Ross, John, whose name in Cherokee is Kooweskoowe (k

'wĭs'k

wē`), 1790–1866, Native American chief, b. near Lookout Mt., Tenn., of Scottish and Cherokee parents. He was educated at Kingston, Tenn., and in the War of 1812 served under Andrew Jackson against the Creeks. Elected principal chief of the eastern Cherokee in 1828, Ross struggled valiantly to hold the ancestral lands of his people but was unable to withstand the constant pressure of the state of Georgia for removal. In a treaty (1835) of questionable validity, a small minority of the Cherokee ceded the lands and moved west. Ross and the majority refused to acknowledge the cession, but resistance was unsuccessful, and in 1838–39 he led them on the long, hard journey to present-day Oklahoma. Thousands died on the trip, known in Native American lore as the "trail of tears." From 1839 until his death Ross was chief of the united Cherokee nation (the western Cherokee had migrated at the beginning of the century). He counseled neutrality in the U.S. Civil War, but the Cherokee ultimately supported the Confederacy.

Bibliography

See biography by G. E. Moulton (1986).

Ross, John

Indian name Tsan-Usdi (“Little John”)

(born Oct. 3, 1790, near Lookout Mountain, western district of N.C., U.S.—died Aug. 1, 1866, Washington, D.C.) American Indian chief. The son of a Scottish father and part-Cherokee mother, he grew up as a Cherokee. He fought in the Creek War under Andrew Jackson (1813–14). He later became president of the National Council of Cherokees (1819–26). As principal chief of the Cherokee Nation (1828–39), he resisted government attempts to seize Cherokee farms and lands in Georgia and unsuccessfully petitioned Jackson to defend the Indians' rights. In 1838 he was forced to lead his people on the infamous Trail of Tears to the Oklahoma Territory. There he became chief of the new United Cherokee Nation (1839–66).

Ross, John (b. Coowescoowe) (1790–1866) Cherokee leader; born on the Coosa River at Tahnoovayah, Ga. His mother was only part Cherokee, his father Scottish. Raised among Christians, he fought in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson. He became a member of the Cherokee National Council in 1817 and its president from 1819–26, during which time he helped draft the Cherokee constitution. From 1823–39 he was principal chief of the eastern Cherokee nation. In 1828, he argued and won a case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court designed to prevent U.S. encroachments on Cherokee lands, but President Jackson refused to enforce the decision. Although opposed to land cessions, he signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1838 and led the Cherokee west on the "Trail of Tears." Once in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), he joined with the western Cherokee and became tribal chief from 1839 until his death.