ABSTRACT
Once the Cherokee were in the “Indian Territory” of Oklahoma, the dissension that had led up to the removal of the nation continued with a vengeance. When Major Ridge, leader of the “Treaty Party,” signed the Treaty of New Echota on December 29, 1835, he said, “I may yet die some day by the hand of some poor infatuated Indian, deluded by the counsels of Ross and his minions:… I am resigned to my fate, whatever it may be.”2 Less than six months after the arrival of the anti-removal Cherokee in Indian Territory, Ridge’s prophecy came true. Elias Boudinot, Major Ridge, and his son John Ridge were ambushed by parties of armed Cherokee and executed for their participation in what was considered an act of treason.3
