Rifles for Watie

The infantry marches back toward Tahlequah, and Jeff enjoys the spring weather, wondering if he might have a chance to see Lucy Washbourne. When Jeff and Dixie stop at a stream to get a drink, they startle Belie, an older woman who is fishing there. Noticing his Union uniform, Belie tells Jeff that she saw Watie and his men three days before taking the same path to Tahlequah. She informs Jeff that she has lived in Tahlequah since Andrew Jackson forced her and her family to relocate from Georgia. Belie is from the same hometown as Stand Watie, but asserts that she isn’t a rebel, and has grandsons enlisted in both the Union and Confederate armies. However, neither army would allow her to enlist. Belie mentions that she knows the Washbournes, that Lucy is the only unmarried daughter, and that Lucy “thinks the world” (197) of her older brother and father who are fighting with Watie. Belie tells him that the family had slaves but treated them well.

Jeff rushes to Tahlequah, which “he found full of Union soldiers” (198), including the Union Indian brigade, which is includes Cherokees who left the Confederate side in favor of the Union army.