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O'siyo,

The following is a letter from George Hicks to Chief John Ross as Hicks was departing the Cherokee Nation East to lead one of the trains across The Trail of Tears in November 1838. Hicks was the conductor for a detachment of Cherokees from Mouse Creek, TN which was the place where many of my ancestors lived prior to the removal and I had many relatives in this group. Collins McDonald must have been Hicks' assistant as he also signed the other letter.

I did not transcribe this letter from the original so I am skeptical about the commas and periods used here. I have another letter from Hicks to Chief Ross which he wrote to him upon their arrival at Beaties Prairie, I.T. on 15 Mar 1839 which is in his original hand writing and he does not use any commas or periods at all so these may have been added by the person transcribing from the original.

Originals of both letters are in the John Ross Papers at the Gilcrease Institute of History and Art at Tulsa, OK. Hicks and Ross are both relatives to me but I think not related to each other although they may be and I just do not recall it.

I have other letters and papers from this period which I will post from time to time for their historical value as I run across them in my files. That is about the only way we have now of feeling the pain and emotions of those 14,000 suffering people so long ago. My great- grandmother may have been with this group but I have not proven that as yet. She died in MO. on the trail in 1839 but I do not know if she was with a group or just traveling with the family on their own. I suspect the latter is the case as she took commutation (payment) rather than transportation furnished by the government.

Do hi yi.

Vern

Dear Sir,

We are now about to take our final leave and kind farewell to our native land the country that the Great Spirit gave our Fathers, We are on the eve of leaving that Country that gave us birth. It is the land of our.. ...ons, and it is (with sorrow) that we are forced by the authority of the white man to quit the scenes of our childhood, but stern necessity says we must go, and we bid a final farewell to it and all we hold dear East of the Father of Waters, the Majestic Missisippi (sic); from the little trial (?) we have made in a start to moove (sic); we know that it is a laborious undertaking, but with firm resolutions we think we will be able to accomplish it, if the white citizens will permit us, but since we have been on our march many of us have been stoped (sic) and our horses taken from our Teams for the payment of unjust and just Demands, yet the Government says we must go, and its citizens says (sic) you must pay me, and if the Debtor has not the means, the property of his next friend is levied on and yet the Government has not given us our spoliations as promised. our property has been stolen and Robed (sic) from us by white men and no means given us to pay our Debts, when application is made to, as we think the proper authority. The agents of government, and the commanding officers of the military the one says we have no jurisdiction over anything, only such as happends (sic) in their own sight or in the mile square about the Agency, and the others says our hands are tied since the 23rd May 1838 they can give us no assistance, yet they have the power to force us off if any delay is made farther than what they may think necessary.

They may not think it necessary to delay any time to try to recover our property robed (sic) of us in open Daylight and in open view of Hundreds. and why are they so bold. they know that we are in a defenceless situation dependent on the Government for protection. why they know have denied us that protection and have made their Brags that general Scott would not (intervene?) in our behalf. Therefore we will have to leave our property in the hands of whosoever may have the concience(?). to rob us of it. and those appear to be plenty since protection have been us(?) denied. Debts that we honestly owe are willing to pay provided we were able which we would have been, provided the Commisioners had given us our just Dues, Valuations Spoliations etc. But there has been but few, comparatively speaking, that has Drawn anything at all. Nothing more at present. the health of the people is as good as could be expected and we are getting on very well considering every circumstance.

I have the honor to be your very humble servant

                                      /s/ George Hicks