Slave Revolt at Webbers Falls, Oklahoma: November 15, 1842

 

Critical Race Theory History Lesson: #OTD in 1842 was the unusual event of a slave revolt against their Indigenous owners. Although it isn't often covered in history texts there were Indigenous people who owned slaves and treated them as cattle no different than white plantation owners. #OTD 25 slaves at Webbers Falls in the Oklahoma Territory owned by Cherokee farmer Joseph Vann locked everyone in the main house and took off for Mexico. Along the way they picked up more slaves from other plantations owned by the Creek people. The Cherokee Nation sent the Cherokee Militia, under Capt. John Drew, with eighty-seven men to catch the runaways. This expedition was authorized by the Cherokee National Council in Tahlequah on November 17, 1842. The militia caught up with the slaves seven miles north of the Red River on November 28, 1842. The tired, famished fugitives offered no resistance. The party returned to Tahlequah on December 8, 1842. Five slaves were executed, and Joseph Vann put the majority of his rebellious slaves to work on his steamboats, which worked the Arkansas, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers.