355
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1843
life had been disrupted in Tennessee, and he had fled to the Indians for sanctuary, their boyhood friendship was renewed. In fact, Sam Houston's Indian wife, Tiana, was the aunt of Jesse Chisholm. As early as 1840, Chisholm had a large drove of horses, and other cattle in the western part of Indian territory, a part of the territory made dan- gerous by the warlike Kiowa and Comanche tribes. During the early years of his career as a stockman Chisholm's business consisted chiefly in horses which he bought from the wild Indians, who could afford to sell them very cheap as they stole them from settlers in Texas, New Mexico and else- where; but later his interest was chiefly in cattle. In handling his cattle he, in the 1870's, laid out the famous Chisholm trail, which became so well known as a cattle drive. It ran through the western part of Oklahoma into Kansas, and was a more direct course to market than the Texas-Kansas trails; moreover, along most of its thi·ee hundred mile course, it ran through a country of abundant grass and water, yet with no very large rivers to be crossed. But in 1843, at the time the above document was written, Jesse Chisholm was noted chiefly as a guide, a pathfinder, a hunter and trader. In these capacities he was very useful to the Texans, and to other frontiersmen, for he is said to have spoken more than forty Indian dialects with fluency, and was famous for his ability to pacify the various Indian tribes. See Grant Foreman (ed.), A Travelle1· in Indian Te1·1-itory, 156, 182; also Advancing the Frontier, pctssim.; P.1·ose and Poetry of the Live Stock Indust1·y of the United States (prepared by the authority of the National Live Stock Asso- ciation, and printed in three volumes), I, 528; for detailed account of the Chisholms and their interests, see T. U. Taylor, The Chisholm Trail and Othe1· Ro11tes. To ASA BRIGHAM, TREASURER 1 Washington, April 12th, 1843. Republic of Texas To Thomas Hawkins/ Dr. To thirty eight days' service in accompanying Luis Sanchez to bring in frontier Indians, in the fall and winter of 1842, at $1.00 per day -·------·--------------·----------··--··-·-···--····$38.00 Approved Sam Houston [Rubric] Executive Department, Washington, April 12th, 1843. To Maj. Asa Brigham, Treasurer, &c. Sir- Pay the above amount of thirty eight dollars to Thomas Hawkins out of the funds to my credit in your hands for frontier protection and hold this as a voucher for settlement. Sam Houston [Rubric] 1 Fi11ancial Pa11ers, 1842-1843, Texas State Library. :Thomas M. Hawkins was a brother of Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, an Indian agent among the Creeks. See Grant Foreman, .A Trcwcll('1· in Iudicm Terl"itory, 146.
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