THE FIRST-EVER COMMEMORATION OF THE SPECIAL ROLE PLAYED BY

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND BY THE TOWN OF HUMBOLDT, KANSAS

IN ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC SAGAS OF SURVIVAL, STRENGTH

AND TRIUMPH  IN AMERICAN HISTORY

TRACING “TRAILS OF  BLOOD ON ICE”:

A COMMEMORATION OF

THE GREAT ESCAPE

of  INDIANS AND BLACKS

INTO KANSAS

FROM CONFEDERACY-CONTROLLED “INDIAN TERRITORY”

During the bitterly cold winter of 1861/2 some 9000 Creek, Cherokee, Shawnee, and Seminole Indians, a number of them with African ancestry, and several hundreds of blacks who had been slaves to Indians, fought their way toward Kansas in order to escape the Confederacy and link up with Union officials. Nearly a third of them were brutally killed along the way or died in Kansas awaiting the promised help from Washington that was too slow to come. The Indians were seeking help to liberate their land and people and demand fulfillment of the many promises long made to them by the Federal Government. The former slaves sought their freedom, promised to them by Opothleyahola for assisting the escape. That promise was kept and ultimately became the basis  for many Freedmen gaining full citizenship rights, land, and capital in the liberated lands of the Creek and Cherokee Nations. Many blacks stayed in Kansas, some of them with descendants still living  in the greater Humboldt area. 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER -- CHIEF PERRY BEAVER
PRINCIPAL CHIEF,  MUSKOGEE (CREEK) NATION

For a  MAP of the route of the Escape (done in the 1860s), click here

For a selected READING LIST regarding these events and their background, click here

To see photographs from this ceremony, click here

For a copy of the program of this ceremony, click here

To access an  on-line version of an article about this story and ceremony that was published in the Jan-Dec 2001 Negro History Bulletin,  click this link   "Tracing Trails of Blood on Ice"

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The principal funding for this program came  from KIAANAFH    members.

Partial funding was provided by the Kansas Humanities Council, a nonprofit cultural organization encouraging the appreciation of history, heritage, and values

THE KANSAS INSTITUTE

FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN AND

NATIVE AMERICAN

FAMILY HISTORY

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