Stand Watie was born at Rome, Georgia, in 1805. He was a younger brother of Elias Boudinot and a nephew of Major Ridge and with them was one of the signers of the removal treaty, or Treaty of New Echota, in 1835. He was marked for assassination at the same time that the Ridges and Boudinot were killed but was warned and escaped. From that time on (June 22, 1839), he was regarded as the leader of the Ridge, or as it came to be known, the Treaty Patty of the Cherokee Nation. He was strongly in favor of the secession movement before the Cherokee Nation entered into an alliance with the Confederate States. He entered the Confederate Army a colonel, in 1861, and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in 1864, making him the only Indian to achieve the rank of General. He was also known as the last Confederate General to surrender. He died 2 Sep 1871.

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Ann Maloney, Bartlesville, OK.
Copyright © 1998 Ann Maloney all rights reserved.