VINITA, Dec. 12.—Tom Buffington,
“last chief of the Cherokee Indians,” who recently
celebrated his eighty-first birthday, is one many who can
look back over the active years of his life with a glow of
satisfaction, with the knowledge that his has been a life
that has resulted in an accomplishment of lasting benefit to
his people. Buffington spent from 1890 until 1903 getting
through congress a treaty that would give his people full
oil and gas rights to their land so long as they held title
to it. This accomplishment has meant an income of thousands
of dollars to the many Cherokees who allotted land in
eastern Oklahoma.
Although unable to leave his home, Buffington continues among
the best informed persons in Oklahoma on politics and
current events. Visited daily by his friends he keeps in
touch with local conditions; by the aid of newspapers which
he reads avidly, and the radio, he knows well what is going
on over the state and nation.
Buffington was born in Goingsnake district, near where
Westville in Adair county now stands, Oct. 19, 1855. His
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Buffington, had come from
Georgia in 1835, two years before the ejection of the tribe
by troops ordered there by President Andrew Jackson, an
ejection which became famous later as “The Trail of Tears,”
the tribe being forced to come overland to their present
home, and thousands of them dying on the trip.
Ezekiel Buffington had been a teacher among the Cherokees,
was a member of the John Ridge party which believed in
selling its lands for what they could and coming peacefully.
He had been well versed in the politics of his nation, a
nation which was skilled in politics as are present day
politicians, and it was from him that Tom Buffington learned
politics which were to always hold an important place in his
life.
Two of Tom Buffington’s brothers served in the Civil war,
concerning which Tom remembers little except that one of the
brothers was killed at the battle of Wilson Creek while
fighting for the southern cause.
In 1878, Tom, who was then 22 years of age and had already
obtained the title of “strongest man in the Cherokee nation”
as a result of his powerful physique, married Eliza Woodall.
Buffington was described by an eastern correspondent as “six
feet six inches tall, straight as an arrow, weighing 285
pounds, and not an ounce of fat upon him.” That fall, the
young couple moved to a farm northwest of where Okoee now
stands, and Buffington started farming.
However, farm work did not suit young Buffington, and when
his brother ho had been elected to the senate, offered him a
clerkship, he immediately accepted, and accompanied him to
Tahlequah, the capital.
Here Buffington came into contact with the leading
politicians of his nation. His ready friendliness, his large
stature, coal black hair hanging to his waist, made him a
figure easy to remember. He made many friends, all of whom
insisted he should run for office. The next fall, Buffington
entered the lists as a candidate for district judge. He rode
an old work mule about the district, carrying a fiddle in a
sugar sack under his arm. Calling on his friends, Tom would
offer to furnish music for a dance, and at the dance, he
would make his speeches. He was almost the unanimous choice
for this position.
Buffington rose rapidly in political offices among his
people, advancing from one to another yearly. Soon he
opposed “Hooley” Bell for the senate, and defeated him. Bell
until this time had been regarded as unbeatable, and shortly
Buffington was elected as president of the senate.
While he had been successful in politics, family life had
been otherwise for him. Four children had died at birth, and
in November, 1890, his wife died. A grave, guarded by a
lonely fur tree, under which there is a tall monument, marks
the resting place of this family. Sick at heart, Buffington
left immediately after the funeral to attend the regular
autumn session of the council, planning to resign and leave
the nation.
As the session opened, however, the assistant chief died, and
three days later the chief died. Buffington automatically
became chief the remainder of the term, holding that office
until 1893, but refusing to run for that position.
It was then he commenced his fight to obtain full land rights
for his people. Together with other leaders of the tribe, he
called upon Ben Harrison, then president, and asked his aid
in this. Harrison, after hearing the argument for land
rights, turned to the chief and said, “You and your people
stand, as it were, in the path of a mighty glacier, and it
is either for you to get on and ride, or else remain in its
path and be crushed.”
“And,” adds Buffington, “if he had been anyone but the
president of the United States, I would have crushed him
between my hands.” Looking at the stalwart chief, one is
fully convinced he could have done that with very little
trouble.
Discouraged, but not beaten, Buffington returned to his
people to begin anew the fight for a favorable treaty.
Re-elected again to the senate, he assumed his place as
president of that body. In 1896, he was elected mayor of
Vinita, and held that office until 1900, as well as serving
his own people at the same time.
In 1900, he refused again to run for mayor and set out to be
elected chief of the Cherokees. In spite of the fact he
advocated a treaty with the United States government, he was
elected. Once more he took up the cudgel in Washington. He
met with the members of the congress and the senate. He
conferred with the president. Two treaties approved by these
bodies were sent to his people, and he campaigned bitterly
against them although the press of the nation attempted to
paint him as an individual who had gone back on his
promises.
In 1903, he obtained, with the aid of President Theodore
Roosevelt, a treaty which gave the Indians full rights to
their lands. It was passed during the last day of that
session of congress. It was approved by his people. The end
of the Cherokee nation was at hand, but Buffington had
accomplished the task he had set out to do in 1890.
Buffington was defeated by three votes when he attempted to
again obtain the nomination as chief. He returned to Vinita
where his second wife, whom he had married in 1895 at
Tahlequah, resided with him. He was elected mayor of Vinita
in 1908, again in 1910, and 1912. That year he suffered a
broken leg when he fell while attempting to board a
passenger train. Two years later, at Dallas, Texas, the
other leg was broken. Since that time, he has been a
cripple, confined to his home most of the time, but he views
his life optimistically, happy in the accomplishment of a
hard task well performed.
He has five daughters, all married, as follows: Mrs. Ross
Vinita Null, Vinita; Mrs. Dave (Maxine) Moffett, Tulsa; Mrs.
Clint (Lucille) Scott, Wichita, Kan., and Mrs. Al (Margaret)
Garner, Vinita.
From The Oklahoma, 12/13/1936
Donated by:
Emily Jordan
