2. 411
(Cherokee)
Texanna, Oklahoma.
Interview - July 12, 1937
Indian-Pioneer History
• > J a s . S.Buchanan, Field Worker.
Note- The foilowing statement of LIrF. Susan Toney,
who does not §peak English,' only the Cherokee lan-
guage, was interpreted through her son, Calvin
Toney. . •
* I (Susan Toney)- was born £n a refuge camp on
Red River in the Choctaw Nation'January 6, 1 8 2
-6 f
where my Barents, with other Gherokees, had fled-
' to escape the dangerous conditions thaii existed
. in the Indian Territory brought on by the
"' M 'father was williaa F i e l d s , ' f u l l blood Cher-
y ,
okee'and m mothetf was Sailie (G-ist) Fields, the
y
daughter of Teasy Gist, the'son of George Gist, or
Seqiloyah, Cherokee.
Jtfter the d i v i l War m parents moved back t o
y '
their home place at the mouth of'Dutch Creek on.
i' . * •
the• Canadian River where my grandfather, Teasy
v
Gist,died in 1869,when I'was seven years of age.
I remember his burial' in the old Cherokee burial
3. • • . 412
,*
/ground on the h i l l beside the old Dutch Greejc t r a i l
two and one-Yalf niilei routheast of Sexana, "or one
n.nu one-nlLf mile1 west o-'-the oic. horae r i a c e , 1 iiave
^mown- o " this? old nurial jroun;. oi' the onero.-:eec
cince m e a r l i e s t :vs.- i l e c t i o n and i t was. c very old
y
»:urini ground at jtiiat time. It* we? abandoned about
rifty years a^;o. .Tnerc are only two vaiite people
ouried ir: the place. ' They were two l i t t l e v/Litc
:irlr>, childi'erj. oT c- poor family that" v% iivinc:
. <~
;
in- the- v i c i n i t y when t n e i r chilcLer. diec about 1;11.
2here .ere many pi the early Cherokees ouried
r t that place and it^ wr-r- always ..movm as the Cher-
,:c ^ Duriai -ground and had no other name. Shere
never was any grave markers with inscriptions at
nny of the graves, as the Indians .zSTthe ea^lj r days
.-;ert tne burial place of tiieir der-d sacred in t h e i r
memory and the location designated 'oy land-marks.
-ly great-grandxatner, G-eorge Gist, prominent in
Cherokee, history,.was oorn in Tennessee about 1 & ,
7 C
anc at an advanced age,, he'came to the Indian
4. 413
(3) /'-'"*.• "
-01.-/, ..o^-,. : < a ^ S . 4-,rjaVai;.7 - ' -6751
Territory alone,;.,leaving his family east of the_,
Mississippi River, His short tine in the Indian
Territory was among the early Cherokee settlers.
Shortly after he came to the Territory he was
Joined "by his son, TeeseyGist, my grandfather.
Shortly thereafter^ George Gist (Sequoyah;, Teegey
Gist, his.son and another Cherokee hy the name of
Ellen Boles,." for reasons unknown, left the Indian
Territory for <Dl'd Mexico. • George Gist died on
that journey somewhere in Liexico abou*t 1847. After
the death of Seqaoyah, TeeseyGist and Ellen Boles
left Mexico and went to Texas where they remained
for some time and through a transaction of some
description acquired a tract of land from Mexico,
• f
then attempted to colonize it with Cherokees which
involved them in'a difficulty with the Texas gov-
ernment that lead t,o the killing of Boles.
5. 414
• (4)
.•j^j • ,i,r:;,;vi^( . .37 o l
The atory, as i t was |handed, down through ray
mother, that when they wero .n-volved in'the
trouble with the Texas people* over the treaty
they .had made with ivLexieo, Boles and Tces^vGist
j
attempted to escape fro:i Texar with the treaty
and *was being pursued by) their enemies when Boles
v.at shot. Boles took the treaty froa where h'e
haci^it. hid' in the fold of his saddTe blanket,
handed i t to SeeseV&ist and said; '"^hey have got
me, you Vake t h i s and ride for your .lj^£e, for t h i s
- i s what theyare a f t e r , " lVe^evG-is't made' good
•his escape with the treaty, though he never r e -
turned to Texas, .1 remember seeing the^pa^er
man^ times in. l a t e r years rs I grev up,' I doa f t
:now what became of i t .
6. 6751
(5)"
^usan Toney.
" . • ' '
Teeaay JiiBtl Died 1<,69 *
I Dutchers jreek
r'iolas tone/
•ailian ' i e 1 as I orr. 1:>G2
a
•
t
Teesey"Gist
I iv-i'.e '.;ist Jov.rnin<j
•
•
i.:;.tird ^ov/ni--- i-oun,-
t
1 I.'annie -'- 1. .:. , 0 : i a r c -
0
i Lucile -- 7&n. J ^ r ^ i l l
I c
1 Teesey
1
'^ownin^
I ..au-ie
Guess
0
t Tee sey ;ibt rfee3ey" j i s t (Iruess)
t
; fields
j ousfan .''ieias Toney
•
Toney
t
• Lucy
Susie
