Chief Duwali Bowles led the Texas Cherokees until his death at the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839.
Born in North Carolina around 1756, Duwali was part of the forced migration of the Cherokee from the southeastern states, although he and his band came west of their own accord. By 1820, the group of 60 families had settled north of Nacogdoches.
The Cherokees tried repeatedly to get the title to the land from the Mexican government. Officials in Mexico City kept delaying the process.
Then in 1836, Sam Houston came calling. As a commissioner of the provisional Texas government and a former resident of the Cherokee settlement in Arkansas, Houston offered Duwali a peace treaty. If the Cherokee would stay neutral in the fight with Mexico, Texas would grant them land rights. A statue at 700 E. Main St. in Nacogdoches memorializes the treaty.
After the revolution the Republic of Texas rejected the treaty. Worse yet, President Mirabeau B. Lamar called for an “exterminating war” to drive the Cherokee from Texas.
In 1839, Lamar sent the Texas militia to expel the emigrant tribes from East Texas. After unsuccessful negotiations, the Texans attacked on July 15. The next day the tribes were defeated.
A granite monument stands on sacred land maintained by the American Indian Cultural Society 12 miles northwest of Tyler off SH 64 on Van Zandt County Road 4923 marking the spot where 83-year-old Chief Duwali was killed. On the Saturday closest to July 16, the AICS holds a memorial ceremony at the site.
The sword Houston gave Duwali at the treaty signing resides at the Masonic Lodge in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
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This article appears in October 9 • 2020.
