The Heart of the Alleghanies; or, Western North CarolinaZeigler, Wilbur Gleason
History
The Heart of the Alleghanies; or, Western North Carolina
Zeigler, Wilbur Gleason
Allegheny Mountains; North Carolina -- Description and travel
We arrived at Yellow Hill about 11 o’clock. Chief Smith resides in a
comfortable house of four rooms, situated on top of an elevation in the
midst of a plain of considerable extent. In an open yard near the house
is a frame building used for a school-house, meeting-house, and
council-house. We found Chief Smith in his residence, writing at a table
covered with books, pamphlets, letters, and manuscripts. The room is
neatly papered and comfortably furnished. The chief received us with
cordiality. He was dressed in white starched shirt, with collar and
cuffs, Prince Albert coat, well-fitting black pantaloons, and calf-skin
boots shining like ebony. He is more than six feet tall, straight as a
plumb line, and rather slender. His features are rough and prominent.
His forehead is full but not high, and his thick, black hair, combed to
perfect smoothness, hung down behind large protruding ears, almost to
the coat collar. He has a deep, full-toned voice, and earnest,
impressive manner. His wife is a white woman, and his daughters, bright,
intelligent girls, have been well-educated. One of them was operating a
sewing-machine, another writing for her father.
Under the present constitution the chief’s term of office is four years.
His salary is $500 a year, and $4 a day additional when on business in
Washington. No one but a Cherokee of more than 35 years of age is
eligible to the chieftainship. There is an assistant chief who receives
$250 yearly. He is one of the council, and in the absence of the chief
performs his duties. There are in addition three executive advisers. The
council consists of two delegates to every 100 persons. It is presided
over by the chief, who has the veto power, but who is not at liberty to
act in any matter of public policy without the authority of the council.
Every male Indian over sixteen years old, and every white man who has an
Indian wife, is allowed to vote. No one is eligible to office who has
ever aided and abetted, or in any way joined the whites in defrauding
the tribe; neither can any one hold office who denies the being of a
God, or of a future state of rewards and punishments. There is general
satisfaction with the present government, and Mr. Smith declares there
is entire loyalty in all the settlements.
A public school is maintained, and even the old and middle-aged are
better educated than the whites in many communities. The young are
taught in both Cherokee and English. It is unfortunate that no public
fund is provided for the advanced education of the more intelligent of
them, that they might become teachers. Others should be placed in shops
where they would become artisans. Finely engraved pipes, ornaments, and
well made baskets show their capacity in this direction. Their industry
at present is not commendable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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