You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 54.163.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 17:28, 10 March 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 18:27, 12 November 2023
- Expiry of block: 18:27, 12 November 2028
Your current IP address is 54.163.179.242. The blocked range is 54.163.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((multiple issues|
((more footnotes|date=May 2010))
((more citations needed|date=May 2010))
))

[[File:Lewis Downing.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Lewis Downing.]]
'''Lewis Downing''' (1823 &ndash; November 9, 1872), also known by his [[Cherokee]] name ᎷᏫ ᏌᏩᎾᏍᎩ ("Lewie-za-wau-na-skie") served as [[Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation|Chief]] of the [[Cherokee Nation (19th century)|Cherokee Nation]] from 1867 to 1872. After the death of John Ross, he was a compromise candidate who was elected to a full term as Principal Chief.((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) Downing worked to heal divisions in the tribe following [[Indian removal|removal]] to the [[Indian Territory]] and the [[American Civil War]]. He was elected to a second term in 1871, but died in 1872, after a two-week battle with pneumonia.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2014/341/5990384_1418085286.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5990384/lewis-downing&docid=kMZezUOkR3LL3M&tbnid=zEMhOXMJThfRZM:&vet=1&w=407&h=346&source=sh/x/im|title=Google Image Result for https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2014/341/5990384_1418085286.jpg|website=google.com|access-date=2020-01-24))</ref> The Cherokee Council chose [[William P. Ross]] as his successor.

==Background==
Downing was born in eastern [[Tennessee]] in 1823 to Samuel Downing and his wife Susan Daugherty, who were both Cherokee with mixed European ancestry, as were many among the leaders of the Nation in those years. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018))The young Downing attended school at the Valley Town Mission in [[North Carolina]]. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) When he was a young man, Downing and his family went west during the forced removal of the Cherokee and their [[slaves]], now known as the [[Trail of Tears]]. The family was part of the emigration group led by [[Jesse Bushyhead]].<ref name="Conley">[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jjfu4rAAyU8C&pg=PA84 Conley, RobertJ. "Downing, Lewis" In: ''A Cherokee Encyclopedia''.] 2007.  Available on Google Books, p. 84. Retrieved January 4, 2014.</ref>

In 1839, the Downings arrived in what is now [[Adair County, Oklahoma]]. They settled near the site where Reverend [[Evan Jones (missionary)|Evan Jones]] had reorganized the Baptist Mission after its removal from North Carolina. Lewis Downing continued his education at Baptist Mission. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018))

==Career==
Early in life, Downing became a convert of the Mission through the efforts of Reverend Jones.  Downing subsequently was [[ordained]] as a Baptist minister. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018))The historian John Bartlett Meserve wrote, "Reports of his [Downing's] spiritual activities reach back to 1842 when he was but nineteen years of age. On August 3, 1844, he was unanimously chosen pastor of the [[Flint Baptist Church]], succeeding the Reverend [[Jesse Bushyhead]] who had died shortly before."<ref name="COO-Meserve">Meserve, John Bartlett.[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v015/v015p021.html "Chief William Potter Ross." ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Vol. 15, No. 1, March 1937. Retrieved July 15, 2013.]</ref>

The young minister was a strong participant in [[Cherokee Nation]] politics and as such was elected senator from [[Goingsnake District]] on August 4, 1845. He later removed to a farm on what is today the southeast corner of [[Mayes County, Oklahoma]], where he was elected to the senate on August 4, 1851, and again on August 1, 1859. In 1851, Downing served as a delegate from the Cherokee tribe to Washington, D.C.<ref name="Downing and Thompson">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v016/v016p315.html  Meserve, John Bartlett. "Chief Lewis Downing and Chief Charles Thompson (Oochalata)," ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma''. 16 (September 1938)] ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203108/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v016/v016p315.html |date=2013-10-29 )) Retrieved July 15, 2013.</ref>

==Civil War==
The [[American Civil War]] exacerbated divisions within the tribe dating to removal and the years of violence following that.((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) Chief Ross agreed to an alliance with the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] and the Cherokee formed the majority of the [[Indian cavalry]].((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) Lewis Downing was named [[chaplain]] of companies F and S of the [[1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles]], which was formed by Chief Ross for the Confederate Army on October 4, 1861. Col. John Drew was the commanding officer. The members of this regiment were mostly full bloods and were largely not slave owners, although Drew was a slave owner. The regiment fought in the Confederate service at [[Pea Ridge, Arkansas]], on March 7–8, 1862.<ref name="Downing and Thompson"/>

With the advance of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces into the Territory in July 1862, and the departure of Chief Ross for [[Philadelphia]] under growing tribal tensions, the cavalry's members began to waver in their allegiance to the South. With few exceptions, among them Col. John Drew, the Cherokee began to abandon [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] service.  On July 11, 1862, at Flat Rock Creek, most joined the [[Indian Home Guard (American Civil War)|3rd Regiment of the Indian Home Guards]] for service in the [[Union Army]]. This contingent was composed of three regiments consisting of 1,480 men, of which Lewis Downing was named Lieut. Colonel and the Rev. John B. Jones was designated its chaplain, in the brigade of Col. [[William A. Phillips]].<ref name="Downing and Thompson"/>

At the time, the majority of the Cherokee favored the Confederacy.((Citation needed|date=March 2018))  They and those who were pro-Union formed dual governments in the Cherokee Nation, each striving to control its political affairs. The pro-Union forces, who recognized John Ross as chief, held meetings at Cowskin Prairie.  In July 1862, they renounced allegiance to the Confederacy.  Tom Pegg took over as acting chief, and their National Council in early 1863 reflected the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] of [[Abraham Lincoln|President Abraham Lincoln]]. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018))On February 21, 1863, laws of were enacted and future [[slavery]] abolished. Lewis Downing assisted in leadership, serving as the third (in succession) acting principal chief of the Union Cherokee in John Ross' absence in [[Washington, D.C.]] The dual governments continued until after the conclusion of the war. The pro-Confederate Cherokee were led by [[Stand Watie]], who served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army.

==Post war==
Lewis Downing, as president of the pro-Union tribal council, went to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] in 1863 to alert the government to the divided situation of the Cherokee.

After the war, a preliminary intertribal peace conference with the United States commissioners was held at [[Fort Smith National Historic Site|Fort Smith]] on September 8, 1865. It was at this meeting that Downing protested against the refusal of the commissioners to accord recognition to John Ross as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee. At that time, Stand Watie was chief of the pro-Confederate Cherokee, and he proposed federal recognition of two Cherokee nations. The US dealt only with Ross and the pro-Union faction. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018))

Chief Ross returned to [[Tahlequah, Oklahoma|Tahlequah]] for a brief period in the fall of 1865.  He returned to Washington the next year to protest against the approval of section nine of the treaty of June 19, 1866.  The US government was requiring the Cherokee to free their slaves, and to grant them full citizenship in the Cherokee nation and equal rights to annuities and land grants as full-blood Cherokee. The Reverend John B. Jones approved this disputed section; he had accompanied Ross as a delegate and signed the treaty as such.

==Becoming chief==
John Ross died at Washington on August 1, 1866.  As Assistant Principal Chief, Lewis Downing succeeded him and served until an election on October 19, 1866. The National Council chose [[William P. Ross]] to fill the position of Principal Chief until the next election.<ref name="COO-Meserve"/>

Much bitterness lingered among the Cherokee following the end of the war.  ((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) Many resented the conditions which the US government had included in the peace treaty, as the pro-Confederate Cherokee had wanted the government to remove the [[freedmen]] at its expense and to allocate them land separately from the Cherokee.((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) Among the Ross faction of the pro-Union Cherokee were many who insisted upon the exclusion of the pro-Confederate Cherokee from tribal affairs. There were sentiments that the penalties for their Southern activities had not been entirely exhausted.

Downing opposed discrimination within the tribe. He formed the Downing Party to work for reunification of the different factions.  Reverend John B. Jones threw his power and influence among the full bloods, behind the Downing movement which was to rehabilitate the Southern Cherokees and align them with the Union Cherokee.<ref>McLaughlin, pp. 245-6</ref> In the tribal election held on August 5, 1867, Lewis Downing was elected Principal Chief with the support of both factions.<ref name="COO-Meserve"/> The Downing party controlled the political affairs of the Cherokee Nation until Statehood in 1908, except for the tenure of chief [[Dennis Bushyhead|Dennis W. Bushyhead]] from 1879 to 1887.

Lewis Downing signed the Treaty of April 27, 1869, at Washington.  He represented the Cherokee at Washington as a delegate in 1869 and in 1870. He was re-elected on August 7, 1871.<ref>((Cite web|last=Rowley|first=Sean|title=Chief Downing helped Nation heal after Civil War|url=https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/chief-downing-helped-nation-heal-after-civil-war/article_ecda8870-7c49-58db-89d5-b16345f3bd42.html|access-date=2022-01-11|website=Tahlequah Daily Press|language=en))</ref>

==Family==
Little information has been written about Lewis Downing's family life. Meserve says that he first married Lydia Price. ((Citation needed|date=March 2018)) He and Lydia had three children: Samuel Houston, John Toyuneet, and Catherine Downing.<ref name="FindAGrave">[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5990384 "Chief Lewis Downing."] Retrieved January 4, 2014.</ref> After Lydia's death, he married Lucinda Griffin.  They had two children: Lewis James and William Downing.<ref name="FindAGrave"/> His third marriage was to Mary Eyre, a white widow whom he had met while he was in Washington. Mary moved to Tahlequah while Lewis' previous wife was still alive and married the old chief after her death. Both Lewis and Mary died about two years later.<ref name="Downing and Thompson"/> They had no children.<ref name="FindAGrave"/>

==Death==
He died in office at Tahlequah, on November 9, 1872, after a two-week battle with pneumonia, and is buried in the old Ned Adair cemetery in what is today [[Mayes County, Oklahoma]].<ref name="COO-Meserve"/> The Council was required to pick a successor to complete Downing's term. For unknown reasons, they turned to his old opponent, William Potter Ross.<ref>McLoughlin. p. 288</ref>

==Sources==
McLoughlin, William G. ''After the Trail of Tears: The Cherokees' Struggle for Sovereignty 1839-1880''. 1993. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill. ((ISBN|0-8078-2111-X))

==References==

((Reflist))

((S-start))
((succession box| before=[[William P. Ross]]| title=[[Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation]]| after=[[William P. Ross]]| years=1867-1872))
((S-end))
((Cherokee))

((authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Lewis))
[[Category:Cherokee Nation Confederate States military personnel]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army chaplains]]
[[Category:Cherokee Nation in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:19th-century Native American leaders]]
[[Category:Baptist ministers from the United States]]
[[Category:Native American tribal government officials in Indian Territory]]
[[Category:People from Tennessee]]
[[Category:1823 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:Principal Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)]]
[[Category:People from Adair County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Baptists from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:19th-century American clergy]]
[[Category:Cherokee Nation Union Army military personnel]]
[[Category:Trail of Tears survivors]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Lewis Downing (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Cherokee (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink question hyphen-minus (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:More footnotes (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:More footnotes needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Multiple issues (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Multiple issues/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:S-aft (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-aft/check (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-aft/filter (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-bef (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-bef/check (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-bef/filter (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-end (view source) (protected)
Template:S-start (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-ttl (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:S-ttl/check (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Succession box (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Succession box/check (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno-yes (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:MultiReplace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Webarchive/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Lewis Downing.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Downing"