In 1984, Aggie Ross Lossiah’s piece entitled “The Story of My Life As Far Back As I Can Remember” appeared in the Journal of Cherokee Studies. In her editor’s note, Joan Greene offered the following biographical information about Aggie:

Aggie Ross Lossiah, daughter of Joe and Cornelia Ross and great granddaughter of Principal Chief John Ross, was born December 22, 1880. She and her brother, Jossiah, spent their growing-up years in east Tennessee with their maternal grandparents, Jessie and Sela Techeskee. This is the story of those growing-up years as Aggie wrote it in 1960. For the first few years of her life Aggie had spoken only the Cherokee language, and her formal education had consisted of four years at the Cherokee Training School. However, Aggie mastered the English language primarily because she never stopped learning. To facilitate reading I have inserted dashes where there was no punctuation in the original manuscript. Otherwise, this is Aggie’s story in her words.

When I was 3 years old I remember my brother and I and my great grand pa we were walking down the road one day—And a white man came riding down the road and over took us and he picked children up with him on his mule and we rode with him until we came to where we were going— And he let us down and we walked on then to where grand pa and grand ma were camped by the river down at the mouth of a creek they called Cit[i]co creek near the [Little] Tennessee river—And first I remember we were with them where they had them a shelter built there with four posts up and poles across the forked posts and had cane splits on top for a roof to keep us dry and cane leaves too—this is the way it looked and we all stayed under there and our bed was cane leaves but we were in the dry—I remember when we still lived at the mouth of the creek I used to wander around the corn field at the mound and gather Indian beads in the field and carry them in my hand and go back to the shelter where we lived and grand ma would give me some thread to string the beads on. And one time I went over the fence and I got scared—I thought I saw a bear and I ran home to grand ma and told her I saw a bear but I never went that far anymore afterward. Then I used to go across the creek to the white folks’ house—grand ma would go with me and I would play with their children. And they would have the best food to eat like sausage and meat that I thought was the best I ever ate and good biscuits and corn bread too was so good—but I never drank milk because I never had any at home to learn to drink milk—I didn’t know you drank it but I never could drink milk—and we would wade the creek and that’s how we crossed to go over to McSpadons house—that was the name of the folks we went to visit— grand ma could carry some baskets to exchange for food and when they gave her food we would go home and wade over the creek again—that is the way we travelled them days when I was small—

Then one day it clouded up and looked so dark like a storm was coming and I remember then a white man came from over the river and he talked with my grand pa but I didn’t know what he was saying—But my grand pa he could talk English and he said for us to go over the river to his place—there was a little cabin we could stay in and my great grand pa he took us two children over the river—this white man had a canoe which we cross the river in and then he went back and brought grand pa and grand ma over with their things and we lived in the log cabin—I don’t know how long we stayed there but these folks were awful good people—the man’s name was Henry Harrison and he had a daughter—her name was Maggie and after I got used to them I loved to go to their house every day—[I] used to go to milk with Maggie and gather hen eggs and pick up pea cock feathers under the house. And Maggie would give me some things to eat. That is where I learned to speak English—I thought that was something great now—I could speak English—my grand pa would laugh at me saying my English words—of course I made mistakes in pronouncing my words but that is where I started to talk English when we lived at Henry Harrison’s place.

Grand ma would make baskets and go peddlin’ and Brother and I and great grand pa would go with her. One time my great grand pa got sick while we were peddling— And the white folks put up a tent for him to lay under—my grand ma went back to the Harrison’s and they brought a wagon after him and put him in the wagon and took us home. And I remember a white woman gave my great grand pa a rooster to take home for him to eat and I had to hold that rooster—seemed like he was as big as I was— I got so tired holdin’ the rooster then—I don’t remember when we got home—I must have went to sleep for I don’t remember—we always went with grand ma when she went to peddle. And I never got hungry because the white folks would always give me something to eat—and I carried a little basket with me too and they would fill my basket with biscuits that was cold biscuits but they were good to eat when you never had any at home. And one time I made some little baskets—

When my grand ma was making baskets she showed me how to make them—And when she got her a load of baskets made we went to peddle. And my grand pa made some chairs and he would take his chairs too to sell—and so here we would go—we went to Maryville, Tenn.—it was a little town then—that was as far as the train came then and that is where we went to peddle baskets—and I took my few baskets that I had made and I had enough to buy me a cotton dress and a few other little things at the store— that was the first time I bought myself something myself by selling baskets that I made myself—it took us all day to walk over to Maryville from where we lived—the place where we lived they called Tallassee creek—we lived up the creek from little Tennessee river now on the other side of the river [in a place] they call Caldwood, Tenn.—

… The next I remember is when I was six years old— then our grand parents were going [to] send us to the Indian school a way up [in] North Carolina they called yellow hill—and we started one day to go to yellow hill to go to school—I remember that we started [and] my great grand pa he started with us two children up the road—and it was so hot—in August was the month we left home and as we went along the road I would stop to pick me some black berries to eat—and along the way I got stung by a wasp and that made us slow down because I got so sick after the wasp stung me on the lip—my face swole up and I couldn’t see good until late in the evening before we travelled anymore—And then we started on our journey but night soon over took us in the woods and grand pa had to stop and build us a fire to stay by that night and we all went to sleep in the woods—and I remember hearing a noise sometime in the night and it was a hog—and it came [and] took our bread that grand pa had been carrying along for us to eat— and it was so dark that we couldn’t follow the hog—he just got away with our bread. So in the morning we started on our way without no breakfast—and as we went on grand pa and grand ma over took us before we had gone very far— they thought we had got to Sam Blair’s place, that is a white man my grand pa knew back up in the foot of the mountain on the road we were going—that was one day and night away from home on our way to school—I don’t remember how long it took us to walk up to North Carolina but I remember one day we came to a house and that was where our mother lived and we stopped there—I don’t remember how long we stayed there. Then next I remember when we got to the school our mother was with my grand ma—when we got to the school they took all three of us children up to school but they just kept us two—our sister went back with Mother and grand ma—I remember I want to go back too but they left me crying—and a white woman she took me by the hand and tried to make me stop crying—she would spank me and I said how [did] she expect me to stop crying when she spank me. And she stop spanking me—then she got something for me to play with and took me out on the porch where there was some little girl to play with—and this woman was the Superintendent’s wife—she was good too after that time. I used to comb her hair in the afternoons when she would lie down to rest—and I never saw my grand ma any more for four years—and she came after me to take me home back to Tennessee one fall in November the day before Thanksgiving—I didn’t want to go home—she just took me anyway—she took me by my hand and I went jumping along with her down the walk—and the matron came out and called me back and for me to come get my clothes to wear home—And she gave me one dress and underwear—And the matron’s name was Miss Ruth Lee— I remember her well—she was a good woman—I used to work at school—I used to mop the hall and the stairs and the parlor floor—I got so lonesome before we got home I used to cry. My grand ma had a sister and we stopped at her home and stayed awhile—that was where I got so lonesome—my grand ma’s sister had children but that didn’t help me. I just cried anyway—and I don’t remember how long we stayed—then we went on to Tennessee to our home and it was night when we got home—

… I remember the year 1894 [and] the month of January when we were going up the mountains of North Carolina to live and there come a white woman with Aunt Betsy Tolesky to our house—Aunt Betsy had two boys and the oldest one was about five years old and the baby was about two years old—And grand ma said for us children to start up the mountain with this white woman and they would come on after awhile because we were slow—Tom he couldn’t walk fast—neither could I. Tom was bare-footed when he came to our house—I had some old shoes the white folks had given me and I gave them to him. I had two pairs that was given me. I had on one pair and let Tom have the other pair—they were too big for him but beat going up the mountain bare-footed—and it was late before granny and grand pa overtook us and we didn’t go far until grand pa said he would get us some wood and we could stay there under a spruce pine tree for the night—And there was snow on the mountain there where we stayed that night but we stayed there away up in the hills of North Carolina—and grand pa left his dog with us—he said to the dog[, “]you stay with the children[,”] and he did just that. Next morning before good day this woman woke us up—said[, “]wake up we must start walking again[”]—this woman’s name was Laura Maney—she claim she was part Indian—and we went that morning in snow nearly to our shoe top—that was cold walking in the mountains—And every now and then we would have to run to keep our feet from freezing to keep ourselves warm too—and Tom was small and we just had to keep him running to keep him warm—And so we got [to] grand pa’s cabin early the next day but it was cold walking but back when I was a small child we walked when we went anywhere—but we were happy and didn’t wait to see if someone would come along and pick us up— that was away back in the mountains of Graham [County, North Carolina] and we stayed there for awhile … Then Mrs. Jones wrote me a letter asking me to come up and stay with her that summer and I got ready the day I was to go—I was to go up on a steam boat—Mr. Jones was to be on the boat to take me with him—and grand ma she went with me to the landing and the boat never came that night. And Mrs. Davis she lived there at the boat landing and she said for me to just stay there with her that night and I did stay that night with her—sure enough next morning early the boat came puffing up the river—and Charley her son came and got my basket and took me down to the boat and saw that I got on the boat because Mr. Jones wasn’t on the boat but got on the boat farther up the river—and I rode on a steamboat up the river and it sure was tiresome—it was four o’clock when we got to our destination and I sure was glad to get there after sitting in the boat all day from 8 o’clock until four that evening—and I stayed all summer there at Jones home and then when I went home that fall I walked home—my brother came up there and Mr. Jones hired him that summer and we both worked there—And when he got ready to go home I wanted to go home too. But brother said wait until Saturday and Mr. Jones would take me home in the buggy and I wouldn’t have to walk because he was going to walk home. but I never said nothing but just hurried and wash my dishes and then I left for home too—he had been gone about an hour then but I got my pay and started home—I thought I would catch up with him somewhere and I did—about noon I passed him at a country store on the road—I didn’t see him—he saw me and I went by and was a head of him then but not far a head—he over took me—I was getting tired then and I was getting slow in walking—we walked on until I was so tired—we would stop and rest and it was late in the evening—I said to my brother[, “]you go and I will come on some time to night[”]—And he said[, “]no I going stay with you[,”] and so he did—and we got to our neighbors house just before dark and we were [with]in a mile of home but I was so tired [it] seemed I couldn’t walk any farther that day—And the folks were all so glad to see us they say [to] stay all night [and] go home in the morning and that is what we did. Next morning Brother said for me to go on home [and] he was going to town—it was seven miles to town and people had to walk them days when you didn’t own a horse to ride. And so that was our fix—we didn’t own anything [and] we were just wander[er]s—but we seemed to get along good so far as we didn’t own no permanent home. So we just stayed so long and then moved on somewhere else—

Our next move was when we moved to North Carolina in the fall of 1903 the last week in Sept—And we left one Sunday morning—and grand pa hired a colored man that had horses and a wagon to haul us as far as he could in half a day—and he gave him our chairs that we had and couldn’t carry with us and he did haul us a long ways— then he went back and we started walking—and it took us a week to come to Whittier N.C.—that was where his brother lived then—I remember when we were coming to N.C. over the mountain we camped out on the road—and of course we had no way [of] cooking our bread and we had to have some bread for our breakfast—and so grandpa took his axe and went to a chestnut tree and peeled the bark off the tree wide enough to put the dough on to cook—and that is the way my granny baked the bread that morning on chestnut bark—stood the bark in front of the fire and when the top side baked she turned it over and brown the other side and that was good to eat—there is always a way to get help some way if you will just stop and think what to do—And then we went on after we eat our bread—we didn’t have anything else to eat—we had traveled so far we had eaten all we had started with—grandpa had just got us some meal from folks we knew down in Tennessee before we started up the smoky mountain to North Carolina—that [was] how come we had to bake some bread to eat—then we went on over the mountain—first we came [to] the toll gate and stopped at the white man’s house that had charge of the toll gate and he asked us in and to have breakfast with them and we did stop and eat with them—they were nice and kind people—and there was a girl there too [and] she was about my age and I had some ear bobs in my ears and she wanted them and she begged me to sell them to her and I did—she gave me fifty cent for them—a friend of mine gave them to me for Xmas gift and I never forget [I sold] my Xmas gift—then we moved on over the mountain and when it was late in the eve we stopped at a house near the road. It was vacant and empty and we stayed there that night—grand pa he picked up dry wood and made a fire to warm by—next morning we started again—this was Sat morning and we walked all day slow but sure—that night we came to Judson N.C. where some of the Indians lived then—and we went to an old friend of grand pas and stayed with them that night and spend Sunday there with them folks—and grand pa went to church with the boys—But the girl and her little brother and I went chestnut hunting that day—there were plenty chestnuts them days—we spent the day out in the hills—her brother went along to climb the trees—And we had a grand time that day long ago—we had chestnut bread for supper—Oh boy that was good eating them days—¹

ENDNOTES

¹ Aggie Ross Lossiah, “The Story of My Life as Far Back as I Can Remember,” Journal of Cherokee Studies 9, no. 2 (Fall 1984), 89–98.