ifteen
houses were burned by these savages, and the white women and children
were left exposed to the weather, the ground being covered with snow.

The great trouble with the Cherokees then and afterwards was, that the
government of their nation had fallen into the hands of half-breeds,
whose education only gave them fresh opportunities to gain wealth
and power at the expense of the rest of the tribe. They owned trading
houses, big plantations, numbers of slaves, had charge of the ferries,
and controlled all the traffic between the whites and the Indians. As
these half-breeds became wealthier, the rest of the tribe became poorer.
They had forsaken their primitive habits and customs, and taken up those
of the most depraved whites who lived among them. It is worthy of note
that the most progressive spirits among the Cherokees were in favor
of emigration beyond the Mississippi. The leaders of this party were
natives of unmixed blood, who saw that the control of the corrupt
half-breeds was carrying the nation to ruin. Several of these leaders
were waylaid and shot down by the agents of those whose policy they were
opposing. The alarm in some sections was very great. The citizens met,
and adopted resolutions requesting the government to station troops at
suitable points, for the protection of the lives and property of the
whites and friendly Indians.

Under an act of the Legislature, a body of militia had been organized,
under the name of the "Georgia Guard." It was the duty of the Guard to
protect the citizens of Georgia and the friendly Cherokees. John Howard
Payne, the famous author of "Home, Sweet Home," was arrested by this
Guard. The poet was traveling among the Cherokees for information, and
was no doubt ignorant of the state of feeling then existing. He was
finally suspected by the vigilant Georgia Guard of writing improper
papers. He had been seen making notes, and when he was arrested his
papers were searched. The commander of the Georgia Guard, Colonel
William N. Bishop, reported to the governor that he had examined some
of Mr. Payne's papers, and found some very improper and indiscreet
statements about the President, the government, and the State
authorities, and many bitter remarks concerning Cherokee matters.
Evidently, Colonel Bishop was of the opinion, that, while a politician
or a newspaper editor might be allowed to indulge in improper and
indiscreet statements about Presidents and other public men, a poet