Here they were joined by others who had managed to
break through the guard at Calhoun and other collecting stations, until
the whole number of fugitives in hiding amounted to a thousand or
more, principally of the mountain Cherokee of North Carolina, the
purest-blooded and mosl conservative of the Nation. About one-half
the refugee warriors had put themselves under command of a noted
Leader named U'tsala, '"Lichen."' who made his headquarters amid the
lofty peaks at the head of Oconaluftee, from which secure hiding
place, although reduced to extremity of suffering from starvation and
exposure, they defied every effort to effect their capture.
The work of running down these fugitives proved to be so difficult
an undertaking and so well-nigh barren, of result that when Charley
and his sons made their bold stroke for freedom 5 General Scott eagerly
seized theincident as an opportunity for compromise. To this end he
engaged the services of William 11. Thomas, a trader who for more
than twenty years had been closely identified with the mountain Cher-
okee and possessed their full confidence, and authorized him to submit
to U'tsala a proposition that if the latter would seize Charley and the
others who had been concerned in the attack upon the soldiers and
surrender them for punishment, the pursuit would be called off and
the fugitives allowed to stay unmolested until an effort could be made
to secure permission from the general government for them to remain.
Thomas accepted the commission, and taking with him one or two
Indian- made his way over secret paths to U'tsala's hiding place. He
presented Scott's proposition and represented to the chief that by
aiding in bringing Charley's