Ned Christie’s Fight and British Press Coverage

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back everybody. Today we're going to be talking about
Ned Christie. So who was he? Well, he was a
prominent Cherokee statesman whose tumultuous confrontation with the US authorities
became a cause celebration in period newspapers. Born into the
Quitua society, Christie was a member of the Executive Council
of the Cherokee Nation and a vocal opponent of encroaching

(00:23):
white settlement. In eighteen eighty seven that by the US
Marshall Daniel Maples was ambushed and fatally shot in Native
American territory. Christie was accused, though he professed innocence and
requested bail so he could gather exculpatory evidence, a request
Judge Isaac denied. Declared an outlaw, Christy held off repeated

(00:43):
law enforcement incursions from his fortified homes, first a cabin
turned battleground, later at San reinforced stronghold that earned him
a legendary status in a lot of these dime novels
and newspapers. Over five years, lawman attacked Christie with fire dynamia,
even artil sury, but he eluded capture somehow, unfortunately until

(01:04):
nineteen until November of eighteen ninety two, when a large
posse finally blew open his defenses and killed them in
the burning ruins. The ambush and siege were covered wildly
in the press, depicting Christie alternatively as a ruthless outlaw
or a resilient Native patriot, depending on the side you
were on. In nineteen eighteen, an eyewitness came forward to

(01:25):
assert that Bud Trainer was the real killer of Marshall Maples,
clearing Christie of the charges he had maintained he had
never deserved. Today, Christie is remembered both as a folk
hero among the Cherokee and as a tragic figure who
was ultimately denied justice by the law he resisted.