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Toward the Setting Sun chronicles one of the most significant but least explored periods in American history, recounting the unknown story of the first white man to champion the Native American cause. Though the son of a Scottish trader and a quarter-Cherokee woman, John Ross thought of himself as Cherokee. Chief for forty years, he defended the tribe against the white encroachment and Andrew Jackson. Clashes between the two men raged over decades, from battlefields and meeting houses to the White House and the Supreme Court. Jackson felt no shame in ignoring decades of U.S.-Indian treaties as more and more whites settled illegally on the Cherokee Nation's native land. Only when a group of renegade Cherokees betrayed their chief did Ross recapitulate, forced to suddenly begin his journey west and relocate beyond the Mississippi.
In one of America's great tragedies, thousands of Cherokees died during the tribe's migration on the Trail of Tears.
From the Hardcover edition.
When Harris cocked his rifle, Ross wheeled his horse around and galloped off, retreating by the sound of the gun’s report. Ross knew the countryside well, and that knowledge gave him an advantage in the dark. He rode fast, knowing that it was not only himself, but the entire Cherokee Nation he had to save. The tribe depended on him; there was no one else who could stop Jackson.
Even though the attack made his blood boil, turning to fight never occurred to Ross. He was not a warrior, and he knew it. Ross’s only thoughts were of escape. Although it would have been natural to be afraid, Ross was more annoyed than anything else. The attack was just something else standing in the way of his business. He knew that he must get away, but he still had much work to do.
Andrew caught up to Ross within minutes, and the two rode quickly and quietly through the night. After a while, they turned off the trail that led to Coodey’s, not wanting to bring this trouble on their nephew.
As his horse sprinted, dodging branches on the narrow trail, John Ross had little time to wonder who had sent this man Harris. Had it been the governor of Georgia, the president of the United States, or one of his own tribesmen? In truth, he knew it mattered very little at that moment, because he could hear the man gaining.
And then, another shot rang out in the dark.
Dramatis Personae ix
Cherokee Time Line xiii
Prologue The Time of the Fall 1
Part I
1 An Old Prophecy 11
2 Little John 39
3 Horseshoe Bend 61
4 A Sharp Knife 80
Part II
5 A Traitor in All Nations 111
6 One Generation Passeth 132
7 The Reins of Power 155
8 A Dangerous Game 177
Part III
9 Turning Point 209
10 The Schemes of Traitors 228
11 1855 251
12 Where They Cried 283
13 Retribution 315
Epilogue The Way of the West 335
Notes and Sources 355
Selected Bibliography 393
Acknowledgments 397
Index 401
About the Author 423
Anonymous
Posted June 4, 2012
Ckearing/fresh kill pile -Leaves the fall
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Posted October 12, 2012
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Overview
Toward the Setting Sun chronicles one of the most significant but least explored periods in American history, recounting the unknown story of the first white man to champion the Native American cause. Though the son of a Scottish trader and a quarter-Cherokee woman, John Ross thought of himself as Cherokee. Chief for forty years, he defended the tribe against the white encroachment and Andrew Jackson. Clashes between the two men raged over decades, from battlefields and meeting houses to the White House and the ...