Cherokee Exodus from Texas

Driven from eastern states by white settlers, Cherokee Indians migrated to the East Texas area and were established there by 1820. In 1822, they unsuccessfully sought title to their land from Mexico. The following years brought an increasingly uneasy truce between Texans and Cherokees. In 1839, Republic of Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar ordered the tribe to leave Texas. In a July 15-16 battle northwest of here, two Texans and eighteen Indians, including Chief Bowles, aged 81, were killed, and the remaining Indians retreated into what is now Oklahoma.

Chandler, Texas · United States