Sequoyah's Mother
There he met a Cherokee Indian
girl who pleased his fancy,
and she evidently was
flattered by his professions, and they
became husband and wife
according to the customs of her people;
and to her obligations in the
marriage relation she was ever
faithful, and proved a devoted
mother, judged by the highest
standards of the most
enlightened people.
She came of a good family, her
father being a chief in Great
Echota, the town of refuge in
the Cherokee nation, for they had
a city of refuge similar to
that of the ancient Jews, Great Echota
being situated on the little
Tennessee River, in what is now
Monroe County, east Tennessee.
Speaking of the Indian wife,
at p. 17 Foster says: "
While our Dutch peddler smoked
his home-made pipe
around the fire or joined in
the chase when his indolence would
allow, she cultivated the
maize, even cleared a piece of land for
tillage; she helped put up a
wigwam; she prepared and dried the
skins, and fashioned them into
clothing, and cooked his food
over the wigwam fire. She even
butchered the game, saddled
the horses, and cared for them
on his return; she brought the
wood, fetched the water, and
yet, though practically a slave,
as she knew no better way, she
was accounted a very happy
woman. Her hope of happiness
was based on her devotion to
her husband; so the more she
did for him, the more contented
she became."
It is a singular fact that I
have not seen the name of this
remarkable woman in any of the
books I have been able to read.
I have written many letters to
various persons, endeavoring to
ascertain her name and at
least some of the circumstances connected
with her life.
In a letter to Senator Robert
L. Owens by Commissioner
Sells, of January 2ist, 1921,
it is said, "I am informed by Mr.
Frank Boudinot, an attorney
residing at the Northbrook Courts,
this city (Washington), that
the name of the mother of Sequoyah,
was Wut-teh." A letter
directed by myself to Mr. Boudinot
failed to elicit any reply.
Excerpt from the
book: The Chickasaw Nation: A Short Sketch of a Noble People
By James Henry Malone
1922
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