DECEMBER 14, 1852

NEDE WADE (ᏁᏕᏩᏕ) (NED CHRISTIE) BORN– CHEROKEE STATESMAN & FUGITIVE

Born in Wauhillau, Cherokee Nation [now in Oklahoma (OK)], he was of the traditional Keetowah band.  Growing up, Christie was a marble champion, stick ball player, and fiddle player.  A blacksmith & gunsmith, he also served a term on the Cherokee National Council (CNC).  On May 5, 1887, Christie was in Tahlequah, OK, when Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Maples was murdered there.  The Federal District Court issued a warrant for his arrest for the murder.  Believing that he would not receive justice in a U.S. court, Christie fled & built a clifftop cabin known as Ned’s Fort Mountain.  For 5 years, with the aid of friends and family, he fought attempts to capture or kill him and became a legend.  Cherokee folk tales claimed Christie to be a shapeshifter becoming an owl or razorback hog.  On November 3, 1892, a Federal posse using an Army cannon killed Christie.  Christie was exonerated in 1918.  Some believe Christie was a killed because, while on the CNC, he opposed railroad development in Indian Territory.

Source:  Art T. Burton, “Christie, Ned (1852-1892),” Oklahoma Historical Society.  Retrieved 9/10/2020, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CH061                                                                                                                   
Original Photo:  Author unknown, pre-1892.  Public Domain.  Retouched photo: Phil Konstantin, 2/28/2011.  Public Domain.