Redbird Sixkiller (Tor-Guk-Wha) was born on July 1, 1807. He was the son of Rufus Sixkiller (U-Scos-Ta) and.Gu-Er-Tsa Smith. Redbird was born the Cherokee Nation East near Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Redbird grew up to be a man of sterling personality. As a youth he attended elementary and secondary school near Lookout Mountain. Redbird was trained in farming by his family and was a recognized as an above average youth. When he grew older he received a scholarship from the Guess Family, a Quaker family, and attended school in New Ark, Delaware. In Delaware, Redbird studied law and philosophy. (Cherokee Missionaries 1789-1839, by William G. McLaughlin, Nebraska University Press, 1984)
When Redbird was a young man the removal of the Indians from Georgia was the main issue of the time. For 10 years John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokees and a lawyer, argued the legality of the removal issue from the District Court to the Supreme Court of the United States. Redbird’s grandfather, Cabin Smith, a Christian, accompanied Chief Ross, at least once to Washington DC, in 1819, to make an appeal to the Federal Government over the removal issue.
About 1836, just prior to the Cherokee Removal from New Enchota, Redbird married Permelia (Pamelia) Whaley. Permelia (Pamelia) was the daughter of Samuel Whaley and Mariah Kelley. She was born on March 22, 1810, also in the Cherokee Nation East. In 1837, Redbird and Permelia (Pamelia) were informed that they would be forcibly removed from Georgia and would be relocated to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), west of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal has become known as the Trail of Tears. Redbird and Permelia (Pamelia) came to Indian Territory in the detachment of Daniel Colston. Some time after their marriage, but before the arrived in Indian Territory, Redbird and Permelia (Pamelia) had a baby boy who they names Dewey.(date unknown). The baby died supposedly on the Trail of Tears and was buried in an unmarked grave before the Detachment was forced to move on.
Accompanying Redbird and Permelia (Pamelia) on the Trail of Tears were 9 of his brothers and sisters. Included in this group were Cricket Sixkiller who had married Deborah Whaley, Permelia’s (Pamela’s) sister, and later after the death of Deborah, Elizabeth Foreman. (Cotton) Tail Sixkiller married Alie Keath, Soldier Sixkiller married Katie, Frog Sixkiller wife unknown, Delaware Sixkiller married Jennie Walker, Blackhaw Sixkiller wife unknown, Susan Sixkiller was married to Yellowhammer, Peacheater Sixkiller married Sallie Rattlinggourd Foreman and Lucinda Sixkiller married Samuel Cloud.
Redbird and Permelia (Pamelia) arrived at the old Baptist Mission Church near Westville, Oklahoma, in the Spring of 1838. From that point they completely rearranged their lives and settled on land near Westville and raised a family. Soon Redbird and Permelia (Pamelia) had a family coming. First, there was Samuel in 1842; Mary in 1845; Rachel in 1848; Lucas in 1850; Caroline in 1853; John Martin in 1856; Henry in 1859 and William Green in 1861.
In 1861, the Civil War started and it spread to Indian Territory. One would think that an Indian that had been evicted from his home in Georgia and moved forcibly to Indian Territory would not be passionate about the United States. Also, there were a lot of Cherokees that enlisted in the Confederate army. In fact one of the Cherokee leaders, Stan Waite, received a commission of Brigadier General from the Confederacy and he recruited a regiment of Cherokees to serve in the Confederate army. However, Redbird enlisted in the Union Army and after training, he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Union Artillery of the Second Brigade under the command of Colonel William Weer, and others. The unit was Battery L, Third Regiment Indian Home Guard, under the commands of Captain Saloman (who was promoted to Brigadier General), Captain William A. Phillips, Captain Jeremiah Harlan (killed) and Captain Soloman Kaufman. Also, Redbird’s son, Samuel, server as in enlisted man in the same artillery unit. Redbird served in the Union Army from the eleventh of July, 1862, until May 31, 1865. He was mustered out at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory.
Many of the Sixkiller men and cousins first saw action at Pea Ridge in Arkansas, Territory, in March, 1861. Redbird’s Brigade was headquartered in Fort Scott Kansas. From there his unit was involved in the battle of Newtonia, Newton County, Missouri, during September and October, 1862. Again the Third Indian Regiment was involved in the battle of Cane Hill, in November, 1862, and the battle of Prairie Gove in January, 1863. Others battles in which Redbird’s unit was engages were: Fort Davis, Arkansas, Maysville, Elk Mills, Pineville, Bentonville, Fayetteville and Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. (The Union Indian Brigades in the Civil War, by Wiley Britton, Kansas Heritage Press, 1922)
While Redbird was away from home, fighting the Civil War, bushwackers came and attacked his family. During the night of July 30, 1863, Permelia (Pamelia) heard the clatter of hooves approaching their home. She grabbed a lantern and, holding her 19 month old baby in her arms, went out expecting the return of Redbird and Samuel. Instead, they were bushwackers. As Permelia (Pamelia) was peering into the darkness, a volley of shot hit her and her baby. At least 6 shots penetrated their bodies. As Permelia (Pamelia) and William Green was dying, she turned the family over to her daughter Mary, 18 years old at the time.
Mary rose to the occasion and took charge of the family consisting of herself and five children. She saw to it that the family was held together, the children were schooled as best she could, and the farm was attended to provide them food. Mary Sixkiller married William Holt, on October 5, 1868. In May, 1865, Redbird and Samuel returned from the war and resumed their lives. A few months after returning home Redbird married Nancy Foreman Foster, a war widow, who had one son. Nancy is the daughter of Samuel Foreman and Sallie Rattlinggourd. Nancy came to Indian Territory during on the Trail of Tears in the Detachment of Daniel Colston. Redbird and Nancy are the parents of three children: Joseph, Lizzie and Willie.
In 1865, Redbird was elected Judge of Citizens Court and the Executive Council of the Going Snake District. In October 5, 1865, he was elected to the Going Snake District Committee. Redbird also served as counsel for the Going Snake District.
In 1870, Redbird moved to Locust Grove, IT. In 1872, he was elected Judge for the Saline District. Also in 1872 he was elected Associate Judge on the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation.
In 1874, the five civilized Indian tribes: Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole, were combined under a Union Agency in Muskogee, IT. The governments of each of these five tribes were reorganized under one government. The Muskogee Indian government was organized along the lines of each of the five tribes. Redbird was chosen to serve on the Supreme Court of the Five Civilized Tribe in Muskogee, a position he held until 1887. As a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Five Civilized Tribes, Redbird relocate his residence to Muskogee, however he still kept the farm at Locust Grove, IT. (Five Civilized Tribes, by Grant Foreman, The University of Oklahoma Press, 1934).
Redbird’s son, Samuel, who had served with him in the Civil War, was elected to be the Chief Law Enforcement Office of the Five Civilized Tribes in Muskogee. Biographies of both Redbird and Samuel can be found in the publication “Indian Police and Judges”, by William P. Hagan, Yale University Press, 1966.
In January, 1877, Redbird’s second wife, Nancy Foreman Foster, died. He then married Elizabeth Foreman Proctor, another war widow, in 1882. Elizabeth is the daughter of Thomas Foreman and Susannah Fields. Elizabeth Foreman was born in the Cherokee Nation East, Tennessee. She came to Indian Territory during the Trail of Tears in the Detachment of Daniel Colston.
Redbird died on October 25, 1898. He and wife Elizabeth are both buried in the Sixkiller Private Cemetery in Locust Grove, Oklahoma. His second wife Nancy is buried in the Locust Grove City Cemetery and his first wife Permelia (Pamelia) is buried in the Old Baptist Mission Cemetery north of Westville, Oklahoma.
On September 1, 2002, a plaque was attached to the grave stones of Redbird Sixkiller, Pamelia Whaley Sixkiller, Nancy Foreman Foster Sixkiller, and Elizabeth Foreman Proctor Sixkiller. The plaque commemorated their journey on the Trail of Tears from Georgia to Oklahoma during the winter of 1837 and 1838.
