photo by John Shearer
Sixty-eight years ago, the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR and the Chattanooga Woman’s Press Club, supplemented by a $2,000 grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission, unveiled a memorial to the longest-serving Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chief John Ross. The bronze bust, created by Belle Kinney Scholz, Tennessee native and renowned New York sculptor, was installed on the Hamilton County Courthouse lawn.
Prior to the Chattanooga ceremony, the bust of Chief John Ross was unveiled in a special ceremony held at the New York Times building in New York City, hosted by Julius Ochs Adler and featuring remarks by the sculptress.
Special guests from Chattanooga, members of the Tennessee Society in New York, representatives of New York’s national lineage societies and the press attended and enjoyed a reception following the event. Mrs. Scholz’s sister, Mrs. Herman Renner of Chattanooga, was in attendance along with her husband, Dr. Renner.
The bust was described in a Dec. 31, 1952 Chattanooga Daily Times article as showing “Chief Ross as a young man, as he was during his residence in Chattanooga . . . about 30 inches tall and about 41 inches in width. If it were a full-length figure, it would be over 10 feet high.” It is further described as depicting the founder of Ross’s Landing as “a man of great determination and character with a brooding expression, dressed in evening clothes of the period as Chief Ross was accustomed to dress.”
Other works by Belle Kinney Scholz include the John Sevier statute in the U. S. Capitol, the Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk busts in Tennessee’s Capitol building and the Victory Statute on the Legislative Plaza outside Nashville’s War Memorial Building.
Chief John Ross, who died Aug. 1, 1866 in Washington, D. C., is remembered for his historic fight to prevent the Cherokee Removal, including a successful U. S. Supreme Court challenge. Unfortunately, Chief Justice John Marshall’s decision was not enforced by President Andrew Jackson and Chief Ross was forced to work with government officials in implementing the plan that would move the Cherokees to Oklahoma Territory after their lands had been seized by the Georgia government.
Son of Daniel Ross, Scotsman, and his wife, Mollie McDonald, Scots and Cherokee, Lt. John Ross and the Cherokee Brigade had gained fame after joining Major General Andrew Jackson’s forces at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend during the War of 1812. From 1819 to 1826 Chief Ross served as president of the Cherokee National Council as the Cherokee became more integrated into U. S. society as farm owners, educated-oriented and participants in their own representative government. In 1828, Chief Ross became principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, under a constitution that he had helped draft. When he refused to sell Cherokee lands and force his people to relocate to the Oklahoma Territory, his fight was met with force by Georgia officials and a refusal by his former wartime colleague to intercede. Chief Ross was imprisoned for a period and, during one of his absences to Washington, D.C. to fight for Cherokee recognition, his family was forced from their home and his lands confiscated.
By 1838-39, Chief Ross had no choice but to execute the removal process in a difficult journey later recognized by the Cherokee as the Trail of Tears. Upon reaching the west, Chief Ross was instrumental in the creation of a new 1839 Cherokee Constitution and would be reaffirmed as chief under the new government, a position he would hold for the remainder of his life.
Linda Moss Mines is the Chattanooga-Hamilton County historian, regent of the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR and vice-president, Education of the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center.