Now the wolf has come

by Christine Schultz White

Wolves stalk their prey deliberately, closing in from all sides and staking claim to the land and all its creatures. In the eyes of the Creek Nation, Confederate troops were wolves, stalking the People. In the winter of 1861-62, nine thousand Native Americans in Indian Territory took a chance. Drawing on little else but wits, raw courage, and unshakable faith in the old gods and their aging leader, Opothleyahola, they made a desperate escape from Confederate troops that were closing in. Recounted here from a unique Creek/Muskogee perspective, their dramatic journey seeking Federal protection in Kansas was filled with hazards; their destination, with disillusion and despair. On the trek the fleeing tribes suffered from blizzards, disease, and starvation. The numbers of those who survived natural depredations were further whittled away by constant harassment and desperate pitched battles with rival bands of the Creek Nation led by the Confederate-allied McIntosh family, adjoining Cheroke