of the Cherokee, on hearing of his death, "as feebly
expressive of the loss they have sustained."
John Ross was born October .'!, 1790, and died in the city of Washington, August
1, 1866, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. His official career began in 1809, when
he was intrusted by Agent Return Meigs with an important mission to the Arkansas
Cherokee. From that time until the close of his life, with the exception of two or
three years in the earlier part, he was in the constant service of his people, "furnish-
ing an instance of confidence on their part and fidelity on his which has never been
surpassed in the annals of history." In the war of 1813-14 against the Creeks he
was adjutant of the Cherokee regiment which cooperated with General Jackson, and
waspresent at the battle of the Horseshoe, where the Cherokee, under Colonel
Morgan, of Tennessee, rendered distinguished service. In 1817 he was elected a
member of the national committee of the Cherokee council. The first duty assigned
him was to prepare a reply to the United States commissioners who were present
for the purpose of negotiating with the Chen ikee for their lands east of the Mississippi,
in firm resistance to which he was destined, a few years later, to test the power of
truth and to attain a reputation of no ordinary character. In 1819, October 26, his
name first appeals on the statute book of the Cherokee Nation as president of the
national committee, and is attached to an ordinance which looked to the improve-
ment of the Cherokee people, providing for the introduction into