Wishing to identify his wares, Sequoyah employed a literate half-breed, Charles Hicks, to write his name, from which he made a die. With this he stamped his name on all the silver he fabricated. Many of these ornaments remain in the proud possession of the scattered and forgotten remnants of the Cherokees. Prized beyond price, they are a reminder of the glory of the past. Just as the crumbling ruins of antiquity speak of the pride and pomp of yesterday, so do these treasured silver objects remind their possessors of the Golden Age of the Cherokee. As the years went on, Sequoyah’s philosophical nature ripened and he came to ponder on the future of his fast dwindling race. This problem was probably first brought to his attention during the social gatherings held under his roof, for the Cherokees were sensitive to the superiority of civilized man and quick to note the cardinal points of difference between themselves and the whites. Often they had wondered at the ability of the white man to “talk on paper.” But after considerable inquiry they became convinced that the power of recording and communicating thoughts by means of writing was the product of some mysterious gift which the white man alone possessed. Nevertheless, Sequoyah was unable to dismiss the problem as lightly from his mind as his brethren had done. It was odious to Luther that the devil had all the best tunes; likewise it was odious to Sequoyah that the white man should have a monopoly on the power of written expression. At length he decided that writing was not the result of sorcery, but a faculty of the mind which could be acquired. Hence, he concluded that he could solve this mystery and give his people “talking paper” like that of the whites.