John Ross served the Cherokee Nation in a public capacity for nearly fifty years, thirty-eight as its constitutionally elected principal chief. Historian W. Dale Weeks describes Ross's efforts to protect the tribe's interests amid systematic attacks on indigenous culture throughout the nineteenth century. At the outset of the Civil War, Ross called for all Cherokees to remain neutral in a war they did not support—a position that became untenable when the US withdrew its forces from Indian Territory. The vacated forts were quickly occupied by Confederate troops, who pressured the Cherokees to align with the South.

Viewed from the Cherokee perspective, these events can be seen in their proper context, as part of the history of US "Indian policy," failed foreign relations, and the Anglo-American conquest of the American West. This approach also clarifies President Lincoln's acknowledgment of the federal government's abrogation of its treaty obligation and his commitment to restoring political relations with the Cherokees—a commitment abruptly ended when Andrew Johnson sought to punish the Cherokees for their perceived disloyalty.

Centering a Native point of view, this book recasts and expands what we know about John Ross, the Cherokee Nation, its commitment to maintaining its sovereignty, and the Civil War era in Indian Territory.