A Treaty Between Choctaw, Chickasaw, and C.S.A.

Sometimes you just stumble on to interesting bits of history.

I was updating the Edmond Pickens historical marker in the Historic Places Database when I noticed this little phrase in the entry:

"On July 12, 1861, signed Treaty of Friendship and Alliance between Choctaw / Chickasaw Nations and Confederacy."

That seemed interesting, so I thought I'd do a quick search on it and came up with this Wikipedia entry: List of treaties of the Confederate States of America. And there it was second in the list: Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations of Indians.

"The Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws was a treaty signed on July 12, 1861 between the Choctaw and Chickasaw (American Indian) and the Confederate States of America. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Albert Pike was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native Americans. In this capacity he negotiated several treaties, one of the most important being with Cherokee chief John Ross, which was concluded in 1861. The treaty was ratified and was proclaimed on December 20, 1861 by the Confederacy. The Choctaw and Chickasaw also duly ratified the treaty."

And as the Oklahoma historical marker said, Edmond Pickens was one of the Chickasaw signatories of the treaty.

This was a broad treaty to form an alliance between the C.S.A., Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. It recognized borders, guaranteed travel rights, setup protections and other legal rights. It's an interesting read for sure.

The C.S.A. also had treaties with other nations within Indian Territory as well. Also interesting reads.

The history of the Civil War era in Indian Territory is fascinating and worth looking further into. If you'd like to discuss the Civil War we've setup a special discussion thread all about it here.