from the Chickasaw Nation. The depredations of which he complained may have been committed
in some instances by the refugee Indians driven to necessity, but the arch offenders probably were negroes and renegade white
The first session of the Chickasaw legislature to convene after the beginning of the Civil War met at Tishomingo between the
second and seventh of October, 1865. Governor Colbert addressed
that body in measured terms which challenge comparison with the most erudite Indian leaders of that period;
"The annual meeting of the Legislature of the Chickasaw Nation under the providence of God being again permitted, it becomes
us as a Nation to acknowledge our dependence on His Will and lift our heads in thankfulness for the preservation of our people
amid the dangers and vicissitudes through which our country has passed.
"Since my last message to the Legislature we have experienced the effect of war in its worst form. So rapid has been the change
by the late revolution which has terminated in the submission of all the States of the United States to the authority of the
General Government and so stupenduous its results, present and prospective, that the mind becomes bewildered in contemplating
"It is consolatory however to reflect that under all the trying circumstances under which the Chickasaws have labored, they
have been true to themselves and their plighted national faith. Their course is a matter of history and we refer to the record,
confidently relying upon a favorable verdict, not only from an impartial world but from the government of the United States
itself, which is too powerful and magnanimous to take advantage of a weak people who were compelled by force of circumstances
and the current of events, in order to preserve their existence, to assume a hostile attitude towards that Government to whom,
previously our people had always looked for parental protection and guidance.
"It becomes my duty to inform your honorable body that by special request of the authorities of the United States, the commissioners
on the part of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations together with those of other nations embraced in the Indian Confederation,
with their respective executives and commissioners met commissioners on the part of the United States in council at Ft. Smith
on the 15th of September last. The result of which was a general treaty of peace and friendship between the United States
and all the Indian nations represented at said council and the submission of a project or outline of a treaty, which the Gov't
of the United States wishes to make with the various Indian Nations, for which purpose and to arrange and settle all matters
with the government of the United States growing out of their connection with the so-called Confederate States, which tend
to interrupt or interfere with the resumption of their former relations with the Government of the United States, it is proposed
that commissioners be sent to Washington City by the several Indian Nations. * * *.
"Among the subjects presented by the Gov't of the United States for your consideration the slave question stands prominently
forth. It is plain that emancipation is inevitable and it is a part of wisdom to meet the question fairly and that means be
bring about the manumission of slaves at the earliest practicable period, and in the meantime, to secure the peace and quiet
of that unfortunate class of persons and render them by suitable provisions and arrangements, useful to the community.
"There is at present great diversity of opinion among the people as to the status of the negro among us. In my opinion the
good of the community requires that the Legislature shall lay down a uniform rule of action for all in reference to slaves,
so that there be no confusion growing out of the subject among the people or among the slaves themselves. Their emancipation
is now a mere question of time and the sooner, in accordance with the constitution, the better for all parties. * * *.7
Upon receipt of the governor's message the legislature passed a resolution empowering the gove