Mount Tabor Indian Community facts for kids
Mount Tabor flag
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| Named after | Mount Tabor |
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| Type | 501(c)(3) organization |
| Purpose | A23: Cultural, Ethnic Awareness |
| Headquarters | Kilgore, Texas |
| Location | |
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Official language
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English |
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President
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J.C. Thomson (2018) |
The Mount Tabor Indian Community is a group of people who share a common heritage and culture. They are also known as the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands of the Mount Tabor Indian Community. This community is located in Rusk County, Texas.
There was an original Mount Tabor Indian Community that existed in the 1800s. The group you see today started as a nonprofit organization in Texas in 2015.
Today, members of the community identify as being descendants of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee (Creek) tribes. Their ancestors were some of the Cherokee people who moved to Texas before the Cherokee War of 1839. This move was led by a chief named Duwa'li, also known as The Bowl.
Many of the original Cherokee in this community were "Old Settlers" and "Treaty Party" members from Indian Territory. These groups left the Cherokee Nation because of disagreements. They wanted peace for their families after being forced to leave their homes in the eastern United States.
Between 1847 and 1853, other tribes joined them. These included parts of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee/Creek tribes.
In 1845, U.S. President James Polk told these groups to find land in Texas where they could settle. The community was set up about six miles south of what is now Kilgore, Texas. Soon, Yowani Choctaw, Chickasaw, and McIntosh Party Creek Indians joined them.
Today, the community is made up of descendants who still live in the area. Their main office is in Kilgore, Texas. Many members also live near New London, Overton, Arp, and Troup, Texas.
Contents
Who Are the Mount Tabor Indian Community?
The Mount Tabor Indian Community is made up of people from four different Native American tribes. These are the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee (Creek) tribes. Their ancestors all experienced the colonization of the American Southeast by Europeans.
In the early 1800s, settlers from the United States constantly moved onto their lands. This led to the Indian Removal policies in the 1830s, which forced many tribes to move. This difficult journey is often called the Trail of Tears.
Even though these tribes spoke different languages, they came together in Texas. They formed a close-knit Native community. At first, most members were Cherokee. However, since 1900, most people in the community have Choctaw and Chickasaw ancestors.
How They Arrived in Texas
The four tribes that formed the Mount Tabor Indian Community moved to East Texas in different stages. The first to arrive were a few survivors of the Cherokee War. This war happened after the Treaty of Bowles Village was broken in 1836. The Texian Army forced the Cherokee and their allies, the Lenape (Delaware) and Shawnee, off their treaty lands.
Some Cherokee, led by Fox Fields and Chicken Trotter, found safety in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. From 1840, these Texas Cherokee fought against the Texians in an irregular war. This fighting stopped after the 1843 Treaty of Bird's Fort was signed.
Texas Cherokee, Choctaw, Caddo, and Mexican soldiers fought against the Texas Republic in battles like San Patricio and Corpus Christi. They were also involved in the defeat of the Dawson Expedition and the loss at the Battle of Salado Creek in 1842. After these events, Sam Houston became president of the Republic of Texas again, and the Texas Cherokee sought peace.
Conflicts in the Cherokee Nation
At the same time, the larger Cherokee Nation was having its own problems in Indian Territory. These problems came from disagreements that started after their forced removal from their eastern homes.
The followers of Major Ridge, known as the Treaty or Ridge Party, had signed the Treaty of New Echota. They clashed with the new arrivals who came after the Trail of Tears. The followers of Principal Chief John Ross had opposed being removed. They took strong action against those who had signed treaties to give away their lands.
The Ridge Party had accepted the treaty and removal. They believed it was the only way to save the Cherokee Nation. There was also a third group called the Old Settlers. They had moved west earlier, first to Arkansas and then to Indian Territory. They had already set up their own government.
When the much larger Ross faction arrived, it caused chaos in Indian Territory. After some of the Ridge Party leaders were killed, the Old Settler and Ridge Party groups looked for a solution. They suggested dividing the Cherokee Nation into two separate governments. The federal government rejected this idea.
However, in 1845, U.S. President James K. Polk gave permission for both the Old Settler and Ridge Party groups to send people to Texas. Their goal was to find suitable land to settle on.
Finding a New Home in Texas
The Republic of Texas was still its own country. It had its own ideas about who it wanted as settlers. The arrival of the Cherokee immigrants created a tense time. It had only been five years since the Cherokee War.
The Old Settler-Ridge Party group was led by John Harnage, James Starr, J.L. Thompson, and John Adair Bell. John Adair Bell was also known as John "Jack" Bell. He was the brother of Devereaux Jarrett Bell and Sam Bell, who had stayed in Texas after the Cherokee War.
At that time, the Cherokee were not allowed to own land in the area covered by the old Bowles treaty in Texas. Devereaux Bell had been trying to find land since 1840. But no land was large enough for those wanting to leave Indian Territory.
To solve this, Benjamin Franklin Thompson bought 10,000 acres of land for the community. This land was near what is now Kilgore, Texas. Benjamin was married to Annie Martin, a Cherokee woman. Her father, John Martin, was the First Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation. Another European American named Jesse Mayfield, who was married to a Cherokee woman named Sarah Starr, also bought land nearby. These purchases gave the Cherokee a new homeland.
From 1847 to the mid-1850s, families began to travel to Texas for safety. With the Thompson and Mayfield lands available, and Texas joining the United States, those still in the Cherokee Nation who feared punishment for the Treaty of New Echota had a secure home. This is how the Mount Tabor Indian Community was founded.
The first Mount Tabor village was located about four miles south of present-day downtown Kilgore in Rusk County, Texas. It seems to have been built near the former village of Chief Richard Fields. Annie Martin-Thompson was Chief Fields' niece.
Between 1847 and 1855, many Cherokee families settled in Mount Tabor and Bellview. By 1850, Choctaw and Chickasaw families living in southern Rusk County joined them. A group of Muscogee (Creek) from the McIntosh Party also came south from Indian Territory. They were threatened by an anti-removal Creek leader named Tuskeenhaw. The McIntosh Party were Creek people who supported removal, similar to the Cherokee Ridge Party.
The Choctaw were first led by Jeremiah Jones, and later by Archibald Thompson in 1853. The Muscogee were led by William and Thomas Berryhill.
When Texas joined the United States, Native Americans were allowed to own land in the state. John Adair Bell bought land just south of Benjamin F. Thompson's purchase. He wrote in a letter, "I call my place Mount Taber," listing his address as Mount Taber, Texas. This was the first time the community was mentioned in writing. The community grew and thrived.
The Civil War's Impact
The Mount Tabor community sided with the Confederate States during the American Civil War. Most Cherokee men served under General Stand Watie, who had lived at Mount Tabor for a short time. His wife, Sarah Caroline Bell-Watie, lived there in 1863.
Many Mount Tabor Cherokee men served with the Second Cherokee Mounted Rifles under Watie. Others served with different Texas units. John Martin Thompson organized units at Bellview, which included Cherokee, Choctaw, and white men married to Native women.
The community suffered greatly during the war. They faced shortages, and many Cherokee women and children sought refuge in Rusk County. The community's limited resources were stretched thin.
After the war, and after Chief John Ross died in 1866, the Cherokee Nation allowed members to return. Between 1866 and 1890, more than 80% of the Cherokee from Mount Tabor went back to the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory.
The Choctaw and Muscogee had different reactions. Most of the Berryhill families scattered across Texas and western Louisiana. Another large group went north to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The Choctaw faced difficulties from authorities in Indian Territory.
The Dawes Commission and Enrollment
Some Yowani Choctaw had left Texas earlier, around 1840. They settled in the southern Chickasaw Nation. Around 1885, William Clyde Thompson, John Thurston Thompson Jr., and Martin Luther Thompson led Choctaw from Rusk and Smith County, Texas to the Ardmore area in the Chickasaw Nation. They wanted to register as members of the Choctaw Nation on the Dawes Rolls.
At first, all the Texas Choctaw who moved to Indian Territory were listed on the Final Roll of the Choctaw Nation. But later, their names were removed. They were first listed as Mississippi Choctaw, but their status was changed to "Mississippi-Choctaw-Rejected." Tribal officials said they no longer belonged. This was because they and the Jena Choctaw in Louisiana had not been in Mississippi for many generations. However, their ancestors had signed treaties with the U.S. while still in Mississippi.
The Department of the Interior recognized their Choctaw ancestry. But the Choctaw Advisory Board only wanted to admit those who had recently moved from Mississippi. The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana faced the same rejection. It wasn't until 1995 that the Jena Choctaw were finally recognized as a distinct tribe by the U.S. government.
Martin Luther Thompson and others returned to Rusk County and lived there for the rest of their lives. Those who stayed with William Clyde Thompson fought the issue all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The court sided with these Choctaw. They were put back on the list, restoring their Choctaw citizenship. About 70 Texas Choctaw from Mount Tabor were recognized as "Choctaw by Blood" and citizens of that nation. But unlike the Cherokee, most Choctaw and Chickasaw of Mount Tabor stayed in the East Texas community.
During this time, Caleb Starr Bean, the Mount Tabor community chief, tried to get the remaining Mount Tabor people enrolled on the Dawes Roll. He was not successful for the Rusk and Smith County Cherokees. This was because enrollment was based on living in the Cherokee Nation.
The Guion Miller Roll was a payment list based on earlier treaties. It was open to all Cherokee listed on the 1835 Cherokee census. Those who were original Texas Cherokee, or had ancestors among them, were not eligible. But those who moved to Texas after the Cherokee arrived in Indian Territory in 1839 were eligible. Chief Caleb Bean worked hard to make sure all eligible Mount Tabor Cherokee people could apply for Guion Miller enrollment.
He died in 1902 before the roll closed. His brother, John Ellis Bean, became the next community chief and continued his efforts. Chief John Bean kept the community organized during difficult times. The land was not producing well, and lumber companies had cut down most of the forests. The Thompson and Tucker Lumber Company, owned by John Martin Thompson, was very powerful in the area.
Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands
Soon after the Civil War, William Penn Adair, who used to live at Mount Tabor, reorganized the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands (TCAB). This group started in Mount Tabor in the 1850s. Its goal was to seek justice for the broken Treaty of Bowles Village from 1836.
The State of Texas first offered about fifteen million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle. This was on the condition that the TCAB would drop all legal action related to the treaty. Adair refused.
The lands the Texas Cherokees now lived on had become their new home. Many of their ancestors were buried there, and the people were doing well in East Texas. The land offered in the Panhandle was occupied by the Comanche and Kiowa peoples. Adair knew these tribes would see the Mount Tabor people as invaders, and war would be unavoidable. He thought this was unacceptable.
After the Civil War, William Adair tried to get approval for Confederate Cherokees to return to the treaty lands in East Texas. He was not successful. After Stand Watie died in 1871, Adair reorganized the TCAB. He led the organization with help from Clement Neely Vann. At this point, Mount Tabor was very involved in the organization.
Adair needed more money for legal action. He asked the Fields family for financial support. From 1871 to 1963, the TCAB filed lawsuits to get more payment for the broken treaties. The first lawsuits were against the State of Texas from 1871–1875. After that, the state changed its constitution, which stopped further attempts.
The TCAB tried to get land by filing liens in Rusk and Smith counties in 1914. Their case reached the United States Supreme Court in 1920–21. They also went to the Indian Claims Commission from 1949–1953. The lawsuit in 1963 was mainly led by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and did not include the Mount Tabor Indian Community.
After William Adair and Clement Vann died, John Martin Thompson took over as chairman of both the Executive Committee and Mount Tabor. He stayed in that position until he died in 1907. John Ellis Bean then served as both the local community chief and TCAB executive committee chairman.
In 1915, at a meeting in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Jake Claude Muskrat was elected the next TCAB executive committee chairman. He was the first TCAB chairman who had not lived at Mount Tabor. Muskrat was a descendant of Chief Richard Fields. He was followed in 1939 by W.W. Keeler. U.S. President Harry Truman appointed Keeler as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1949. He served in both roles until 1972.
After Thompson's death, the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands became more influenced by the Cherokee in Oklahoma. During the 1920 effort to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, a major disagreement happened. This was between TCAB attorney George Fields and Texas leader Martin Luther Thompson. Fields argued that this was a Cherokee Nation effort. Fields wanted the Choctaw to be excluded from the Cherokee Nation. He removed the word "Choctaw" from his papers related to the case. He kept the word Jawanie (Yowani), which was in the original treaty. But Martin Thompson believed that not all Mount Tabor Choctaw (including his wife) were Yowani. Fields tried to push out the Mount Tabor descendants. However, he stopped due to pressure from Claude Muskrat and John Ellis Bean.
The Texas Oil Boom
In Texas, the community kept its local leadership. After John Ellis Bean died in 1927, J. Malcolm Crim became the leader, with Martin Luther Thompson as his second. The Great Depression hit the area hard. But things improved dramatically when oil was discovered on October 3, 1930. This happened at Daisy Bradford #3 near Kilgore, and soon after at Lou Della Crim #1. Many more oil discoveries followed in areas where the Mount Tabor people lived. Lou Della Thompson-Crim was the daughter of John Martin Thompson. This discovery changed her life and many others forever.
The 1930 oil boom had both good and bad effects for the Mount Tabor Community. It helped many members escape poverty. But the new wealth also changed their traditional culture very quickly. Malcolm Crim worked to help both Cherokees and Choctaws in the community.
One story from the Oil Museum in Kilgore tells about a Choctaw-Chickasaw family. Leota Florey, who was not Native, was married to Walter Tucker. Walter was Choctaw-Chickasaw and the grandson of Hugh McCoy Thompson. Leota had inherited 301 acres in 1904. When oil was found on the community lands, Leota and Walter got help from Malcolm Crim. He made sure the family received the money they were owed from the oil. The Oil Museum has a quote from Leota about that time: "She held onto the land, and in the early 1930s--the East Texas Oil field! Leota, who had cooked and scrubched and scrounged and lived in a tent during the drilling of the first two dry holes on Daisy Bradford's farm, told J. Malcolm Crim when Daisy Bradford #3 came in, 'I'll never wring out another dishrag in my life!'"
As a businessman, Malcolm Crim did well for the community. He made sure that many descendants from Kilgore to Troup were not cheated by dishonest people who flooded into the tribal areas. In just four weeks, Kilgore went from a quiet town of 500 people, with many Native residents, to a city of 10,000. It was filled with rough migrants and speculators. Change was unavoidable, even with Malcolm Crim as the first mayor of Kilgore.
By 1933, Crim focused on his own business. Foster Trammell Bean became the next community Chief. Foster Bean was the grandson of Chief John Ellis Bean. He worked as a local attorney, judge, and was mayor of Kilgore for twenty years. He had a good relationship with W.W. Keeler. But he only served sometimes on the TCAB Executive Committee. When Martin Luther Thompson died in 1946, Judge Bean held all the local leadership roles.
From 1972 to Today
In 1972, the Cherokee Nation was reorganizing and became more politically separate from the Mount Tabor Community. Keeler had been reappointed Principal Chief by every U.S. President from Truman to Nixon. Knowing more changes were coming, and with Native American activism focusing on local control, he resigned as Chairman of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands.
Foster Bean took on all responsibilities. This made the TCAB once again a local Texas organization. When the 1975 Cherokee Nation constitution was approved, the TCAB stopped existing in Oklahoma without a vote. Since then, it has only been active in Texas. Some Oklahoma Cherokee continued to serve on the Executive Committee, like Mack Starr and George Bell. But after 1980, all Executive Committee members have been connected only to Mount Tabor in Texas.
Judge Foster Bean served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the TCAB until 1988. J.C. Thompson was appointed by the Committee to replace him. Bean remained a member of the Executive Committee, which included Billy Bob Crim, R. Nicholas Hearne, and Saunders Gregg.
Thompson first looked at the community's standing as a recognized tribe. The Mount Tabor Community was never like larger tribes or nations with a formal government or council. The Executive Committee acted as the only government for daily activities. The General Assembly, made up of all blood descendants, was a loose organization compared to larger tribes like the Cherokee or Choctaw Nations. Some basic rules were made in the 1970s. But the government of the community didn't truly change until the 1998 constitution was passed.
Second, Thompson suggested changing the organization's name. The organization no longer used "Mount Tabor." It was only known as the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands, Texas Cherokees, or Texas Band. Since the Executive Committee saw the TCAB as a dual-state organization, which after 1975 only existed in Texas, they suggested the name "Texas Band of Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians." That name, and "Texas Band of Cherokee Indians," were both rejected by the General Assembly.
The Choctaw descendants were upset by the second proposal. They felt left out, even though many have both Choctaw and Cherokee ancestry. In 1992, a compromise was reached. They decided to return to the band's original name, while keeping the TCAB title. Since then, the official name has been the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands of the Mount Tabor Indian Community.
With many fake groups claiming to be "Cherokee Tribes," the Executive Committee decided in 1998 to only refer to the community as Mount Tabor. The Executive Committee and General Assembly do not consider the community to be a Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, or Muscogee-Creek tribe or band. Instead, they see it as a combination of peoples who are connected by blood, marriage, and history.
J.C. Thompson served as Chairman until 1998. Then, Terry Jean Easterly was chosen as the first woman to lead the community. Easterly is also the first leader who does not have Cherokee ancestry. She is Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek. She served from 1998 to 2000. Peggy Dean-Atwood, who also had no Cherokee ancestry, followed her and served through 2001. After she resigned, J.C. Thompson became Chairman for the second time. He served until August 2018.
William Ellis "Billy" Bean, the great-grandson of Chief John Ellis Bean, then took over. Chairman Bean served for 13 months, ending on September 2, 2019. He was followed by Cheryl Aleane Giordano, the third woman to hold the position. Ms. Giordano is of Choctaw and Chickasaw descent. She had previously worked as Operations Coordinator on the Mount Tabor Executive Committee.
Modern Mount Tabor Indian Community
In 1978, the community created its first bylaws that were different from the 1925 Texas Cherokee and Associate Band bylaws. In 1998, the community approved a new constitution. This was part of their effort to meet federal standards for self-government. They also wanted to gain federal recognition as a tribe by the Secretary of Interior. This effort was called their Federal Acknowledgment Project.
The community started seeking federal recognition in 1990. But the project was put on hold in 1992. This was partly due to a misunderstanding of the rules set by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The community restarted its current Federal project in 2015.
In the early 2000s, the community holds an annual reunion. This usually takes place in either Kilgore or Troup. They maintain strong connections to three of their traditional cemeteries. These are the Asbury Cemetery near Overton, the Thompson Cemetery at Laird Hill, and the Mount Tabor Indian Cemetery in rural Rusk County. The community also publishes a quarterly newspaper called The Mount Tabor Phoenix.
Nonprofit Organization
In 2015, J.C. Thompson registered the Mount Tabor Indian Heritage Center. This is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Kilgore, Texas. Thompson was the organization's president in 2018.
Leadership and Governance
How the Community is Led
Benjamin Franklin Thompson bought the lands that would become Mount Tabor in 1844. But few Cherokees actually lived there before 1847. Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee Creek people joined the community between 1847 and 1850. All the families were fully settled by 1853.
From 1853 to 1900, there was minimal formal leadership. A community leader was someone local Native people turned to for help or to organize events. This was interrupted by the Civil War. During the war, George Starr and Stand Watie were seen as leaders. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogees of the community looked to George Starr and John Martin Thompson during the war years. John Thompson was the main organizer for Confederate units of those who did not go to Indian Territory with Watie's men.
If decisions needed to be made, the entire community would come together. This form of government, called the General Assembly, was included in the 1998 constitution. It remains the legislative part of Mount Tabor today. The addition of the Executive Committee is linked to the connection with the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands. This organization, based in Indian Territory after the Civil War, was also part of Mount Tabor's leadership. However, a local leader or chief was still used. This can be seen in activities related to the Dawes Commission, the oil boom, and even social events like the 1939 heritage days parade in Longview, Texas.
The General Assembly and Annual Reunion have been held specifically since 1939. Three reunions were canceled during World War II until 2001. The assembly did not meet between 2002 and 2004. A short meeting was held in 2005. It was then restructured in 2015 and has been held annually since.
With the 1998 constitution, the government became three-tiered. It included a seven-member Executive Committee. Initially, there was a Chief Justice, a position held only by Saunders Gregg. In 2017, a change to a three-member tribunal brought the current tribal government into its present order.
Before 1998, other than two attempts to draft bylaws, the community did not operate like other tribes. It was not a formal nation or band. It was a small community made up of five extended families. Two more families have been recognized since then.
Other changes relate to the group's name. Since its beginning, the community has been known as Mount Taber and Bellvue communities, then as Texas Cherokees. Before 1990, the group was referred to as Texas Cherokees or Texas Band, as part of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands. This was partly because Cherokees were in leadership positions from the start.
However, this is a bit misleading. While the seven recognized families include four well-documented Cherokee families (Martin, Bean, Harnage, and Fish), the three additional documented families are Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee Creek. Since 1900, most of the community's population has become predominately Choctaw/Chickasaw.
In 1990, they discussed the need to officially adopt one name that reflected the entire community, especially the "Associate Bands." At first, "Texas Band of Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw" was considered. The final decision, approved by the General Assembly, reflected the community's traditional original name. It also kept the Texas connection to the TCAB. So, the official name of the community was adopted as the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands of the Mount Tabor Indian Community.
However, even though that was the legal name, they decided to only use "Mount Tabor Indian Community." This was because many fake groups were calling themselves Cherokee tribes. The name "Mount Tabor Indian Community" was the traditional name given to the community in 1853 by John Adair Bell. This name did not highlight any particular tribe but showed how the four tribes became one. The name has remained the same since that time.
Membership in the Community
Membership in the Mount Tabor Indian Community is limited to direct descendants of seven extended families. These are families whose ancestors stayed within or in contact with the Mount Tabor Indian Community from 1850 until today.
The seven main founding families are:
- 1. Annie Martin-Thompson, a Cherokee Indian, and her husband Benjamin Franklin Thompson.
- 2. John Ellis Bean and his wife Henrietta Cloud Dannenberg-Bean, both Cherokee Indians.
- 3. Nannie Sabina Harnage-Bacon, a Cherokee Indian, and her husband John Dana Bacon.
- 4. Margaret McCoy-Thompson, a Choctaw & Chickasaw Indian, and her husband Henry Thompson. This includes their sons and their descendants:
- a. Henry Thompson Jr. and his wife Percilla Jackson-Thompson, a Choctaw Indian (only his descendants who settled in Rusk, Smith, or Gregg counties).
- b. Archibald Thompson and his wives Elizabeth Jackson-Thompson, a Choctaw Indian; Nancy Islea (ancestry unknown); Anna Strong Thompson (non-Indian) (only his descendants who settled in Rusk, Smith, or Gregg counties).
- c. William Thompson and his wife Elizabeth Jones Mangum-Thompson, a Choctaw Indian (all of his descendants, including those who moved to Trinity and Angelina counties, as long as they can show continued contact with the community).
- 5. Samuel Jones, also known as Nashoba, a Choctaw Indian (only his descendants who settled in Rusk, Smith, or Gregg counties).
- 6. Martha Elizabeth Derrisaw-Berryhill (Durouzeaux), a Muscogee-Creek Indian, and her husband John Berryhill, a Catawba Indian (only his descendants who settled in Rusk, Smith, or Gregg counties).
- 7. Lucy Fish-Gage, a Cherokee Indian, and her husband David Gage.
Other families may qualify if they are direct descendants of an ancestor who was part of the historical community. These ancestors might now be members of the Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Chickasaw Nation, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, or Muscogee Creek Nation. These families are limited to parts of the Adair, Bell, Buffington, and Starr Cherokee families.
The Mount Tabor Indian Community is a descendant-based group. It does not require a minimum "blood quantum" (a certain percentage of Native American ancestry) for membership.
Mount Tabor Chiefs and Leaders
Community Leaders/Chiefs
- 1847–1853: Devereaux Jarrett Bell
- 1853–1860: John Adair "Jack" Bell
- 1860–1861: George Harlan Starr
- 1861–1881: Major John Martin Thompson
- 1881–1902: Chief Caleb Starr Bean
- 1927–1933: John Malcolm Crim
- 1933–1988: Judge Foster Trammell Bean
- 1988–1998: J.C. Thompson
- 1998–2000: Terry Jean Easterly
- 2000–2001: Peggy Dean-Atwood
- 2001–2018: J.C. Thompson
- 2018–2018: Billy Bean
- 2019–Present: Cheryl Giordano
Texas Choctaw/Chickasaw Leaders
- 1847–1851: Jeremiah Jones
- 1851–1856: Archibald Thompson
- 1856–1864: Lieutenant John Thurston Thompson Sr. (killed in the Battle of Jenkins Ferry, Saline County, Arkansas during the American Civil War)
- (1881–1946): Martin Luther Thompson
- 1890–1912: Captain William Clyde Thompson (elected Texas Choctaw Leader for those in the Chickasaw Nation)
Muscogee Creek Leaders
- 1847–1865: William Berryhill and his brother Thomas Berryhill
Other Important Mount Tabor Individuals
- Charles Collins Thompson
- John Martin Thompson
- Martin Luther Thompson
- Stand Watie
- William Clyde Thompson
- William Penn Adair
- William Thomas Gilcrease
- W.W. Keeler
Treaties and Texas State Recognition
Important Agreements and Laws
- Treaty of San Antonio de Bexar, with the Spanish Empire, November 8, 1822
This treaty granted lands in the province of Tejas and Coahuila in Spanish Mexico for the Texas Cherokee Nation to settle permanently. It was signed by the Spanish governor of Tejas. However, it was never officially approved by the Spanish government or any later government through the Texas Revolution.
- Treaty with the Republic of Fredonia, December 21, 1826
This was a treaty with the short-lived Fredonia Republic. The rebellion led to the death of Chief Richard Fields.
- Treaty of Bowles Village with the Republic of Texas, February 23, 1836
This treaty gave nearly 1,600,000 acres (6,500 km2) of East Texas land to the Texas Cherokees and twelve related tribes, including the Yowani (Jawanie). When this treaty was broken, it directly led to the Cherokee War of 1839. The treaty included all of Cherokee and Smith counties, parts of Rusk, Van Zandt, and Gregg counties.
- Treaty of Bird's Fort with the Republic of Texas, September 29, 1843
This treaty ended fighting among several Texas tribes, including the Texas Cherokees. It was negotiated by Chicken Trotter. The Congress of the Republic of Texas approved this treaty. It recognized the tribal status of the Texas Indians as distinct, including the Cherokees who would later become the Mount Tabor Indian Community. This treaty allowed President Polk to let Cherokees from the Old Settler and Ridge Party go to Texas to find lands to settle on. Without this treaty, it's unlikely anyone would have traveled through Texas before it joined the U.S. This treaty was honored by the State of Texas after it joined the U.S. It has never been canceled by the U.S. Congress and is still technically valid.
- Treaty of Tehuacana Creek with the Republic of Texas, October 9, 1844.
Another treaty was made involving Chicken Trotter and Wagon Bowles. Wagon Bowles was the son of Texas Cherokee Chief Bowles, also known as Duwa'li or the Bowl. Only the Texas Senate approved this treaty.
- Second Treaty of Tehuacana Creek with the Republic of Texas, August 27 to September 25, 1845.
The Council of Tehuacana Creek was the last official contact between the Republic of Texas and many of its tribes. This treaty was never officially approved because Texas was soon to join the United States of America. In this treaty, Wagon Bowles is recognized as Chief of the Cherokees, while Chicken Trotter is called Captain. It is not clear if any of the Old Settler or Ridge Party Cherokees took part.
- Texas Senate Resolution 384, a congratulatory resolution, passed March 17, 2015.
- Texas Senate Concurrent Resolution 25, a congratulatory resolution, passed May 10, 2017.
- Texas Senate Bill 2363, sponsored by Senator Bryan Hughes (R), was introduced on March 8, 2019. It aimed to establish state-recognition for the Mount Tabor Indian Community. However, it did not pass and ended on March 21, 2019.
Images for kids
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John Martin Thompson
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Chief Caleb Starr Bean, around 1875, Rusk County, Texas
