In 1819 to 1820 several hundred Cherokees-led by Duwali, a chief from Tennessee-settled along the Sabine, Neches, and Angelina rivers in east Texas. Welcomed by Mexico as a buffer to U.S. settlement, Duwali’s people had separated from other Western Cherokees in an effort to retain the tribe’s traditional lifeways. As Dianne Everett details in The Texas Cherokees, they found themselves "caught between two fires" in many respects: between the Cherokee ideal of harmony and the reality of factionalism, between white settlers pushing westward and western Indians resisting incursions, and between traditional ways and the practical necessity of accommodating to whites.

Originally published: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.

On July 16, 1839, more than 700 Texas Cherokees and allies from a dozen other Indian tribes made their final stand against a force of more than 900 Texas Rangers, Texas Army soldiers and Texas Militia volunteers. The Battle of the Neches was the largest conflict ever fought between Native Americans and Texans. The Cherokees were led by 83-year-old Chief Bowles, who had tried in vain to secure clear land title rights for his people in East Texas from both the Mexican and Texas governments. Author Stephen L. Moore traces the history of the Cherokees' migration across the United States, their entry into Mexican Texas and the subsequent difficulties they encountered with the Republic of Texas. Drawing on archival documents and participant accounts, The Last Stand of the Texas Cherokees relates the inevitable showdown between Chief Bowles and the Texas frontiersmen he challenged during the so-called Cherokee War of 1839. Armed with sophisticated Garrett metal detectors, search teams return to the Neches battlegrounds 170 years later and successfully recover dozens of artifacts which helped pinpoint the key areas of combat. These relics have since been put on display with the American Indian Cultural Society and with the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum so that future generations can appreciate the significance of the largest battle involving Indians and Rangers ever fought in the Lone Star State

This is a lively effort to pierce the thick fog of Falsehood, calumny, ignorance, and legend surrounding the four years Sam Houston spent among the Cherokees in what is now northeastern Oklahoma, the broken years in Tennessee, and his advent in Texas on the eve of the War for Independence.–Virginia Quarterly Review

"Prior to the forced migration of Eastern Cherokee during the "Trail of Tears," several hundred tribesmen migrated to Texas in 1819. Following a brief stopover in Arkansas and then the future site of Dallas, Texas, the Cherokee ultimately established a settlement near present-day Nacogdoches. For the privilege to officially establish this settlement, the tribesmen first petitioned the Spanish government and then---following its war for independence--the leaders of Mexico, and, ultimately, the independent Republic of Texas. Despite negotiating in good faith with each regime--including the Treaty of February 23, 1836, negotiated with Texas president Sam Houston--the Cherokee were ultimately driven off their Texas land in 1839. Most of the Texas Cherokee, who had suffered hundreds of casualties, fled to the Indian [Oklahoma] Territory, once again falling victim to a white government attending to real-estate interests rather than honoring prior agreements with Native Americans. The details of the Cherokee experience in east Texas are described in a legal document filed on behalf of the Cheroke's descendants by attorney George W. Fields Jr. in 1921. The grandson of Texas Cherokee tribal co-leader Chief Richard Fields, the younger Fields compiled the document to support his--ultimately unsuccessful--suit in the U.S. Supreme Court. Fields was attempting to win compensation for the Texas Cherokee after they had been forced out of Texas. Unpublished for over 80 years, the contents of Fields' account of the Texas Cherokee experience from 1820-1839 has now been transcribed for publication, complete with affidavits and facsimile illustrations, by Mr. Jeff Bowen. In addition to quoting sources documenting the agreements or understandings between the Texas Cherokee and governments in question, Fields' transcript includes a number of newspaper articles published in connection with the suit, illustrations of Chief Bowles and other personalities involved in this episode, correspondence, and a full name index to all the persons--both white and Cherokee--who figure in this forgotten episode in Cherokee history"--Publisher's description.

Even though the Trail of Tears was approximately seventeen years away, the Eastern Cherokee were feeling the pressure of white settlers and an American government wanting them out of their way in the east. A large following of Cherokee led by Chief Richard Fields and Chief Bowles migrated to Texas in 1819 after a short stopover in Arkansas. The Cherokee eventually established a settlement near present-day Nacogdoches, Texas. The Cherokee first petitioned the Spanish government for permanent residence and then following their war for independence the newly minted Mexican government. Similarly, they'd eventually make the same request with the independent Republic of Texas and then again with the State of Texas. Following the same agreement in good faith with each separate entity not one of them followed through with their promises. This also included the Treaty of February 23, 1836, negotiated with then Texas president Sam Houston and still the Cherokee were driven off their Texas land in 1839. The complete contents of Fields' account of the Texas Cherokee history from 1820-1839 was brought to light and transcribed for publication, complete with affidavits and illustrations. In addition to quoting sources, documenting the agreements or understandings between the Texas Cherokee and succeeding governments in question, this compilation includes a number of newspaper articles published in connection with the suit. Containing illustrations of Chief Bowles and other personalities involved in this history. In addition, you can also find the Fields' Cherokee genealogy through actual documentation connecting the Lawyer and the Chief who loved his people. There is also a full name index with all the persons mentioned both white and Cherokee which reads like a forgotten saga of a people just looking for a place to call home.