Ned Christie: The Creation of an Outlaw and Cherokee Hero

by Devon A. Mihesuah

Who was Nede Wade Christie? Was he a violent criminal guilty of murdering a federal officer? Or a Cherokee statesman who suffered a martyr’s death for a crime he did not commit? For more than a century, journalists, pulp fiction authors, and even serious historians have produced largely fictitious accounts of “Ned” Christie’s life. Now, in a tour de force of investigative scholarship, Devon A. Mihesuah offers a far more accurate depiction of Christie and the times in which he lived.

In 1887 Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Maples was shot and killed in Tahlequah, Indian Territory. As Mihesuah recounts in unsurpassed detail, any of the criminals in the vicinity at the time could have committed the crime. Yet the federal court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, focused on Christie, a Cherokee Nation councilman and adviser to the tribal chief. Christie evaded capture for five years. His life ended when a posse dynamited his home—knowing he was inside—and shot him as he emerged from the burning building. The posse took Christie’s body to Fort Smith, where it lay for three days on display for photographers and gawkers. Nede’s family suffered as well. His teenage cousin Arch Wolfe was sentenced to prison and ultimately perished in the Canton Asylum for “insane” Indians—a travesty that, Mihesuah shows, may even surpass the injustice of Nede’s fate.

Placing Christie’s story within the rich context of Cherokee governance and nineteenth-century American political and social conditions, Mihesuah draws on hundreds of newspaper accounts, oral histories, court documents, and family testimonies to assemble the most accurate portrayal of Christie’s life possible. Yet the author admits that for all this information, we may never know the full story, because Christie’s own voice is largely missing from the written record. In addition, she spotlights our fascination with villains and martyrs, murder and mayhem, and our dangerous tendency to glorify the “Old West.” More than a biography, Ned Christie traces the making of an American myth.
 

Genres: History, Biography, American, Nonfiction, Indigenous, 19th Century, Native American

272 pages, Hardcover

Published March 8, 2018

Reviews

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The purpose of this history book is to bring some clarification to the story of a Cherokee leader named Ned Christie. Through a Native American writer controlling the narrative, the author is able to present facts never documented in American history books. Christie was a mixed race man of Dutch and Cherokee ancestry, and what stands out from his story was that he was a strong advocate for the autonomy of his people, and a charismatic, handsome man. Unfortunately at that time, the main entertainment was news stories of the Wild West and many men like Christie were falsely portrayed just to sell newspapers. Kit Carson and Billy the Kid are two other examples of this type of colorful lies when the writers of these stories had never met the person they were spinning tales about. Christie was charged with killing a sheriff and hunted down for five years before his home was dynamited with him and his gang (a 12 year old boy) inside. Quite like the story Killers of the Flower Moon, Christie’s family members were often found murdered and no investigation was conducted. Arch Wolf, a relative of Christie’s was sent to jail for murder and then moved to an insane asylum for Native Americans where he was “treated” with strychnine, a drug called Blue Mass that contained mercury and colocynth (a natural remedy found in plants that is highly toxic). There is no evidence that Wolf was mentally ill and he died at the asylum. The main point is there is a collection of versions as to the story of Ned Christie’s life and a great deal of disparity between his personal life and the tales spun by the posse who hunted him. The members each claimed to have killed Christie and propped his body up with a gun for a group photograph after dynamiting his home.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken from the book. "In 1887 Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Maples was shot and killed in Tahlequah, Indian Territory. As Mihesuah recounts in unsurpassed detail, any of the criminals in the vicinity at the time could have committed the crime. Yet the federal court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, focused on Christie, a Cherokee Nation councilman and adviser to the tribal chief. Christie evaded capture for five years. His life ended when a posse dynamited his home—knowing he was inside—and shot him as he emerged from the burning building. The posse took Christie’s body to Fort Smith, where it lay for three days on display for photographers and gawkers. Nede’s family suffered as well. His teenage cousin Arch Wolfe was sentenced to prison and ultimately perished in the Canton Asylum for “insane” Indians—a travesty that, Mihesuah shows, may even surpass the injustice of Nede’s fate.

Placing Christie’s story within the rich context of Cherokee governance and nineteenth-century American political and social conditions, Mihesuah draws on hundreds of newspaper accounts, oral histories, court documents, and family testimonies to assemble the most accurate portrayal of Christie’s life possible. Yet the author admits that for all this information, we may never know the full story, because Christie’s own voice is largely missing from the written record. In addition, she spotlights our fascination with villains and martyrs, murder and mayhem, and our dangerous tendency to glorify the “Old West.” More than a biography, Ned Christie traces the making of an American myth."


I tried to get into the book, but it lacked a cohesive picture. The book is filled with speculation and seems one sided in some areas. I did learn a lot and found the story to be fascinating and deeply troubling. Yet another story that needs to be told over and over. Ned Christie was not a perfect person, and the author makes that clear, but he did not deserve what happened to him nor his people. He was just doing the best he could with what he had and fighting for his rights and people.

[Ben House · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two fascinating aspects of this book: First, the nature of much fanciful history writing and telling is brought out by the recurring misrepresentations of Cherokee leader Ned Christie. As the saying goes, history may or may not repeat itself, but historians repeat each other.
Second, the story of Ned Christie is one of how a man was made an outlaw. The particular crime was the killing of a U. S. marshal. Although Christie was not the most gentle character in history, the claim that he killed the marshal, led a ruthless gang of brigands, and killed many people are all false. The story contains lots of CSI-type details. It tends to weary the reader at points, but the case is made and is convincing that the pursuit and killing of Ned Christie was unjust.
For those who have no context for this story consider this: Christie's life is parallel with the story time and place of Charles Portis' novel True Grit. Christie lived in the Indian Territory which is now Oklahoma during the time when the hanging judge, Isaac Parker sat in his court in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

[Ike Rakiecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Focusing primarily on Ned Christie, a Cherokee statesman who was placed under siege in his home and eventually executed by a posse of mercenaries and lawmen in 1892. Christie was targeted for allegedly killing a U.S. Deputy Marshal although there was never any proof of his involvement. Much of his being blamed was based on him being Native American and sadly, the sensationalistic and falsified articles in newspapers of the time. The end of the book poses theories on who was actually responsible for the death of the U.S. Marshal.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fascinating! I really enjoyed getting to learn about Ned Christie and the fusion of facts and fiction that would come to define his place in history in the time of outlaws and the wild west, and it gives an important voice to a people who have so often been silenced.