Born at Oothcaloga in the Cherokee Nation, Georgia (near present day Rome, Georgia) on December 12, 1806, Stand Watie’s Cherokee name was De-ga-ta-ga, or “he stands.” He was also known as Isaac S. Watie. He attended Moravian Mission School at Springplace Georgia, and served as a clerk of the Cherokee Supreme Court and Speaker of the Cherokee National Council prior to removal.
As a member of the Ridge-Watie-Boundinot faction of the Cherokee Nation, Watie supported removal to the Cherokee Nation, West, and signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, in his support of his true belief that he was helping to protect the Cherokee Nation. Watie moved to the Cherokee Nation, West (present-day Oklahoma), in 1837 and settled at Honey Creek. Following the murders of his uncle Major Ridge, cousin John Ridge, and brother Elias Boundinot (Buck Watie) in 1839, and his brother Thomas Watie in 1845, Stand Watie assumed the leadership of the Ridge-Watie-Boundinot faction [Treaty Party] and was involved in a long-running blood feud with the followers of John Ross. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Chief John Ross with the National Council’s approval the Cherokee Nation quickly joined the Southern
cause. After John Ross and his followers left to join the Union, Stand Watie was commissioned a colonel on July 12, 1861, and raised a regiment of Cherokees for service with the Confederate army. Then, Watie’s men were organized as the Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles. After Ross fled Indian Territory, Watie was elected principal chief of the Cherokees in August 1862.
A portion of Watie’s command saw action at Oak Hills (August 10, 1861) in a battle that assured the South’s hold on Indian Territory and made Watie a Confederate military hero. Afterward, Watie helped drive the pro-Northern Indians out of Indian Territory, and following the Battle of Chustenahlah (December 26, 1861) he commanded the pursuit of fleeing Federals, led by Opothleyahola, and drove them into exile in Kansas. Although Watie’s men were exempt from service outside Indian Territory, he led his troops into Arkansas in the spring of 1861 to stem a Federal invasion of the region. Joining with Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s command, Watie took part in the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (March 5-6, 1861). On the first day of fighting, the Southern Cherokees, which were on the left flank of the Confederate line, captured a battery of Union artillery before being forced to abandon it.
Watie’s men participated in eighteen battles and major skirmishes with Federal troop during the Civil War, including Cowskin Prairie (April 1862), Old Fort Wayne (October 1862), Webber’s Falls (April 1863), Fort Gibson (May 1863), Cabin Creek (July 1863), and Gunter’s Prairie (August 1864). In addition, his men were engaged in a multitude of smaller skirmishes and meeting engagements in Indian Territory and neighboring states. Because of his wide-ranging raids behind Union lines, Watie tied down thousands of Federal troops that were badly needed in the East.
Watie’s two greatest victories were the capture of the federal steam boat J.R. Williams on June 15, 1864, and the seizure of $1.5 million worth of supplies in a federal wagon supply train a the Second battle of Cabin Creek on September 19, 1864. Watie was promoted to Brigadier General on May 6, 1864, and given command of the first Indian Brigade. He was the only Indian to achieve the rank of General in the Civil War. Watie signed a Cease Hostilities Act on June 23, 1865, the last Confederate General to lay down his arms. History writers tend to state that he was the last General to surrender. But he in fact signed a Cease Hostilities Act at a Surrender Ceremony that was being held for the many other tribes that had signed an Act of Surrender.
After the war, Watie served as a member of the Southern Cherokee delegation during the negotiation of the Cherokee Reconstruction Treaty of 1866. He then abandoned public life and returned to his old home along Honey Creek for a time. Article XII of the Cherokee Treaty of 1866 provided for the creation of a General Council of the Indian Territory. Composed of delegates from each tribe of Indians residing in the Indian Territory, the council was given the power to legislate upon matters pertaining to the intercourse and relations of the Indian tribes and nations and colonies of freemen resident. In addition it was to provide for the arrest and extradition of criminals fleeing from one tribe to another for the common defense and safety of the country, as well as various other duties. On October 28, 1868, Watie was elected a Cherokee delegate to this body and was certified for the post by the judges and clerks of the Canadian District in the Cherokee Nation, also known as Southern Cherokee.
On September 27,1870, the General Council for Indian Territory, to which Watie had been elected, convened at Okmulgee, the capital of the Creek Nation, each nation giving their reports. On December 8, 1870 the General Council of the Indian Territory reconvened at Okmulgee and again Watie was a Cherokee delegate. By December 10th, a report was read calling for the creation of a republican form of government for the Indians to protect the weaker tribes from oppression by the stronger and to promote the general good of all the nations and tribes. Assurances again were sent to the Plains tribes professing friendship and inviting them to send delegates to the council.
A motion was introduced on the 12th calling for the appointment of a committee to draft a constitution for Indian Territory. Although it was proposed that the legislative powers of the General Council be enlarged. The president of the United States was given the power of suspending the operations of the council whenever he deemed it necessary.
Watie continued to work at his home at Honey Creek during the summer . He had purchase a number of cattle and was improving his once thriving plantation Although his prominence among the Cherokee was declining and the leadership of the tribe was being taken over by younger men, he was still was surprisingly well known nationally. But Watie would never see his dream fulfilled. The task of restoring his old home, the hardships resulting from the numerous business ventures needed to educate his children and to provide for his wife, the ill health he suffered from the years of military campaigning during the Civil War, and the heartbreak resulting from the loss of his sons had taken their toll. Waties’ worn out body simply could not cope with the pace he set for himself; nonetheless he continued to pursue his dream. As a result, he suddenly died on September 9, 1871, at his old home-site on Honey Creek, away from his family but among the other surroundings that he so dearly loved.
The Grand River was flooding when Watie died, and it was impossible to return his body to Webbers Falls for a traditional burial. Therefore he was buried at old Ridge Cemetery, later called Polson’s Cemetery in present day Delaware County, Oklahoma, within twenty miles of the Missouri line.