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…

The call for and elections to Secessionist conventions grew among the Deep South states as the time neared for Lincoln’s inaugural, March 4, 1861.  Following South Carolina, Mississippi (January 9, 1861), Florida (January 10, 1861), Alabama (January 11, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861), and Texas (February 1, 1861) seceded. Earlier, in December 1860, a U. S. House of Representatives Committee of Thirty-Three (one member from each state in the Union) was created to try and find areas on which a compromise could be built to save the Union.   John Crittenden of Kentucky advanced a compromise of six proposed constitutional amendments…