Chickasaw National Capitol Building, Tishomingo, Oklahoma, built 1898
The majority of the Chickasaws, as slaveholders, were secessionists. The Chickasaw and Choctaw in July 1861 declared they were allies of the Confederate States of America. They served mostly in the First Chickasaw/Choctaw Mounted Rifles under Douglas H. Cooper, who was commanding the department of Indian operations under authority from the Confederate government. Other Indian tribes and some Chickasaws remained loyal to the Union. On April 28, 1866, the Chickasaw and Choctaw signed a treaty with the United States which provided an end to slavery, the creating of a leased district for freedmen, payment of reparations to pro-Union Chickasaw/Choctaws, and granting of railroad rights-of-way through their nations. The annuity payments due these tribes under previous treaties were resumed. The Civil War did not devastate the Chickasaw as most of the battles took place in the lands of the Creek and Cherokee nations. Although the Chickasaw did suffer hardships after the war, they did again prosper.
Chickasaw Nation, 1818-1861. The Levi Colbert who represented the Chickasaw during the negotiations of the Jackson Purchase in 1818 died June 2, 1834 in Colbert County Alabama. He, his brothers, and their issue were the most influential family in Chickasaw history. From 1838 to 1846, all the Chickasaw, including the Colbert clan, moved west of the Mississippi because of treaties signed in 1832 and 1834 which declared that no Chickasaw could remain in the east. They were finally able to move into the Chickasaw District of Oklahoma in 1843. In 1848, 1851, and 1856 constitutions were adopted creating and refining a government structure consisting of executive (elected governor), legislative and judicial branches, making the Chickasaw independent, solvent and viable. Tishomingo was selected as the capital of the Chickasaw Nation. A Capitol Building was built in 1898 and used until 1906. Chickasaw Nation’s national headquarters are now located in Ada, Oklahoma.
(Information for this posting gathered from the following sources: Chickasaw Council House Museum brochure, Chickasaw Empire, the Story of the Colbert Family, by Don Martini, 1986, Ripley, MS; Internet sources at www.chickasaw.net; www.civilwarhome.com; www.itd.nps.gov/cwss, www.natchezbelle.org)