Ethel Crisp Taylor

Dust in the Wind: the Civil War in Indian Territory Ethel Crisp Taylor

General Watie's fame as the greatest Confederate Indian continued to spread. His Cherokee Regiment raided along the Fort Smith-Fort Gibson Road, pounding hooves, shrill Cherokee Rebel yell, and blazing guns. They were like dust in the wind, ever on the move, doing their damage and scampering out of reach. Riding with them and cheering them on, were the spirits of the fallen comrades as shadows in the dust. Their torches claimed Union haystacks and mowing equipment, as their bullets claimed Union Indians and African soldiers. Take a trip back to the 1860's and learn about this little known era of the larger Civil War that was fought west of the Mississippi. The Indian Nations had been forced west by President Andrew Jackson's "Indian Removal Act". This led to seething political rivalries between factions in the Nations. The Civil War further alienated the factions which led to an internal civil war as they chose sides between the North and the South.