University of Virginia Library

15. Harris, C. B.

Interview with C. B. Harris, age 63, lives on Route 3, Muskogee, Okla. Just north of the present Bacone College.

Mr. Harris was born and reared on the place which he now lives. He is a full blood Cherokee Indian.

Father's name was Red Bird Harris born near Atlanta, Ga. Date unknown. Died in 1903. Buried at family cemetery at his home. Mother's name was Ellen Rogers Harris, born in Georgia, date unknown. Was a distant relative of the late Will Rogers, the humorist. Died in 1910. Buried near the town of Coweta, Oklahoma.

Grandfather-Father's side. Bill Harris born and died in Georgia. Dates unknown. Full blood Cherokee.

Grandmother-Father's side. Savannah Collins Harris and died in Georgia. Dates unknown. Full blood Cherokee.

Grandfather-Mother's side. Dr. Robert Rogers born and died in Georgia. Dates unknown. Was full blood Cherokee.

Grandmother-Mother's side. First name unknown, last name Pateish. Born and died in Georgia. Dates unknown. Full blood Cherokee.

Number of the Cherokee tribe as early as 1828 left Georgia and came west as far as Arkansas. About 1836 my great-uncle, Henry Harris, was instrumental in perfecting as agreement with the officials in Washington for the moving of the Cherokees in Georgia to the Indian Territory. The move westward started about the same year and continued on through 1839 and probably as late as 1840. Some came on foot and their conveyances were ox-carts, wagon trains, caravans, etc. The government moved those who agreed with the treaty and those who did not want to leave their rich fertile soil was driven out by the soldiers and came along as history has already mentioned the "Trail of Tears". My mother Ellen Rogers was one of the ones on this trail. My father Red Bird came from Georgia to New Orleans, La., and thence from there by boat up the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers and unloaded at the present town of Webbers Falls, Okla. The Western Cherokees who settled first in Arkansas joined the Eastern Cherokees in Indian Territory about the time my father came which was in 1839. He and mother were married and settled on the place I now live long before the Civil War. They fought, lived and died on this place.