1830 – 1857 Moshulatubbee District
MOSHULATUBBEE
1830 – 1834 during Removal 1834 – 1836 New District Choctaw Nuggets by Pat Starbuck
This was copied from a headstone at Hall Cemetery near Cameron, Oklahoma. It was placed by the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1965.
Chief Moshulatubbee Amosholi-T-vbi “Warrior Who Perseveres†Born 1770
Chief Moshulatubbee of Northern district, Choctaw Nation in Mississippi, received his name as a young warrior. He was dignified in bearing, of fine physique, steady and thoughtful in disposition. As Chief he was noted for his orders banning liquor traffic and drinking in his country. He strongly favored education, and a mission school (ABCFM) was located at this prairie village near the Natchez Trace in 1824.
Moshulatubbee was one of the three head Chiefs who signed the early Choctaw treaties with the United States, including that at Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, which provided for the removal of the Choctaws from Mississippi. He had high hopes in coming west with his people in 1832, and made his new home in LeFlore County. He died at his home and was buried nearby, his grave covered in unmarked stones. The region from the Arkansas River to the Winding Stair Mountains was called Moshulatubbee District in law books of the Choctaw Nation, 1834 to 1907.
Joseph Kincaid 1836 – 1838
John McKinney 1838 – 1842
Nathaniel Folsom 1842 – 1846
Peter Folsom 1846 – 1850
Cornelius McCurtain 1850 – 1854
David McCoy 1854 - 1857
Choctaws - The Original Code Talkers
IN DEFENSE OF OUR LAND AND PEOPLE...
Choctaws were the original Code Talkers The first to use their native language as an unbroken “code†in wartime The Choctaws were the original Code-Talkers, the very first soldiers to use their native language to transmit messages to confuse the enemy. The Choctaw language used in WWI was the only “code†never translated by the German Army. In the closing days of World War I, Choctaw Indians were instrumental in helping the American Expeditionary Force to win several Key battles in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, which proved to be the final big German push of that war. These valiant Native American soldiers were the now famous Choctaw Code-Talkers. The eighteen men who have been documented as Choctaw Code-Talkers were: Robert Taylor, Otis Leader, Jeff Nelson, Calvin Wilson, Mitchell Bobb, Pete Maytubby, Solomon Louis, James Edwards, Ben Carterby, Walter Veach, Albert Billy, Ben Hampton, Joseph Oklahombi, Victor Brown, Tobias Frazier, Joe Davenport, George Davenport, Noel Johnson. Normally, the Division would have been trained in a quieter sector, but due to the crisis situation at Ferme Forest along the Aisne River, the Thirty-Sixth Division was moved immediately to the front line of the battle.
The Germans had strong positions and the Americans had to cross a wide stretch of unprotected land to attack. Heavy artillery force from the 142nd Infantry was the only cover the American soldiers had during the attack. According to the book, “World War I: the Thirty-Sixth Division,†The shellfire kept the Germans pinned down, and there was little opposition except for the wire entanglements. The Americans were in the enemy trenches before the Germans emerged from their shelters, and with the barrage preventing any counterattack the men reached the objective and consolidated the position. During the assault the Americans uncovered many German communication lines. Suspicious as to why the enemy would leave them in such an exposed area, Colonel A. W. Bloor, the commander of the 142nd Infantry reasoned that they had been left behind deliberately. The Germans, he thought, hoped that the Americans would tap into the lines for their own communication network. They, in turn, would be able to monitor the American conversations. Colonel Bloor was correct, and although the Americans utilized the captured enemy telephone lines for their own communications system, Bloor prevented any leak of information by using Choctaw members of Company E to transmit messages in their Indian dialect. The tactic was a resounding success, and later a captured German officer confessed that his intelligence personnel were completely confused by the Indian language and gained no benefit whatsoever from their wiretaps.
At least one Choctaw man was placed in each field company headquarters. Not only did these Choctaw men handle military communication by field telephone, the also translated radio messages in to the Choctaw language and wrote field orders to be carried by “runners†between the various companies. Having the messages written in Choctaw was a great asset to the Americans, as the Germans were capturing about one out of every four messengers sent out as runners between the various companies on the battle line. The German Army never did decipher the messages given in Choctaw. The Choctaw Code-Talkers received praise from their company commanders and the battalion commander. Although the code-talkers were promised medals for their contributions to end the war, they were never received. In 1986, during the annual Choctaw Labor Day Festival, posthumous Choctaw Nation Medals of Valor were presented to the families of the original code-talkers. The Choctaw Nation takes great pride in accepting the honor of the “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite†from the French Government in recognition of the important role the Choctaw Code-Talkers played in the successful conclusion of WWI. This was given in November of 1989 at a ceremony on the front steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol building. This is the highest honor France can bestow from their nation to another.
This widely recognized photo is of some of the Choctaw Code Talkers and their commanding officer. Pictured left to right are Solomon Louis, Mitchell Bobb, James Edwards, Calvin Wilson, Joseph Davenport and Capt. E.H. Horner.