Collection summary derived from "Guidebook to Manuscripts", 1969: John Ross (1790-1866) chief of the First Indian Republic, was principal chief of the Cherokees during the time of the Removal , establishment of the Cherokee Nation, and until his death. During the Civil War he split with the Cherokees who favored the Southern cause and ruled in exile after 1863 from Philadelphia. The collection contains correspondence, proclamation as chief of the Cherokee Tribe, legal papers, records, accounts, lists of names, and rations allocated during removal from Tennessee to Indian Territory, official and other papers of the Cherokee Council, petitions and protests to Congress, and papers relating to the East and West Cherokee controversy and the Civil War. Interesting items: A number of papers relate to the various detachments, or groups, of Cherokees being removed from their homes in the East. One such paper is the Muster Roll of Captain John Benge's Detachment of Emigrating Cherokees. Another document records expenditures of one detachment, the costs for which the U.S. Government promised reimbursement.