A Traveler in Indian Territory. The Journal of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Major-General in the United States Army
first edition
1930 · Cedar Rapids, Iowa
by Foreman, Grant [Editor].
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: The Torch Press, 1930 First edition. Edited and Annotated by Grant Foreman. Foreword by John R. Swanton. Introduction by Foreman. 262pp. Frontispiece portrait, 4 plates (portraits and views), folding map. Extensive notes, appendix, index. Red cloth, gilt-lettered spine, t.e.g. Lower rear corner slightly jammed. A fine and clean copy throughout. Hitchcock served nearly 50 years in the Army - Florida Indian Wars, Mexican War, etc. In 1841 he was sent to Indian Territory, appointed to investigate the fraud and profiteering by various contractors involved in the removal of the Civilized Tribes to Oklahoma. Hitchcock's report exposed such a high level of graft and corruption that his investigation was suppressed and never brought to the attention of Congress. Much on the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, et al. Hitchcock kept nine personal diaries of his travels and observations, however, and they reveal much historic and ethnographic information on Indian life in the Indian Territory. [Howes I: H-537; Howes II: H-524; Rader: 1899].. (Inventory #: 8059)