“I see that the Indian fires are going out. Soon they will be cold. New fires are lighting in the West for us, they say, and we will go there. I do not believe our Great Father means to harm his red children, but that he wishes us well. We leave behind our good will to the people of Alabama who will build the great houses and to the men who make the laws. This is all I have to say.”
I am bothered by this historical marker in Tuscaloosa. Perhaps it is perfectly alright. But Chief Eufala of the Creek Nation is being expelled from Alabama to join thousands of others on the Trail of Tears on their way to Oklahoma.
Are the words genuine? Are they heartfelt? Are they mockery in polite terms. Were they dictated? Were they ever spoken? I have searched for the text and I cannot find it. Somebody in the Alabama Historical Association found it. Where? I saw one suggestion that the words were reported by a newspaper writer whose name we do not know.
I will keep searching.
Waiting For Charlemagne 