DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Chief Samuel Benge, out there in Cherokee County. Now, if you want a story about a promise made and a promise broken, well — pull up a little closer to that fire. In the early 1830s, Samuel Benge was a leader of the Cherokee Indians in Texas.
Not a figurehead, not a footnote — a leader, the kind whose name gets put on a treaty. And in early 1836, that's exactly what happened. He was present at the negotiations with General Sam Houston, John Cameron, and John Forbes.
Three men on one side of the table, a nation's future on the other. What they were working toward was neutrality — the Cherokee would stay out of the coming war for independence from Mexico, and in return, they'd receive something they had long sought: recognized land in east Texas. The agreement they reached was called the Houston-Forbes Treaty.
And Chief Benge signed it. His name went on that document. As a condition of the treaty, the Cherokee were to occupy specific lands in east Texas, and Chief Benge himself was required to move east across the Neches River — into what is now Cherokee County.
Here's the part that sits heavy. The Cherokee upheld their part of the treaty. During the war, they stayed neutral, just as they had agreed.
They kept the bargain they had signed. But the Republic of Texas senate — once there was a Republic to speak of — nullified the treaty. Just like that.
A stroke of political will, and the agreement was undone. That nullification became a step toward something larger and darker: the ultimate removal of the Cherokee from Texas altogether. Chief Samuel Benge put his name on a promise in early 1836.
The Cherokee honored it. And the document that bore his signature was eventually declared as if it had never existed. Some things get written down so history knows exactly what was lost.
What the marker says
A leader of the Cherokee Indians in Texas during the 1830s, Samuel Benge was present at the negotiations with General Sam Houston, John Cameron and John Forbes in early 1836 to secure a treaty with the Cherokee in return for neutrality during the imminent war for independence from Mexico. As a condition of the resulting Houston-Forbes Treaty, the Cherokee were to occupy specific lands in east Texas, and Chief Benge, a signer of the treaty, was required to move east across the Neches River into what is now Cherokee County. The Cherokee upheld their part of the treaty during the war, but the Republic of Texas senate later nullified the treaty, a step toward the ultimate removal of the Cherokees from Texas. (2001)