"JESUS WEPT"
An American Story
of Struggle, Sacrifice, Faith and Hope
An Historical Novel
by
Just Another Savage
______________________________________
Soon to be released
© 2008 All Rights Reserved
further information: JesusWeptAnAmericanStory@gmail.com
_________________
SURNAMES OF INTEREST to Genealogists
Adair, Bell, Benge, Boudinot, Bowles, Drew, Duncan, Dupree,
Fields, Kimbrell, Lynch, Martin, Mayes, Murphy, O'Neal,
Ridge, Rogers, Ross, Starr, Vann, Watie, Worcester
________________
Be sure to see the PBS Series, "WE SHALL REMAIN" which aired March, April, 2009
From
PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/"Though the Cherokee embraced “civilization” and won recognition of tribal sovereignty in the U.S. Supreme Court, their resistance to removal from their homeland failed. Thousands were forced on a perilous march to Oklahoma."
My story is taken from documented records as well as family letters saved from the time. It's a story worth telling, if we understand how such political actions can and are repeating themselves in our current climate.
In the spring of 2009, the five part PBS Series, "WE SHALL REMAIN"
with their first Episode "After The Mayflower" was aired on national TV.
The Episode that got our attention, "Trail of Tears, aired April 27th, and is available on the PBS website, which featured "The Ridge", the Cherokee leader portrayed by the wonderful Wes Studi, and his clan who I wrote about in the book,
"Jesus Wept" An American Story.
Surprisingly, PBS did a fair job on their presentation, not overtaken
with the usual political correctness and historical rumor.
My story is taken from documented records as well as family letters saved from the time. It's a story worth telling, filled with political and historical intrigue.
It details the events surrounding the children of The Ridge Party
and what happens to a proud, educated, independent, Christian people who are not allowed to defend their borders.
Sincerely,
Just Another Savage
http://jesusweptanamericanstory.blogspot.com/
-----------------------
'We Shall Remain': From Plymouth to Wounded Knee, a Tale of Survival
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041202539
"The episodes devoted to Tecumseh and the Trail of Tears are the most emotionally powerful, and achieve the best balance between reenactment and standard documentary style. In "Trail of Tears," the third episode, distinguished Native American actor Wes Studi stars as Major Ridge, a prosperous Cherokee landholder who decided it was in the interest of his people, and his own prosperity, to give up an independent Cherokee homeland in the southern Appalachians in hopes of peace and resettlement in land west of the Mississippi. It is one of the most vile and shameful chapters in the history of U.S. relations with Native Americans, and Studi captures well the anguish of his conflicted character.
The filmmakers don't shy away from internal conflicts within native societies, and these conflicts were often exploited by outsiders. It was the Mohawks, loyal to the English, who turned on King Philip and defeated him. After Major Ridge, who owned black slaves and sent his son to boarding school in Connecticut, signed a desperate treaty with the Americans he was viewed as a traitor. He and his son were killed by their own people."
James Madison Bell, "Colo-Gotte-Yon", c. 1865
Sarah Caroline "Sally" Bell Watie
Saladin Ridge Watie, shortly before his death c. 1870
Headstone of John Bell Jr. found in the bottom of an oil barrell c. 1930 near what was the community of Mount Tabor, Texas. He died in 1852. 
Elias "Cornelius" Boudinot, c. 1870
Treaty of the Birds
"JESUS WEPT"
