HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Greenwood "Green" McCurtain (November 28, 1848 – December 27, 1910) was a tribal administrator and Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic (1896–1900 and 1902–1906), serving a total of four elected two-year terms. He was the third of his brothers to be elected as chief. (His older brothers Jackson Frazier McCurtain and Edmund McCurtain had previously been elected as chief, serving a total of three terms.) He was a Republican in the late 19th century, leaning toward allotment and assimilation when the nation was under pressure by the United States government, as he believed the Choctaw needed to negotiate to secure their best outcome prior to annexation. After 1906 and dissolution of tribal governments under the
Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...
prior to Oklahoma achieving statehood, and the annexation of the Choctaw Republic by the United States, McCurtain was appointed as chief by the United States government. He served in that capacity until 1910 and his death in office. He was the last freely-elected Chief of the Choctaws until 1971. Green McCurtain represented his tribe as a delegate at the
Sequoyah Constitutional Convention The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention was an American Indian-led attempt to secure statehood for Indian Territory as an Indian-controlled jurisdiction, separate from the Oklahoma Territory. The proposed state was to be called the State of Sequoya ...
. This was an effort by American Indian nations in
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
to create an Indian-controlled state in what is now
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. They were not successful in getting Congressional support for this proposal. European Americans, who had established considerable presence in the
Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as th ...
, had lobbied strongly for the entire area to be admitted as a regular state.


Personal life

Greenwood "Green" McCurtain was born on November 28, 1848, in
Skullyville Skullyville (also spelled Scullyville) is an unincorporated rural community in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is approximately one mile east of Spiro and southwest of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The community is within the Fort Smith, Ar ...
, Choctaw Nation,
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
, the third son of Cornelius McCurtain, born in
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, and Mayhiya "Amy" Blevins, both Choctaw. He was named after leader
Greenwood LeFlore Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur (June 3, 1800 – August 31, 1865) served as the elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs. A weal ...
. Blevins's grandmother was ''Sho-Ma-Ka,'' a captive from a neighboring tribe who was adopted and assimilated into the Choctaw. McCurtain's paternal ancestry was of
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
origin. His Irish immigrant ancestor was Cornelius McCurtain, nephew of
Cornelius Curtain Cornelius Curtain (Irish Gaelic: Conchobhar Mac Curtain) (1660-1724) was a Captain of Infantrymen in the Royal Irish Army of King James II. English records do list him on two occasions as a “gentleman”, meaning a landowner. He is listed as b ...
, from
County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
, who settled in Spanish Florida in the 18th century with a land grant from the Spanish crown. He became a trader and married into the Choctaw tribe. In 1833, McCurtain's parents and older brother Jackson had moved with numerous other Choctaw to
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
as part of
Indian Removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...
and the
Choctaw Trail of Tears The Choctaw Trail of Tears was the attempted ethnic cleansing and relocation by the United States government of the Choctaw Nation from their country, referred to now as the Deep South (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana), to lands we ...
. His family became prominent as leaders of the tribe. His older brothers were Jackson Frazier McCurtain, born in Mississippi (1830-1885); Edmund Aaron McCurtain, (1842-1890); and David Cornelius McCurtain (1846-1874). They also had a younger brother Robert McCurtain (1853-1874), who was fatally shot at age 20 by a cousin. Green's older brother Jackson Frazier McCurtain became a leader and served as president of the Choctaw senate before succeeding Isaac Garvin as president. Jackson served 1880-1884; he was succeeded by his brother Edmund, who served 1884-1886, a total of three two-year terms by the two of them."Choctaw Nation Elected Chiefs."
RootsWeb.Ancestry.com. Retrieved 25 Sept 2009.


Marriage and family

McCurtain was a
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
, at a time when numerous Choctaw had become Protestants, influenced by missionaries.Thoburn 2164 He married Martha Ainsworth, a European-American woman, and together they had a son, D.C. McCurtain. He later lived in
Spiro, Oklahoma Spiro is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Fort Smith metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2010 census, a 2.8 ...
. The senior McCurtain later married his second wife, Kate 'Kittie' Spring. They had a son and four daughters together: Alice, Lena, Bertha and Cora.


Political career

McCurtain was an imposing man, described as six foot two. He had a variety of positions locally and in the tribe before becoming principal chief after his brothers. In 1872 he served as sheriff of Skullyville County. By the late nineteenth century, he represented the ''Tuskahoma,'' or Progressive party of his tribe, also known as the "Eagles", who began to favor negotiation with the United States over proposals for allotment and statehood of the Choctaw communal lands. Originally opposed to this, McCurtain came to believe he needed to negotiate to try to achieve the best outcome for the Choctaw. The nation was violently torn by the prospect of losing their sovereign governance and lands: the day after the 1884 elections, Nationalist Charles Wilson was brutally killed. While more than one Progressive was implicated in the assassination, several Choctaw were acquitted and only Jackson Crow, an African American, was convicted and executed for the crime. In the 1890s, Silan Lewis, a committed Nationalist, killed five Progressives in related retaliatory political assassinations. He was convicted and executed by the Choctaw in 1894. McCurtain continued to gain power in this period. He served as Choctaw National Treasurer for two terms and oversaw the distribution of $2 million in treaty settlements. Twice he served as the Choctaw Delegate to the U.S. federal government in Washington, DC. He served as a member of his district's board of education within the tribe. In addition, he served as district attorney. In 1896 and 1898, McCurtain was elected as Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation. Term limits prevented him from a third successive term. In 1902, he was eligible to run again and won the election. He won a fourth term in 1904. Before Oklahoma was admitted as a state, McCurtain represented the Choctaw Nation and served as a vice president at the
Sequoyah Constitutional Convention The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention was an American Indian-led attempt to secure statehood for Indian Territory as an Indian-controlled jurisdiction, separate from the Oklahoma Territory. The proposed state was to be called the State of Sequoya ...
in 1905. Attendees discussed proposals for Indian Territory to be admitted as a separate state, under Native American control. It is thought to have laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Constitution.Mize, Richard
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Sequoyah Convention
" Accessed October 6, 2013.
Under the
Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...
, in 1906 the U.S. government broke up tribal governments and institutions. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
appointed McCurtain as chief. He acted under BIA supervision until his death in office in 1910. Although originally a member of the Democratic Party, which represented a solid block in the states of the former Confederacy, McCurtain came to believe their Congressional delegation was hostile to his people. He shifted his affiliation to the Republican Party, and many of his tribesmen did the same. In those years, the Democrats had established the
Solid South The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in those states. The Southern bloc existed especial ...
, a block they controlled because of having disenfranchised most blacks, Natives and other minorities at the turn of the century, and retaining full control of the region's congressionally apportioned seats, based on the total population (until 2003, the only Natives elected to the U.S. Congress from Oklahoma were all Democrats with the backing of the party - five in total). Even if McCurtain influenced many Choctaws to become Republicans, they remained both racial and political minorities in the new Southern state of Oklahoma, and as such they were cast aside by the ruling White Democratic establishment.


McCurtain's Haskell County home

His former home, the Green McCurtain House, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on June 21, 1971. The house was in ruins at the time and has since been reconstructed. It is a two-story, L-shaped residence."Green McCurtain House"
, National Register Properties in Oklahoma. Retrieved 25 Sept 2009
The Green McCurtain House, once more in ruins following a tragic fire, is located in Kinta, Haskell County, Oklahoma.


Death

McCurtain died December 27, 1910, at his home in
Kinta, Oklahoma Kinta is a town in Haskell County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 297 at the 2010 census, an increase of 22.2 percent over the figure of 243 recorded in 2000. History Kinta was founded in 1901 by George W. Scott, son-in-law of Gree ...
. He was buried in San Bois Cemetery in Kinta,
Haskell County, Oklahoma Haskell County is a county located in the southeast quadrant of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,769. Its county seat is Stigler. The county is named in honor of Charles N. Haskell, the first governor ...
."Green McCurtain."
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Retrieved 25 Sept 2009.


Legacy and honors

*
McCurtain County, Oklahoma McCurtain County is in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 33,151. Its county seat is Idabel. It was formed at statehood from part of the earlier Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. ...
was named for this family of chiefs.


Notes


Further reading

*Lewis, Anna Lewis. "Jane McCurtain," ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma'' 11 (December 1933). *Meserve, John Bartlett. "The McCurtains," ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma'' 13 (September 1935). *Thoburn, Joseph Bradford
''A Standard History of Oklahoma, Volume 5.''
Chicago: American Historical Society, 1916.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCurtain, Green Choctaw people 1848 births 1910 deaths American people of Irish descent Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma politicians Native American leaders Native American Christians Oklahoma Democrats Oklahoma Republicans People of Indian Territory People from Le Flore County, Oklahoma Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma Baptists from Oklahoma 19th-century Baptists 20th-century Native Americans 19th-century Native Americans