Ross was born on 3 October 1790 the great-grandson of Ghigooie, a member of the Bird Clan, and William Shorey, Sr., a Virginia fur trader.2 The Shoreys' oldest daughter, Annie, married John McDonald, who emigrated from Scotland to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1766.3 McDonald opened a supply store on Chickamauga Creek in present-day Chief John Ross 1/8 Cherokee 1790-1866 - Ancestry Thanks for your help! He was supose to be the nephew of Daniel. AMERICAN INDIANS, CHEROKEE, CIVIL WAR ERA, INDIAN REMOVAL. McLean's advice was to "remove and become a Territory with a patent in fee simple to the nation for all its lands, and a delegate in Congress, but reserving to itself the entire right of legislation and selection of all officers." Described as the Moses of his people, Ross influence Alchetron Sign in Sneha Girap (Editor) Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Principal chief of the Cherokee Indians for nearly forty years, John Ross served during one of the most tumultuous periods of the tribe's history. Try again. However, Ridge and Ross did not have irreconcilable worldviews; neither believed that the Cherokee could fend off Georgian usurpation of Cherokee land. John Ross, Cherokee name Tsan-Usdi, (born October 3, 1790, Turkeytown, Cherokee territory [near present-day Centre, Alabama, U.S.]died August 1, 1866, Washington, D.C., U.S.), Cherokee chief who, after devoting his life to resisting U.S. seizure of his people's lands in Georgia, was forced to assume the painful task of shepherding the Cherokees He was born at Tuhskegee on the Tennessee River about 1770, and died October 20, 1852 at the age of 82. In a few months Mr. Meigs died, and Lewis Ross became partner in his place. In 1823, Congress appropriated money to send commissioners to make a new treaty with the Cherokees, and secure lands for Georgia. His boy escaped by hiding in the chimney, while the house was pillaged, and the terror-smitten wife told she would find her husband in the yard, pierced with bullets. As such the court ruled the Cherokee were dependent not on the state of Georgia, but on the United States. He fought with Gideon Morgan's regiment in the Creek War [2] and was a signer of the treaties of 1816 and 1819. He hoped to wear down Jackson's opposition to a treaty that did not require Cherokee removal. John Ross, the Principal Chief of the Nation during the Trail of Tears and on through the Civil War era, was only one-eighth Cherokee in ancestry. In January 1824, Ross traveled to Washington to defend the Cherokees' possession of their land. Year should not be greater than current year. Mr. Ross spends much of his time in Washington, watching for the favorable moment, if it shall ever come, to get the ear of the Government, and secure the attention to the wants and claims of his people, demanded alike by justice and humanity. In 183839 Ross had no choice but to lead his people to their new home west of the Mississippi River on the journey that came to be known as the infamous Trail of Tears. Quatie 'Elizabeth' Ross (Brown) (c.1791 - 1839) - Genealogy 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. He pressed the Nation's complaints. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of John Ross (5786493)? Oklahoma Historical Society800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73105 | 405-521-2491Site Index | Contact Us | Privacy | Press Room | Website Inquiries, Get Updates in Your Inbox Keep up to date with our weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. Despite this support, in April 1829, John H. Eaton, Secretary of War (18291831), informed Ross that President Jackson would support the right of Georgia to extend her laws over the Cherokee Nation. Please reset your password. Rather than accept Calhoun's ultimatum, Ross made a bold departure from previous negotiations. Weve updated the security on the site. Try again later. After being educated at home, Ross pursued higher studies with the Reverend Gideon Blackburn, who established two schools in southeast Tennessee for Cherokee children. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5786493/john-ross. After a clerkship of two years for a firm in Kingston, young Ross returned home, and was sent by his father in search of an aunt in Hagerstown, Md., nine hundred miles distant, of whom, till then, for a long time, all traces had been lost. based on information from your browser. The council reported him a traitor, and his white-bench, or seat of honor, was overthrown. You can always change this later in your Account settings. He had to learn how to conduct negotiations with the United States and the skills required to run a national government. As leader of the antiremoval faction he spent a great deal of time in Washington, D.C., attempting to convince government officials to uphold treaties that guaranteed the tribe their lands. The separation ended at a reunification council with the Cherokee Nation in 1809. would be greatly appreciated. He left a legacy of success despite failures. Thank you! He remained Chief of the Union-supporting Cherokee while the Confederate-supporting Cherokee elected Stand Watie as their chief. In the early 19th century he became the leader of the Cherokee resistance to the white mans acquisition of their valuable land, some 43,000 square miles (111,000 square km) on which they had lived for centuries. How Native American Slaveholders Complicate the Trail of Tears McLean's advice precipitated a split within the Cherokee leadership as John Ridge and Elias Boudinot began to doubt Ross' leadership. We need not repeat the events that followed, briefly narrated in the preceding sketch of the Cherokee nation, till it rises from suffering and banishment to power again west of the Mississippi. At Fort Pickering, near Memphis, he learned that the Cherokees he was seeking had removed from St. Francis River to the Dardenell, on the Arkansas, which then contained no more than 900 whites, and he directed his course thither. John Ross (October 3, 1790 August 1, 1866), also known as Koowisguwi (meaning in Cherokee Mysterious Little White Bird), was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 18281866, serving longer in this position than any other person. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985). While residing in this romantic region, among the natives, Daniel Ross, originally from Sutherlandshire, Scotland, and left an orphan in Baltimore soon after peace was declared with Great Britain, had accompanied a Mr. Mayberry to Hawkins County, Tennessee, and came down the river in a flat-boat built by himself for trading purposes. Chief John Ross Family Tree With Complete Detail, Nancy Hanks Lincoln Family Tree You Should Check It, Personalized Family Tree With Photos You Should Check It. These descendants have a strong oral tradition of being Cherokee by blood. The Georgia delegation acknowledged Ross' skill in an editorial in The Georgia Journal, which charged that the Cherokee delegation's letters were fraudulent because they were too refined to have been written or dictated by an Indian. email me at Cherokee@ctnet.netAny info. Scarcely had this loyalty been declared, before Solomon marched with recruits and all 2,200 men again out of the territory, without any apparent reason, leaving the Cherokees and the country he was to defend in a more exposed condition than before. Although the constitution was ratified in October 1827, it did not take effect until October 1828, at which point Ross was elected principal chief. Never before had an Indian nation petitioned Congress with grievances. In 1819, the Council sent Ross to Washington again. It became necessary to fill, till the constitution went into effect, the vacancies made by death, and John Ross and William Hicks were elected chiefs for a year. Brother of Jane "Jennie" Coody; Elizabeth Ross; Annie Nave; Judge Andrew 'Tlo-S-Ta-Ma' Ross; Susannah (Susan) Nave and 3 others; Lewis Ross; Margaret Hicks and Maria Mulkey less. A system error has occurred. Mrs. Ross died, as stated in another place, on the journey of emigration to the west, in 1839. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. She died shortly before reaching Little Rock on the Arkansas River. Ross led the resistance to Cherokee Removal, and when it became inevitable negotiated with the United States to allow the Cherokee to Remove themselves. Subscribe Now. The Cherokee . Of the delegates, only Ross was fluent in English, making him the central figure in the negotiations. In 1786 Anna and John's daughter Mollie McDonald in 1786 married Daniel Ross, a Scotsman who began to live among the Cherokee as a trader during the American Revolution. The Chief still holds his position of authority, and his good name will remain under no permanent eclipse; while all true hearts will long for deliverance to his nation, and that he may live to see the day. A council being called to explain the treaty, Ross determined to go as a looker-on. By this time the Cherokee had become a settled people with well-stocked farms, schools, and representative government. Sorry! The Cherokee Council passed a series of laws creating a bicameral national government. Birth 3 Oct 1790 - Turkeytown, Etowah, Alabama, USA. Described as the Moses of his people, Ross led the Nation through tumultuous years of development, relocation to Oklahoma, and the American Civil War. In Ross' correspondence, what had previously had the tone of petitions of submissive Indians were replaced by assertive defenders. John Ross was born October 3, 1790, at Turkeytown in the Cherokee Nation, the son of a Scots immigrant named Daniel Ross and Mary McDonald, a . As a child, Ross was allowed to participate in Cherokee events such as the Green Corn Festival. Fortunately for Mr. Ross, he had a comfortable dwelling, purchased several years since, on Washington Square, Philadelphia, to which he retired in exile from his nation. In 1827, Chiefs Hicks and Pathkiller died. He encamped at night wherever he could find a shelter, and reached safely the home of the recently discovered aunt. Article: The Life and Times of Principal Chief John Ross Membership in the National Council placed Ross among the ruling elite of the Cherokee leadership. In 1818 he was elected by Colonel Meigs to go in search of a captive Osage boy, about 190 miles distant, in Alabama. He further stated, it is reported authoritatively, that he affirmed the three great measures he desired should mark his administration now, legislating the Cherokees out of the State; the death of the National Bank; and the extinguishment of the public debt.