To Choctaw and Cherokee: Let my people go!

“Freedom had already come to Ft. Smith by late 1863, when a combination of abolitionist activities, and the occupation of the Ft. Smith fort by Union soldiers, occurred, and many once enslaved black people inhaled their first breath of Freedom. In nearby Indian Territory--in both the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations, many men got the word that if they could make their way to either Ft. Gibson, or Ft. Smith---they too, would be free. Some took their chance and escaped, mostly in the dead of night. They would eventually find their way to the Federal line---and if able bodied, they enlisted.

“After the war, many wished to return to Indian Country---but several indicated that they had been prevented from returning----as slavery had not yet ended.”

A treaty signed in 1866 ended slavery in the Indian nations.

http://african-nativeamerican.blogspot.com/2010/06/let-my-people-go-appeal-to-ft-smith.html