The October 8, 1836 issue of the Niles Weekly Register contains the following, under a title of “Scenes in the Cherokee country.”
“Mr John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokee nation, was at Washington city on the business of his nation. When he returned, he traveled till about ten o’clock at night, to reach his family; rode up to the gate, saw a servant, believed to be his own; dismounted, ordered his horse taken; went in, and to his utter astonishment, found himself a stranger in his own house, his family having been, some days before, driven out to seek a new home. A thought then flitted across his mind, that he could not, under all circumstances of his situation, reconcile it to himself to tarry all night under the roof of his own house as a stranger. He ordered his horse, paid his bill, and departed in search of his family, and after traveling amid heavy rains, had the happiness of overtaking them on the road, bound for some place of refuge within the limits of Tennessee.”
The roused bear 