Apukshunnubbee (Okla Falaya Choctaw) Choctaw (abt. 1740 - 1824)

Born about 1740 in Okla Falaya, Choctaw Nation, Mississippi

Husband of Abu To Na Choctaw — married 1774 in Okla Falaya, Choctaw, Mississippi

Descendants

Died 18 Oct 1824 at about age 84 in Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, United States

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Preceded by Historic Chief Pushmataha

Apukshunnubbee Historic Chief of the Choctaw 1800—1824

Succeeded by Chief Mushulatubbee

Apukshunnubbee (Okla Falaya Choctaw) Choctaw served for Indian Nation in the War of 1812
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Biography

Apukshunnubbee was Choctaw.

Apukshunnubbee (Okla Falaya Choctaw) Choctaw is Notable.

Apuckshunubbee (ca. 1740–October 18, 1824) was the third of the three principal chiefs, Mushulatubbee, and Pushmataha, of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or Okla Falaya (Tall People) District in present-day Mississippi. There were also the eastern and southern districts.

During the early 1800s, Apuckshunubbee and the other two division chiefs signed several treaties with the United States, ceding land to settlers in the hope of ending their encroachment on Choctaw territory. On his way to Washington, DC in 1824 with the other two division chiefs and a Choctaw delegation to meet with US officials, Apukshunubbee suffered a fall and died. His name was also spelled as Apvkshvnvbbee, Apυkshυnυbbee, Puckshenubbee, Pukshunnubbu, and Pukshunnubbee.^[1]

Cause of death: Head injury resulting from a fall^[2]

Chief Apuckshunnubbee was a great chief that made multiple treaties to help his tribe. " He was a tribal Chieftain as early as 1801, and was one of the signers of the treaties of 1805-1816, and the Doak’s Stand Treaty of 1820." (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). Chief Apuckshunnubbee conversed with the English to create treaties that helped his tribe." His judgment and wisdom was honored by all that knew him." (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). He was given these compliments by other members of the tribe. He was very famous in the tribe at that time. Chief Apuckshunnubbee was a great leader and led his tribe to prosperity.^[3]

Notes o­n Apuckshunnubbe’s Personal Background: According to tribal records, Apuckshunnubbe was born around the year 1740. He and his family occupied a log cabin. He was known to have fathered four children, o­ne of which was a daughter, Tioka. He was a tribal Chieftain as early as 1801, and was o­ne of the signers of the treaties of 1805-1816, and the Doak’s Stand Treaty of 1820. His judgment and wisdom was honored by all that knew him. These descriptive testimonies were given by men of his time who knew him best: “A celebrated chief, he was a famous warrior and orator. In his lifetime his influence was supreme over the entire Nation, even beyond the boundaries of his immediate domain.” Another described him in this manner. “Apuckshunnubbe was a large man, tall and bony, with a down look, and was of the superstitious and religious cast of mind. He was by his people called a good man, and it is said that he was a man of deep thought and that he was quite an intellectual.” Other accounts gave testimony to his interest in the education of this people.^[4]

Apukshunnubbee was known to have at least five children by at least three Choctaw wives. Only the mother (Abu-to-nah) of Jane or Hotioka is known. Why he claimed only Hotioka and not others is a question that will probably never be answered. One key is that according to Choctaw tradition of the period, a man would have to do more with his nieces and nephews (the children of his sisters) than his own. This was due in part to his sisters children being of the same clan as he, whereas, his own children were of his wife's clan. Also, once a person died, they were seldom if ever spoken of again following the grief period. Once Apukshunnubbee was asked who his parents were. In reply he told the whiteman asking the question "I didn't have any parents". From this it is really difficult to say with certainty that Hotioka was the daughter of Apukshunnubbee or was she really his niece? As for the daughter that was taken as a concubine by trader William Doak, there is little information on her, except by her direct descendants. Her full brother Pumpkinhead is also only known from family information and a few Choctaw records. It is not known if he died in Mississippi, the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory or in Texas. As for the two additional children of Apukshunnubbee, nothing is known of them, or if they even lived into adulthood.

The Choctaw Nation during the life of Mingo Apukshunnubbee: By 1800, enough white families had begun to drift into the area now known as the state of Mississippi to begin a push for statehood and to start an effort to push the Choctaws out of their rich river bottom farming lands and their forest lands. However, the first of the seven treaties that would lead to the removal of the Choctaws was based upon what the United States considered as a military need. This is recorded in history as the "Treaty of Fort Adams."

In the year of 1800 in the Treaty of San Idlefonso, Spain had ceded back to France all of the "Louisiana Territory" given them by France in the Treaty of 1763 including the strategic Mississippi river port city of New Orleans. It was decided by the U. S. Military, who found themselves looking at a French port just across the river, that they needed an extensive "piece of pie" shaped chunk of the Choctaw Nation as a buffer against any possible French invasion through Indian country. Calling the Choctaw leaders into council at Fort Adams, the U. S. Government negotiators asked the Choctaws to cede them 2,641,920 acres, bordered on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and on the west by the Mississippi. Since all of this acreage would be torn from Okla Falaya district, Apukshunnubbee was unalterably opposed to the treaty and telling the other chiefs that he would never agree to giving up any part of Okla Falaya, withdrew his delegation from the negotiations within hours after the proposal had been made. However, with gifts and offers of trade and money, the leaders of Ahi Apet Okla and Okla Hannali (who weren't losing any of their land) were wooed into signing the treaty. Thus the first treaty, the Treaty of Fort Adams, was signed on Dec. 17, 1801.

In less than two years, the Americans were back, but this time their demands for land were a little more modest. This time, they only wanted the Choctaws to cede them 853,760 acres. Since most of this cession was to be taken from Okla Hannali district, this time Pushmataha was also unhappy with the treaty proposal, and both he and Apukshunnubbee refused to negotiate with the United States. But, despite the fact that only one of the three major chiefs, Moshulatubbee, would sign, the negotiators got what they considered enough Choctaw signatures that they completed and confirmed the Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopo on Aug. 31, 1803.

True to form, within two years, principally because of the pushing and lobbying from Mississippians and other Southerners, United States negotiators were back with even bigger demands for Choctaw lands. This time, they wanted 4,142,720 acres, including another large chunk of Okla Falaya as well as another slice from Okla Hannali, which would give them most of the rich Tombigbee River valley farming lands. Again the negotiators encountered opposition from Apukshunnubbee and Pushmataha but were supported in their efforts by Moshulatubbee, all of whose Ahi Apet Okla district was still untouched by demands. Again, despite very few Choctaws attending the negotiations, the conference agreed and the Treaty of Mount Dexter was signed Nov. 16, 1805. It is ironic to note that in this treaty the U.S. government pledged "this is the last time that the United States will ask the Choctaw Nation to give up any of its traditional homeland and will hereafter respect the Choctaw borders and Choctaw laws." They lived up to this pledge for 15 years, although there was another treaty signed between the Choctaw and the United States government in 1816. This was the treaty of Fort St. Stephen, signed Oct. 24, 1816. It provided a covenant under which Pushmataha led his Choctaw warriors into the American's war against the Creek Tribe in return for trading posts and trading systems between the two nations.

It should be noted that, in the meantime, between the 1805 Treaty of Mt. Dexter and 1820, there had been a major shift in policy concerning the Indians of the southeast within the U.S. Government. And, the decision had been reached that the southeastern tribes, including Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, Cherokees and Seminoles must be removed to "someplace in the west" giving all of the rich cotton growing lands east of the Mississippi to the whites. Secretary of War John C. Calhoun apparently settled upon the idea of using the Choctaw Nation as the first target because he was aware of a strong bond of friendship between his chief negotiator, Andrew Jackson, and Pushmataha.

Jackson suggested to Calhoun that perhaps the best approach to the problem of removing the Choctaws would be to offer to exchange a portion of the land in the west to the Choctaws for their homelands in Mississippi. The only western land of which Calhoun had any knowledge was what is known to history as the "Quapaw Cession." His records showed that on Aug. 24, 1818, the Quapaw tribe had ceded to the United States some 13 million acres including all of the land between the Arkansas and the Red Rivers from their sources to their confluence with the Mississippi. This, Calhoun directed Jackson to offer the Choctaws all or any portion of the "Quapaw Cession" deemed necessary, but get them "the farthest south and the farthest west as possible." Jackson asked for enough money from the U.S. government to perhaps "bribe" the Choctaw leaders into signing, but all he managed to jar loose from Calhoun was a sum of $20,000. Jackson was sure that he would have opposition from the Choctaw chiefs, especially Apukshunnubbee. And he also knew that the usually cooperative Moshulatubbee and his old friend, Pushmataha, would also oppose leaving their traditional homeland. However, Jackson also knew that he had one strong ally in the Choctaw Nation, John Pitchlynn (father of Peter P. Pitchlynn and father-in-law of Samuel Garland, both of whom would later serve as principal chiefs of the Choctaw Nation in the west following the Constitution of 1860).

It took Jackson almost a year before he could get the Choctaw leaders to even agree to meet and treat with him. Finally, they reluctantly agreed to meet in council with him on the first Monday in October of 1820 at a Choctaw trading post known as Doak's Stand. With only $20,000 to work with, hope of bribery was out, so Jackson used the money to lay in a 20-day supply of beef and corn and hundreds of gallons of liquor, hoping that a three-week party would dull the senses of the Choctaws enough to get them to sign.

Apukshunnubbee sent word to Jackson that he would meet with him on friendly terms, but would not sell or exchange even one more foot of Okla Falaya. He also said that the negotiators should make no special preparations as his delegation would bring their own supplies to the meeting. However, some of the Choctaws were beginning to waver, as Jackson reported to Calhoun in late August that "Red Food (a prominent Choctaw sub-chief) does not wish to sell any land, but he seems to like the idea of exchanging some of the Choctaw land for new land west of the Mississippi." With all of his preparations made, Jackson left Washington in mid September, arriving at Doaks Stand on Sept. 28 to complete preparations for the negotiations and confer with John Pitchlynn and the "pro-removal" forces Pitchlynn had gathered.

On Oct. 2, Moshulatubbee and his delegation from Ahi Apet Okla arrived at the treaty site, and on the following day, Pushmataha and Apukshunnubbee arrived, each with delegations of about 80 tribesmen from their districts. The Okla Hannali and Ahi Apet Okla Choctaws accepted Jackson's hospitality and his whiskey, but Apukshunnubbee and his men refused rations and whiskey, feeling that they would oppose any deal and not wanting to take the president's hospitality under false pretenses.

On Oct. 3, Jackson addressed the delegation, receiving a strongly negative response to any land exchange. When he asked why they distrusted their old friend from Tennessee (Jackson), Apukshunnubbee replied that their missionary friends had told them Jackson and his commission was "out to cheat" them. Jackson realized that before he could make any headway with the Okla Falayans, he would have to silence or convert the Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, a Presbyterian missionary who had become one of the most influential persons inside that district.

So, on Oct. 5, Jackson managed to isolate Rev. Kingsbury, and somehow convinced Kingsbury that there were only two alternatives ... either the Choctaws must agree to the land exchange or face an all out attack by the U. S. Military. Realizing that in event of total war his beloved Choctaws would be annihilated, Cyrus Kingsbury met with Apukshunnubbee, Pushmataha and Moshulatubbee and reluctantly advised them that it would be in their best interest to enter into negotiations with Jackson.

On Oct. 10, formal negotiations were opened, and on Oct. 13 beginning to grow desperate, Jackson offered to exchange the 13 million acre Quapaw Cession west of the Mississippi to the Choctaws for some five million acres of the Choctaw lands in Mississippi. Pushmataha, who as a youth had lived in this area, actually knew more about the land being offered for trade than did Jackson or the United States military, and in secret session with other Choctaw leaders he promoted the deal. After all, the Choctaws would still have some 10 million acres in Mississippi, plus some rich new hunting lands in the west. And, also, Jackson had "sweetened" the pot by offering each Choctaw who emigrated west a blanket, an iron kettle, a rifle, a bullet mold, lead, powder and enough corn to last his family a full year. After wheedling, promising, losing his temper and preaching and hard bargaining, Andrew Jackson convinced enough of the Choctaws, and the Treaty of Doaks Stand was signed on Oct. 18, 1820. Even Apukshunnubbee's name appears on the treaty. However, Apukshunnubbee was later reported to have said this was a forgery as he had withdrawn his delegation and left Doaks Stand the day before the treaty was signed, when it become apparent that Pushmataha and Moshulatubbee were going to agree to terms.

Two things became apparent within a month after Andrew Jackson's triumphant inducement of the Choctaws to sign the Treaty of Doaks Stand. First, in pressing for an advantage over the Choctaws, the United States government had ceded the Choctaws more than one third of the land already claimed by the Territory of Arkansas. Second, the vast majority of the Choctaws had no intention of leaving their traditional homeland in Mississippi although their holdings had been reduced to a mere 10,432,130 acres. When the government of the Territory of Arkansas learned that the Choctaws now owned practically half of their territory, they immediately raised a howl demanding that the treaty be rescinded.

But, Calhoun, intent on his plan, was already urging William Ward, his agent to the Choctaws, to get the Choctaws off the land they had ceded to the United States under the treaty headed west. When Ward reported no luck, he was replaced with Edmund Fulsom, who had just about as much success as did Ward. In 1822, Calhoun slacked off his removal effort to cool the rising boundary dispute between the United States and the Territory of Arkansas concerning lands ceded to the Choctaws.

In January of 1823, Calhoun delegated Gen. Thomas Hinds of Mississippi and William Woodward of Arkansas Territory to go into the Choctaw Nation and convince the chiefs that the boundary should be negotiated. They failed. However, the Choctaw chiefs, by this time tired of the bickering, were at least willing to talk about it, and offered to send a delegation to Washington, D. C. to at least discuss the boundary problem.

At first Calhoun refused the Choctaw request for talks. But later, after all else had failed, Calhoun again turned to his old friend and Choctaw "expert," Andrew Jackson, for advice. The wily Jackson, knowing that trying to negotiate with the Choctaws in their own homeland would be a failure, advised Calhoun to bring the chiefs to Washington where they might possibly be "wined, dined and bribed" in to agreeing to the necessary boundary changes. Seeing the wisdom of Jackson's suggestion, Calhoun invited the chiefs to Washington, even increasing the Choctaw delegation to 12, which would allow the three old chiefs to bring their sub-chiefs, war chiefs and a scribe or advisor. He set June 15, 1824 as the date to begin negotiations. But with typical disregard to the white man's concept of time, the Choctaws didn't even leave the nation for Washington until Sept. 20, 1824.

On Sept. 23, 1824, the Choctaw delegation and its military escort reached Maysville, Ky., and here paused for the night. It was here that the Okla Falaya chief Apukshunnubbee was to die. Just what happened to Apukshunnubbee has remained a matter of conjecture among historians. One authority says that Apukshunnubbee, while walking from the hotel to the river, fell from an embankment. Another equally noted authority says that he fell from a second story balcony of the hotel where they were spending the night. Since Apukshunnubbee had always taken the hardest line against the United States in all treaty negotiations and had openly expressed his reluctance to give up anything else to the white man, many Choctaws believed that perhaps the old chief might have received a little "help" from the whites in his "accidental" death. Regardless of how the accident occurred, Apukshunnubbee died from his injuries within 48 hours, and was buried at Maysville.

The remaining chiefs and sub-chiefs decided among themselves that instead of turning back, David Folsom, an intermarried white and a respected sub-chief, would be empowered to speak and act for the Okla Falayans in Washington, where the group arrived on Nov. 1, 1824. After a few tentative maneuvers, Calhoun sensed that if he were to reach an agreement with the Choctaws in the boundary dispute, it would have to be on terms stipulated by the chiefs.

As a result, it was a good treaty for the Choctaws. Atop the gifts and favors already agreed to at Doaks Stand, the Choctaws were granted an additional annual annuity, the government waived all debts owed by the Choctaws and agreed to pay all Choctaws who had fought in the War of 1812 and the Creek War of 1816. And, of course the boundary was fixed. The western boundary of the nation would be the 100th parallel, the southern boundary the south bank of the Red River, the northern boundary the Canadian River to its confluence with the Arkansas River and the Arkansas River to the eastern boundary. The eastern boundary was to begin 100 paces west of the southwest corner of the main garrison at Fort Smith and extend due south to its intersection with the Red River. This is currently the eastern border of Oklahoma. Additionally, the government agreed to clear all whites from the lands assigned to the Indians.

Yet, still another loss was to hit the Choctaw Nation even before the Treaty of 1825 was signed. Pushmataha, patriarch chief of Okla Hannali district, died in Washington on Dec. 24, 1824, almost a month before the treaty was signed. Officially, cause of death was listed as "croup" but many Choctaws felt it was from too much of the white man's whiskey and high living. Pushmataha was buried in Washington's Arlington cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Apuckshunubbee
2. ↑ Geni.com Apukshunnubbee
3. ↑ THE STRUGGLE OF CHIEF APUKSHUNNUBBEE
4. ↑ Choctaw Nation Chief Apukshunnubbee

• Ancestry.com Apukshunnubbee ($)
• White, Earl. "Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma". Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
• Cushman, Horatio (1899). "The Choctaw". History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3127-6.
• Hudson, Peter (March 1939). "A Story of the Choctaw Chiefs" http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v017/v017p007.html. Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 17, No. 1. Archived http://web.archive.org/web/20080705050212/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v017/v017p007.html from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
• Robison and Blythe Genealogy http://www.robisonandblythe.org/getperson.php?personID=I8635&tree=RobisonandBlythe
• MajdanFamilyHistory http://family.themajdans.com/getperson.php?personID=I355&tree=majdan
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:34Q9-8RY : accessed 2017-03-17), entry for Tobaca aka Miko meaning Chief /Apukshunnubbee/.

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Apuckshunubbee

• Wikidata: Item Q4782285, en:Wikipedia

• Find A Grave: Memorial #13834041

• Choctaw_Chiefs page on WikiTree