Hello and welcome back to The Hogue Connection! Today, I’d like to share my thoughts about the Chickasaw Nation, I.T. and the Hogues who lived there. If you revisit Part VI of Red River Trails, I mentioned how the “Trail of Tears” ended up in the Indian Territory. This part of our nation would later become the state of Oklahoma in 1907. Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a federal policy enacted to force all tribes to move west of the Mississippi. This idea originated during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, and picked up steam afterword by other administrations. This was in order to “civilize” the white dominated areas in the east. That, in turn, would take care of “the Indian problem”.
By 1835, the phrase “Indian Territory” was first coined in print. The area set aside for Native Americans was huge. It was the size of the current states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and part of Iowa, combined. Part of it also extended into the Dakota Territory. The “Five Civilized Tribes”, Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws and Seminoles, could purchase much of this land from the federal government. Other immigrant tribes were resettled on reservations in the yet to be organized territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
Maps of the Indian Territory
The White Man Comes In…
Unfortunately, for the Indian tribes, the land allotted to them was rich fertile farmland. It was very desirable to white settlers headed west. The federal government began their all-out assault to diminish the size of these holdings moving forward. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 encouraged more white settlement in these areas. This act set off a second wave of forced migration. Even more tribes moved into the area of what would later become Oklahoma. In 1859, the state of Texas threatened genocide toward Native Americans. As a result, several more tribes found refuge in the other districts of western Indian Territory.
Treaties were ignored. In fact, every treaty (375 of them) made with Native Americans before 1900 was violated. Native villages were burned, their crops destroyed. Sexual assaults and massacres were perpetrated. Natives were enslaved. When the white man first arrived in North America around 1620, there were up to 100 million indigenous people here. Those Indians made up 1000 sovereign nations. There were only 80 million Europeans at that time.
…And The White Man Takes It Away.
According to this article, “Citing the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery” and Manifest Destiny, U.S. policymakers (most of them white, of course) argued that the federal government had a divine duty to fully develop the region. Racist in language and logic, they contended that “Indians” did not know how to work or to care for the land because they were inferior to whites. Oklahoma was born of this institutionalized racism.” By 1900, only 52,500 Native Americans lived in the Indian Territory, about 28% of the population. Today, about one in 12 residents of Oklahoma is a Native American, a higher percentage than in any other U.S. state.
So, the government had their first “Mission Accomplished” moment. The relocation of the Indian tribes freed up more than 25 million acres of fertile farmland for white settlement nationally. They basically traded that for 44 million acres of land in the Indian Territory. Soon most of those lands would be consumed by the white man as well. I could make several blog posts talking about the genocide imposed on our indigenous people by our government. Instead, let’s get back to the genealogy stuff. I’ll post some links at the end if you want to do some further reading on the subject.
Chickasaw Nation, I.T. and Our Hogues.
After the last Indian military victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, hostilities faded away. Many governors, including the one in Texas, declared their states free of Indian violence and safe for white settlement. Chickasaw Nation, I.T., soon saw an influx of white people wanting to stake out a piece of farmland. In 1889, about 2 million acres were opened up as “Unassigned Lands” which started the “Sooner” land boom. Our ancestors never owned any of the land they farmed; that was reserved for tribe members only.
Our Hogues joined the party about ten years earlier. I took a little time and went through every page of the 1900 census of the Chickasaw Nation, I.T. I was interested in finding more Hogue families. Of course, I knew where some of them were already, but I wanted to pin down the locations of others. Many of these folks were descendants of William and Hollin Hogue. Not to worry…it was only about 3000 pages or so. In 1900, the total population of the Indian Territory was 392,060, 189,260 in the Chickasaw Nation. There were only 57,239 people total there in 1890.
Hogues of Unknown Origin
Here’s a list of Hogues in Chickasaw Nation, I.T. in 1900 that I don’t know anything about:
George K. Hogue and family (born 1847 in Georgia) in Duncan town.
Arch Hogue, John A. Hogue, and Samuel Hogue and families in Township 4.
William M. Hogue (born 1861 in Texas) and family, also in Township 4.
Arch, John and Samuel could possibly be brothers; they were all born in Arkansas between 1867 and 1878. We do have a Henry Archibald Hogue relative from the Rush Springs area, but he went by Henry and I don’t believe this is the same guy. Frankly, I expected to see more Hogues I knew during this survey. I copied the census pages with these folks on them and will keep them for future reference. The Hogue gold mine was in Courtney.
The Hogues of Courtney, Chickasaw Nation, I.T.
In order of appearance, they are:
Daniel W. Hogue and family. Known mainly by his nickname, Sherman, he is the son of James L. Hogue.
James G. Welch and family. James’ wife is Holley, Sherman’s sister.
William Andrew Hogue and family. Oldest son of William M. Hogue with his second wife, Mary.
James Monroe Hogue and family. Brother of Sherman and Holley.
John C. Hogue and family, including his mother, Mary. Youngest brother of William Andrew.
C.S. Hogue and family. Here with his first wife Malinda (recorded as Linda), is the middle Hogue brother, between William and John. He is also my great grandfather. The enumerator recorded both Charley and John as “Hoag”. At least he knew they were brothers. All of the Courtney Hogues are descendants of William G. Hogue and his wife, Hollin, and their sons William M. and James L. Hogue. William M., of course, came out to Courtney around 1880, while James (known as Lynn) stayed in North Carolina.
Charley’s sisters, Cordie and Nellie, were living outside the Chickasaw Nation in 1900. Both were in the Choctaw Nation after moving there with new husbands in the 1890’s. His oldest sister, Josie remained in Graham County, NC and lived out the rest of her life there.
1900 Chickasaw Nation Census Pages
It was an interesting research project, but not necessarily as revealing as I expected. It does, however, give you an idea of how important the Chickasaw Nation is to our family history. Until next time, stay safe out there and have a great 2022. Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting The Hogue Connection. If you want to go back to the Home Page, click here.
Sources:
https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1890e1-01.pdf
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12261992
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/may28/indian-removal-act/
My Father was James Gabriel Hogue brother John Hogue, AZ Hogue. Lots more and sisters
His dad Henry Archebauld. Hogue and moma
Beulah birth Buchanan Hogue.
Yes, Brenda! We are 3rd cousins once removed. Thanks for visiting The Hogue Connection!
My great grandfather John James Hogue (1859-1936) was married to Ada Bell Hamilton (1872-1940).
We have a photo of them and Ada Bell very much appears to be Native American.
I had always been told she was Chippewa from Oklahoma or Arkansas .
Recent DNA test show lack of indigenous inheritance.
Do yo have any information or known ties to my family?
Thanks for visiting The Hogue Connection and your comment. I have replied with a separate email. We are about 8th cousins on my maternal line!
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Minnie Viola Rubbottum Hogue was my great grandmother.. Her son William P Hogue was my grandfather. So hello Cuz!!
Hi Cousin Carrie! Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate you leaving a comment.
Mike