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Eastern Cherokee
Enumeration, 1800
The enumeration for the census of 1890 of the Eastern Band of Cherokees of
North Carolina was made by the regular enumerators for the state of North
Carolina. The United States Indian agent, James Blythe, a Cherokee (Dis-qua-ni,
Chestnut Bread), furnishes the following data collected during personal
visitations:
The total number of Cherokees is 1,520: males, 774; females, 746. All wear
citizens' clothing. 365 over the
age of 20 and 300 under the age of 20 can read, and 180 under the age of 20 can
write English. This latter fact is attributable to the efficient school system.
620 Indians can use English enough for ordinary intercourse. The
number of children of school age is given as 403, and there are school
accommodations for 275. There are 5
schoolhouses owned by the Indians, valued at $600. They also own and occupy 256
one-story log or blockhouses.
Health
1 case of chronic paralysis and 2 of pneumonia are reported. 3 deaf and dumb, 2
blind, and 2 idiotic persons are also mentioned. The number of children under
the age of 1 year is given as 38, but the number and causes of death must be
supplied from the regular enumeration.
Eastern Cherokee Lumbermen, 1891
White Intruders
Agent Blythe, who has had the special
co-operation of the United States
authorities in investigating violations of
the laws relating to the lands of the
Indians, reports 56 white families as
unlawfully upon the tract, occupying and
farming 6,000 acres, most of it good land.
Land
About 20,000 acres of land are classed as
arable or tillable and 30,000 acres as only
fit for grazing.
The remainder, consisting of many mountain
tracts, is valuable for timber.
The Indians cultivated 2,400 acres during
the year; which, with the 6,000 acres
unlawfully occupied and cultivated by white
people, make 8,400 acres cultivated. The
description of this laud, together with the
maps, is given elsewhere. 500 acres were
broken during the year and 3,000 acres am
fenced. 1,000 rods of fencing were built or
rebuilt during the year. Special reference
is made to this careful fencing.
Donaldson Ridge and gap from Spray Ridge,
1891
Crops
Crops of the value of $3,859.50 were raised
during the year, as follows: wheat, 300
bushels, $300; oats, 125 bushels, $62.50;
barley and rye, 65 bushels, $32; corn, 6,000
bushels, $3,000; potatoes, 400 bushels,
$200; turnips, 150 bushels, $15; onions, 50
bushels, $25; beaus, 300 bushels, $225.
Stock
Horses, 38, $$1,130; mules, 2, $150; cattle,
210, $2,420; swine, 300, $900; sheep, 160,
$480; fowls, 1,800, $180.
Bryson City Courthouse, Swain County,
North Carolina, Post Office of the Agency
Jessee and Andy Standing Deer, Cherokee,
North Carolina, 1891
The average earnings of the
male Indians above 21 years of age is about
$106 per year; this includes lumbermen. The
wealth of the band is placed at an average
of $217.25 per capita. Wages are very low in
the mountains of North Carolina, but the
cost of living is small, and the Cherokees
earn as much and live as well as the white
people about them.
The report of Special Agent
Carrington is mainly as to the condition of
these Indians in the census year 1890.
Additional Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina, by Thomas
Donaldson, 1892, 11th Census of the United States, Robert P. Porter,
Superintendent, US Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and
then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect
some errors in the textual output.
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