Peter Perkins Pitchlynn ( cho, Hatchootucknee, italic=no, ) (January 30, 1806 – January 17, 1881) was a
Choctaw
The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
of Choctaw and
Anglo-American
Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
ancestry. He was principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1864-1866 and surrendered to the Union on behalf of the nation at the end of the Civil War.
Educated in Choctaw culture and American schools, in 1825 Pitchlynn helped found a school for Choctaw boys: the
Choctaw Academy Choctaw Academy was a historic Indian boarding school at Blue Spring in Scott County, Kentucky for Choctaw students. It existed from 1818 to 1842. History
Baptists started an academy for Choctaws in 1818 near Georgetown, Kentucky, but it quickly fai ...
in Kentucky. He also worked to reduce the sale of alcohol in their territory. After removal 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 ...
in the 1830s, he was appointed by the National Council in 1845 as the Choctaw Delegate (akin to an ambassadorship) to Washington, D.C. At the time, the Nation was proposing to be recognized by the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...
as a
territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
.
After the war, Pitchlynn returned to Washington, D.C., to represent Choctaw interests and work for concessions from the government for the Choctaw lands sold under pressure to the United States in 1830 during
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 ...
. He died in Washington, D.C. and is buried there.
Early life and education
Peter P. Pitchlynn was born in
Noxubee County, Mississippi
Noxubee County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 11,545. Its county seat is Macon, Mississippi, Macon. The name is derived from the ...
, January 30, 1806 as the first son of Sophia Folsom, a
Choctaw
The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
of partly Anglo-American descent; her mother ''Natika'' was Choctaw and her father was Ebenezer Folsom, an Anglo-American trader. Sophia's Choctaw name was ''Lk-lo-ha-wah'' (Loved but lost). Sophia Folsom and
John Pitchlynn
John Pitchlynn served as the official U.S. Interpreter at the Choctaw Agency during the early federal period. Of Scottish-American descent, he had been raised among the Choctaw people. He facilitated relations between the government of the United ...
had married in 1804.
As the Choctaw had a
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
kinship system of property and hereditary leadership, Peter was born into his mother's
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
and people; through her family, he gained status in the tribe.
His father was Major John Pitchlynn, a man of
Scots descent. The father was raised from childhood by the Choctaw after the death of his father Isaac, a widower. John Pitchlynn served
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
as an interpreter for negotiations with the Choctaw.
[
]
One of ten children born to the Pitchlynns, after several years at home, Peter was sent to a
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
boarding school about 200 miles from Mississippi. Later he attended an academy in
Columbia, Tennessee
Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area.
The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colum ...
. To complete his education, he studied at and graduated from the
University of Nashville
University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...
, considered one of the finest institutions of the time. It started small like many colleges; its 1827 graduating class held 12 students.
After he obtained his degree, Pitchlynn returned to his family home in Mississippi, where he became a farmer. The Choctaw were among the Southeast tribes that used enslaved African Americans as workers on their farms.
[
]
In 1824, Peter Pitchlynn was made the head of the
Lighthorse, the Choctaw Nation's mounted police, and among other duties, supervised the removal of whiskey from tribal lands.
Marriage and family
He soon married Rhoda Folsom, a first cousin. As part of changing practices, they were married by a
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
, Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury.
They had several children: Lycurgus, Peter P. Jr., Leonidas, Rhoda Mary (married D.L. Kannedy), Malvinia (married Loring S.W. Folsom). After his wife's death, Pitchlynn corresponded regularly with his older children while they were away at school, trying to give them guidance. Lycurgus attended a school in Tennessee and Peter Jr. one in Oxford, Georgia.
The Pitchlynn sons had difficulties as youths and adults: Lycurgus and Leonidas were convicted of assault in 1857 and sentenced to prison. The father gained a pardon for them from President
James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
.
In 1860, Peter Jr. shot and killed his uncle, Lorenzo Harris, who was married to his father's sister Elizabeth Pitchlynn. Some said it was self-defense.
After Rhoda's death, Peter married a widow, Caroline Lombardy.
["Peter Pitchlynn"](_blank)
, ''CHAHTA - CHOCTAW GENEALOGY & RESEARCH'', Rootsweb They had a daughter together, Sophia. She never married and continued to live with her father after her mother's death.
While Pitchlynn was a slaveholder, unlike other Choctaw leaders he felt an indifference towards the institution, and following the
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
, he cast it aside without protest.
Career
![Peter P Pitchlynn around the time of the American Civil War](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Peter_P_Pitchlynn_around_the_time_of_the_American_Civil_War.jpg)
Pitchlynn was well educated in both Choctaw and European-American culture. He began working on ways to improve Choctaw life. He worked to ban the sale of alcohol in Choctaw territory. Believing that education was important, he persuaded the National Council to found the Choctaw Academy, located in Blue Springs,
Scott County, Kentucky
Scott County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,155. Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Native Amer ...
in 1825. It sometimes accepted students of other American Indian tribes as well as Choctaw, such as
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
and
Sioux
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
boys.
Pitchlynn stayed closely involved with the school, receiving quarterly reports.
In 1830 Pitchlynn was elected to the National Council of Choctaw.
Because of his education, he served as an interpreter and effective liaison between the Choctaw and the US federal government. He moved with the 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 ...
in the 1830s, where they resettled. Pitchlynn's widowed mother, Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn, moved with her son. After her death, she was buried there, and hers is the oldest known grave in Oklahoma.
English author
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
was touring the United States when he met Pitchlynn on a steamboat on the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
. He described the Choctaw leader at length:
In 1840 the Council appointed Pitchlynn as a teacher and superintendent of the Choctaw Academy. The following year, they decided to relocate the school to the
Choctaw Nation
The Choctaw Nation ( Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
(located in Indian Territory.) Pitchlynn's correspondence shows they were also discussing the need for a girls' school.
Pitchlynn continued to take on more responsibilities for the Nation; in 1845 he was appointed as the Choctaw Delegate to Washington, DC to represent the nation there. That year both the Choctaw and
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
proposed to the US Congress that their respective nations should be recognized as independent United States
territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
, but this was not supported.
In 1847, he helped arrange the removal of further Choctaw from Mississippi to the Choctaw Nation by
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
.
Civil War and Final Years
In 1861, Pitchlynn was in Washington, D.C. to address national affairs of the Choctaw when the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
started, and immediately returned to the Choctaw Nation, hoping to escape the expected strife. He advocated loyalty to the Union or at the very least neutrality in the conflict, (with himself holding pro-Union sympathies) and then-Chief George Hudson sought to maintain Choctaw neutrality. Despite wanting to avoid the war, the Choctaw were not permitted to remain neutral. Following an invasion of Choctaw territory in May 1861 by Texan forces,
pro-Confederate elements in the government let by
Robert McDonald Jones
Robert McDonald Jones (October 1, 1808 – February 22, 1872) was a Choctaw senator and prominent Confederate politician. He was born in Mississippi and later relocated to Indian Territory. He was educated at the Choctaw Academy in Blue Spri ...
, the President Pro-Tempore of the Choctaw Senate, threatened Chief Hudson and strongarmed the tribe into an alliance with the Confederacy. The tribal populace was divided by this action: some allied with the Confederacy and others with the Union. All suffered in the aftermath of the war.
[
]
Pitchlynn was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaws in 1864 and served until 1866. While in Washington in 1866 to reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States, as well as stave off government-sponsored attempts to colonize
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 ...
, Pitchlynn met with
Queen Emma of Hawaii
Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke (January 2, 1836 – April 25, 1885) was queen of Hawaii as the wife of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She was later a candidate for the throne but King Kalākaua was elect ...
, introduced her to his family and conducted cultural exchange.
This remains, to date, the only instance of bilateral relations between the Choctaw Republic and the Hawaiian Kingdom.
After he was succeeded as chief by
Allen Wright
Allen Wright ( cho, Kiliahote, italic=no) (born November 1826 – December 2, 1885) was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theolog ...
, Pitchlynn returned to Washington, DC as the Choctaw Delegate, where he worked to press Choctaw claims for lands in Mississippi sold under pressure to the United States in 1830. He had been collecting information on this issue since the 1850s from officials involved in the
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek
The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...
.
There he joined the
Lutheran Church
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
. He also became a prominent member of the
Masonic Order
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
.
Pitchlynn addressed the President and several congressional committees in defense of Choctaw claims.
![Cong Cem DC PP Pitchlynn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Cong_Cem_DC_PP_Pitchlynn.JPG)
After his death in Washington in 1881, Pitchlynn was buried there in
Congressional Cemetery
The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...
. He was the third Native American to be buried there, after his fellow Choctaw chief
Pushmataha
Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...
and the Apache chief
Taza
Taza ( ber, ⵜⴰⵣⴰ, ar, تازة) is a city in northern Morocco occupying the corridor between the Rif mountains and Middle Atlas mountains, about 120 km east of Fez and 150 km west of Al hoceima. It recorded a population of 148 ...
.
Pitchlynn was reported to have told of the origin of the Choctaw:
according to the traditions of the Choctaws, the first of their race came from the bosom of a magnificent sea. Even when they first made their appearance upon the earth they were so numerous as to cover the sloping and sandy shore of the ocean ... in the process of time, however, the multitude was visited by sickness ... their journey lay across streams, over hills and mountains, through tangled forests, and over immense prairies ... so pleased were they with all that they saw that they built mounds
A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand.
Mound and Mounds may also refer to:
Places
* Mound, Louisiana, United States
* Mound, Minnesota, United States
* Mound, Texas, United States
* Mound, West Virginia
* Moun ...
in all the more beautiful valleys they passed through, so the Master of Life might know that they were not an ungrateful people.
[
]
Legacy and honors
*The Choctaw Nation placed a monument at his gravesite in Congressional Cemetery in his honor.
*His papers are held by the University of Oklahoma, in the Western Histories Collection.
["Peter P. Pitchlynn Collection"](_blank)
Western Histories Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries
See also
*
Apuckshunubbee
Apuckshunubbee (c. 1740 – October 18, 1824) was one of three principal chiefs of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or ''Okla Falaya'' ("Long People") District of the Choctaw ...
*
Pushmataha
Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...
*
Mosholatubbee
Mushulatubbee ( Choctaw ', "Determined to Kill") (born c. 1750–1770, died c. 1838) was the chief of the Choctaw ''Okla Tannap'' ("Lower Towns"), one of the three major Choctaw divisions during the early 19th century. When the Principal Chief Gr ...
*
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 ...
*
List of Choctaw Treaties
List of Choctaw Treaties is a comprehensive chronological list of historic agreements that directly or indirectly affected the Choctaw people, a Native American tribe, with other nations. Choctaw land was systematically obtained through treat ...
*
Choctaw in the American Civil War
The Choctaw in the American Civil War participated in two major arenas—the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. The Trans-Mississippi had the Choctaw Nation. The Western had the Mississippi Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation had been mostly remov ...
References
Further reading
W. David Baird, ''Peter Pitchlynn: Chief of the Choctaws'' Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972; reprint 1986
External links
Western Histories Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitchlynn, Peter
1806 births
1881 deaths
19th-century Native American politicians
American Freemasons
American people of English descent
American people of Scottish descent
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma politicians
Chiefs of the Choctaw
Native American Christians
Native American leaders
Native American slave owners
Native Americans in the American Civil War
People from Noxubee County, Mississippi
People of Indian Territory