1. Pushmataha was highly regarded among Native Americans, Europeans, and white Americans, for his skill and cunning in both war and diplomacy.
36 Facts About Pushmataha
1. 2.
Pushmataha died in the capital city and was buried with full military honors in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.
3.
The exact meaning of Pushmataha's name is unknown, though scholars agree that it suggests connotations of "ending".
4.
Pushmataha's parents are unknown, possibly killed in a raid by a neighboring tribe.
5.
Pushmataha never spoke of his ancestors; a legend of his origin was told:.
6.
When he was 13, Pushmataha fought in a war against the Creek people.
7.
Pushmataha served as a warrior in other conflicts into the first decade of the 1800s, and by then his reputation as a warrior was made.
8.
Pushmataha's raids extended into the territories that would become the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
9.
Pushmataha rapidly took a central position in diplomacy, first meeting with United States envoys at Fort Confederation in 1802.
10.
Pushmataha negotiated the Treaty of Mount Dexter with the United States on November 16,1805, and met Thomas Jefferson during his term as president.
11.
When Tecumseh departed, Pushmataha accused him of tyranny over his own Shawnee tribe and other tribes.
12.
Pushmataha warned Tecumseh that he would fight against those who fought the United States.
13.
Pushmataha argued against the Creek alliance with Britain after the massacre at Fort Mims.
14.
In mid-1813, Pushmataha went to St Stephens, Alabama, with an offer of alliance and recruitment of warriors.
15.
Pushmataha was escorted to Mobile to speak with General Flournoy, then commanding the district.
16.
Pushmataha was commissioned in the United States Army at St Stephens.
17.
Some sources say Pushmataha was among them, while others disagree.
18.
Pushmataha was regarded as a strict war leader, marshaling his warriors with discipline.
19.
On his return from the wars, Pushmataha was elected paramount chief of the Choctaw nation.
20.
Pushmataha devoted much of his military pension to funding a Choctaw school system, and had his five children educated as well as possible.
21.
Pushmataha negotiated two more land-cession treaties with the United States.
22.
Pushmataha signed only after securing guarantees in the text of the treaty that the US would evict squatters from reserved lands.
23.
In 1824, Pushmataha was upset about encroaching settlement patterns and the unwillingness of local authorities to respect Indian land title.
24.
Pushmataha took his case directly to the Federal government in Washington, DC Leading a delegation of two other regional chiefs, he sought either expulsion of white settlers from deeded lands in Arkansas, or compensation in land and cash for such lands.
25.
Pushmataha met with President James Monroe, and gave a speech to Secretary of War John C Calhoun.
26.
Pushmataha reminded Calhoun of the longstanding alliances between the United States and the Choctaw.
27.
Chief Pushmataha met with the Marquis de Lafayette, who was visiting Washington, DC, for the last time.
28.
Pushmataha hailed Lafayette as a fellow aged warrior who, though foreign, rose to high renown in the American cause.
29.
In December 1824, Pushmataha acquired a viral respiratory infection, then called the croup.
30.
Pushmataha quickly became seriously ill and was visited by Andrew Jackson.
31.
On his deathbed, Pushmataha reflected that the national capital was a good place to die.
32.
Pushmataha's chosen assistant happened to suddenly die on the return journey from Washington, DC, to Choctaw lands in present day Mississippi.
33.
Pushmataha requested full military honors for his funeral, and gave specific instructions as to his effects.
34.
Pushmataha is one of two Native American chiefs interred there, the other being Peter Pitchlynn, a Choctaw.
35.
Pushmataha died in Washington on December 24,1824, of the croup in the 60th year of his age.
36.
Many historians use a quote attributed to Gideon Lincecum, who said that Pushmataha was an orphan with no family; but, both George Strother Gaines and Henry Sales Halbert mention his family.