This woman belonged to a family long respectable in the Cherokee
Nation. It is customary for those ignorant of the Indian social
polity to speak of all prominent Indians as "chiefs." Her family
had no pretension to chieftaincy, but was prominent and
influential; some of her brothers were afterward members of the
Council. She could not speak English; but, in common with many
Cherokees of even that early date, had a small proportion of
English blood in her veins. The Cherokee woman, married or single,
owns her property, consisting chiefly of cattle, in her own right.
A wealthy Cherokee or Creek, when a son or daughter is born to
him, marks so many young cattle in a new brand, and these become,
with their increase, the child's property. Whether her cattle
constituted any portion of the temptation, I can not say. At any
rate, the girl, who had much of the beauty of her race, became the
wife of the German peddler.
Of George Gist's married life we have little recorded. It was of
very short duration. He converted his merchandise into furs, and
did not make more than one or two trips. With him it had merely
been cheap protection and board. We might denounce him as a low
adventurer if we did not remember that he was the father of one of
the most remarkable men who ever appeared on the continent. Long
before that son was born he gathered together his effects, went
the way of all peddlers, and never was heard of more.
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