Elias Cornelius Boudinot provides the first full account of a man who was intimately and prominently involved in the life of the Cherokee Nation in the second half of the nineteenth century and was highly influential in the opening of the former Indian Territory to white settlement and the eventual formation of the state of Oklahoma. Involved in nearly every aspect of social, economic, and political life in Indian Territory, he was ostracized by many Cherokees, some of whom also threatened his life.

Born into the influential Ridge-Boudinot-Watie family, Boudinot was raised in the East after the assassination of his father, who helped found the first newspaper published by an Indian nation. He returned to the Cherokee Nation, affiliating with his uncle Stand Watie and serving in the Confederate Army and as a representative of the Cherokees in the Confederate Congress. He was involved with treaty negotiations after the war, helped open the railroads into the Indian Territory, and founded the city of Vinita in Oklahoma. He also became a political figure in Washington, DC, a newspaper editor and publisher, and a prominent orator.

James W. Parins is a professor of English and the associate director of the Sequoyah Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is the author of John Rollin Ridge: His Life and Works (available in a Bison Books edition), coauthor of bibliographies of Indian writers and guides to Native publications, and editor of works by Indian writers, including Ke-ma-ha: The Omaha Stories of Francis La Flesche, also available in a Bison Books edition.

“Parins’s clear and comprehensive biography should be read by anyone interested in Indian policy, Cherokee history, or the history of the American West.”—Andrew Denson, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

“Parins provides the facts in a straightforward manner and lets readers draw their own conclusions as to Boudinot’s place in history. . . . Elias Cornelius Boudinot is a figure who will remain controversial. He was both respected and hated in his attempt to push the Cherokee into the white world. Parins’s biographical work helps us understand Boudinot’s drive to be a success for himself and for his people.”—Daryl Morrison, Kansas History

“Parins gives a full account of a man who was closely involved in the life of the western Cherokees in the last half of the 19th century.”—Choice