Isparhecher
Isparhecher, sometimes spelled "Isparhecker," and also known as Is-pa-he-che and Spa-he-cha, was known as a political leader of the opposition in the Creek Nation in the post-Civil War era. He led an opposition group that supported traditional ways and was opposed to the assimilation encouraged by Samuel Checote and others.
Born in Alabama in 1829 to full-blood Creek parents, Isparhecher and his family belonged to the Lower Creek, who wanted to keep traditional ways. They were among the majority of Creek who removed to Indian Territory in the early 1830s. They settled on a farm at Cussetah town, about southeast of the present city of Okmulgee, Oklahoma After the Creek Nation allied with the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Isparhecher joined the Confederate army in 1861. During the war, he switched his allegiance to the Union army in 1863.
He became a significant player in post-Civil War Creek politics. After the war, he initially supported the recognized Creek government, and its elected principal chief, Samuel Checote, after the Nation was forced to make a new peace treaty with the United States. But he became increasingly aligned with the opposition, which consisted of mostly full-blood Creek who wanted to preserve traditional ways rather than assimilating to European-American culture. That group formed a rival Creek government based in the town of Nuyaka. It was led first by Locha Harjo, then by Isparhecher. In 1883 Checote mustered the Creek Lighthorse, led by Pleasant Porter, to confront and defeat the Nuyaka group. Isparhecher remained politically active until his death.
Early life
Isparhecher was born in Alabama in 1829 to full-blood Creek parents, Yar-de-ka Tus-tan-nug-ga and his wife Ke-char-te. The family belonged to the Lower Creek, which wanted to keep to traditional ways. They had had less contact with European Americans than the Upper Creek. Both groups were forced to cede their land and remove to Indian Territory in the early 1830s. Isparhecher's family settled on a farm at Cussetah town, about southeast of the present city of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. His parents were said to have died early. Isparhecher became a farmer and stockman.Marriage and family
Sometime prior to the Civil War, Isparhecher married a woman named Polikissut. They had a son named Washington together. His first wife may have died, as he next married Lucy Barnett. They had four children together.His third wife was Alma Harrover, whom he met and married in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 1884, when he was serving as the Creek delegate to Congress, under the Chief Joseph Perryman administration. They divorced November 28, 1891.
His last wife was Cindoche Sixkiller, a woman 36 years younger than he. They married on March 26, 1896 at the Creek Nation. She survived him, and died June 14, 1931.
Civil War service
The Creek Nation leadership allied with the Confederacy, which had promised an Indian-controlled state if they were victorious.Isparhecher enlisted for a one-year term in the Confederate Army on August 17, 1861, becoming 4th Sergeant in Company K of the 1st Regiment of Creek Mounted Volunteers. D. N. McIntosh was the company commander and the unit was attached to a brigade led by Col. D. H. Cooper. Muster rolls indicate he was absent from August 19, 1861 until August 17, 1862. After that date, he appeared on every muster roll until December 1, 1862. He did not report again after that.
After the Union army began to wrest control of Indian Territory from the Confederates in 1863, many Indians changed their alliance. Isparhecher was one of these. According to an 1896 article in the New York Times, Isparhecher had become disillusioned by the way the Confederates' white officers treated the Native American soldiers. He noticed that the Union side was more welcoming and shifted his allegiance.
He went to Fort Gibson, where he volunteered to join Company K in the 1st Regiment of Indian Home Guards, Kansas Infantry, in the Union Army. He missed only one muster roll until he was honorably discharged at Fort Gibson on May 31, 1865. He was in combat at the battle on Barren Fork and was promoted to Sergeant on March 12, 1864.
Post-war activities
Isparhecher returned home to resume civilian life as a farmer. He also became active in Creek political life. He became a member of the Creek House of Warriors in 1867. In October 1867, he was a member of the Creek National Council, which created a new constitution as the framework for a new tribal government.He served as the Muscogee District judge from 1872 - 74. When his judicial appointment expired, he moved from Cussetah to a farm near the present town of Beggs, Oklahoma. He was named trustee of the Salt Creek School in 1874-75. In 1877, he was appointed as principal judge of the Okmulgee District.
A group of full-blood Creeks led by Lochar Harjo had settled in the vicinity of Nuyaka, a few miles west of Okmulgee. Most of these had been loyal to the Union side in the Civil War and wanted to continue their traditional way of life. They opposed efforts to assimilate to European-American culture.
They rejected the authority of the new Creek government and the constitution of 1867. As time passed, the group became more assertive, refusing to send representatives to the national government, and refusing to obey laws passed by it.
They began to form their own government in Nuyaka. After moving to the Beggs area, Isparhecher began to cultivate the political support of the Nuyaka Creek faction. Even while he was a judge in Okmulgee, he began to argue that the constitution was unsuited to Creek traditional ways and therefore was not binding. Supporters of elected principal chief Samuel Checote impeached Isparhecher and removed him from office. But the Nuyaka Creek considered Isparhecher as the successor to the late Lochar Harjo, who had emerged as their chief.
Isparhecher began traveling throughout the Creek Nation to rally support from other full-blood Creek for the opposition movement. He also sought support from Seminole and Cherokee. In 1882, after hearing that a band of Cherokee under Sleeping Rabbit might come to support the Nuyaka Creek, Chief Checote mustered militia against the movement. He ordered the Creek Lighthorse under William Robison and Thomas Adams to stop the Nuyaka campaign. Checote's troops captured one Nuyaka horseman, but his companions rescued him and killed two of Checote's militia.
Checote summoned Pleasant Porter back from Washington, D.C., where he was serving as a delegate to Congress. He appointed him to lead the Lighthorse. In February 1883, Checote's forces defeated the Nuyaka in an armed skirmish in a peach orchard. The action was thereafter known as the "Peach Orchard War." Porter's men pursued the Nuyaka forces as they fled west through the Sac and Fox territory. Then, Porter's troops returned to Okmulgee.
The Nuyaka men, accompanied by their families, moved to Anadarko, where they sought refuge among the Kiowa tribe. Isparhecher was not with them because he had gone to meet with some Cherokee, seeking their support. The Federal Government intervened, arrested the fugitives and delivered them to Fort Gibson. A U.S. Government commission came to meet with representatives of both Creek factions at Muskogee, seeking to resolve the dispute.
Checote resigned as Principal Chief and called for a new election to choose his replacement. The election developed into a contest between Isparhecher and Joseph Perryman, a member of the Checote party. The election on September 3, 1883, was very close.
Isparhecher believe that he had won and served as principal chief briefly during December 1883. However, the Secretary of the Interior intervened, ruling that Perryman had won the vote count and was rightfully the principal chief.
The Perryman government named Isparhecher as its delegate in Washington, D. C. the next year. It also compensated him for losses of his property and other expenses during the insurrection.