William Clyde Thompson facts for kids
William Clyde Thompson (1839–1912) was an important leader of the Choctaw and Chickasaw people in Texas. He was part of the Mount Tabor Indian Community and also served as an officer for the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
Later in his life, in 1889, Thompson moved to the Chickasaw Nation in what was then called Indian Territory. There, he worked hard to make sure his family and other Texas Choctaws were officially recognized as citizens of the Choctaw Nation.
This was a big deal because the government was creating the Dawes Rolls. These lists decided who was a citizen of the "Five Civilized Tribes." Being on the list meant you could get a piece of tribal land, as the government was breaking up shared tribal lands.
The Choctaw Advisory Board didn't want to include the Texas Choctaws or the Jena Choctaws from Louisiana. This was because these groups had lived outside the main Choctaw Nation for a long time. Thompson's fight for his people even went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
In the end, William Thompson and about 70 other Texas Choctaws who had moved to Indian Territory won their case. They were officially recognized as citizens of the Choctaw Nation.
Thompson was born in 1839 near Fort Towson in the Choctaw Nation. When he was a baby, his family moved to Mexican Texas. They returned to the Choctaw Nation in 1840 after their village in Texas was attacked.
Soon after, both of William's parents died. He and his brother Arthur went to live with their grandmother, Margaret McCoy-Thompson, near Fort Washita. Later, they were sent to Mississippi and raised by their mother's parents. When the Civil War began, both brothers joined the Confederate Army there.
After the war, Thompson first went back to Texas. He reconnected with his family in the Mount Tabor Indian Community. He got married and started his own family there. In 1889, they moved north to Indian Territory, settling in a town called Marlow in the Chickasaw Nation.
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William Thompson's Early Life
William C. Thompson was born on February 6, 1839. His family was mixed-race, meaning they had both Native American (Choctaw and Chickasaw) and European-American ancestors. He was born at Fort Towson in the southern part of the Choctaw Nation. This was several years after many Choctaw people had been moved there by the government.
William's father was William Thompson, who was one-fourth Choctaw and Chickasaw. His mother was Elizabeth Jones Mangum, who was one-eighth Choctaw. His family belonged to the Yowani Choctaw group. This group was named after their village of Yowani in Mississippi.
Many Yowani people had moved west into Louisiana and Texas to live away from European Americans. They adopted some customs of their new neighbors. In 1836, the Yowani Choctaw were listed with the Cherokee and other tribes in the Treaty of Bowles Village with the Republic of Texas.
William's family had often traveled between the Choctaw Nation and the Texas Choctaw villages. In 1840, they were living in Texas. That year, a group of white vigilantes attacked the Choctaw village. They were looking for revenge against Native Americans they believed had killed white men.
The vigilantes couldn't find the people they were looking for. So, they attacked the closest Native American village they could find, which was the Yowani Choctaw village. Even though the Yowani had nothing to do with the earlier violence, the attackers murdered eleven Choctaw men, women, and children.
William's family survived the attack and quickly fled back to the Choctaw Nation. Sadly, William's mother and infant sister died on August 30, 1840. Two days later, his father also passed away. It's thought they might have been badly hurt in the attack or died from diseases like smallpox, which were common then.
After losing his parents, William and his older brother Arthur James Thompson (1837–1884) went to live with their grandmother, Margaret (McCoy) Thompson. She lived in the Chickasaw Nation near Fort Washita. The boys stayed with her until their maternal grandfather, William Mangum, took them back to Mississippi. They lived with him until they were old enough to join the army.
William Thompson and the Civil War
When the Civil War began, William and his brother Arthur joined the Confederate Army as privates in Mississippi. William fought in the Battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded while attacking Union forts. He returned to his unit quickly and was chosen as captain of his company.
His next injury was more serious. In May 1863, his skull was fractured by shrapnel during a fight at Fort Gibson in the Cherokee Nation. He spent some time in the hospital before he could go back to lead his soldiers.
Later, he fought in the Atlanta campaign. During this time, at a place called Peachtree Creek, his company charged a group of Union troops with bayonets. They captured about 47 soldiers. After the Atlanta campaign, Thompson went with General Hood back to Tennessee.
At the Battle of Franklin, William was shot in the thigh and captured by Union forces. He was taken to a Union prison hospital in Nashville and treated for his wounds. He remained a prisoner for the rest of the war.
While he was a prisoner, the Confederate government promoted Thompson to Lieutenant Colonel. However, he never used this title. He preferred to be called "Captain" for the rest of his life.
From Nashville, Thompson was sent to different prisons before being exchanged for other officers in Richmond, Virginia. He was released shortly before the war ended. He returned to Mississippi on June 1, 1865, and began planning to go back to his family in Texas.
He arrived in Dallas County, Texas in December 1865. He later lived in Cherokee County and Smith County. William became involved in trying to protect the culture and lands that were part of the 1836 Treaty of Bowles Village. His uncle, Archibald Thompson, had been a leader among the Texas Choctaw people.
William Thompson was known for his intelligence and leadership skills. Not only the Texas Choctaws and Chickasaws valued him, but also the Cherokees and neighboring Creek Indians. He had a great reputation among both Native Americans and non-Native Americans in the area.
The Mount Tabor Indian Community was a safe place for Native Americans in Texas. After the war, William Thompson took another step that would change his life.
Marriage and Family Life
On May 29, 1867, Thompson married Sarah S. Estes. They had three children: Arthur M. (1869–1926), Mary M. (born 1862), and William Clyde Thompson, Jr. (1875–1921). The Estes family was of mostly English background.
Changes in Texas Choctaw Communities
By 1844, after the Treaty of Birds Fort, there were two main Choctaw villages in Texas. One was near the Cherokee group in what became the Mt. Tabor/Bellview Indian communities. The other was in Houston County.
Thompson moved to Trinity County for work. The Native American village there had become smaller as people moved away for jobs. John Martin Thompson, a distant Cherokee cousin, started new lumber mills in the area around 1881. These mills brought in more money and helped the local economy.
The mills attracted many Choctaw, Cherokee, and Muscogee-Creek people to the area. William Thompson was elected as the county's second probate clerk, and later became a probate judge.
Moving Back to Indian Territory
In 1889, William Thompson left Texas for good. He moved his family first to Ardmore in the Chickasaw Nation. Later, they moved to the new community of Marlow, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life.
Several relatives followed him north into the Chickasaw Nation. Among them were John Thurston Thompson Jr., Martin Luther Thompson, and Robert E. Lee Thompson. William and John were chosen by their family members to represent them in the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations.
Martin Thompson and Robert Thompson stayed for a short time before returning to Texas. Oil was discovered on Martin's land in Texas, making him a very rich man. Martin became a leader among the Choctaw-Chickasaws in Texas.
While living in the Chickasaw Nation, William Thompson worked very hard to get his family members recognized as citizens of the Choctaw Nation. He wanted them to be counted as citizens so they could receive land under the Dawes Act. This act was meant to divide tribal lands before Oklahoma became a state. He also wanted to make sure his family's Choctaw heritage was officially recognized.
The case went on for years. The Choctaw Advisory Board did not want to include members of the Mount Tabor band from Texas or the Jena Choctaws from Louisiana. They argued these groups had been separated from the nation for too long. In March 1906, the names of Thompson, his family, and all the Texas Choctaws were removed from the Dawes Roll.
However, in February 1909, Thompson and about 70 Texas Choctaws living in Oklahoma were finally recognized as citizens of the Choctaw Nation. Their names were put back on a special list by the Department of Interior. Those who had returned to Texas were not included.
Thompson's hard work was recognized in other ways too. In 1901, he was elected Mayor of Marlow. He was the most famous leader among the Texas Choctaws in Indian Territory. He helped many of his family members and their descendants settle in the western Chickasaw Nation.
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