Stand Watie (1806 - 1871)
"This flag (above) was carried by Colonel Stand Watie's Cherokee Mounted Rifles; the body of the flag is the First National pattern flag of the Confederate States; the canton is blue with eleven white stars in a circle, surrounding five red stars representing the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole); the large red star in the center represents the Cherokee Nation. "Cherokee Braves" is lettered in red in the center of the white stripe." (Trans-Mississippi Theater)
Stand Watie
Western History Collections
University of Oklahoma Library
Signed the 1835 Treaty in which the Cherokee gave up their Georgia lands for holdings in Oklahoma. This controversial treaty set the stage for internal factionalism within the Cherokee tribe.
Only Indian Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and was one of the last Confederate officers to surrender.
In 1861, Joined the Army after creating an alliance between the Cherokee and the Confederacy.
Organized the Knights of the Golden Circle or the Southern Rights Party.
Leader of a regiment of Cherokee volunteers called the Cherokee Mounted Rifles.
The Battle of Wilson Creek was a Confederate victory for Stand Waite and was begrudgingly a deciding factor for Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross to join the Confederacy and keep his Cherokee nation from splitting apart.
Western History Collections
University of Oklahoma Library
Signed the 1835 Treaty in which the Cherokee gave up their Georgia lands for holdings in Oklahoma. This controversial treaty set the stage for internal factionalism within the Cherokee tribe.
Only Indian Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and was one of the last Confederate officers to surrender.
In 1861, Joined the Army after creating an alliance between the Cherokee and the Confederacy.
Organized the Knights of the Golden Circle or the Southern Rights Party.
Leader of a regiment of Cherokee volunteers called the Cherokee Mounted Rifles.
The Battle of Wilson Creek was a Confederate victory for Stand Waite and was begrudgingly a deciding factor for Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross to join the Confederacy and keep his Cherokee nation from splitting apart.